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FOREWORD 


The  sea  is  the  creator  of  history,  but  the  great  visions  of  the  world  have 
all  come  from  the  inlands. 

Commerce  is  ruthless  and  brutal — it  brings  few  finer  dreams.  These  have 
come  from  over  the  mountains.  American  history  began  in  one  long  stretch 
down  the  sea-coast.  Their  beginnings  were  all  the  same — they  ran  in  parallels 
with  the  sea-line.  They  had  to  do  first  with  sea  traffic,  and  the  land  from 
which  they  came.  It  was  a  century  before  the  American  colonies  thought  they 
were  anything  more  than  English,  or  French,  or  Spanish  colonies  just  across 
the  sea  from  their  mother  land.  Their  ideals  were  the  mothers ' — their  religion, 
their  customs,  laws,  commerce,  literature,  government — they  were  mother- 
colonies. 

They  did  not  change  because  the  sea  was  too  handy.  They  had  no  new 
visions  because  they  could  see  across  the  sea.  And  across  the  sea  stood  Kings — 
English,  French,  Spanish. 

There  was  no  real  Democracy  of  the  plain  people  in  America  until  they  lost 
sight  of  the  sea  and  crossed  the  mountains ;  until  they  slept  in  the  wilderness ; 
until  they  found  themselves  in  the  solitude  of  vast  new  lands  of  forest  and 
river,  and  plain  and  prairie,  where  each  man  was  ruler  of  his  own,  but  held,  for 
protection,  to  the  voice  of  all. 

Thus  began  real  Democracy  in  America. 

One  of  the  first  over  the  mountains  was  Tennessee — "the  territory  of  the 
United  States  South  of  the  River  Ohio. ' '  It  might  better  have  been  called  the 
Wilderness  Beyond  the  Mountains.  Its  history  is  different  from  that  of  all 
the  sea-coast  states.  It  had  no  tradition  of  kings,  so  it  set  up  in  the  Watauga 
a  representative  government  of  all  the  people,  the  first  to  be  established  in 
America.1  Later,  as  they  swept  westward,  another  was  set  up  on  the  Cumber- 
land, some  three  hundred  miles  farther  West.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
representative  government  "of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people"  in 
America. 

The  one  on  the  Watauga  swept  North  and  South  up  and  down  the  valleys 
of  the  Clinch,  the  Holston,  the  French  Broad  and  the  Little  Tennessee.  The 
one  on  the  Cumberland  swept  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  North  to  the  Ken- 
tucky, and  South  across  "the  Big  Bend  of  the  Tennessee." 

Within  that  area  today  lies  the  State  of  Tennessee. 

It  is  a  virile  story,  a  thrilling  one,  romantic,  heroic,  splendid. 

It  has  no  parallel  among  the  states. 

They  were  plain  Anglo-Saxon  people  of  pure  blood  and  undefiled  lineage. 
They  are  that  today. 

They  are  a  law  unto  their  race-self,  and  they  made  their  laws  to  fit  their 
race  life — a  representative  Democracy  in  which  their  cabin  was  their  castle.    As 


1  The  agreement  for  the  government  of  the  Watauga  settlement  was  the  first  written 
constitution  adopted  by  the  consent  of  a  free  and  independent  people  in  America.  (See 
Kamsey,  page  107;  Koosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  1,  page  184.) 

iii 

540636 


iv  FOREWORD 

they  knew  no  King  in  the  state,  they  wanted  none  in  their  government,  their 
church,  their  commonwealth  nor  their  business.  They  would  stand  for  no 
priest,  saint,  nor  preacher  between  them  and  their  God,  and  what  was  greater, 
between  them  and  their  laws. 

They  were  God-fearing,  but  they  feared  nothing  else. 

They  chose  a  Preacher  to  tell  them  of  God,  a  General  to  tell  them  of  war, 
a  Judge  to  tell  them  of  laws,  a  Constable  to  enforce  them,  a  Teacher  to  tell 
them  of  knowledge  and  a  Wife  and  Mother  to  tell  them  of  home  and  the  rearing 
of  children. 

As  they  left  the  sea-line  for  the  wilderness,  the  savage  and  the  primal  pas- 
sions of  their  own  race,  for  the  conditions  that  faced  them,  the  problem  was 
to  survive  or  perish. 

They  survived. 

There  was  scant  sympathy  and  no  help  from  the  sea-line ;  therefore  they 
helped  themselves.  It  was  savage  or  civilization — the  primal  passions  of  their 
own,  unhampered  by  law  or  order  in  the  wilderness,  plus  the  savage  Indian ; 
they  regulated  one  and  swept  away  the  other.     It  was  do  or  die — and  they  did. 

Some  of  them  have  always  done  the  one  great  thing  in  every  crisis  of  the 
Republic,  of  which  they  are  a  part,  and  for  every  call  of  patriotism  where  a 
man  of  courage  was  needed  with  his  gun.  For  instance :  John  Sevier  and  the 
Watauga  boys  at  King's  Mountain;  Jackson  and  his  Tennesseans  in  the  Creek 
War  and  at  New  Orleans;  "The  Bloody  First  in  Mexico" — Forrest,  Farragut, 
the  Hindenburg  Line — York — Always  and  every  time  some  son  of  the  Volunteer 
State  has  done  the  one  great  thing  at  the  one  great  time.2 

It  is  called  the  Volunteer  State,  but  they  volunteer  just  as  quickly  to  fight 
in  peace  as  in  war — their  race  ideals,  their  religion,  their  pure  blood,  their 
rights,  their  duties,  trade,  progress,  prejudices,  beliefs,  memories,  maids  and 
wives. 

"No  miscegenation — no  social  equality" — courageously,  but  tardily,  says, 
recently,  a  President  of  the  United  States ;  but  the  South  had  to  prove  it  by  a 
half  century  of  abuse,  derision,  misrepresentation,  adverse  legislation  and 
fighting. 

They  have  laws  written  and  unwritten :  the  unwritten  laws,  being  racial  and 
of  instinct,  with  a  thousand  years  of  race  life  behind  them,  though  unspoken, 
are  the  strongest.  These  are  some  of  the  unwritten  laws  of  their  race  which 
can  never  be  changed  by  those  written : 

(1)  They  are  not  to  be  confined  by  mountains,  rivers,  seas  or  continents. 
They  go  ever  onward  for  vaster  and  richer  lands.  They  hold  now  the  great 
lands  of  the  world — England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  Wales,  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
South  Africa,  Alaska,  the  Philippines,  Canada,  the  United  States,  the  Indies, 
and  protectorates  over  vast  continents  of  backward  peoples,  who  are  absorbing 
from  their  rulers  the  great  principles  of  self  government.  Wherever  they  rule 
it  is  for  righteousness  and  the  rights  of  men. 


2  The  native  white  of  native  parentage  population  of  the  entire  South  (Census  of 
1910)  was  18,561,146.  This  was  37.5  per  cent  of  the  total  native  whites  in  the  IT.  S.  The 
Tennessee  River  Basin  group  of  12,436,092  native  whites  of  native  parentage  is  the  largest 
and  purest  single  group  of  Anglo-Saxon  people  in  the  world  outside  of  England.  Tennessee 
is  the  center  of  that  group;  and  from  the  Battle  of  King's  Mountain  in  the  American 
revolution,  to  the  battles  of  the  Hindenburg  Line  in  France,  have  gone,  as  from  adjoining 
states,  heroic  men  of  spectacular  achievement  who  have  been  an  integral  part  of  the 
hinges  upon  which  has  turned  the  history  of  the  world.- — Statistics  &  Politics,  John  W. 
Farley,  Memphis,  Tennessee,  Page  30. 


FOREWORD  v 

(2)  Their  leader  is  the  best  man  among  them — bowman,  rower,  rifleman, 
statesman.  Says  an  old  historian  in  an  early  history  of  them:  "You  see  as 
many  leaders  as  you  behold  rowers,  for  they  all  command,  obey,  and  teach . 
Shipwreck  disciplines  but  does  not  deter  them." 

(3)  They  will  not  intermarry  with  inferior  peoples.  The  pure  native 
Anglo-Saxon  blood — children  of  pure  native  Anglo-Saxon  whites — in  the  nine 
states  of  which  Tennessee  is  the  center  is  about  ninety-six  per  cent.  No  other 
section  of  the  United  States  can  show  nearly  such  a  per  cent.  If  the  South  had 
yielded  to  her  enemies  and  miscegenated,  the  Mexican  border  would  have  been 
at  the  Ohio,  the  Nation  would  have  been  half  white  and  half  Haytian,  and  the 
Hindenburg  Line  would  never  have  been  broken.3 

(4)  They  will  have  no  religious  autocrat  between  them  and  their  God. 
The  separation  of  church  and  state  is  part  of  their  Magna  Charta. 

If  abused,  they  fight,  if  their  rights  are  infringed  they  rebel ;  if  forced,  they 
strike ;  and  if  their  liberties  are  threatened,  they  murder.  If  the  foundations 
of  their  Democracy  are  assailed,  though  it  be  by  Kings  at  the  end  of  the  world, 
they  unite  from  Alaska  and  Australia  to  England  and  America  to  destroy 
them.4 

(5)  They  eat  meat  and  always  their  bread  is  hot.5 

They  did  not  get  their  courage  from  rice,  dried  fish  and  bananas  nor  their 
religion  from  the  Caesars. 

Tennessee's  influence  has  proved  to  be  the  most  vital  and  far-reaching  in  the 
establishment  of  future  states  throughout  the  great  Southwest  including  even 
the  domain  of  that  vast  territory  first  traversed  by  William  Clarke  and  Meri- 
wether Lewis  extending  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  influence  of  such  men 
as  John  Sevier,  Andrew  Jackson,  James  Robertson,  Sam  Houston  and  David 
Crockett  was  not  confined  to  their  own  state  of  Tennessee  but  became  a  vital 
force  in  the  formation  of  the  entire  Southwest. 

In  all  of  these  the  spirit  of  Andrew  Jackson  lives  today  as  firmly  entrenched 
as  when  it  first  dominated  the  hopes  and  aspirations  of  the  young  Republic. 
Houston  and  Crockett  are  as  alive  in  Texas  and  the  great  Northwest  today  as 
they  were  at  the  Alamo  and  San  Jacinto.  The  later  cowboy  of  the  great  North- 
west was  only  a  counterpart  of  his  predecessor  of  the  Watauga  and  the  Cum- 
berland. 

In  the  formation  of  the  national  spirit  of  the  American  Commonwealth 
today  Jackson  stands  above  all  others  like  a  colossus.  The  "Union  must  and 
shall  be  preserved"  is  as  firmly  entrenched  in  America  today  as  when  he 
destroyed  to  preserve  it,  the  Creeks,  the  British,  Nullification,  (whether  in  New 
England  or  South  Carolina,)  and  the  autocracy  of  wealth  and  special  interests. 


3  The  leprosy  of  Bolshevism  has  no  part  in  the  mental  make-up  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
in  the  South  whether  he  wore  a  uniform  in  Europe  or  only  in  America;  or  was  a  soldier 
between  the  plow  handles  or  in  the  counting  room.  He  will  not  be  committed  to  com- 
munism. The  virus  of  socialism  that  has  inoculated  so  much  of  the  proletariat  of  the 
North  and  East,  will  be  in  him  a  lifeless  germ. — Statistics  &  Politics,  John  W.  Farley, 
Page  46. 

*"It  seems  to  me  that  all  discussions  of  ways  and  means  to  prevent  war  and  plans 
for  combined  nations  must  be  based  on  a  union  in  thought  and  heart  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
people." — General   John  J.   Pershing,   Speech,   London,  July   17,   1919. 

"Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  these  Anglo-Saxon  institutions  are  ours  in  trust;  we 
hold  them  for  a  thousand  generations  yet  to  emerge  from  the  stream  of  time.  They  are 
sacred  heirlooms,  confided  to  our  keeping  for  those  who  are  to  come  after  us — and  if  we 
allow  them  to  be  impaired  or  sullied,  while  passing  through  our  hands,  we  are  guilty  of  a 
double  crime;  we  are  traitors  alike  to  our  fathers  and  to  posterity." — Seargent  S.  Prentiss. 

s  A  territorial  law  of  Tennessee  accepts  "venison  steaks,  buffalo  and  good  fat  boar 
meat"  receivable  for  taxes  at  all  army  posts. 


vi  FOREWORD 

Of  unread  histories  this  world  is  surfeited.  Of  "history  that  repeats  itself 
and  historians  that  repeat  each  other,"  God  give  us  a  rest!  "A  few  facts  and 
plenty  of  elbow  room"  was  Henry  Grady's  rule  for  writing  Ids  immortal 
speeches.  With  such  an  authority  may  we  be  pardoned  for  taking  the  great 
facts  of  Tennessee  history — the  epoch-making  facts  of  this  wonderful  and  ro- 
mantic story — and  mixing  with  them  the  imagination  needed  for  the  picture? 

No  living  historian  can  now  add  to  the  vast  amount  of  early  historical 
minutiae — necessary,  but  much  of  it  worthless  for  historical  purposes — collected 
by  Haywood,  Ramsey  and  Putnam.  All  of  it  is  good,  but  about  as  good  as  the 
coarse  fiber  in  the  canvas  of  a  picture,  on  which  is  yet  to  be  thrown  the  ai'tist's 
soul  which  makes  for  imagination,  color  and  life.  It  is  not  intended  in  this  to 
add  more  ancient  fiber,  only  that  of  the  later  making.  The  old  is  there,  and 
well-woven  by  the  painstaking  weavers  who  have  gone  on  before.  But  the 
canvas  is  now  waiting,  and  for  many  years  has  waited,  for  the  pictures  to 
be  painted  upon  it.  No  one  historian  can  paint  them — certainly  no  one  lacking 
in  imagination  and  with  rheumatic  elbows.  The  editor,  in  this  book,  hopes  to 
show  the  many  great  canvases,  ready  for  the  artist,  who  will  one  day  seize  his 
brush  and  paint. 

Nashville,  Tennessee  <^%<*  Air1u*£>0  f^iA+ttSh-t^ 

July,  1923. 


CONTENTS 


Introduction — The  Earliest  People  of  Tennessee. 


PAGE 

7 


PERIOD  I 

CHAPTER 

I     The  Race-Life  of  Tennessee    28 

II     Early  Efforts  of  the  White  Man  in  Tennessee 38 

III  Early  Hunters  and  Their  Hunting  Ground — The  Name  Tennessee  51 

IV  The  Period  of  Pioneer  Life — The  First  Settlers  in  Tennessee.  .  63 
V     Henderson 's  Purchase  and  Events  Leading  Up  to  the  Battle 

of  King 's  Mountain 85 

VI     The  Battle  of  King's  Mountain  and  Its  Consequences 96 

VII     The  Cumberland  Settlement    102 

VIII     The  State  of  Franklin   118 

IX     The  So-Called  "Spanish  Conspiracy"  and  the  Mero  District..  133 

X     Territory  of  the  United  States  South  of  the  River  Ohio 1 44 

XI     Indian  Wars  and  Warriors  of  Tennessee   157 

XII     The  Indian  Treaties 251 

PERIOD  II 


XIII 

XIV 
XV 

XVI 

XVII 


XVIII 


The  Admission  of  Tennessee  as  a  State  and  the  First  Series  of 
Administrations  of  John  Sevier    271 

Administrations  of  Roane  and  of  Sevier  (Second  Series) 296 

Triangular  Controversy  over  the  Public  Lands — Early  Customs 
— Establishment  of  Religious  Denominations 313 

Administrations  of  Willie  Blount,  1809-1815— The  Creek  War 
—Battle  of  New  Orleans   334 

Administrations  of  Joseph  McMinn,  1815-1821 — The  Seminole 
War — The  Chickasaw  Treaty — Opening  of  West  Tennessee — 
Establishment  of  Memphis — The  State  Boundary  Lines — Ten- 
nessee Desperadoes 368 

Administrations  of  Carroll,  Houston  and  Hall — The  Adminis- 
trations of  William  Carroll,  1821-1827 — The  Administration 
of  Sam  Houston,  1827-1829— The  Administration  of  William 
Hall,  April  to  October,  1829 — The  Administrations  of  William 
Carroll,  1829-1835— The  Constitutional  Convention  of  1834..   395 

vii 


Ylll 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

NIX 


XX 


XXI 
XXII 


XXIII 

XXIV 
XXV 


PERIOD  III 

The  Period  op  Internal  Progress,  1834-1870 

PAGE 

From  Cannon  to  Jones — The  Administrations  of  Newton  Can- 
non, 1835-1839— The  Administration  of  James  K.  Polk,  1839- 
1841— The  Administration  of  James  C.  Jones,  1841-1845— The 
Florida  War — The  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Whig  Party- 
History  and  Description  of  the  Capitol — Removal  of  the  Cher- 
okees    407 

From  Brown  to  Campbell — -Administration  of  Aaron  V.  Brown — ■ 
The  Great  Commercial  Convention  at  Memphis — The  Mexican 
War — The  Administration  of  Neill  S.  Brown — The  Adminis- 
tration of  William  Trousdale — The  Nashville  Convention — The 
Administration  of  William  B.  Campbell — Internal  Improve- 
ments       434 

Tennessee  in  the  Banking  Business   450 

From  Johnson  to  Harris — Administrations  of  Andrew  Johnson, 
1853-1857— Political  Significance  of  the  National  Election  of 
1856 — Administrations  of  Isham  G.  Harris,  1857-1861 — Influ- 
ence in  Tennessee  of  the  National  Election  of  1860 465 

Tennessee  in  the  War  Between  the  States — Confederate  Admin- 
istration of  Isham  G.  Harris 473 

Andrew  Johnson,  Military  Governor   515 

Reconstruction — The  Brownlow  Regime — The  Ku  Klux  Klan  and 
the  Loyal  League — The  State  Debt — Administration  of  Gov- 
ernor Senter    527 


PERIOD  IV 

The  Period  of  Modern  Times — From  the  Adoption  op  the  Third 
Constitution,  in  1870,  to  the  Present  Time 


XXVI  From  Brown  to  Taylor — The  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870 
— The  Administrations  of  Governor  John  C.  Brown — The  Ad- 
ministrations of  James  D.  Porter — The  Administration  of  Gov- 
ernor A.  S.  Marks — The  Administration  of  Governor  Alvin 
Hawkins — The  Administrations  of  Governor  W.  B.  Bate — 
"The    War    of   the    Roses" — Administrations    of    Robert    L. 

Taylor    551 

XXVII  From  Buchanan  to  Cox — The  Farmers'  Alliance — Administra- 
tion of  Governor  John  P.  Buchanan — Administrations  of  Gov- 
ernor Peter  Turney — Third  Administration  of  Governor  Rob- 
ert L.  Taylor — Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition — Tennessee 
in  the  Spanish-American  War — Administrations  of  Governor 
Benton  McMillin — The  Tennessee  Central  Railroad — Admin- 
istration of  Governor  James  B.  Frazier — Tennessee  at  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  at  St.  Louis — Administration 
of  Governor  John  I.  Cox 574 


CONTENTS 


IX 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXVIII  From  Patterson  to  Rye — Administration  of  Governor  Malcolm  R. 
Patterson — Development  of  Temperance  and  Prohibition  in 
Tennessee — Death  of  Senator  E.  W.  Carmack — The  Indepen- 
dent Movement — Administration  of  Governor  Ben  W.  Hooper 

— Administration  of  Governor  T.  C.  Rye 600 

XXIX     Tennessee  in  the  World  War — Sergeant  Alvin  C.  York 632 

XXX     From  Roberts  to  Peay — Administration  of  Governor  A.  H.  Rob- 
erts— Administration  of  Governor  A.  A.  Taylor — Election  of 

Governor  Austin  Peay   682 

XXXI     Historic  Spots  and  Places — East  Tennessee — Middle  Tennessee — 

West   Tennessee    704 

XXXII     Education  in  Tennessee — The  Melungeons — Tennessee  Division, 
United  Daughters  of  the   Confederacy — Tennessee   Woman's 

Christian  Temperance  Union 775 

XXXIII     Counties  of  Tennessee   804 


APPENDIX 


Petition  of  Watauga  Association  to  be  Annexed  to  North  Caro- 
lina      903 

The  Constitution  of  Tennessee— 1796 906 

The  Constitution  of  Tennessee — 1834 915 

The  Constitution  of  Tennessee— 1870 931 

Alphabetical  Index    953 


Tennessee,  the  Volunteer  State 


INTRODUCTION 
THE  EARLIEST  PEOPLE  OF  TENNESSEE 

PREHISTORIC  TENNESSEE  AND  THE   INDIANS 

The  world  has  seen  many  migrations.  The  largest  of  them,  so  far  as  evi- 
dence indicates,  were  those  of  the  Aryan  or  Indo-European  races.  When  they 
swept  over  Europe,  they  found  the  regions  wherever  they  went  already  oc- 
cupied by  people,  perhaps  aborigines,  of  whom  nothing  is  known  to  show  to 
what  race  they  belonged. 

Similarly,  North  America  was  inhabited  by  people  who  preceded  the  red 
Indians.  They  were  numerous  in  Tennessee,  and  especially  in  Middle  Ten- 
nessee. Who  they  were  and  what  became  of  them  are  matters  of  speculation. 
It  is  possible  that  they,  too,  were  Indians.  If  so,  they  differed  in  many  respects 
from  the  Indians  that  were  found  by  the  white  men  who  first  landed  on  this 
continent,  who  had  no  knowledge  of  any  inhabitants  preceding  themselves, 
nor,  indeed,  any  legends  or  traditions  concerning  them.  It  is  almost  certain, 
therefore,  that  the  earlier  inhabitants  (the  mound  builders  or  stone  grave  peo- 
ple) were  destroyed  or  died  out  or  were  absorbed  at  a  period  far  distant  in  the 
past ;  and,  as  they  were  doubtless  tribal  rather  than  national,  they  may  have 
been  destroyed  by  their  enemies  in  detail,  as  the  Iroquois  eliminated  the  Illinois. 

Concerning  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  this  region,  Hosmer  says: 

"For  the  first  traces  of  man  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  we  must  go  back  to 
what  is  called  in  geology  of  the  Pleistocene  age.  It  was  then  that  the  glacial 
phenomena  were  in  evidence,  and  coeval  with  them  plainly  human  life  went 
forward.  Old  stone  (paleolithic)  implements  are  found  which  may  be  referred 
undoubtedly  to  the  age  of  ice.  Quite  possibly,  for  the  first  man  it  would  be 
necessary  to  ascend  to  the  Pliocene ;  at  any  rate  he  was  contemporary  with  the 

'Dragons  of  the  prime 
That  tore  each  other  in  their  slime.' 

'"This  primeval  man  is  believed  to  have  resembled  the  Esquimaux,  a  race 
ever  fighting  with  cold ;  while  the  Indians,  who  were  in  possession  of  the  con- 
tinent when  recorded  history  begins,  were  of  a  type  quite  different. ' ' 1 
Concerning  the  mound  builders,  or  stone  grave  race,  he  says :  2 
"There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  during  prehistoric  time  any  race  dif- 
ferent from  or  more  advanced  than  the  Indians  played  any  part.     Through- 
out the  basin,  but  particularly  between  the  river  and  the  Alleghenies,  a  feature 
which  has  caused  wonder  is  the  mounds,  the  constructions  amounting  to  thou- 
sands in  number,  ranging  from  tumuli  scarcely  noticeable  to  extensive  terraces, 
to  long  lines  of  earthworks,  to  outlines  of  the  forms  of  serpents  and  other  crea- 
tures embossed  upon  the  plain  in  ridges  that  run  for  great  distances.     *     * 
The  conclusion,  however,  seems  at  present  to  be,  that  there  was  no  special  race 


i"  A  Short  History  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,"  p.  5. 
2  Ibid.  pp.  12,  13,  14. 

7 


8  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  mound  builders;  that  the  mounds  came  from  the  ancestors  of  the  Indians, 
and  from  a  time  probably  no  further  back  than  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
century  of  our  era.  Excavations  have  revealed  no  finds  indicating  any  superior 
civilization;  since  Europeans  have  appeared,  mounds  have  been  constructed. 
It  is  believed  that  the  Mandans,  a  link  between  the  lower  tribes  and  the  pueblo 
races,  may  not  long  since  have  been  mound  builders.  So,  too,  the  Shawnees  in 
Ohio  and  the  Cherokees  farther  south,  races  which,  when  history  begins,  had 
progressed  far  enough  to  have  a  somewhat  stable  agriculture,  and  to  have 
domesticated  the  horse  and  the  ox.  The  purpose  of  the  terraces  is  believed  to 
have  been  to  furnish  sites  for  council-houses,  or  indeed  for  the  communal  dwell- 
ings, such  as  have  been  described.  The  cones  were  probably  intended  for  burial 
places;  the  ramparts,  perhaps,  for  defense.  The  work  presupposes  a  vast  popu- 
lation instead  of  the  scattered  handfuls  of  men  which  made  up  the  Indian  race 
at  the  European  coming,  even  in  the  most  populous  areas.  It  implies,  however, 
no  capability  of  which  the  Indian  was  not  possessed." 

From  the  mounds  and  graves  found  in  Tennessee  it  is  evident  that  the 
Stone  Grave  Race,  or  whatever  it  may  be  called,  was  very  numerous  in  this 
entire  region  from  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  Unaka  Mountains.  Capt.  W.  E. 
McElwee,  of  Rockwood,  who  has  made  a  deep  study  of  their  antiquities  has 
come  to  this  conclusion  : 

"A  study  of  their  remains  has  convinced  me  that  they  were  of  small  stature, 
light  hair,  blue  eyes,  long  aquiline  or  crescent  shaped  nose,  small  chin  and  wore 
manufactured  or  'home-made'  clothing,  and  were  exterminated  or  driven  from 
the  country  by  a  race  of  larger  stature,  more  then  eleven  hundred  years  ago." 

His  opinion  is  based  particularly  upon  his  studies  of  objects  and  places 
such  as:  a  peculiar  pipe,  discovered  in  1862,  showing  the  carved  figure  of  a 
man  on  a  block ;  the  imprint  of  a  man  in  the  clay  of  a  mound ;  the  mica  mines 
of  North  Carolina  which  were  worked  by  pre-historic  man ;  an  old  fort  con- 
taining three  skeletons ;  a  cave  on  Clifty  Creek  containing  cloth  knit  from  a  vege- 
table fiber;  and  a  grave  at  Rockwood.  The  following  are  the  conclusions  he 
has  drawn  from  his  study  of  the  relics  and  remains  referred  to: 

"They  were  either  a  very  numerous  people  or  inhabited  for  a  long  period 
of  time,  as  shown  by  the  vast  amount  of  bones  washed  up  by  the  Hoods  in  the 
river  in  the  years  1867  and  1875. 

"Their  bones  were  harder  and  much  more  lasting  than  those  of  the  present 
race.  The  bones  of  the  people  of  today  would  decay  in  less  than  one  hundred 
years. 

"They  were  a  people  of  filial  feeling  for  their  people,  as  shown  by  their 
mode  of  burial  and  the  erection  of  mounds  or  monuments  to  perpetuate  their 
hist  resting  place. 

"Their  love  and  respect  are  further  shown  by  the  casket  shield  with  which 
they  covered  an  old  person,  in  all  probability,  a  woman  wearing  a  string  of 
beads.  As  we  stood  at  the  grave  we  pictured  to  ourselves  the  family  of  weep- 
ing children  and  relatives  who  stood  around.     *     *     * 

"That  they  had  advanced  beyond  the  savage  state  is  shown  by  their  ability 
to  carve  images  from  plutonic  rocks,  the  making  of  metal  tools  and  ingenuity 
in  the  manufacture  of  clothing  from  lint. 

"The  hair,  the  comb  and  the  mirror  indicate  their  cleanliness  and  pride 
of  person. 

"Inasmuch  as  the  mica  miners  supplied  the  mirrors,  it  is  only  reasonable  to 


CHILD'S  RATTLE  FOUND  NEAR 
NASHVILLE 


IMAGE  FOUND  IN  A  SEA  SHELL 


TERRA  COTTA  EARRING  OR  WHEEL 


TERRA  COTTA  EARRING 


DIAGONAL  FABRIC  IMPRESSED  UPON  FABRIC  IMPRESSED  UPON  POTTERY 
POTTERY 


tttt  UBKMU 
Of  1HE 

or-  lumois 


UflWERSW 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  11 

suppose  that  they  and  the  mound  builders  were  of  the  same  tribe  and  were 
coexistent.  The  mica  mirror,  in  the  roll  of  clothing  of  the  cave  dweller,  must 
be  understood  as  determining  the  dweller  to  have  been  of  the  same  tribe  and 
lived  at  the  same  date.  The  clothing  of  the  cave  dweller  and  that  worn  by  the 
man  on  the  pipe  were  the  same,  hence  the  conclusion  that  the  artist  lived  at 
the  same  date.  We  therefore  conclude  that  the  mica  mirror  makers,  the  mound 
builders,  the  artist  and  the  cave  dweller  were  of  one  tribe  and  of  even  date. 

"It  is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  the  artist,  who  with  patience  cut  the 
figure  on  the  pipe,  designed  it  after  the  likeness  of  the  race  and  people  by  whom 
he  was  surrounded.  The  pipe  man  and  the  man  whose  imprint  was  left  in  the 
mound  had  the  same  characteristics  and  shape  of  face.  If  the  artist  followed 
the  likeness  of  his  race  in  form  and  in  clothing,  is  it  not  reasonable  to  believe 
that  he  also  put  the  same  color  of  eyes  into  the  image? 

"It  might  be  suggested  that  the  wisp  of  hair  was  of  recent  date,  possibly 
a  scalp  from  some  white  person,  but  the  amount  of  the  sand  fall  by  which  it 
was  covered  and  the  mica  mirror  rolled  up  with  it  prove  its  date;  besides,  it 
bad  been  cut  from  the  head  and  not  scalped."  3 

Anna  B.  A.  Brown,  in  an  article  entitled  "The  Early  Inhabitants  of  Ten- 
nessee," says: 

"The  center  of  the  most  enlightened  of  the  mound  building  people  was  in 
the  Cumberland  Valley,  and  there  they  are  known  as  the  Stone  Grave  Race 
from  the  number  of  stone  and  clay  sarcophagi  used  in  burying  the  dead.  Thou- 
sands of  these  graves  dot  the  great  basin  of  Middle  Tennessee."  4 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  STONE  GRAVE  RACE 

The  discoveries  made  by  antiquarians  tend  to  the  belief  that  the  vanished 
race  which  immediately  preceded  the  Indians  was  a  gentle,  happy  race  living 
mostly  in  the  beautiful  valleys  and  attractive  plains  of  Tennessee;  that  they 
were  industrious  and  progressive,  and  were  slowly  working  their  way  up  to 
a  higher  state  of  living.  This  fact  is  proven  by  the  implements,  tools,  orna- 
ments and  other  remains,  found  preserved  as  well  in  their  sarcophagi  as  those 
of  early  Italy  in  the  tombs  of  Pompeii,  Herculaneum  and  Cumae.  In  these 
remains  is  read  the  progress  of  this  long  vanished  race. 

The  zenith  of  their  civilization  must  have  been  reached  several  hundred 
years  before  the  Spaniards  came  to  America.  Having  reached  this  pinnacle 
they  perhaps  excited  the  envy  of  a  more  virile,  if  less  enlightened,  race  or 
tribe,  and  they  were  either  extinguished  or  absorbed. 

The  most  valuable  and  interesting  discoveries  of  the  remains  of  this  ancient 
people  have  been  made  in  Davidson,  Sumner,  Wilson  and  Williamson  counties. 
Evidently  a  considerable  metropolis  was  located  near  Nashville  with  smaller 
towns  immediately  surrounding  and  in  the  counties  mentioned,  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  great  central  city. 

Dr.  Joseph  Jones,  Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam,  Dr.  Gerard  Troost,  Gen.  G.  P.  Thrus- 
ton,  Dr.  W.  E.  Myer  and  others  have  made  numerous  explorations  in  this  region 
and  have  uncovered  thousands  of  graves  in  many  different  cemeteries,  one 
of  which,  in  1844,  extended  more  than  one  mile  along  the  east  bank  of  the 
Cumberland  River. 


:!  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  6,  pp.  200-205. 
4  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  147-152. 


12  TENNESSEE,  THE  YOIJ'NTEER  STATE 

The  subjoined  interesting  and  valuable  statement  concerning  the  Stone 
Grave  Race  was  given  to  Mr.  John  Trotwood  Moore  by  General  Thruston  in 
a  personal  interview  and  was  published  by  Mr.  Moore  in  the  April,  1907,  issue 
of  the  Taylor-Trotwood  Magazine.  In  answer  to  a  question  asked  by  Mr.  Moore, 
General  Thruston  said : 

"No,  these  mound  builders,  or  fort  builders,  or  stone  grave  builders,  as 
I  love  to  call  them,  were  not  of  the  family  of  the  nomadic  Indians — they  be- 
long to  a  more  advanced  type,  higher  up  in  the  scale  than  the  Indian  which 
the  white  man  knew.  Here  where  we  live  they  were  working  their  way  along 
humble  paths  of  progress  toward  a  higher  state.  In  an  evil  hour  the  spoiler 
came — perhaps  the  vindictive  Iroquois  of  the  North — the  Goths  and  Vandals 
of  the  western  world.  If  we  could  have  opened  these  graves  in  1492,  when 
Columbus  discovered  America,  we  might  have  learned  more  of  the  story  of  the 
mounds  and  graves  from  some  of  their  own  builders;  but  it  was  nearly  300 
years  afterward,  before  pioneer  civilization  reached  what  is  now  Tennessee. 
In  all  these  years  this  was  a  hunting  ground  only  for  the  Indians — it  was  so 
full  of  game  and  fish  no  tribe  would  permit  another  tribe  to  live  permanently 
upon  it — and  we  were  as  unknown  to  the  outer  world  as  Central  Africa.  Our 
problem  of  deciphering  the  history  of  these  people  was  a  great  one.  All  au- 
thorities agree  that  our  continent  was  peopled  two  or  three  thousand  years 
before  it  was  discovered  in  1492 ;  this  fact  must  be  realized  and  accepted  before 
progress  can  be  made  on  the  subject.  Geology,  history,  ruin  upon  ruin,  tradi- 
tion, moral  and  physical  characteristics,  language  in  a  hundred  dialects,  all 
unite  in  establishing  the  remoteness  of  the  period. 

"Some  ten  or  more  years  ago,  laborers,  in  plowing  on  the  Noel  farm,  would 
now  and  then  unearth  a  quaint  vessel.  Some  of  these  were  brought  to  me  and 
I  visited  the  place  and  found  this  ancient  cemetery.  Fully  3,000  graves  were 
opened  in  one  cemetery,  and  fully  a  thousand  or  so  were  opened  in  adjacent 
sections. ' ' 

Throughout  Middle  Tennessee  are  large  mounds,  traces  of  old  breastworks 
and  ditches.  I  had  often  seen  them,  but  from  General  Thruston 's  book  I  ob- 
tained the  first  satisfactory  idea  of  their  true  history.    He  says,  on  page  28 : 

"The  prehistoric  cemeteries  of  the  Stone  Grave  Race  of  Tennessee  are 
among  the  most  interesting  memorials  of  aboriginal  life  in  America.  The  mor- 
tuary remains  were  placed  in  cists,  or  box-shaped  graves,  built  of  stone  slabs, 
and  sometimes  constructed  with  much  care. 

"A  hundred  or  more  of  these  rude  sarcophagi  are  occasionally  found,  de- 
posited in  several  layers,  or  tiers,  in  a  single  burial  mound.  In  accordance  with 
the  ancient  and  modern  mortuary  customs  of  the  native  races,  vessels  contain- 
ing provisions  and  various  utensils,  were  placed  in  the  graves  beside  the  dead 
to  supply  them  on  their  journey  to  the  spirit  land.  Within  these  enduring  cists 
of  stone,  are  also  found  many  other  archaeological  treasures,  illustrating  the  arts 
and  industries  of  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  Tennessee.  They  were  thus 
sealed  up  and  protected  from  the  waste  of  time,  nearly  as  effectually  as  the  elab- 
orate tombs  of  Pompeii  and  Cumae  preserved  the  fragile  vases  of  Roman 
porcelain. 

"They  tell  the  story  of  ancient  domestic  life  in  the  Cumberland  and  Tennes- 
see valleys  with  remarkable  exactness,  and  unravel  secrets  that  the  most  im- 
posing monuments  of  the  native  races  have  failed  to  disclose.  One  of  the  largest 
and  richest  of  these  aboriginal  cemeteries,  about  five  miles  south  of  Nashville, 


TYPICAL  STONE  DISCS 


BURIAL  CASKET  OF  POTTERY 
(Hale's  Point,  Tennessee) 


OF  SHE 

mmmjy  of  n.um$ 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  15 

lying  along  the  waters  of  Brown's  Creek,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  historic  bat- 
tlefield, has  recently  been  explored,  in  fact,  devastated  by  relic  hunters  and  col- 
lectors. It  is  situated  upon  the  farm  of  Mr.  0.  F.  Noel,  adjoining  Glendale 
Park,  between  the  Franklin  and  the  Middle  Franklin  turnpikes,  and  in  one  of 
the  most  fertile,  well-watered,  and  beautiful  sections  of  Nashville. 

"Upon  this  favored  site,  centuries  ago,  there  was  a  large  town  or  city,  prob- 
ably the  ancient  metropolis  of  the  Stone  Grave  Race  of  Middle  Tennessee.  Not 
less  than  3,000  closely  laid  stone  graves  were  found  in  the  adjacent  cemetery, 
and  at  least  1,000  more  were  discovered  upon  the  adjoining  farms.  Many 
towns,  villages  and  settlements  were  located  in  the  surrounding  country,  and 
the  smaller  cemeteries,  upon  nearly  every  large  farm  in  this  general  section, 
establish  the  fact  that  a  widely  distributed  population  once  occupied  this  fertile 
territory,  and  buried  its  dead  for  several  generations,  at  least,  in  various  local 
or  family  burying  grounds. 

"Notwithstanding  its  rough  usage,  the  large  central  cemetery  has  proved  a 
valuable  treasury  of  antiquities.  Some  six  or  seven  hundred  perfect  specimens 
of  well-burned  pottery  have  been  obtained  within  its  limits ;  many  of  them 
unique  in  form,  and  so  finely  finished  that  they  may  be  said  to  be  semi-glazed. 
Nearly  every  familiar  natural  object,  animate  and  inanimate,  is  represented 
in  the  forms  of  this  ware.  Animals,  birds  and  fish  in  great  variety,  the  human 
figure  in  many  attitudes,  sea-shell  forms,  and  grotesque  and  fanciful  figures 
are  all  represented,  and  many  of  the  vessels  have  been  colored  and  decorated 
with  considerable  artistic  skill.  There  are  cooking  vessels,  drinking  cups,  water 
jars,  hanging  vessels,  sets  of  ware,  ornamented  and  plain,  basins,  bottles,  vases, 
spoons,  and,  indeed,  every  variety  of  equipment  for  a  well-stocked  aboriginal 
cuisine.  Many  of  the  images  and  terra  cotta  heads  doubtless  show  approxi- 
mately types  of  the  very  faces  and  lineaments  of  the  race  buried  beside  them ; 
evidently  the  ancient  Indian  ai-istocracy  of  the  Cumberland  Valley. 

"The  stone-grave  cemeteries  constructed  by  the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the 
Cumberland  and  Tennessee  valleys  indicate  the  presence  at  one  time  of  a  very 
large  population.  Like  their  successors  of  the  white  race,  the  aborigines  usually 
selected  the  most  fertile,  well-watered,  and  accessible  locations  for  their  homes. 
Here  they  had  healthful  and  picturesque  surroundings.  The  burial  grounds 
on  Brown's  Creek,  near  Nashville,  recently  discovered,  contain  three  or  four 
thousand  graves,  and  smaller  cemeteries  have  been  found  on  nearly  all  the 
adjacent  farms.  Professor  Putnam  and  his  assistants  explored  about  six  thou- 
sand graves,  the  majority  of  them  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville.  Dr.  Joseph 
Jones  examined  a  large  number,  in  some  fifteen  different  cemeteries.  Doctor 
Troost,  the  learned  geologist  of  Tennessee,  reported  six  very  large  cemeteries 
near  Nashville.  He  stated  'that  the  ancient  burial  grounds  on  the  banks  of 
the  Cumberland  River,  opposite  Nashville,  extended,  in  1844,  more  than  a  mile 
along  the  river. ' 

"These  remains  of  the  Stone-Grave  Race  are  found  in  other  sections  of  the 
state,  but  their  most  populous  villages  were  in  the  valleys  of  the  Cumberland 
and  Tennessee,  and  in  Southern  Kentucky.  Graves  of  similar  construction 
have  also  been  discovered  in  several  localities  of  Southern  Illinois,  in  Southern 
Indiana,  in  Georgia  and  in  Ohio.  Doubtless,  they  would  be  found  in  West 
Tennessee,  and  in  the  mound  and  pottery  districts  of  Arkansas  and  Missouri, 
but  the  necessary  stone  could  not  be  obtained  in  these  alluvial  regions. 

"The  rude  cists,  or  box-shaped  coffins,  are  made  of  thin  slabs  of  stone.   Some- 


16  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

times  the  stones  are  broken  or  cnt,  or  rubbed  clown  so  as  to  fit  evenly  and  form 
a  well-shaped  ease,  but  more  frequently  they  are  rudely  joined  together.  Oc- 
casionally they  are  found  in  mounds  or  layers,  four  or  five  tiers  of  graves  deep. 
The  graves  are  usually  six  or  seven  feet  long,  a  foot  and  a  half  to  two  feet  wide, 
and  eighteen  inches  deep;  but  graves  of  greatly  varying  sizes  and  shapes  are 
found  intermingled  with  those  of  more  regular  form.  The  children's  graves 
are  proportionately  smaller.  Frequently,  the  same  cist  contains  two  or  three 
skeletons,  and  is  not  more  than  three  or  four  feet  long,  the  bones  having  been 
placed  in  a  pile  irregularly  within  it,  indicating  that  they  were  probably  in- 
terred long  after  death,  and  after  some  intermediate  preparation  or  ceremonies 
similar  to  the  burial  of  some  of  the  historic  tribes. 

"Many  of  the  graves  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville  are  lined  with  large,  thick 
fragments  of  broken  pottery,  as  nearly  joined  together  as  if  molded  for  the 
purpose.  The  author  recently  excavated  several  graves  of  this  kind  in  Hon. 
W.  F.  Cooper's  farm,  near  Nashville.  The  pottery  burial  cases  were  sym- 
metrically formed  and  seemed  to  be  molded  in  single  pieces,  until  an  attempt 
was  made  to  raise  them,  when  they  fell  apart,  and  were  found  to  be  composed 
of  neatly-joined  fragments  of  large  vessels ;  the  heavy  rims  of  the  vessels,  more 
than  an  inch  and  a  half  thick,  having  been  used  as  rims  or  borders  for  the  burial 
eases." 

THE  INDIANS 

Far  different  from  the  comparatively  cultured  mound  builders  were  the 
Indians,  although  perhaps  of  the  same  race.  In  place  of  the  mild,  progressive 
arts  of  the  former,  came  the  fierce  and  rugged  pursuits  of  the  latter,  for  whom 
war  was  the  almost  constant  condition,  with  intervals  of  idleness  broken  only 
by  an  occasional  hunt.  In  their  campaigns  the  risks  and  hardships  encountered 
went  to  the  utmost  limit  of  human  endurance.  No  race  has  ever  shown  more 
courage,  both  active  and  passive,  than  have  the  Indians,  and  their  skill  in  pur- 
suit: of  their  enemies,  or  of  game,  was  matched  only  by  that  of  the  panther. 
The  cruelty  of  their  warfare  was  ruthless  and  diabolical.  They  were,  in  truth, 
as  Sprague  in  his  eloquent,  sometimes  grandiloquent  oration  on  the  passing 
of  the  red  man,  delivered  in  Boston,  July  4,  1825,  said,  "bold,  untamed,  un- 
tamable." 

Indian  life  was  tribal  and  essentially  rudimentary,  and  the  family  life  that 
they  led,  which  in  the  evolution  of  most  races,  tends  to  gentleness  and  humanity, 
did  not  affect  them  in  any  ameliorating  sense.  The  white  men  found  them  piti- 
less as  tigers. 

Contrary  to  the  general  opinion  the  country  was  very  sparsely  settled  by 
the  Indians,  a  fact  due  probably  to  their  ceaseless  wars,  which  rendered  vast 
tracts  uninhabited  because  out  of  them  the  population  had  been  killed.  Such 
was  the  case  in  Tennessee,  the  most  of  which  was  a  hunting  ground,  to  which 
the  neighboring  tribes  had  various  and  conflicting  claims. 

The  Indians  with  whom  the  history  of  Tennessee  is  mostly  concerned  were : 
the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws,  Chicka,saws,  Shawnees,  Iroquois  (six  nations) 
and  Seminoles.  Other  tribes,  like  the  Delawares,  occasionally  came  from  long 
distances  to  hunt  in  these  splendid  natural  game  preserves. 

The  Cherokees  inhabited  the  mountain  regions  of  Southeast  Tennessee  and 
small  parts  of  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Northern  Georgia.  The 
name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  ehee-ra,  fire. 


DECORATED  VASES  FOUND  NEAR  NASHVILLE 


VASES  AND  VESSELS  FROM  GRAVES 


,„t   llbttAlU 

Of  SHE 
MWERSITY  OF  »L,*0,S 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  19 

The  Creeks,  or  Muskogees,  inhabited  principally  the  northern  and  central 
parts  of  Alabama,  with  occasional,  but  not  permanent,  residence  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  Tennessee.  Some  of  their  settlements  extended  into  the  southern 
part  of  Alabama.  The  Seminoles  were  in  reality  lower  Creeks  and  lived  in 
what  is  now  Florida.     Seminole  means  "wild." 

The  Choctaws  dwelt  in  Mississippi,  their  principal  towns  being  at  the  head 
of  the  Pascagoula  and  Pearl  rivers. 

The  Chickasaws  inhabited  the  region  in  Southwestern  Tennessee,  Northern 
Mississippi  and  Northwestern  Alabama. 

The  Shawnees  were  the  Ishmaelites  of  the  Indians.  At  one  time  (probably 
about  1665)  they  occupied  the  country  from  the  Tennessee  River  north  to  the 
present  site  of  Nashville  and  perhaps  still  farther  north.  They  have  left  their 
name  to  Sewanee  in  Franklin  County,  Tennessee,  and  in  their  wanderings  have 
also  given  their  name  to  the  Suwanee  River  in  Southern  Georgia  and  Northern 
Florida,  to  the  Savannah  River  and  to  the  Shauvanon  River  (Cumberland). 
In  about  the  year  1700  they  went  North  and  were  received  by  the  Six  Nations, 
but  not  amalgamated  with  them  nor  allowed  title  to  any  land. 

The  Iroquois  were  northern  Indians  and  had  but  indirect  influence  on  Ten- 
nessee history  except  in  treaty  making. 

The  four  nations  of  the  Cherokees,  Creeks,  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws,  at 
the  time  when  Tennessee  history  begins,  had  altogether  about  14,000  warriors, 
about  one-fifth  of  their  total  population.5 

Donald  L.  McMurry  says  of  these  Indians : 

"The  Cherokees,  as  early  as  1785,  seem  to  have  made  progress  toward  civili- 
zation ;  the  women  were  learning  to  spin,  and  wanted  to  learn  how  to  raise 
cotton,  flax  and  wool,  as  well  as  how  to  spin  and  weave  them.  The  Creeks  in 
1789  were  '  in  a  great  measure  hunters ;  however,  they  cultivate  some  corn 
and  potatoes,  possess  cattle  and  horses,  a  few  slaves,  and  lately,  in  some  in- 
stances, have  introduced  the  plow. '  G  The  Choctaws  and  Chickasaws  were  them- 
selves nearly  naked.7  The  Cherokees  and  Chickasaws  cultivated  the  ground 
more  than  any  other  Indians,  and  possessed  cattle  in  proportionately  greater 
numbers.  The  Choctaws  hunted  only,  were  brave  and  hardy  in  the  woods,  but 
indolent  at  home. ' '  s 

Flint,  in  his  interesting  account  of  the  Indians  in  this  section,  says:9  "If 
we  can  infer  nothing  else  from  the  mounds,  we  can  clearly  infer  that  this 
country  once  had  its  millions.  *  *  *  Their  places  are  occupied  by  a  race 
who  were  depopulating  in  their  turn,  when  pur  forefathers  first  saw  the  coun- 
try. We  have  no  other  grounds,  on  which  to  charge  them  with  the  guilt  of 
having  destroyed  the  generations  that  are  buried  in  these  mounds,  than  the 
circumstance,  that  when  we  first  knew  them,  they  were  engaged,  as  they  are 
now,  in  constant  and  interminable  wars  with  each  other. ' ' 

In  concluding  this  subject,  it  may  be  said  that  the  Indians  first  encountered 
by  our  ancestors  had  been  pursuing  their  primitive  life  for  a  long,  though  in- 
definite period  of  time,  never  rising  above  the  middle  status  of  barbarism. 
They  were,  as  individuals,  lithe,  powerful,  and  of  vast  endurance.  They  were 
a  racial  example  of  the  doctrine  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest;  for,  due  to  the 


5  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  I,   36. 

«  Ibid.,  I,  39. 

'  Ibid.,  I,  78. 

s  Ibid.,  I,  79. 

s  The  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  p.  23. 


20  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

hardships,  privations,  ignorance,  and  insanitary  conditions  of  their  existence, 
those  marked  by  defect  or  weakness  fell  out  through  the  operation  of  the  in- 
exorable law.  As  a  race,  with  occasional  exceptions  which  proved  the  rule,  they 
were  characterized  by  an  energy  which  passed  into  unmitigated  ferocity,  which 
was  a  condition  natural  enough,  since,  up  to  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  they 
had  never  been  subjected  to  influences  which  soften  and  humanize.10 

TOPOGRAPHY    AND    NATURAL   DIVISIONS   OP    TENNESSEE 

In  natural  resources,  soils,  geographical  position,  climate,  beauty  of 
scenery  and  conditions  of  health,  Tennessee  is  remarkably  blessed.  It  is  situated 
between  north  latitude  35°  and  36°  30'  and  between  longitude  81°  38'  and 
90°  28'  west  from  Greenwich.  Including  300  square  miles  of  water  its  area 
is  42,050  square  miles  or  27,912,000  acres.  Its  greatest  length,  from  east  to 
west,  is  432  miles ;  and  its  greatest  width  from  north  to  south,  is  109  miles. 
A  line  drawn  from  the  northeast  corner  of  Johnson  County  to  the  southwest 
corner  of  Shelby  County  would  be  approximately  500  miles.  It  touches  eight 
contiguous  states,  a  larger  number  than  are  touched  by  any  other  state  in  the 
Union  except  Missouri.  No  other  southern  state  possesses  so  large  and  excel- 
lent navigable  streams,  the  mileage  of  its  navigable  waters  being  about  1,200 
miles,  included  principally  in  the  Mississippi,  the  Tennessee  and  the  Cumber- 
land rivers. 

The  symmetry  of  form  possessed  by  Tennessee  is  strikingly  apparent  upon 
the  map ;  but  its  natural  divisions  cannot  be  appreciated  without  a  detailed  ex- 
planation. These  natural  divisions,  eight  in  number,  extending  in  succession  from 
the  lofty  heights  of  the  Unaka  Mountains  on  the  east  to  the  low  alluvial  plains 
of  the  Mississippi,  serve  to  disclose  in  a  measure  the  reasons  for  the  surprising 
variety  and  richness  of  the  natural  resources  of  this  state,  as  well  as  its  re- 
markable diversity  of  climatic  conditions. 

FIRST,  THE  UNAKAS 

This  is  the  wild,  rugged,  mountainous  region  along  the  eastern  boundary  of 
the  state.  Its  average  elevation  is  5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  it  has  peaks 
which  rise  to  a  height  of  6,600  feet.  These  mountains  upon  which  are  found 
the  flora  of  Canada  and  the  climate  of  the  North,  form  a  part  of  the  great  Ap- 
palachian chain  and  inclose  many  beautiful  and  fertile  valleys,  roaring  rivers, 
primeval  forests  and  bold  summits.  Its  area  aggregates  2,000  square  miles. 
The  counties  of  Johnson,  Carter,  Washington,  Greene,  Cocke,  Sevier,  Blount, 
Monroe,  McMinn  and  Polk  are  wholly,  or  partially,  included  in  this  division. 
Mining,  stock  raising  and  agriculture  are  the  principal  occupations;  and  the 
products  include  iron,  copper,  marble,  slate,  lead,  zinc,  barytes,  manganese, 
lumber,  corn,  wheat,  pork,  poultry  and  fruits. 

SECOND,   THE  VALLEY   OF   EAST   TENNESSEE 

This  division,  immediately  west  of  the  first,  presents  a  series  of  parallel 
ridges  and   valleys,   a  fluted   conformation,   trending  northeast  and  southwest, 


io  A  Condensed  Geography  and  History  of  the  Western  States  or  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
pub.  in  1828,  pp.  156-192. 


y-rr-rr.  :^-l^ 


ANCIENT  STONE  HAMMER 


STONE  AXE 


CUTTING  IMPLEMENTS 


CUTTING    OR    SKINNING    IMPLEMENTS 


FINE  STONE  IMPLEMENTS 


OF  FHE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  23 

and  forms  one  of  the  most  beautiful  panoramas,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
fertile  regions  in  the  state.  Its  importance  and  possibilities  from  an  agricul- 
tural point  of  view  can  hardly  be  exaggerated,  for  the  valleys  are  copiously 
watered  by  numerous  streams,  the  rainfall  is  abundant,  the  herbage  succulent 
and  the  soil  rich.  Hence,  it  is  naturally  a  fine  stock  country  and  unsurpassed 
in  the  production  of  dairy  products  and  poultry.  Agriculture,  mining  and 
manufacturing  all  flourish,  though,  as  its  possibilities  are  not  yet  well  known, 
most  industries  are  in  their  infancy.  The  counties  of  this  division  in  whole 
or  in  part  are :  Hawkins,  Sullivan,  Hancock,  Claiborne,  Union,  Grainger,  Ham- 
blen, Jefferson,  Knox,  Roane,  Loudon,  Meigs,  Rhea  and  Bradley.  The  aver- 
age elevation  of  this  division  is  1,000  feet  above  the  sea,  and  its  area  is  9,200 
square  miles. 

THIRD,  THE   CUMBERLAND   TABLE  LAND 

Immediately  to  the  west  of  the  valley  of  East  Tennessee,  and  parallel  to 
it,  lies  the  Cumberland  Table  Land,  an  elevated  plateau  with  an  average  height 
of  2,000  feet  above  the  sea.  The  eastern  escarpment  of  this  plateau  rises 
abruptly  from  the  valley  to  the  east,  almost  as  precipitously  as  a  lofty  ram- 
part. The  western  declivities  are  ragged  and  indented  with  deep  valleys.  The 
treasures  of  iron  and  coal  hidden  in  this  division  are  almost  inconceivably  great. 
The  excellent  pasturage  of  the  open  forests  supports  thousands  of  live 
stock ;  its  sandy  soil  produces  fruit  and  vegetables  of  peculiarly  fine  flavor 
and  hardiness  and  free  from  noxious  insects;  the  healthful  climate,  pure  air 
and  abundance  of  mineral  waters  attract  thousands  of  invalids.  It  is  said 
that  not  one  case  of  tubercular  consumption  ever  originated  on  the  Cumber- 
land Plateau.  Its  area  is  5,100  square  miles.  The  counties  in  this  division, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  are:  Claiborne,  Campbell,  Scott,  Fentress,  Andei'son, 
Pickett,  Overton,  Morgan,  Roane,  Cumberland,  Putnam,  "White,  VanBuren, 
Rhea,  Bledsoe,  Grundy,  Sequatchie,  Franklin,  Marion  and  Hamilton. 

FOURTH,   THE  HIGHLAND   RIM 

This  division  is  also  called  the  Rimlands,  Highlands,  and  Terrace-lands,  be- 
cause, though  diversified  by  hills  and  valleys,  it  forms  a  plate-like  rim  to  a 
central  basin  which  it  surrounds.  It  extends  from  the  western  edge  of  the 
Cumberland  Table  Land  to  the  Tennessee  River  and  forms  an  extremely  fine 
agricultural  belt  with  soils  of  varying  fertility  and  adaptability.  It  is  splen- 
didly supplied  with  streams,  many  of  which  possess  a  wonderful  amount  of 
water  power,  but  little  of  which  is  being  utilized.  This  division  is  9,300  square 
miles  in  extent,  1,000  feet  of  average  elevation  above  the  sea  and  includes  in 
whole  or  in  part  the  counties  of  Macon,  Overton,  Pickett,  Putnam,  Clay,  Jackson, 
White,  Warren,  Coffee,  Franklin,  Lawrence,  Wayne,  Lewis,  Hickman,  Humph- 
reys, Dickson,  Cheatham,  Stewart,  Montgomery,  Robertson,  Perry,  Hardin, 
Sumner,  Cannon,  and  DeKalb. 

FIFTH,   THE    CENTRAL   BASIN 

The  great  Central  Basin  is  elliptical  in  shape,  surrounded  by  the  Highland 
Rim,  and  resembles  the  bed  of  a  drained  lake.     This  is  the  famous  blue-grass 


24  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

region  of  the  state,  and  has  been  called  the  "Garden  of  Tennessee,"  "the  Dim- 
ple of  the  Universe,"  "the  home  of  the  thoroughbred,"  and  other  designations 
which  serve  to  indicate  that  this  is,  in  truth,  one  of  the  choicest  regions  in  the 
world.  Limestone  is  the  underlying  rock  and  by  its  disintegration  furnishes 
a  constant  supply  of  plant  nutrition.  This  region  also  contains  the  famous 
phosphate  beds  discovered  in  1893.  The  soil  is  of  peculiar  richness  and  pro- 
duces marvelous  crops.  The  climate,  water  and  grasses  combine  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  best  live  stock  known.  Therefore  here  are  found  great  breeding 
establishments,  with  stocked  farms  and  thrifty  farmers.  This  division  has  an 
area  of  5,450  square  miles  and  an  elevation  of  550  feet  above  the  sea.  It  em- 
braces the  whole  or  a  part  of  the  counties  of  Smith,  Trousdale,  Sumner,  Wilson, 
Rutherford,  Davidson,  Bedford,  Moore,  Lincoln,  Giles,  Maury,  Marshall  and 
Williamson. 

SIXTH,  THE  WESTERN  VALLEY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE 

This  division  is  a  narrow  valley  extending  from  the  northern  to  the  south- 
ern boundary  of  the  state  with  an  average  width  of  ten  or  twelve  miles,  and 
immediately  west  of  the  Highland  Rim,  into  which  lateral  valleys  extend  some- 
times twenty  or  twenty-five  miles.  The  main  valley  and  the  subordinate  val- 
leys are  generally  fertile,  though  marshy  localities  with  swamps  of  cypress  are 
sometimes  found  along  the  Tennessee  River.  Fruits,  vegetables  and  agricul- 
tural products  thrive.  Its  area  is  1,200  square  miles  and  its  elevation  350  feet 
above  the  sea.  It  includes,  in  whole  or  in  part,  the  counties  of  Hardin,  Wayne, 
McNairy,  Henderson,  Decatur,  Humphreys,  Benton,  Stewart,  Houston  and 
Henry. 

SEVENTH,   THE  PLATEAU,  OK  SLOPE  OF   WEST   TENNESSEE 

This  division  is  peculiar  in  having  but  few  rocks  and  differs  in  this  respect 
from  the  divisions  previously  mentioned.  It  is  immediately  west  of  the  west- 
ern valley  of  the  Tennessee  and  consists  of  a  plain  gently  sloping  toward  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  furrowed  with  sluggish  streams.  The  soil  is  light,  porous 
and  silicious,  but  fertile  and  grows  all  crops  with  exuberance,  particularly 
fruits  and  vegetables  for  which  this  region  is  fast  becoming  famous.  Its  prin- 
cipal products  are  grain,  cotton,  tobacco,  fruits,  vegetables,  live  stock  and  lum- 
ber. It  contains  some  of  the  finest  virgin  forests  in  the  state.  Its  width  is 
84  miles ;  its  area  8,500  square  miles  and  its  average  elevation  500  feet  above 
the  sea.  It  includes  the  whole,  or  parts  of  the  counties  of  Carroll,  Madison, 
Haywood,  Henderson,  Wilson,  Weakley,  Crockett,  Fayette,  Henry,  Obion,  Tip- 
ton and  Shelby. 

EIGHTH,  THE   MISSISSIPPI  BOTTOMS 

This  division  forms  a  curious  contrast  to  the  extreme  eastern  (the  Unakas) 
division,  for  it  is  a  low,  alluvial  plain  teeming  with  a  rank  growth  of  vegetable 
life  that  is  almost  tropical  in  its  luxuriance.  It  has  numerous  lakes  and  mo- 
rasses, and  its  soil  is  the  most  powerful  in  the  entire  state,  producing  year  after 
year  without  apparent  diminution  of  fertility  the  most  astounding  crops  of 
corn  and  cotton.     Its  area  is  900  square  miles;  its  elevation  above  the  sea  295 


TYPICAL   SKULL   FROM    TENNESSEE       TYPICAL    SKULL    FROM    MISSOURI 
MOUND  MOUND 


TYPICAL  CRANIA  FROM  THE  STONE  GRAVES 


A  TYPICAL  SHORT  SKULL 


(HE  LIBRARY 

Of  THE 

UNIVERSITY  0F  II I INOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  27 

feet.     It  includes  the  whole  or  parts  of  the  counties  of  Lake,  Lauderdale,  Tip- 
ton, Shelby,  Obion,  Crockett  and  Haywood. 

CIVIL  DIVISIONS 

The  eight  natural  divisions  of  the  state  comprise  only  three  political  divi- 
sions, as  follows : 

EAST  TENNESSEE 

This  grand  division  of  the  state  comprises  all  the  territory  from  the  North 
Carolina  line  to  the  center  of  the  Cumberland  Table  Land,  including  the  first 
and  second  natural  divisions  and  about  half  of  the  third  division.  It  contains 
13,112  square  miles  and  embraces  the  counties  of  Anderson,  Bledsoe,  Blount, 
Bradley,  Campbell,  Carter,  Claiborne,  Cocke,  Cumberland,  Grainger,  Greene, 
Hamblen,  Hamilton,  Hancock,  Hawkins,  Jefferson,  Johnson,  Knox,  Loudon, 
McMinn,  Marion,  Meigs,  Monroe,  Morgan,  Polk,  Rhea,  Roane,  Scott,  Sequatchie, 
Sullivan,  Unicoi,  Union,  Van  Buren,  and  Washington, — 34. 

MIDDLE   TENNESSEE 

This  grand  division  extends  from  the  dividing  line  on  the  Cumberland  Table 
Land  to  the  Tennessee  River.  It  comprises  one-half  of  the  third  natural  divi- 
sion, the  whole  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  and  half  of  the  sixth.  Its  area  is  18,126 
square  miles,  comprising  the  counties  of  Bedford,  Cannon,  Cheatham,  Clay, 
Coffee,  Davidson,  DeKalb,  Dickson,  Fentress,  Franklin,  Giles,  Grundy,  Hick- 
man, Houston,  Humphreys,  Jackson,  Lawrence,  Lewis,  Lincoln,  Macon,  Marshall, 
Maury,  Montgomery,  Moore,  Overton,  Perry,  Pickett,  Putnam,  Robertson, 
Rutherford,  Smith,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Trousdale,  Warren,  Wayne,  White, 
Williamson  and  Wilson, — 39. 

WEST  TENNESSEE 

This  grand  division  extends  from  the  Tennessee  River  to  the  Mississippi 
River  and  includes  half  of  the  sixth  natural  division  and  the  whole  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  natural  divisions.  Its  area  is  10,512  miles  (square),  cov- 
ering the  counties  of  Benton,  Carroll,  Chester,  Crockett,  Decatur,  Dyer,  Fay- 
ette, Gibson,  Hardeman,  Hardin,  Haywood,  Henderson,  Henry,  Lake,  Lauder- 
dale, MeNairy,  Madison,  Obion,  Shelby,  Tipton,  and  Weakley, — 21. 


PERIOD  I 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  RACE-LIFE  OF  TENNESSEE 

Before  writing  the  story  of  any  peoples,  or  even  chronicling  the  chief  events 
of  their  race-life,  as  is  attempted  in  this  book,  it  is  well  to  know  who  these 
people  are.  Whence  did  they  come,  who  were  their  forefathers,  and  what  were 
some  of  the  foundation  beliefs  which  made  the  character  of  their  race-life? 

For  these  things  being  known,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  understand  what  has 
followed  in  the  race-life  of  their  descendants,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee. 

Indeed,  any  scholar,  knowing  their  past  race-life  as  a  Cause,  might  have 
correctly  prophesied  from  its  very  beginning  the  Effect — that  is,  what  these 
people  of  Tennessee  would  do  and  will  continue  to  do. 

The  pedigree  of  a  people  in  a  large  measure,  fixes  their  principles ;  and  their 
race-life  has  always  been  the  forerunner  of  their  religion. 

The  religious  difference  between  the  Protestant  Scotch  of  Northern  Ireland 
and  the  Catholic  Celts  of  the  South  is  not  accident  or  chance,  but  basic  and 
fundamental — the  divergence  of  a  wide  difference  in  the  breed.  Heroic,  poetic, 
romantic,  splendid,  but  unstable  and  unbalanced  has  been  the  story  of  Ireland — 
centuries  of  martyrdom  at  the  altar  of  impulse  and  improvidence.  She  is  en- 
acting today  a  tragedy  among  her  own  people  which  is  only  a  repetition  of  those 
of  her  race-life  a  thousand  years  ago.1 

There  has  always  been  a  stability  and  a  balance  among  the  Scotch  and  Welsh 
and  English  that  has  been  wanting  in  the  Irish.  There  are  some  peoples  whom 
Evolution  seems  to  have  made  that  their  race-life  might  be  given  to  others. 
History  proves  that,  so  far,  this  has  been  decreed  of  both  Germany  and  Ire- 
land. We,  of  Scotch  and  English  blood  (by  the  census  of  1920  nearly  95  per 
cent2  of  the  white  people  of  Tennessee),  will,  perhaps,  not  altogether  welcome 
the  historical  fact  that  we  are,  to  a  large  extent,  what  we  are,  that  we  have  been 
permitted  to  develop  our  race-life,  our  ideals  of  a  democracy  of  the  people,  our 
commanding  commerce,  sea  power,  religion,  and  colonizations  of  democratic 
peoples,  because,  first,  of  their  island  security ;  because,  second,  of  buffer  Ger- 
many keeping  the  Mongol,  the  Slav  and  the  Latin  off  our  backs  across  the 
Channel,  while  we  developed  in  comparative  security.  As  for  unhappy  Ire- 
land she  has  poured  out  her  blood  on  every  battlefield  for  democracy  as  much 
as  either  the  Scotch  or  English.  It  is,  however,  a  grave  historical  error  to 
speak  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  whose  blood,  except  English,  greatly   predominates 


i  At  this  writing,  Ireland,  given  automony  at  last,  is  seemingly  destroying  itself  with 
civil  war.  She  is  now  on  trial  before  the  world  and  all  who  know  her  hope  she  will  arise 
to  the  occasion  and  prove  her  right  to  independence  and  sovereignty. 

-  This  includes  the  Irish,  their  percentage  being  too  small  in  rural  Tennessee  to  make 
an  exception,  but  large  in  the  great  eastern  cities. 

28 


TENNESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE  29 

till  others  in  the  white  people  of  Tennessee,  as  being  Irish.  Some  late  histories 
claim  that  such  great  Scotch-Irish  of  Tennessee  as  Andrew  Jackson,  Houston. 
Johnson,  Polk  and  others  are  Irish  because  their  ancestors  came  from  Northern 
Ireland.  Scotch-Irish  is  a  misnomer,  a  hybrid  word  of  no  true  etymology.  There 
is  no  Celt  blood  in  any  of  these,  nor  in  the  people  of  the. four  counties  of  North- 
ern Ireland,  who  were  Scotch  and  English,  settled  there  by  James  I  of  England, 
and  later  so  bitterly  oppressed  and  persecuted  by  his  weak  and  degenerate  suc- 
cessors that  in  the  sixteenth,  and  more  rapidly  and  in  greater  numbers,  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  they  migrated  by  thousands  to  the  southern  colonies  of  Vir- 
ginia and  the  Carolinas,  and  later  their  descendants  poured  in  a  steady  stream 
across  the  mountains  into  Tennessee.  True  to  their  race-life,  as  expressed  in 
their  clan  life,  and  their  breed,  they  did  not  migrate  in  colonies,  but  in  clans, 
neighbors  and  families,  and  thus  you  find  them  in  Tennessee  today.3 

In  the  Foreword  of  the  volume  will  be  found  some  of  the  race  characteristics 
of  this  people.  To  call  them  Anglo-Saxons  is  almost  as  heterogeneous  a  term  as 
to  designate  the  dominant  Tennessee  family  Scotch-Irish ;  for  they  have,  in 
their  blood  lines,  less  of  either  Angle  and  Saxon  than  of  the  great  overpower- 
ing stream  of  Baltic  Teuton,  Scandinavian,  Dane,  Norman  and  Celt — with  a 
basic  foundation  of  aboriginal  Briton.  The  English  language,  unsurpassed  in 
its  vocabulary,  is  itself  a  literary  chart  and  coat  of  arms  of  the  varied  sources 
of  its  royalty.  In  no  other  language  may  ideas  be  expressed  by  words  of  so 
many  differing  shades  of  meaning,  ranging  all  the  way  from  the  blunt,  short, 
manly,  strong,  soil-smelling  Saxon  to  the  rhythmic,  effeminate  and  perfumed 
Latin. 

It  is  a  long  call  in  a  mixed  breed  between  the  Saxon  King  or  Cyng  and  the 
Roman  Imperator.  The  Saxon  of  us  has  long  ago  made  short  shrift  of  the  Cyng 
or  King;  but  the  Norman  Latin  of  us  still  dearly  loves  his  lord  and  emperor, 
even  if  he  has  no  divine  rights,  in  this  age,  save  in  a  vast  variety  of  uniforms 
as  a  figure-head  for  the  procession  of  democracy. 

Let  us  analyze  a  little  closer  this  mixture  of  races  making  this  language 
which  we  now  call  English  and  see  just  what  we  are,  and  why. 

Primarily  and  fundamentally  we  are  English;  and,  while  we  may  speak 
of  Anglo-Saxon  and  use  words  of  Latin  etymology,  we  must  never  forget  that 
for  ten  or  twelve  centuries  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  sub- 
merging of  the  continent  by  Goth  and  Vandal  and  I  Inn,  sweeping  away  entire 
nations,  leaving  only  fragments  such  as  Saxons  and  .lutes  and  some  of  the  Pranks, 
the  Engleman  was  swept  across  a  little  ocean  to  an  island — a  little  ocean  of 
only  twenty-three  miles — a  channel  now  that  civilization  daily  steps  across,  but 
then  wider  than  the  Atlantic  which  later  and  until  now  has  served  our  own 
republic  from  invasion;  and,  like  the  English  of  2,000  years  ago,  gave  us  the 
opportunity  for  national  expansion.  Behind  this  narrow  channel  the  English- 
man had  his  chance  to  develop  while  his  German  brother  across  on  the  con- 
tinent has  been  torn  to  shreds  for  a  thousand  years,  before  and  since;  and  only 
lately  to  tear  itself  to  pieces  again  for  lack  of  that  common  sense  developed 
through  security  by  the  English,  of  seeing  around  the  corner,  but  making  of 
the  Germans  the  evolutionary  food  of  other  and  more  practical  peoples. 

Behind  this  barrier  the   Engleman   grew  with   his  language,   his   ideals,   his 


3  To  show  how  and  why  our  Scotch  ancestry  immigrated  to  America,  the  following  page 
is  a  copy  of  an  Immigration  List  obtained  from  the  British  Archives  by  John  Trotwood 
Moore,  state  librarian  and  archivist  of  Tennessee,  now  to  be  seen  in  the  Tennessee  Archives. 
Observe  these  names  and  duplicate  them  in  your  own  neighborhood. 

Vol.  l—H 


30 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


LIST  OF  PASSENGERS  ON  BOARD  THE  SHIP  "ULYSSES,"  JAMES  CHALMERS.  MAST 
FOR  WILMINGTON,  IN  NORTH  CAROLINA 


Passengers'  Names 

Age 

Former  Place 
of  Residence 

Business 

Reasons  for  Immigrating 

Robt   McNichol  . 

30 
24 
9 
28 
21 
24 
20 
26 
40 
40 
10 
6 
3 
45 
35 
11 
9 
5 
4 
40 
28 
32 
32 
28 
25 
26 
6 
24 
35 
30 
40 
30 
10 
9 
32 
26 
48 
58 
40 
25 
25 
58 
52 
16 
38 
20 
28 
18 
26 
19 
22 
19 
32 
24 
5 
20 
46 
46 
64 
64 
23 
25 
21 
64 
64 
19 
21 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Greenock 

Glasgow 

Glenwieha 

Glenwieha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwichal 

Glenwicha  \ 

GlenwichaJ 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwichal 

Glenwichal 

Glenwicha  | 

GlenwichaJ 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwichal, 

Glenwicha) 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Glenwicha 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre     [ 

Kintyre      f 

Kintyre     J 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Kintyre 

Gentn. 
His  wife 

Shipmat. 
Surgeon 
Workman 
Workman 

Farmer 

Their  children 

Farmer 
His  wife 

Their  children 

Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  son 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 

Their  children 

Farmer 
His  wife 
Workman 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 

Their  children 

Shoemaker 
Taylor 
His  wife 
Workman 
Workman 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Their  son 
Taylor 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
Cooper 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 
Farmer 
His  wife 

High  rents  and  oppression 
To  build 

Jean  Campbell,  his  wife .  .  . 

Annabel  McNichol 

Abram  Hunter     

Thomas  Young 

John  McNichol 

High  rents  and  oppression 
Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Angus  Galbreath 

Katrine  Brown,  his  wife . .  . 
Angus  Fletcher 

Katrine  Mclntyre,  his  wife 

Euphame  Fletcher 

Mary  Fletcher 

Nancy  Fletcher 

John  Melntvre 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  Downie 

Nancy  Mclntyre 

Dond.  Mclntyre 

Chrisly  Mclntyre 

John  Melntvre 

Duncan  Mclntyre 

Katrine  Mclntyre 

John  Sinclair 

High  rents  and  oppression 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  Sinclair 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Donald  Mclntyre 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  Mclntyre 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Don  McFarlane 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Don  McFarlane.        

High  rents  and  oppression 

Isobel  Mclntyre 

High  rents  and  oppression 

John  Mclntyre 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Margt.  Mclntyre 

Malcom  McPherson 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Janet  McPherson 

Willm.  McPherson 

Willm.  Picken 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Martha  Hine                 .... 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Robt.  Howie 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

Archd.  McMillan 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  Taylor 

High  rents  and  oppression 

John  Greenlees 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  Howie 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Peter  McArthur 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Chrisn.  Bride 

High  rents  and  oppression 

John  McArthur 

Ann  McArthur 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Ian  McArthur 

John  McArthur .  .          .... 

Danl.  Caldwell. . 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

Robt.  Mitchell.  . 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

Ann  Campbell 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

Alex  Allan 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

John  Ferguson 

Poverty  occasioned  by  want  of  work 

Robt.  McKichan 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Janet  McKendrick 

Neil  McKichan 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Don  McKay 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Andrew  Hyndman 

Cathn.  Campbell 

High  rents  and  oppression 
High  rents  and  oppression 

Malm.  Smith 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Mary  McAlister 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Neil  Thomson 

High  rents  and  oppression 

John  Gilchrist 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Marion  Taylor 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Neil  McNeil 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Isobel  Simpson 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Angus  Cameron 

High  rents  and  oppression 

Katrine  Cameron 

High  rents  and  oppression 

TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  31 

character — a  new  Englishman.  Not  the  Celt  that  had  in  turn  absorbed  another 
Celt  before  Caesar ;  nor  the  Briton  of  Caesar,  but  the  Briton  who  was  a  Teuton 
and  who,  in  his  turn,  absorbed  both  Briton  and  Celt.  He  dropped  even  his 
Teuton  gods  of  Woden  and  Thor,  and  went  back  to  his  older  Aryan  faith  of  the: 
Mid-Asian  Vedas:   "His  shadow  is  immortality.    He  alone  is  God  above  gods."  4 

Before  the  Engleman  came  to  the  Isle  of  Briton  there  was  an  older  Eng- 
land which  lay  along  the  south  shores  of  the  Baltic.  Neither  was  he  Saxon  nor 
Jute,  but  Angleman.  The  others  were  his  kin  but  he  absorbed  them  and  thereby 
proved  himself  to  be  the  strongest  and  most  virile.  Thus,  throughout  the  cen- 
turies he  has  ever  been  and  always  he  has  absorbed  the  others.  The  Saxon,  the 
Jutes,  the  Danes,  the  Swede,  the  Norseman — all — though  some  of  them  con- 
quered him  in  part,  yet  only  to  be  absorbed  at  last.  His  last  absorption  was 
the  Norman,  who,  in  turn,  was  of  the  same  Teutonic  race  as  the  Angleman. 
Now.  in  crossing  the  channel,  the  Saxon  and  the  Jute  crossed  together  for  pro- 
tection and  under  common  leadership ;  but  the  Angleman  crossed  in  his  greater 
strength  alone,  and  instead  of  taking  a  small  portion  of  Briton,  as  did  the  Saxon,- 
and  Jute  (who  seized  small  portions  of  South  Briton),  the  Engleman  boldy 
invaded  the  whole  and  gave  his  name  to  the  whole  of  Britain. 

And  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  another  fact  which  has  a  most  potent  influence 
on  his  history :  the  Engleman,  crossing  the  channel  before  the  fall  of  Rome, 
escaped  the  degenerating  influence  of  this  decadent  Empire,  its  customs,  man- 
ners, laws  and  religion.  The  English,  therefore,  were  less  contaminated  by 
Rome  than  were  any  of  the  other  Teuton  tribes. 

One  would  suppose  from  the  early  Saxon  chronicles  which  greatly  magnify 
the  work  of  Saxon  life  in  Britain,  that  in  learning  and  literature  and  in  race 
achievement  the  Saxon  race  predominated.  But  this  is  not  true :  these  southern 
S.ixons  were  of  easy  access  to  Roman  influence  and  learned  to  write  and  to 
chronicle  sooner  than  the  English  in  the  North.  The  latter  had  a  stronger  race 
achievement  though  they  had  not  learned  to  keep  the  written  record.  This  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  though  Saxon,  through  the  Latin,  learned  first  to  keep 
land  so  in  history  to  magnify)  their  written  record,  yet  the  English  easily 
absorbed  them,  records,  language,  and  all. 

The  cycles  of  civilization  ever  return  to  repeat.  This  situation  is  similar  to 
the  one  which  exists  now  in  the  United  States  of  America.  The  English  South- 
erner  of  Scotch-Irish,  Wales  and  English  blood  of  Virginia,  Maryland  and  the 
Carolinas,  although  they  have  led  in  every  great  movement  of  immigration,  going 
steadily  westward,  conquering  the  Indian  and  the  wilderness  in  the  founding 
of  new  states ;  although  they  have  taken  the  initiative  in  every  protest  of 
Democracy  against  the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  kings  from  the  battle  of  the 
Alamance,  the  first  conflict  of  the  Revolution,  to  both  the  Mecklenburg  Declara- ' 
tion,  1775,  and  the  Great  Declaration  of  1776;  and  although  the  revolution  was 
won  in  the  south,  beginning  with  the  winning  point  of  King's  Mountain  and 
ending  at  Yorktown  in  Virginia;  and  although  her  statesmen-presidents  and  her 
great  Chief  Justice  Marshall  gave  to  the  nation  oy^ry  great  and  fixed  policy  of 
the  new  republic  and  every  foot  of  new  territory  acquired  except  Alaska,  yet 
this  land  of  the  Southern  Englishman,  by  the  last  census  fully  96  per  cent  pure 
blood  and  comprising  nearly  twenty-five  millions  of  pure  blood  English,  equalled 


*  The  Englishman  did  not  altogether  get  his  religion  from  the  Jews.  As  an  Aryan  he 
had  a  religion  of  one  God  before  the  Jews,  and  a  far  more  lovable  God  than  this  terrible 
and  avenging  Jehovah  of  the  Jews.  The  loving  God  of  the  Man  of  Galilee  fitted  the  Eng- 
lish Aryan's  past  race-life.     He  easily   accepted  it. 


32  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

nowhere  save  in  the  mother  country  herself — this  land,  by  failure  to  encourage 
her  chroniclers,  historians,  poets,  and  literary  people,  has  had  the  written  records 
of  all  these  achievements  taken  from  her  and  given  to  New  England,  whose 
people,  to  their  great  credit,  have  cultivated  and  encouraged  the  written  word.5 

Even  before  the  Engleman  came  over  and  possessed  the  islands  of  the  Briton, 
as  stated,  he  had  a  distinct  civilization  of  his  own  and  a  race-life  so  pronounced 
that  it  was  he,  always,  who  absorbed  the  others  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 

Our  own  Declaration  of  Independence  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
may  be  traced  back  to  his  democratic  customs  even  then.  The  ceorl — now  the 
English  earl — was  the  hist  free  man  who  arose  with  rights  of  his  own,  though 
the  franchises  he  acquired  then  are  now  the  common  property  of  all  English 
speaking  peoples.  Their  system  of  government  was  very  much  like  that  of 
Tennessee  or  any  other  American  state  today.  There  was  first  the  village-moot, 
which  was  nothing  more  than  our  town  meetings,  or  mayor  and  aldermen. 
Above  that  was  the  hundred-moot,  a  combination  of  all  town-moots;  above  that 
was  the  greater  folk-moot,  where  was  gathered  all  the  free  men  of  the  tribe  for 
counsel  and  deliberation.  This  corresponds  to  the  legislatures  of  our  various 
states,  and  with  the  idea  advanced,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

Abraham  Lincoln  in  his  phrase  "of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the 
people."  repeated  almost  exactly  the  words  of  the  ancient  chronicler's  of  the 
Engleman. 

In  crossing  the  channel  and  leaving  behind  the  Old  England  of  the  con- 
tinent and  his  Teuton  brethren  (who  afterwards  fell  more  or  less  under  the 
influence  of  Rome),  one  important  fact  must  be  emphasized — the  Engleman 
escaped  the  influence  of  Rome  and  the  Roman  Church,  and  all  the  blood  lines 
which  were  added  to  him  as  the  centuries  passed,  such  as  Norsemen,  Dane  and 
Saxon,  and  even  the  half-Latinized  Norman  were  free  of  this  taint  of  Rome. 
The  Engleman  is,  therefore,  as  naturally  Protestant  as  he  is  self-governing  and 
democratic.  They  migrated  from  old  Continental  England  for  the  same  reason 
that  one  thousand  years  later,  the  Puritan  of  Massachusetts,  the  Scotch-Irish 
and  English  of  the  Carolinas  migrated  to  America:  on  account  of  high  rents 
and  oppression.0 

The  Norse  blood  and  the  Norman  blood  have  always  been  the  fighting  blood 
in  the  Engleman  but  it  has  always  been  the  solid,  practical  Engle  blood  that  has 
held  what  they  have  gained.  The  Norse  and  the  Norman  and  the  Celt  blood  in 
the  new  Engleman  made  possible  Trafalgar  and  Waterloo  on  one  side,  and 
King's  Mountain,  New  Orleans,  Shiloh,  Gettysburg,  and,  last  but  not  least, 
Chateau  Thierry  and  the  Argonne.  Either  of  these  bloods  if  they  had  battled 
alone  might,  have  lost — combined  they  have  won  empires  and  continents  and  have 
held  all  they  have  won. 

Once  English  always  English,  is  as  true  of  England  as  of  his  blood  brothers 
in  America. 

The  Latin  will  sell  his  territory  even  as  he  will  sell  his  women,  but  the 
Engleman,  whether  he  is  in  Canada,  New  Zealand,  Australia,  South  Africa,  or 
the  United  States  of  America  will  sell  neither,  nor  will  he  exchange  his  pure- 
blooded  wife  to  intermarry  with  lower  peoples  or  mongrels. 


"■  At  Lexington,  Mass.,  is  a  very  noble  shaft  which  proclaims  that  the  first  blood  shed 
in  the  Revolution  was  on  that  spot.  It  was  an  heroic  achievement  and  deserved  the  statue, 
but  it  is  not  historical  truth,  since  the  first  battle  of  the  Revolution  was  fought  at  the 
Alamance  Creek,  near  Hillsboro,  N.  C,  1771,  four  years  before  and  by  many  more  patriots 
than  fought  at  Lexington. 

'■  See  Census  Table. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  33 

In  the  security  of  his  island  home  the  Engleman  developed  that  poise,  cool- 
ness and  nerve  that  have  made  him  the  conqueror  or  emigrant  owner  of  other 
lands;  whereas,  the  constant  strife  and  warring  of  the  nations  of  Continental 
Europe  where  war  and  annihilation  hang  over  their  head,  always  like  the  sword 
of  Damocles,  has  tended  to  upset  the  nervous  equilibrium  of  the  people,  engender 
race  hatreds  and  instability,  compared  with  the  Engleman.  The  Engleman,  too, 
retained  his  calm  idea  of  the  Sabbath  and  followed  strictly  the  commandment 
in  resting  on  the  Sabbath.  One  day  of  every  seven  his  nerves  relaxed,  his  bur- 
dens ceased,  his  mind  turned  to  spiritual  things,  and  with  it  stored  up  the  future 
nerve  force  with  which,  one  thousand  years  later,  in  the  two  hundred  years'  duel 
between  him  and  the  French  and  the  Spaniard,  for  the  possession  of  America, 
the  Englishman  won,  and  won  with  everything  against  him ;  for  the  Frenchman 
had  seized  every  strategic  position,  his  colonies  were  established  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  long  before  those  of  Plymouth  and  Jamestown.  At  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  he  possessed  the  only  waterway  that  led  into  the  interior. 
All  people  South  of  him  had  to  cross  barriers  of  mountains  and  impenetrable 
forests.  With  wonderful  foresight  the  Frenchman  seized  the  other  great  water- 
way leading  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  estab- 
lished his  chain  of  forts  there.  His  King  and  his  home  people  were  solidly 
behind  him  with  a  larger  population  and  a  greater  wealth.  He  feared  nothing 
from  the  feeble,  praying  Puritan  and  Carolina  immigrants  who  landed  on  almost 
barren  coasts  with  their  Bibles,  their  women  and  their  rifles.  More  than  that, 
the  French,  by  intermarrying  with  the  Indians  and  treating  them  as  their  equals 
made  the  savages  their  friends.  The  great  bitterness  and  cruelty  of  the  early 
French  and  Indian  wars  against  the  Americans  was  caused  by  this. 

The  wars  in  the  Carolinas,  on  the  Holston,  and  even  with  James  Robertson 's 
settlement  on  the  Cumberland,  were,  for  the  most  part,  caused  by  the  bitterness 
which  went  into  the  Indian  soul  with  the  knowledge  that  the  English  pioneer 
never  considered  him  his  social  equal.  There  is  nothing  that  so  embitters  an 
inferior  race  as  to  know  this. 

The  Englishman  would  not  intermarry  with  him,  would  not  treat  him  as  his 
social  equal. 

The  Frenchman  did. 

But  in  the  end  it  was  the  Englishman  with  his  pure  blood,  his  wife,  his 
Bible  and  his  rifle  who  owned  the  continent,  and  not  the  Frenchman. 

And  it  must  be  remembered  that  as  there  has  never  been  any  Roman  or  kingly 
church  in  England,  so  there  has  never  been  any  autocratic  king — at  least,  not 
for  long. 

Democratic  England  has  permitted  the  kingly  idea  only  as  a  figure-head  for 
maintaining  the  family  idea  and  morality. 

When  they  have  violated  this  privilege  and  shocked  this  morality,  as  last 
attempted  by  Charles  I,  they  have  found  their  heads  in  a  basket,  their  families 
destroyed,  their  line  of  descent  abolished  and  their  persons  banished  to  Other 
lands.  Today,  the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain  can  make  of  their  king  a  com- 
moner in  his  own  realm.  It  may  abolish  his  Empire  of  India  and  change  every 
political  and  social  structure  of  the  kingdom,  but  if  the  humblest  sailing  master 
has  a  long  established  precedent  of  sailing  in  a  certain  way,  or  fishing  rights, 
or,  if  one  thousand  years  ago  a  humble  yokel  made  a  pathway  down  a  lane  and 
across  meadows,  or  these  meadows  had  been  used  from  time  immemorial  as  com- 
mons by  the  people,  there  is  no  power' in  Parliament  sufficient  to  abolish  them. 


34  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

And  as  it  was  in  England  a  thousand  years  ago,  so  is  it  in  America,  and  in 
Tennessee,  today. 

,  To  the  historian,  looking  before  and  after,  it  is  not  chance  that  has  planted 
,the  Engleman  in  so  many  parts  of  the  earth,  and  on  the  lands,  and  within  the 
latitudes  best  adapted  for  his  race-life  and  the  development  of  his  ideals.  It  is 
a  somewhat  analogous  situation,  as  the  development  of  that  first  greatest 
Republic  of  the  Greeks.  They,  too,  had  made  different  settlements  in  what  was 
then  a  vast  territory  of  the  known  world — the  peninsula  islands  of  the  archi- 
pelago of  the  Mediterranean.  A  small  part  of  the  civilized  globe  today,  but  a 
.large  part  of  it  then.  But  whether  they  were  Spartans,  or  Athenians,  or 
Boeotians  or  Sicilians,  or  from  the  farthermost  colonies  of  the  Euxine  Sea,  they 
were  all  of  one  blood,  of  the  same  ideals  and  ultimately  united  into  one  common- 
wealth— Greece. 

And  so  with  the  Engleman.  In  the  home  country  the  Engleman  is  Briton ; 
in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  he  is  of  that  name ;  American  in  America  ;  but 
in  all  of  them  he  is  first,  last,  and  all  the  time  English. 

In  the  old  Engle  land  he  absorbed  the  Briton,  Saxon,  Jute,  Dane,  Scot,  Celt. 
Northman,  and  Norman  and  made  of  them  all,  English.  In  America  it  has  been 
the  same ;  he  has  absorbed  the  French,  in  Canada  and  New  Orleans ;  the 
Spaniard  in  Florida ;  the  Dutch,  the  Huguenot,  the  German,  Swiss,  Swede,  Irish 
and  every  kindred  blood  that  has  come  to  his  land  and  made  of  them  all  English. 

Nations,  like  men,  imagine  that  they  are  the  masters  of  their  own  fate,  "the 
captains  of  their  souls."  To  the  extent  of  the  operation  of  individual  purpose 
within  a  greater  and  higher  law,  they  are.  Within  the  operations  of  that  law 
they  may  fix  their  individual  or  natural  destinies :  but  encircling  them  and  con- 
stricting them  and  binding  them  with  impassable  barriers  are  the  greater  far- 
reaching  laws  of  an  Evolution  the  ends  of  which  they  may  not  even  surmise. 
Toward  it  they  are  propelled  by  an  unseen  but  irresistible  force.  Reading  the 
future  in  the  pages  of  the  past,  it  is  plain  to  see  that  these  various  colonies  of  the 
Engleman,  in  the  Americas,  in  Africa,  New  Zealand,  Australia,  the  Indies  and 
the  far  islands  of  the  sea,  means  one  and  only  one  thing:  the  ultimate  empire  of 
all  Engle  land  into  one  great  republic  of  English  speaking  peoples.  It  is  scarcely 
begun,  as  yet,  but  it  is  so  palpably  plain  to  him  who  has  read  the  past,  that  it 
ceases  even  to  partake  of  prophecy.  If  the  earth  were  a  garden  of  a  giant, 
colossal  in  the  ratio  of  his  field,  it  would  be  as  sure  a  prophecy  as  to  see  him  dig 
holes  to  set  out  fine  young  fruit  trees,  knowing  that  one  day  he  expected  to  see 
them  all  in  full  fruitage  in  his  garden. 

Nothing  can  stop  it — nothing  can  change  it.  The  World  war  and  its  after 
effects  sent  it  forward  a  century  at  a  shot.  In  the  clash  of  world  ideals  the 
English  speaking  peoples  will  be  forced  to  come  together  to  survive.  And  they 
have  always  survived  because  they  possess  a  cool,  unafraid  judgment  and  a  soul- 
of  sheer  courage  that  has  never  lost  its  heart  or  lost  its  balance. 

North  Carolina  is,  without  doubt,  Tennessee's  Mother  State.  The  first  census 
taken  (in  which  the  nativity  of  the  population  is  set  down,  that  of  1850),  shows 
that  there  was  a  total  white  population  of  756,836  in  the  State.  Of  these  580,695 
were  natives,  and  of  the  remaining  176,141  of  white  immigrants  living  in  Ten- 
nessee, 72,027  or  over  40  per  cent  were  born  in  North  Carolina;  26.5  per  cent 
were  from  Virginia,  and  8.6  per  cent  from  South  Carolina." 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  fully  as  large  a  per  cent  of  the  parents  of  the  580.695 
natives  were  from  North  Carolina. 


«  See  census  paper  attached. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


35 


The  United  States  Census  of  1790,  when  Tennessee  was  admitted  as  the  Ter- 
ritory South  of  the  River  Ohio,  shows  that  of  her  total  white  population  of 
31,913,  26,519  or  83.1  per  cent  were  English,  and  3,578  or  11.2  per  cent  were 
Scotch-Irish.  The  remainder  contained  less  than  3  per  cent  of  foreign-born  and 
that  ratio  holds  good  or  better  today.  In  that  day  even  as  now,  Tennessee  was  far 
ahead  of  the  United  States  as  a  whole  in  the  small  per  cent  of  her  foreign-born. 
It  is  also  a  fact  of  the  utmost  significance^  that  by  the  Census  of  1920,  in  the 
nine  Southern  states  surrounding  Tennessee,  to- wit :  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Kentucky,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Missouri, 
which,  with  Tennessee,  makes  ten — there  are  nearly  sixteen  millions  of  white 
people  of  pure  native-born  whites  tracing  in  unbroken  lines  back  to  the  mother 
country.  The  percentage  of  foreign-born  is  but  little  over  5  per  cent,  or  about 
as  it  was  when  the  states  were  first  founded  from  original  emigrants  from  Eng- 
land, Wales  and  Scotland.7  This  means  that  the  English  traditions  will  be 
upheld  in  this  section,  the  traditions  and  ideals  of  democracy  and  Protestant 
religion  that  have  made  the  English  speaking  people  the  greatest  republic 
builders  of  the  ages.  In  fact,  the  only  republic  builders  which  have  stood  the 
test  of  time.  It  means  that  in  Tennessee  and  the  South  the  principles  of  Wash- 
ington, Jefferson,  Jackson  and  Lincoln  will  always  be  preserved,  as  against  the 
Bolshevism,  the  Communism  and  Socialism  of  the  unassimilated  blood  which 
threatens  to  destroy  the  old  Puritan  principles  of  the  North  and  East.  When 
the  test  comes  it  will  be  seen  that  the  so-called  melting  pot  is  a  delusion,  that  it 
may  melt  but  it  will  not  fuse  and  become  one  stream.  Since  history  repeats  itself 
again  and  again  the  day  will  assuredly  come  when  the  so-called  solid  South 
(more  literally  speaking,  the  pure-blooded  Anglo-Saxon  South),  will  yet  save 
and  preserve  this  great  Republic  in  the  clash  of  undemocratic  ideas  produced 
by  unhomogeneous  blood  lines. 


STATES 
Census  of  1920 

Total 
Population 

Native 
Born 

Percent 

Native 

Born 

Foreign 
Born 

Percent 

Foreign 

Born 

Native 
White  of 

Native 
Parentage 

Percent 
Native 

White  of 
Native 

Parentage 

Tennessee 

Kentucky 

Virginia 

North  Carolina 

Georgia 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Arkansas .  . 

2,337,885 
2,416,630 
2,309,187 
2,559,123 
2,895,832 
2,348,174 
1,790,618 
1,752,204 
3,404,055 
1,683,724 

2,322,237 
2;385,724 
2,277,482 
2,551,851 
2,879,268 
2,330,147 
1,782,210 
1,738,067 
3,217,220 
1,677,142 

99.3 
98.7 
98.6 
99.7 
99.4 
99.2 
99.5 
99.2 
94.5 
99.6 

15,648 
30,905 
31,705 

7,272 
15,564 
18,027 

8.408 

14,137 

186,835 

6,582 

.7 

1.3 

1.4 

.3 

.6 

.8 

.5 

.8 

5.5 

.4 

1,832,757 
2,039,134 
1,534,494 
1,764,203 
1,642,697 
1,394,129 

826,762 
1,226,691 
2,536,936 

779,418 

97.2 
93.5 
94.8 
98.9 
97.2 
96.3 
96.9 
95  8 

Missouri 

78.6 

South  Carolina 

95.2 

23,497,432 

23,161,348 

335,083 

15,577,221 

94.4 

In  the  last  column  the  percentage  is  that  which  the  native  white  population  of  native  parentage 
bears  to  the  total  white  population. 

"'  There  is  a  very  different  story  to  tell  concerning  other  sections  of  the  United  States. 
In  the  Atlantic  Monthly  of  July,  1923,  page  90,  Mr.  Eossiter,  historian,  says:  "Seventy 
years  ago, — in  1850 — in  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont  combined,  the  native  white 
element  contributed  928  persons  out  of  every  1,000  of  the  population,  to  70  persons  of 
foreign  birth  or  parentage.  In  1920  this  high  proportion  of  native  stock  had  dropped  to  612, 
and  the  foreign  element  had  increased  to  385.  The  native  element  thus  continued  to  con- 
tribute the  greater  part — almost  two-thirds — of  the  entire  population.  In  the  southern  New 
England  group,  on  the  other  hand,  the  change  in  seventy  years  was  almost  revolutionary. 
In  1850  the  native  white  element  contributed  816  persons  out  of  every  1,000,  to  170  con- 
tributed by  the  foreign-born  and  their  children;  but  in  1920  the  proportion  of  the  native 
white  element  in  each  1,000  inhabitants  had  decreased  to  367,  and  that  of  the  foreign  ele- 
ment had  advnneed  to  (HP. " 


36  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

But  what  of  the  so-called  Scoteh-Irish,  whose  blood  is  so  large  a  factor  in 
the  life  of  Tennessee,  and  from  which  came  such  men  as  Andrew  Jackson,  James 
K.  Polk  and  Andrew  Johnson,  the  only  three  Tennesseans  who  have  reached  the 
supreme  height  of  Presidential  greatness?  Is  it,  indeed,  chance  that  scions  of 
this  breed  alone  should  have  attained  the  greatest  of  all  honors,  not  alone  in  the 
State  but  in  the  Nation.' 

Even  a  brief  and  most  cursory  view  of  them  and  their  race-life  will  prove 
that  this,  indeed,  is  no  accident.  For  not  only  were  these  people  also  Englemen, 
hut  they  were  Englemen  plus  Scotsmen,  the  latter  being  the  original  Celtic 
Britons  of  the  South  and  the  Celtic  Caledonias  of  the  North  and  all  passing  later 
under  the  names  of  Picts  and  Scots.  A  people  more  virile,  hardy  and  warlike 
even  than  the  Engleman  himself.  A  mingling  of  all  made  the  Scotch  and  Scotch- 
Irish  of  Ulster.8 

The  Province  of  Ulster  from  which  so  many  of  the  ancestors  of  Tennessee 
came,  lies,  it  is  true,  not  in  Scotland  but  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  In  the  struggle 
for  independence  by  the  Irish  people  against  the  English  Tudors,  the  four  North- 
ern counties  of  Ireland  were  swept  clean  by  the  English  in  a  plan  to  establish 
Protestants  there  by  Elizabeth,  and  afterwards  carried  on  by  James  Stuart. 
The  famous  Francis  Bacon  wras  the  legal  advisor  of  James  in  drawing  up  the 
plan  for  the  settlement  of  Northern  Ireland  by  Scots  and  English.  The  grants 
were  divided  into  three  classes,  those  of  1,000,  1,500,  and  2,000  acres,  upon  which 
castles  and  fortifications  were  required  to  be  built  within  four  years,  and  all 
guarded  by  a  soldier  yeomanry  of  twenty-four  to  each  thousand  acres.  This 
made  a  natural  selection  of  aristocracy  and  families  of  wealth  as  it  required  them 
to  be  able  to  purchase  such  large  grants  of  land  with  the  retinue  of  servant 
soldiers  necessary  to  defend  them.  It  made  the  descendants  of  Tennesseans 
and  all  other  Southern  Scotch-Irish  states  by  a  natural  selection  better  bred  than 
the  common  run  of  English  immigrants,  who  nocked  over,  to  the  colonies,  by 
shiploads,  and  many  as  bond  servants/' 

In  his  first  report  to  the  Crown,  Sir  Arthur  Chischcster,  the  King's  deputy 
in  Ulster  thus  describes  these  Scotch  forbears  of  that  blood  in  Tennessee  and  the 
South  today : 

"The  Scotchmen  are  come  with  better  port,  are  better  attended  and  accom- 
panied, than  even  the  English  themselves.  From  the  best  parts  of  Lowland 
Scotland  have  come  these  picked  men  to  Ulster  to  become  Britain's  colonists. 
But  these  proud  and  haughty  strangers  with  their  high  heads  and  new  ways, 
are  held  as  aliens  and  harried  by  the  Irish.  The  scorn  of  the  Scot  is  met  by 
the  curse  of  the  Celt." 

We  have  mentioned  before  some  of  the  race  characteristics  of  these  people, 
but  it  is  well  to  remember  them  that  the  future  may  be  forecasted  from  the  past. 
Knowing  these,  any  historian,  two  centuries  ago  would  have  told  what  stand  they 
would  take  and  what  part  they  would  play  in  the  great  events  which  followed: 
the  fight  for  religious   freedom  in  the  colonies;  the  American   Revolution   and 


s  The  two  great  soldiers  of  America   were  both  Scotch-Irish  and  both  named  Jackson. 

s  "The  counties  of  Down  and  Antrim,  most  fertile  and  beautiful  of  all  the  Ulster  coun- 
ties, were  so  near  Scotland  that,  even  in  those  days  of  steamless  vessels,  Ayrshire,  Argyle, 
and  Wigtown  could  be  reached  within  five  hours.  Many  Scotchmen  came  to  Down  and 
Antrim  in  response  to  the  land  offer  of  .lames.  The  very  terms  of  this  offer  excluded  all 
but  men  of  influence,  and  the  records  show  that  most  of  those  who  came  were  younger  sons 
or  connections  of  noble  families — many  of  them  driven  from  Scotland  by  the  religious 
disorders  of  the  time.''  (Mrs.  Blanche  Bentlev,  in  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Jan- 
uary, 1920.) 


TENNESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE  37 

its  battles  against  taxation  without  representation;  King's  Mountain  and  the 
destruction  of  Ferguson;  the  ever  propelling  instinct  for  migrating  farther 
into  the  wilderness  in  search  of  a  home,  cheaper  lands;  the  formation  of  a  free 
and  sovereign  state,  based  on  the  electorate  of  a  free  and  sovereign  people ;  build- 
ing their  churches  and  schools  often  before  they  built  their  log  houses;  the 
defense  of  that  state  against  those  who  would  invade  it  to  destroy  their  rights, 
from  whatever  source  or  country;  the  maintenance  of  their  blood  pure  without 
affiliation  with  inferior  peoples  and  the  maintenance  of  their  religion  without 
the  interference  of  state. 

Aaron  Burr  said,  after  his  visit  to  Tennessee  in  1806:  "  Tennesseans,  as  the 
breed  runs  in  1806,  can  go  anywhere  and  do  anything." 

That  same  blood  is  in  Tennessee  today,  undefiled  and  unafraid,  with  the 
same  ideals  and  the  same  religion,  and  when  such  crises  come,  as  followed  Burr's 
prophecy,  in  1814,  at  New  Orleans;  in  1847  in  Mexico;  in  1860  to  1865  at  Shiloh, 
Gettysburg  and  Franklin:  and  lastly,  in  1918,  on  the  Hindenburg  Line,  it  will 
be  found  that,  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  Tennesseans  can  go  anywhere  and 
do  it  again  ! 


CHAPTER  II 
EARLY  EFFORTS  OF  THE  WHITE  MAN  IN  TENNESSEE 

The  history  of  Tennessee  is  naturally  divided  into  four  periods : 

1.  The  period  of  pioneer  life — the  formative  period;  the  period  of  heroic, 
primitive  endeavor  and  achievement,  beginning  with  the  first  permanent  settle- 
ments, 1768-1770,  and  ending  with  the  admittance  of  Tennessee  into  the  Union. 

2.  The  period  of  stabilized  society  under  the  first  constitution — from  1796 
to  1834. 

3.  The  period  of  internal  progress,  of  prosperity  and  happiness  succeeded  by 
the  woes  of  the  war  between  the  states  and  the  distractions  of  reconstruction — 
from  1834  to  1870 — the  period  under  the  second  constitution. 

4.  The  period  of  modern  times — from  the  adoption  of  the  third  constitution, 
in  1870,  to  the  present  time. 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  REAL  TENNESSEE  HISTORY 

The  history  of  Tennessee  proper  begins  with  the  establishment  of  the  first 
permanent  abodes  of  white  people  within  the  present  limits  of  this  state.  While 
what  little  is  known  of  the  life  of  those  mysterious  people  who  preceded  the 
Indians  and  left  their  mounds,  fortifications,  implements  and  utensils  for  the 
speculation  of  antiquarians,  has  been  set  down ;  and  while  what  is  known  of  the 
life  of  the  Indians,  prior  to  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  has  been  briefly 
related,  the  serious  consideration  of  the  history  of  this  state  dates  from  the  time 
when  the  daring  and  ambitious  pioneers  from  \rirginia  and  North  Carolina 
blazed  their  way  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and  scarred  the  fields,  the 
valleys  and  hills  and  mountains  of  East  Tennessee  with  ax  and  plow. 

Nevertheless,  in  the  interest  of  complete  discussion,  it  is  well  briefly  to  relate 
the  efforts  the  white  race  has  made  in  attempts  to  locate  important  forts  and 
stations  before  permanent  lodgment  was  effected. 

It  is  doubtless  true  that  the  Spaniards,  under  Hernando  (also  called  Fer- 
nando and  Ferdinand)  DeSoto  were  the  first  white  men  who  set  foot  upon  the 
soil  of  Tennessee. 

Joseph  S.  Williams  in  his  "Old  Times  in  West  Tennessee"  speaks  of  a 
conversation  which  he  heard  between  his  father  and  an  Indian  chief,  which  con- 
versation was  held  soon  after  West  Tennessee  had  been  acquired  by  treaty  with 
the  Chickasaws,  effected  in  1818,  by  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  and  Gov.  Isaac  Shelby 
of  Kentucky.     On  page  14  he  says  his  father  spoke  to  the  chief  as  follows : 

"That  more  than  two  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago,  Spain,  a  powerful  na- 
tion across  the  big  water,  sent  a  great  many  big  ships,  with  men,  arms  and 
ammunition,  and  fine  horses,  to  take  possession  of  all  this  country;  that  they 
landed  somewhere  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  under  the  command  of  a  great 
man  called  Fernando  DeSoto ;  that  DeSoto,  landing  his  men,  guns  and  horses, 
marched  up  through  the  territory  of  the  Alibamas,  then,  turning  west,  crossed 
the  Tombigbee  somewhere  near  the  Chickasaw  village,  passing  through  their 

38 


HERNANDO  DE  SOTO 


M:f 


COPY  OF  ORIGINAL  DRAWING  OF  HERNANDO  DE   SOTO'S  BATTLE   WITH   THE 

INDIANS,  1541,  MEMPHIS 


1HF  MBRARY 

Of  !H£ 

UNIViBSITY  8F  MAIMMS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  41 

territory,  crossing  the  Mississippi  at  the  Chickasaw  bluffs;  that  the  Chiekasaws 
were  offended  with  the  strangers  for  entering  their  territory  without  asking  their 
big  chief  to  smoke  the  calumet,  gave  them  battle,  killing  a  great  number ;  that 
more  than  one  hundred  and  ninety  years  after  the  Spaniards  passed  through 
the  territory  of  the  Chiekasaws,  the  French,  who  claimed  all  the  country  on 
both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  mouth  to  the  great  lakes  in  the  north, 
beeame  offended  with  the  Chiekasaws  for  taking  sides  with  and  helping  the 
Natchez,  with  whom  they  were  at  war,  sent  Bienville,  who  was  the  governor 
of  Louisiana,  with  a  great  army  of  white  men  and  a  large  number  of  Choc- 
taws,  up  the  Tombigbee  River  to  drive  them  from  their  territory.  Bienville, 
with  his  soldiers  and  Choctaw  friends,  landed  near  the  Chickasaw  villages, 
marched  out  and  had  a  big  fight  at  Ackia  village." 

The  chief  confirmed  the  fact  that  his  people  had  defeated  the  French  at 
Ackia. 

DeSoto  landed  in  Florida  in  1539  and,  after  wandering  in  Florida,  Georgia, 
Alabama  and  Mississippi,  having  lost  many  men  in  encounters  with  the  Indians, 
reached  the  fourth  Chickasaw  Bluff,  where  Memphis  now  stands,  May  8,  1541. 
Bancroft  says  that  "at  the  end  of  May,  the  Spaniards  embarked  upon  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  were  borne  to  the  western  bank."  Judge  J.  P.  Young,  the  Memphis 
historian,  says  they  crossed  on  June  18,  1541. * 

PORT  PRUDHOMME,  THE  FIRST  FRENCH  FORT 

In  an  article  entitled  "Fort  Prudhomme :  Was  It  the  First  Settlement  in 
Tennessee?"  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  in  December,  1916, 
Judge  J.  P.  Young  says: 

"No  keener  interest  is  aroused  in  the  public  mind  by  any  phase  in  the 
early  history  of  a  country  than  the  story  of  its  first  settler,  the  pioneer  builder 
of  the  future  state.  The  identity  of  the  first  settler,  or  colony  of  settlers,  in 
Tennessee  has  been  a  much  disputed  question  among  historians  for  more  than 
a  century.  Though  the  influx  of  early  population  unquestionably  came  over 
the  mountains  from  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia  into  East  Tennessee,  the  first 
bona  fide  settlement  has  been  conceded  by  practically  all  historians,  writing 
since  the  early  part  of  the  last  century,  to  West  Tennessee,  through  the  agency 
of  the  French  explorers  of  the  Mississippi  River.  These  very  reputable  writers 
agree  that  the  name  of  the  first  settlement  alleged  to  have  been  established 
by  Sieur  Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  in  1682  was  Fort  Prudhomme,  though  they 
are  at  variance  as  to  the  site,  a  few  placing  it  at  the  first  Chickasaw  Bluff  on 
the  Mississippi  River,  though  the  greater  number  locate  it  at  the  fourth  or 
lower  Chickasaw  Bluff,  the  present  site  of  the  City  of  Memphis." 

Judge  Young  then  tells  of  the  location  of  the  four  Chickasaw  bluffs ;  of  the 
coming  of  DeSoto  in  1541,  of  Gov.  Jean  Baptiste  le  Moyne  de  Bienville  and  the 
erection  in  1739  of  Fort  Assumpsion,  where  Memphis  now  stands  and  brushes 
them  aside  as  "mere  temporary  expedients."  He  then  quotes  from  the  "History 
of  Louisiana"  by  Francois  Xavier  Martin   (1827)   as  follows: 

"They  (LaSalle  and  his  followers)  made  a  short  stay  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,  floating  down  to  the  Chickasaw  bluffs,  one  of  the  party  going  into 
the  woods,  lost  his  way.  This  obliged  LaSalle  (sic)  to  stop.  He  visited  the 
Indians  in  the  neighborhood  and  built  a  fort  as  a  resting  place  for  his  country- 
men navigating  the  river.  At  the  solicitation  of  the  Chickasaw  chiefs,  he 
went  to  their  principal  village,  attended  by  several  of  his  men.  They  were 
entertained  with  much  cordiality  and  the    Indians  approved  of  his  leaving  a 

1  For  a  more  extended  account  of  this  event  see  the  section  devoted  to  Historic  Spots  and 
Places  in  Tennessee. 


42  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

garrison  in  the  fort  he  was  building.  The  Chickasaws  were  a  numerous  na- 
tion able  to  bring  two  thousand  men  into  the  field.  Presents  were  reciprocally 
made  and  the  French  and  the  Indians  parted  in  great  friendship.  LaSalle, 
on  reaching  his  fort,  was  much  gratified  to  find  the  man  who  was  missing.  He 
left  him  to  finish  the  fort,  and  to  command  its  small  garrison.  His  name  was 
Prudhomme;  it  was  given  to  the  fort — and  the  bluff,  on  which  the  white  ban- 
ner was  then  raised,  to  this  day  is  called  by  the  French  ecor  a  Prudhomme. 
This  is  the  first  act  of  formal  possession  taken  by  the  French  nation  of  any 
part  of  the  shores  of  the  Mississippi." 

Judge  Young  then  quotes  from  several  authors,  from  whose  authority  he  con- 
cludes that  neither  Fort  Prudhomme  nor  any  of  the  other  forts  or  posts  can  be 
considered  as  permanent  settlements  in  any  sense.  His  closing  paragraphs  are 
as  follows : 

"It  thus  being  made  clear  by  the  narratives  of  the  original  founder  or 
builder  of  the  stockade  or  defense  called  a  fort,  and  the  narrative  of  those 
who  were  with  him  on  this  voyage  that  the  fort  was  a  mere  temporary  shelter 
or  defense  against  a  few  Chickasaw  Indians  seen  in  the  vicinity,  while  LaSalle  rs 
party  were  endeavoring  to  find  the  lost  hunter  Prudhomme,  and  that  the 
party  were  only  there  some  nine  or  ten  days  and  left  no  colony  behind  them, 
it  becomes  apparent  that  Tennessee  was  not  settled  first  at  Fort  Prudhomme  in 
1682,  notwithstanding  the  error  into  which  several  historians  have  fallen. 

"The  same  can  also  be  said  of  the  voyage  of  Marquette  and  Joliet,  as  the 
narrative  of  Father  James  Marquette  and  his  original  map  of  the  country  dis- 
covered by  him,  after  a  long  period  of  rest  in  Saint  Mary's  College  of  Montreal, 
were  finally  brought  to  light  and  translated  and  given  to  the  world  by  Mr. 
John  Gilmary  Shea  in  the  same  volume  in  which  he  published  the  narrative  of 
Father  Zenobe  de  Membre.  These  will  fully  and  clearly  show  that  Marquette, 
like  LaSalle,  did  not  stop  at  the  lower  Chickasaw  Bluff  and  left  neither  col- 
ony nor  trading  post  behind  him  on  the  Mississippi  River. 

"The  first  settler  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  West  Tennessee  of  whom  we 
have  any  account  was  AVilliam  Mizell  of  North  Carolina,  who  was  found  on 
the  lower  Chickasaw  Bluff  at  the  Spanish  post  and  fort  of  San  Fernando  de 
Barancos  by  Capt.  Isaac  Guyon  of  the  Third  United  States  Infantry  Regiment, 
when  he  came  on  July  20,  1797,  to  take  possession  of  the  fort  and  the  lower 
Chickasaw  Bluff  in  behalf  of  the  United  States,  the  fort  having  been  constructed 
by  Governor  Don  Manuel  Gayoso  de  Lemos  of  the  Province  of  Louisiana  and  the 
Spanish  flag  raised  over  it  on  the  31st  of  May,  1795.  Mizell  was  living  here  as 
an  Indian  trader  at  that  time,  together  with  a  Scotchman  named  Kenneth 
Ferguson.  This  was  about  forty  years  after  the  settlement  of  the  post  at  Fort 
Loudon  in  East  Tennessee  in  1756." 

It  may  be  said  that  the  French  erected  on  either  the  first  or  second  Chickasaw 
Bluff  the  first  building  in  Tennessee. 
As  Ramsey  says  in  his  Annals,  p.  39 : 

"The  first  work,  except  probably  the  piraquas  of  DeSoto,  ever  executed  by 
the  hand  of  civilization  within  the  boundaries  of  Tennessee.  A  cabin  and  a 
fort !  Fit  emblem  and  presage  of  the  future  in  Tennessee.  The  axe  and  the 
rifle,  occupancy  and  defense,  settlement  and  conquest." 

M.   CHARLEVIEEE  'S   STORE   AT  THE  GREAT  FRENCH  LICK 

In  the  last  years  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  the  earliest  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  French  assiduously  explored  the  Mississippi  and  the 
Ohio  and  their  tributaries.  In  1710,  a  Frenchman  came  up  the  Cumberland  as 
far  as  the  Great  Lick.  Of  his  name  there  is  no  record  and  his  chief  claim  to 
historic  mention  is  because  of  the  fact  that  he  conducted  to  this  place  M.  Charle- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  43 

ville,  who,  in  1714,  established  near  the  fort  a  trading  post.  He  lived  in  a  fort 
built  some  years  previously  by  the  Shawnees.  These  Indians  came  from  Northern 
Florida  and  Southern  Georgia,  where  they  left  their  name  in  the  Suwanee  River. 
During  their  residence  in  Tennessee  they  gave  the  name  of  Sewanee  to  a  part 
of  the  Cumberland  mountains  and  Shauvanon  to  what  is  now  the  Cumberland 
River  but  which  had  been  called  Warioto.  Through  an  alliance  with  the  Chicka- 
saws  and  Cherokees  the  Shawnees  were  forced  out  of  the  Cumberland  Valley. 
After  a  number  of  them  had  effected  their  escape,  the  Chickasaws  attacked  their 
fort  at  the  Lick,  killed  the  Shawnees  remaining  and  captured  their  property. 
From  this  time,  about  1700,  when  the  survivors  who  escaped  migrated  to  the 
North,  they  were  received  by  the  Six  Nations  as  a  wandering  tribe.  A  part  of 
them  remained  in  Kentucky  until  about  1764,  when  they  removed  to  the  Wabash. 

After  the  expulsion  of  the  Shawnees,  the  Chickasaws  and  Cherokees  found 
Charleville  and  his  friend,  the  aged  Frenchman,  living  in  the  fort  of  the  Shaw- 
nees. They  brought  furs  and  hides  which  they  traded  for  bright  beads  and 
colored  cloth.  The  two  traders  soon  departed  with  heavily  laden  boat.  Charle- 
ville returned  several  times  but  no  further  mention  of  the  old  man  has  been  made 
by  any  one. 

When  an  old  man,  Charleville  told  Timothy  Demonbreun  of  the  wonderful 
site  on  the  Shauvanon,  where  Nashville  now  stands  and,  as  early  as  1775,  he 
came  to  this  place  hunting  and  lived  in  a  cave  on  the  river  bank.  No  per- 
manent settlement,  however,  was  made  in  this  section  until  1778  when  a  few 
families  located  in  the  vicinity  of  Bledsoe's  Lick,  now  Castalian  Springs,  in 
Sumner  County.2 

PORT  LOUDON 

The  first  Anglo-American  settlement  planted  in  Tennessee  was  Fort  Loudon. 
Although  it  was  maintained  but  for  a  few  years,  this  very  fact  coupled  with  the 
melancholy  and  romantic  interest  which  attaches  to  it  are  sufficient  warrant  for 
devoting  to  it  a  space  which  otherwise  might  seem  altogether  out  of  proportion 
to  its  real  importance. 

This  fort  was  named  for  John,  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  who  at  that  time  was  the 
commander  of  the  English  forces  in  America,  and  was  located  at  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Little  Tennessee  River  by  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis,  Loudon's  chief 
engineer.  The  spot  is  "beautiful  for  situation,  commanding  an  extensive  view 
up  and  down  the  river,  as  it  flows  around  the  base  of  the  hill  and  overlooks  the 
handsome  and  productive  valley  through  which  this  lovely  stream  flows." 

The  spot  selected  was  the  southern  bank  of  the  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Tellico,  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County,  about  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Knox- 
ville. 

The  fort  was  erected  in  1756  and  was  garrisoned  by  British  troops.  It  was 
not  designed  to  be  a  settlement,  strictly  speaking,  but  to  be  one  of  several  mili- 
tary outposts  established  to  face  the  threatened  encroachments  of  the  French 
who  had  established  a  chain  of  forts  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Nevertheless 
traders  and  hunters  and  others  soon  arrived  and  the  settlement  around  the  fort 
grew  into  a  thriving  village. 

Although  it  was  known  that  the  Indians  were  dissatisfied  with  the  presence  of 

2  For  a  more  extended  account  of  this  settlement  see  the  section  devoted  to  Historic  Spots 
and   Places   in   Tennessee. 


44  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

so  many  whites  and  thai  a  spirit  of  dec])  resentmenl  existed  in  their  minds,  the 
soldiers  do  not  seem  to  have  realized  their  danger  from  that  source,  accentuated 
by  their  situation  so  remote  from  other  white  settlements. 

The  Cherokees,  who  were  the  Indians  nearest  to  Fort  London,  had  rendered 
valuable  service  in  the  expedition  of  the  English  against  Port  Duqnesne.  On 
their  return  they  picked  up  some  horses  which  belonged  to  the  inhabitants  of 
places  along  the  border  of  Virginia  and  used  them  to  facilitate  their  journey, 
as  they  had  lost  their  own  horses  and  were  without  provisions  for  so  long  a 
distance  on  foot.  They,  therefore,  also  helped  themselves  to  food  wherever  it 
could  be  found.  While  doing  these  things  a  number  of  them  were  killed  in  cold 
blood.  Other  Indians  were  also  murdered  by  conscienceless  villains,  and  some 
by  hunters  and  backwoodsmen.  At  one  place  a  man,  denominated  a  "monster," 
entertained  a  party  of  Indians  and  treated  them  kindly,  while  at  the  same  time 
he  caused  a  gang  of  kindred  ruffians  to  lie  in  ambush  where  the  Indians  were  to 
pass  and,  when  they  arrived,  they  were  shot  down  to  a  man. 

On  Friday  morning,  November  9,  1917,  the  Tennessee  Society  of  Colonial 
Dames  unveiled  a  marker  at  Fort  Loudon  with  impressive  and  appropriate  exer- 
cises. Mrs.  James  Kirkland,  of  Nashville,  at  that  time  president  of  the  Society 
for  Tennessee,  presided. 

The  marker,  made  of  Tennessee  stone,  contains  the  following  inscription : 

Fort  Loudon,  constructed  by  the  English  in  1756  to  help  win  the  Valley  of 
the.  Mississippi.    Captured  by  the  Indians  under  French  influence  in  1760. 

The  owner  of  the  land  on  which  Fort  Loudon  stood,  Mr.  J.  C.  Anderson, 
gave  one  hundred  feet  square  for  the  marker. 

Mr.  John  H.  DeWitt,  president  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society,  made  the 
address,  which  was  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  for  Decem- 
ber, 1917,  and  which  is  herewith  reproduced  in  full,3  both  because  of  its  intrinsic 
excellence  and  also  especially  because  it  gives  an  unusually  good  setting  for  the 
next  chapter  of  this  book  in  which  is  the  narration  of  the  first  real  beginning  of 
Tennessee  history : 

MR.   DEWITT 'S  ADDRESS 

One  hundred  and  fifty-seven  years  ago  there  was  enacted  upon  this  beautiful 
spot  a  tragic  drama  which  terminated  the  first  attempt  at  permanent  occupation 
by  white  people  in  Tennessee. 

The  dramatic  background  may  best  be  described  by  showing  that  here  beside 
these  beautiful  streams  and  majestic  mountains  lived  the  Overhill  Cherokees. 
One-half  mile  above  the  spot  where  we  stand  was  the  Town  of  Toskegee.  About 
two  miles  farther  on  the  same  side  was  the  old  Indian  town  Tomatley,  at  the 
mouth  of  Ball  Play  Creek.  About  fifteen  miles  above  was  the  Town  of  Tennessee. 
About  two  miles  above  Tennessee  was  Chote.  About  two  miles  above  that  was 
Settacoo.  About  two  miles  above  Settacoo  was  Halfway  Town.  About  two 
miles  above  Halfway  Town  was  Chilhowey.  About  five  miles  above  Chilhowey, 
on  both  banks  of  the  river — Little  Tennessee,  was  the  Town  of  Tallasee. 

Among  these  mountains,  where  the  chain  of  the  Alleghenies  and  Blue  Ridge 
meet,  the  Cherokees,  a  brave,  sturdy  tribe  of  Indians,  lived.  Southeast  of  their 
villages  were  the  headwaters  of  the  Savannah  River,  and  down  those  of  the  Little 
Tennessee  was  the  Cherokee  path  leading  southeastwardly  to  Charleston  and  the 
Atlantic  Seaboard.     They  had  two  other  highways,  one  down  their  river  and  up 


3  S.c  also  Heiskefl's  Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,  pp.  276  et  seq. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  45 

the  Emory,  then  down  the  south  fork  of  the  Cumberland  into  the  "Bloody 
Ground" — the  other  leading  from  Chote  into  Virginia,  passing  some  six  miles 
to  the  south  of  Knoxville,  crossing  the  Holston  at  the  islands  near  Underdown's 
Ferry,  and  extending  as  far  as  Richmond,  Va.    These  two  were  called  war  paths. 

Southwesterly  among  the  fastnesses  around  Lookout  Mountain  lived  the 
Chickamaugas,  and  upon  the  streams  and  along  the  villages  running  from  here 
to  the  great  bend  of  the  Tennessee  River  there  was  easy  and  frequent  communi- 
cation with  these  Indians.  So  they  lived  for  more  than  a  century  in  this  condi- 
tion of  seclusion  from  the  white  man. 

In  the  year  1748,  when  Quebec,  Montreal,  Detroit  and  Macinavv  were  old 
French  cities,  the  Anglo-Saxon  settlements  in  America  were  confined  to  the 
plains  along  the  Atlantic  Seaboard.  England  claimed  all  the  land  running 
westerly  to  the  Mississippi  River  and  even  beyond,  but  she  actually  held  a  thin 
shore  line  along  the  ocean.  William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham,  was  Prime  Minis- 
ter of  Great  Britain.  With  his  sagacious  foresight  as  a  master  builder  of  an 
empire,  he  realized  the  immense  advantage  of  taking  and  holding  all  the  western 
country  for  British  colonization  and  ownership.  At  the  same  time  the  French 
under  Louis  XIV  had  courted  various  tribes  of  Indians  into  friendship,  aided  by 
the  missionary  propaganda  of  the  Catholic  priesthood.  The  French  were  build- 
ing a  chain  of  forts  intended  ultimately  to  extend  from  their  St.  Lawrence 
settlements  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi. 

It  was  thus  for  the  ambitious  rivalry  for  a  New  France  and  a  New  England 
in  America,  that  brought  on  the  conflict  in  Europe  known  as  "The  Seven 
Years'  War,"  and  in  America  as  "The  French  and  Indian  War."  William  Pitt 
conceived  the  idea  that  the  decisive  battle  between  the  old  rivals,  England  and 
France,  would  be  fought  to  the  finish  beyond  the  Atlantic  waters. 

The  war  of  Austrian  Succession,  brought  to  a  close  in  1748,  had  left  unsettled 
the  issue  between  France  and  England  as  to  disputed  boundaries  in  America. 
Pitt  bent  every  personal  and  national  effort  to  seize  and  hold  this  interior  coun- 
try, and  active  hostilities  were  the  inevitable  result.  The  expedition  led  by 
George  Washington  in  1755  into  Western  Pennsylvania  really  began  the  great 
struggle.  The  chief  strategic  point  for  the  French  was  Fort  DuQuesne,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela  rivers,  where  Pittsburg  now  stands. 
After  its  capture  by  the  English  in  1758,  the  defeated  and  exasperated  French- 
men descended  the  Ohio,  ascended  the  Tennessee,  and  began  to  exercise  a  per- 
nicious influence  among  the  Cherokee  Indians. 

The  leaders  of  the  Cherokees  were  the  famous  chiefs,  Oconostota,  Willinaugh- 
wah,  Atta.-Kulla-Kulla,  and  other  chiefs,  some  of  whom  had  visited  England 
as  friendly  allies  and  been  presented  to  King  George.  The  Cherokees  had  ever 
been  friendly  to  the  English,  and,  in  1756,  Governor  Dobbs,  of  North  Carolina, 
made  a  treaty  offensive  and  defensive  with  them  and  with  the  Catawbas,  who 
lived  in  the  Carolinas,  east  of  them.  It  was  the  aim  of  the  English  to  hold 
firmly  the  favor  of  these  Indians  and  thwart  the  machinations  of  the  French 
emissaries,  as  the  mighty  struggle  between  France  and  England  involved  the 
whole  of  the  country  inhabited  by  them.  There  was  continual  fear  lest  these 
tribes  might  be  incited  by  the  French  to  fall  upon  and  destroy  the  frontier 
settlements  of  Carolina.  When  this  treaty  was  made,  the  chief  of  each  nation 
required  that  a  fort  be  erected  within  their  respective  countries  for  the  defense 
of  their  women  and  children,  in  case  the  warriors  should  be  called  away  against 
the  French  and  their  Indian  allies. 


46  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

There  was  another  vital  reason  for  the  construction  of  forts.  Charleston, 
S.  C,  was  the  military  and  commercial  center  for  the  British  and  it  was  to  this 
place  that  all  effoi-ts  were  made  to  divert  the  Indian  trade.  As  Col.  W.  A. 
Henderson  has  said : 

"This  trade  was  sought  from  all  regions  within  the  French  influence  and 
it  became  a  consuming  desire  on  the  part  of  the  colonists  that  they  should 
destroy  the  French  forts  and  erect  a  line  of  such  of  their  own,  with  permanent 
military  occupation.  Nothing  gave  such  respect  to  the  Indians  as  the  boom 
of  a  cannon,  and  walls  that  would  resist  their  bullets  and  native  weapons 
*  England  was  bled  of  men  and  money  to  carry  on  this  colossal  de- 
sign, beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  extending  as  far  west- 
ward as  the  pathways  of  commerce  wandered.  *  *  *  In  accordance  with 
this  general  design  it  was  determined  to  erect,  far  back  into  the  wilderness, 
three  forts  for  the  protection  of  Charleston  and  its  trade,  and  seduce  the 
Southern  Indians  from  their  loyalty  to  France,  which  was  always  their  favor- 
ite. One  of  these  forts  was  to  be  Fort  Moore,  on  the  Savannah  River,  just 
below  and  opposite  the  present  City  of  Augusta,  named  for  the  former  governor 
of  the  Province  of  South  Carolina. 

"Far  up  the  headwaters  of  the  Savannah  River,  on  the  Cherokee  path  on 
the  main  branch  called  Keowee  River,  almost  immediately  opposite  the  Indian 
town  Keowee,  was  to  be  a  second  fort,  christened  'Prince  George,'  in  honor  of 
the  grandson  of  George  II,  afterwards  George  III.  The  third  was  to  be  far 
away  'over  twenty-four  mountains,'  in  the  center  of  the  Overfull  Indians,  which 
was  to  be  called  Fort  Loudon,  after  John,  Earl  of  Loudon,  at  that  time  com- 
mander of  the  English  forces  in  North  America." 

Besides  this  fort  for  the  protection  of  this  immediate  section,  three  other 
forts  were  built  among  the  Alleghany  Mountains;  Long  Island  Fort,  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Holston  River,  by  Colonel  Bird  of  Virginia;  Fort  Dobbs, 
under  the  shadow  of  the  Alleghanies,  by  North  Carolina ;  and  Fort  Chissel,  on 
New  River  in  Virginia,  by  Virginians. 

In  1756,  Fort  Prince  George  was  built  on  the  land  of  the  Catawbas,  near 
Keowee,  by  Governor  Glenn  of  South  Carolina. 

In  that  same  year,  after  laborious  preparations  and  in  consequence  of  dona- 
tions by  Prince  George  himself  and  by  the  colonies  of  Virginia  and  South  Caro- 
lina, Fort  Loudon  was  erected  here  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Tennessee 
River  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County,  near  the  point  where  the  Tellico  River  runs 
into  the  Little  Tennessee,  more  than  thirty  miles  southwest  of  Knoxville.  It 
was  built  by  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis,  the  chief  engineer  of  the  British  troops,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Earl  of  Loudon.  This  was  the  first  Anglo-American  settle- 
ment in  Tennessee,  and  its  romantic  and  melancholy  story  is  an  introduction  to 
the  history  of  Tennessee. 

The  expedition  consisted  of  one  hundred  regular  soldiers  of  the  king  and  one 
hundred  provincial  troops,  together  with  about  forty  artisans,  mechanics  and 
farmers,  and  they  carried  some  two  score  horses  and  a  number  of  hunting  dogs. 
The  commander  of  the  expedition  was  the  celebrated  James  Stuart,  who  had 
been  foremost  in  defense  of  the  colonies  against  Indian  raids  and  Negro  upris- 
ings ;  but  on  account  of  some  differences  with  the  civil  authorities  he  was  ranked 
by  Captain  Demcre.  who,  though  he  had  a  French  name,  was  a  sturdy  Scotch- 
man. 

On  this  rocky  ledge,  jutting  upon  the  river,  overlooking  these  deep  waters 
bending  around  it,  Fort  Loudon  was  erected.  The  ridge  was  cleared  of  heavy 
timber  within  the  enclosure  and  as  far  away  as  a  rifle  shot  beyond.    A  deep  ditch 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  47 

was  dug  across  the  ridge  extending  out  across  the  plain  and  thence  to  the  river, 
including  about  two  and  a  half  acres  of  ground.  Within  the  inclosure  a  well 
was  dug  and  walled  up.  The  fort  was  securely  built  of  heavy  logs,  square  in 
shape,  with  block  houses  and  bastions  connected  by  palisades,  which  were  trunks 
of  trees  imbedded  in  the  earth  touching  each  other,  and  sharpened  at  the  top, 
with  loop-holes  at  the  proper  places.  It  was  made  so  secure  that  with  ample 
provisions  any  garrison  could  endure  a  long  siege  by  many  times  their  number. 
Ten  cannon  and  two  guns  called  coehorns,  said  to  have  been  contributed  as  the 
result  of  a  donation  out  of  the  private  purse  of  Prince  George,  were  mounted 
upon  the  ramparts,  or  platforms.  These  cannon  were  probably  brought  over 
the  mountains  on  packhorses,  as  no  wagon  road  had  ever  been  cut  through  that 
wilderness.  Here,  500  miles  from  Charleston,  in  a  place  to  which  it  was  very 
difficult  at  all  times,  but  in  case  of  a  war  with  the  Cherokees,  utterly  imprac- 
ticable, to  convey  necessary  supplies,  the  garrison  was  placed.  The  Indians 
invited  artisans  to  the  fort  by  donations  of  land,  which  they  caused  to  be 
signed  by  their  own  chief,  and  in  one  instance  by  Governor  Dobbs  of  North 
Carolina.  A  thriving  settlement  grew  around  the  fort  with  the  arrival  of  traders 
and  hunters.  They  began  to  cultivate  the  land.  This  was  the  first  cultivation 
of  land  in  what  is  now  Tennessee,  and  the  field  around  this  spot  is  the  oldest 
land  in  point  of  cultivation  in  the  state. 

Thus  they  lived  and  maintained  this  lone  outpost  until  signs  arose  of  the 
terrible  tragedy  which  in  August,  1760,  terminated  this  settlement. 

Prom  the  very  beginning  circumstances  conspired  to  render  the  Cherokees 
hostile  to  the  little  garrison  and  colony. 

A  baleful  influence  was  Oconostota,  the  great  Indian  orator  and  chief,  whose 
home  was  at  Chestoe,  beyond  the  mountains,  who  always  resisted  the  advance 
of  the  white  man.  The  Overhill  chief,  "The  Cloud,"  was  even  a  more  bitter  and 
malignant  foe.  The  presence  of  so  many  whites  was  the  basis  of  agitation  of 
these  chiefs  which  caused  so  much  dissatisfaction  among  the  Indians.  A  spirit 
of  deep  resentment  began  to  exist.  The  Indians  could  not  understand  how  a 
fort  which  was  built  for  their  protection  should  rapidly  become  a  means  for 
their  oppression  and  subjugation.  Among  them  were  some  French  emissaries, 
who  began  insidiously  to  disaffect  them  from  their  loyalty  to  the  British. 

Louis  Latinac,  a  French  officer,  was  living  in  this  town  with  an  Indian  wife. 
Priber,  a  learned  French  trader,  was  there  fomenting  dissatisfaction.  He 
brought  his  goods  up  from  New  Orleans,  in  batteaux,  to  that  locality. 

Another  French  emissary  was  one  "Baron  Des  Johnnes,"  a  French  Canadian, 
who  spoke  seven  of  the  Indian  languages.  He  was  afterwards  captured  by 
Colonel  Sumter  of  South  Carolina  and  sent  to  England. 

While  these  intriguing  agents  and  hostile  chiefs  were  weaving  a  net  of 
enmity  around  the  settlement,  an  unfortunate  quarrel  between  the  Virginians 
and  the  Cherokees  precipitated  the  aggression  which  led  to  tragedy. 

Agreeably  to  the  treaty  with  Governor  Dobbs,  a  body  of  Cherokees  had 
assisted  in  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne.  Returning  home  through  the  back 
parts  of  Virginia,  some  of  them,  who  had  lost  their  horses  on  the  expedition, 
appropriated  some  horses  found  running  at  large,  which  belonged  to  the  frontier 
settlers  of  Virginia.  This  the  Virginians  resented  by  killing  twelve  or  fourteen 
of  the  Indians  and  taking  some  prisoners.  This  ungrateful  conduct  aroused  a 
deadly  resentment.  Bancroft  says:  "The  wailing  of  the  women  for  their 
deceased  relatives,  at  the  dawn  of  each  day  and  at  the  gray  of  the  evening,  pro- 


48  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Yoked  the  nation  to  retaliate."     The  hostile  spirit  soon  spread  through  all  the 

towns. 

It  was  no  wonder  that  Port  Loudon,  this  far-projeeted  spur  of  civilization, 
was  the  first  to  notice  and  suffer  from  the  disaffection  of  the  Indians.  The  sol- 
diers, making  incursions  into  the  woods  to  procure  fresh  provisions,  were 
attacked  by  them  and  some  of  them  were  killed.  Constant  danger  threatened  the 
garrison.  The  settlers  were  drawn  into  the  fort.  Communication  with  the 
settlements  across  the  mountains,  from  which  they  derived  their  supplies,  was  cut 
off,  parties  of  the  young  warriors  rushed  down  upon  the  frontier  settlements  and 
the  work  of  massacre  became  general  along  the  borders  of  the  Carolinas. 

Governor  Littleton  of  South  Carolina  made  preparations  to  force  the 
Indians  into  repentance  for  their  desertion.  He  summoned  the  militia  of  the 
province  to  assemble  at  Congarec.  He  prepared  for  an  extensive  expedition  to 
punish  the  Cherokees.  In  November,  1758,  six  chieftains  went  down  to  Charles- 
ton to  reconcile  differences,  but  were  treated  with  little  kindness  by  the  governor. 
He  ordered  them  to  the  rear  of  his  army  under  the  pretence  of  safeguard,  and 
then  shut  them  up  together  in  a  hut.  It  seems  that  the  chiefs  exercised  great 
forbearance,  for  they  laid  their  just  grievances  before  the  English  and  avowed 
their  friendship.  They  finally  agreed  that  twenty-two  chieftains  should  be  con- 
fined as  hostages  in  Fort  Prince  George  until  an  equal  number  of  those  who  had 
slain  the  inhabitants  on  the  frontiers  should  be  given  up  in  exchange  for  them, 
and  that  the  Cherokees  should  kill  or  take  prisoner  every  Frenchman  that  should 
presume  to  come  into  the  nation. 

But  the  Cherokees  would  not  ratify  this  treaty.  Hostages  were  unknown  in 
the  forest,  where  prisoners  were  slaves.  Littleton  had  violated  his  word  in 
retaining  in  prison  the  ambassadors  of  peace.  It  is  hardly  to  be  doubted  that 
the  Cherokees  really  longed  for  peace,  but  their  proud  spirit  resented  bitterly 
the  incarceration  of  their  honored  young  braves  in  a  British  fort.  Oconostota 
resolved  to  rescue  the  hostages.  Captain  Coytmore,  the  commandment  at  Fort 
Prince  George,  was  lured  into  ambush  and  killed.  Oconostota  then  surprised 
the  fort  and  killed  some  of  its  officers.  Then  the  garrison,  in  their  rage,  fell 
upon  the  hostages  and  butchered  them  to  a  man.  Haywood  says  that  this  was 
because  the  hostages  refused  to  be  shackled.  In  the  night  the  fort  was  attacked, 
but  without  effect.  A  bottle  of  poison  was  found  with  one  of  the  Indians,  prob- 
ably intended  to  be  dropped  into  the  well. 

The  butchery  of  the  hostages  was  followed  by  a  general  invasion  of  the 
frontier  and  an  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  men,  women  and  children.  A  gen- 
eral Indian  war  was  imminent.  The  neighboring  provinces  of  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina  were  called  on  for  assistance.  Colonel  Montgomery  landed  from  New 
York  with  some  regular  troops  and  was  joined  at  Congaree,  in  South  Carolina, 
by  a  good  force  of  militia.  Their  march  was  spirited  and  expeditious.  They 
destroyed  all  the  lower  Indian  towns.  Little  Keowee,  Estatoe,  Sugar  Town  and 
t  very  other  settlement  in  the  lower  nation  were  reduced  to  ashes,  and  many 
warriors  were  slain.  But  the  Cherokees  met  them  near  the  Village  of  Etchoe, 
at  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  and  inflicted  such  a  heavy  loss  that  the 
force  retreated,  and  Fort  Loudon,  which  it  was  endeavoring  to  relieve,  was  left 
defenseless,  isolated,  famishing  and  in  despair. 

All  this  time  the  garrison  of  Fort  Loudon  had  been  besieged,  so  that  now 
they  were  reduced  to  the  dreadful  alternative  of  perishing  by  hunger  or  sub- 
mitting t<>  the  mercy  of  the  enraged  Cherokees.     The  200  miles  between  it  and 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  49 

Fort  Prince  George  were  so  beset  with  dangers  and  so  difficult  was  it  to  inarch 
an  army  through  the  barren  wilderness,  that  no  further  attempt  at  relief  was 
made.  The  garrison  was  near  starvation.  For  a  month  they  lived  on  the  flesh 
of  lean  horses  and  dogs  and  a  small  supply  of  Indian  beans,  procured  stealthily 
for  them  by  some  friendly  Cherokee  women.  Blockaded  and  beleaguered  night 
and  day  by  the  enemy,  with  starvation  staring  them  in  the  face,  they  threatened 
to  leave  the  fort  and  die,  if  necessary,  by  the  hands  of  the  savages.  Then  Cap- 
tain Stuart,  resourceful  and  brave,  summoned  a  council  of  war.  They  agreed 
to  ask  for  the  best  terms  possible  and  leave  the  fort.  Stuart  slipped  down  to 
the  consecrated  city  of  Chote,  where  no  Indian  dared  molest  him.  He  obtained 
terms  of  capitulation,  which  were:  "That  the  garrison  of  Fort  Loudon  march 
out  with  their  arms  and  drums,  each  soldier  having  as  much  powder  and  ball  as 
the  officer  shall  think  necessary  for  the  march,  and  all  the  baggage  they  choose 
to  carry;  that  the  garrison  be  permitted  to  march  to  Virginia  or  to  Fort  Prince 
George,  as  the  commanding  officer  -shall  think  proper,  unmolested  ;  that  a  number 
of  Indians  be  appointed  to  escort  them,  and  aid  them  in  hunting  for  provisions 
during  the  march  ;  that  such  soldiers  as  were  lame  or  disabled  by  sickness  from 
marching  be  received  into  the  Indian  towns  and  kindly  used  until  they  recover, 
and  then  be  allowed  to  return  to  Fort  Prince  George;  that  the  Indians  are  to 
provide  for  the  garrison  as  many  horses  as  they  conveniently  can  for  their 
march,  agreeing  with  the  officers  and  soldiers  for  payment ;  that  the  fort,  great 
guns  (cannon),  powder,  ball  and  spare  arms,  be  delivered  to  the  Indians  without 
fraud  or  further  delay,  on  the  day  appointed  for  the  marching  of  the  troops." 

In  pursuance  of  these  stipulations,  on  August  7,  1760,  the  white  people,  after 
throwing  their  cannon  into  the  river,  with  their  small  arms  and  ammunition, 
except  what  was  necessary  for  hunting,  broke  up  the  fort  and  commenced  their 
march  into  the  settlements  in  South  Carolina.  That  day  they  marched  fifteen 
miles  toward  Fort  Prince  George.  At  night  they  encamped  near  Taligua,  an 
Indian  town,  where  their  Indian  attendants  all  suspiciously  deserted  them.  A 
guard  was  placed  around  the  camp.  At  break  of  day  the  treachery  was  revealed. 
A  soldier  came  running  in  and  told  them  that  he  saw  a  vast  number  of  Indians, 
armed  and  painted,  creeping  toward  them.  They  had  hardly  time  to  form  to 
meet  an  attack  before  the  savages  poured  in  among  them  a  heavy  fire,  accom- 
panied with  hideous  yells.  The  thousands  of  savages  were  too  many  for  the  two 
scant  companies  of  half-starved  regulars  and  a  motley  following  of  settlers  with 
wives  and  children. 

Captain  Demere  was  among  the  first  to  be  killed.  A  curious  reference  to  his 
death  is  found  in  one  of  Bossu's  letters,  entitled  "Travels  in  Louisiana,"  pub- 
lished in  1771.     In  this  letter,  written  in  1760,  he  says: 

"We  have  just  received  advice  that  a  party  of  warriors  of  the  nation  of 
Cherokees,  commanded  by  their  chief  of  war  called  Wolf,  have  taken 
Fort  Loudon,  belonging  to  Great  Britain,  and  that  the  English  Governor  of  it, 
M.  Damery,  has  been  killed  by  the  Indians,  who  put  earth  in  his  mouth,  saying. 
'You  dog,  since  you  are  so  greedy  of  earth,  be  satisfied  and  gorged  with  it.' 
They  have  done  the  same  to  others." 

Haywood  and  Ramsey  are  in  conflict  as  to  the  actual  loss.  Ramsey,  quoting 
from  Hewitt's  "History  of  South  Carolina,"  says  that  Captain  Demere,  with 
three  other  officers  and  twenty-six  men,  privates,  fell  at  the  lirst  lire.  Haywood 
says  that  all  weir  killed  but  three  men — Jack,  Thomas  and   Stuarl — who  were 


50  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

saved  by  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  and  six  men  in  the  vanguard,  who  escaped  to  the 
white  settlements.  At  any  rate  Stuart,  with  his  companions,  was  brought  to  the 
fort.  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  or  the  Little  Carpenter,  who  was  Stuart's  true  friend, 
purchased  him  from  the  Indian  who  took  him,  giving  him  his  rifle,  clothes  and 
all  he  could  command  by  way  of  ransom.  Taking  possession  of  Demere's  house 
he  kept  Stuart  as  one  of  his  family  and  freely  shared  with  him  his  provisions 
until  a  fair  chance  offered  for  rescuing  him  from  the  savages,  but,  according  to 
Hewitt,  the  poor  soldiers  were  kept  long  in  miserable  captivity  and  finally 
redeemed  by  the  provinces  at  great  expense. 

Oconostota  now  determined  to  attack  Fort  Prince  George.  He  was  prompted, 
it  is  said,  by  the  fact  that  he  had  the  twelve  cannon  of  the  fort  and  also  by  some 
French  officers  who  appeared  on  the  scene.  By  accident  a  discovery  was  made 
of  ten  bags  of  powder  and  a  large  quantity  of  ball  that  had  been  secretly  buried 
in  the  fort.  This  discovery  almost  resulted  in  the  death  of  Stuart,  but  his 
interpreter  assured  the  enraged  savages  that  these  stores  were  concealed  with- 
out Stuart's  knowledge.     At  Chote  a  council  was  held. 

Stuart  was  told  that  he  must  accompany  the  expedition  against  Fort  Prince 
George,  manage  the  artillery  and  write  such  letters  to  the  commandant  as 
thej7  should  dictate  to  him  They  told  him  further  that  if  the  commandant 
should  refuse  to  surrender  they  would  burn  the  prisonei's  one  by  one  before  his 
face.  Stuart  resolved  to  make  his  escape  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  He  told 
Atta-Kulla-Kulla  that  to  bear  arms  against  his  countrymen  was  abhorrent,  and 
invoked  his  assistance  to  accomplish  his  release.  The  old  warrior  claimed 
Stuart  as  his  prisoner,  and  together  they  set  forth  on  a  pretended  hunting 
expedition.  Ten  days  afterwards  they  arrived  at  the  banks  of  the  Holston 
River,  where  they  fortunately  fell  in  with  a  party  of  300  men  sent  out  by 
Colonel  Bird  for  the  relief  of  Fort  Loudon.  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  loaded  with 
presents  and  provisions,  was  then  sent  back  to'  protect  the  hapless  prisoners 
till  they  should  be  ransomed,  and  to  exert  his  influence  over  the  Cherokees  to 
restore  peace.  Stuart  lost  no  time,  but  sent  word  to  the  Governor  of  South 
Carolina  to  inform  him  of  the  disaster  at  Fort  Loudon  and  the  danger  im- 
minent to  Fort  George.  Those  prisoners  that  had  survived  at  Loudon  were 
ransomed  and  delivered  up  to  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Prince  George. 
The  British,  victorious  in  the  French  and  Indian  war,  received  from  the 
French  a  surrender  of  all  claim  to  the  disputed  territory  by  the  treaty  of  1763. 

The  story  of  old  Fort  Loudon  has  naturally  been  invested  with  ro- 
mantic and  melancholy  interest.  It  was  the  first  and  last  instance  of  a 
capture  and  surrender  of  a  fort  and  massacre  of  the  garrison  within  the 
limits  of  Tennessee.  For  eight  years  after  this  destruction  there  was  no  set- 
tlement attempted  within  this  territory.  But  in  1768,  when  William  Bean 
built  his  cabin  near  Boone's  Creek,  he  began  the  continuous  occupation  by  the 
white  man  which  developed  finally  into  our  great  commonwealth.  It  was, 
after  all,  the  settlement  by  a  few  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  along  the 
Watauga,  who  thought  they  were  in  Virginia,  that  constituted  the  founda- 
tion of  our  present  civilization.  A  long  line  of  heroes,  statesmen  and  sturdy 
citizens  has  come  from  the  people  of  those  days. 

The  enmities  and  rivalries  which  caused  the  erection  and  then  the  de- 
struction of  Fort  Loudon  have  long  disappeared,  and  today  the  glorious 
descendants  of  those  Frenchmen  and  British  are  fighting  together,  shoulder 
to  shoulder  and  heart  to  heart,  for  the  sake  of  democracy,  in  Belgium  and 
France. 


CHAPTER  III 
EARLY  HUNTERS  AND  THEIR  HUNTING  GROUND 

THE   NAME   TENNESSEE 

The  first  historical  mention  of  Tennessee  was  the  mention  by  Sir  Alexander 
Gumming  of  "Tennessee,"  or  "Tenassee,"  as  the  ancient  capitol  of  the  Chero- 
kees.  It  was  located  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Tellico  on  the  Little 
Tennessee  River.  In  1730  Sir  Alexander  Cumming  had  been  sent  by  Great 
Britain  to  meet  the  chiefs  of  all  the  Cherokee  towns  at  Nequassee,  near  the 
present  town  of  Franklin  in  North  Carolina.  According  to  Ramsey,  pages  46 
and  47 : 

"Sir  Alexander  *  *  *  informed  them  by  whose  authority  he  was  sent, 
and  demanded  of  them  to  acknowledge  themselves  the  subjects  of  his  sovereign, 
King  George,  and  to  promise  obedience  to  his  authority.  Upon  which  the 
chiefs,  falling  on  their  knees,  solemnly  promised  obedience  and  fidelity  calling 
upon  all  that  was  terrible  to  fall  upon  them  if  they  violated  their  promise. 
Sir  Alexander,  then,  by  their  unanimous  consent,  nominated  Moytoy :  com- 
mander and  chief  of  the  Cherokee  nation.  The  crown  was  brought  from 
Tenassee,  their  chief  town,  which  with  five  eagle  tails  and  four  scalps  of 
their  enemies,  Moytoy  presented  to  Sir  Alexander,  requesting  him,  on  his 
arrival  at  Britain,  to  lay  them  at  his  majesty's  feet." 

From  this  source  and  not  from  any  supposed  resemblance  to  a  "big  spoon," 
or  a  "big  bend,"  was  derived  the  name  Tennessee,  afterwards  applied  to  the 
Tennessee  River  and  to  the  state. 

Six  chiefs  accompanied  Sir  Alexander  to  Great  Britain,  were  admitted  to  the 
royal  presence,  were  well  treated,  promised  obedience  to  the  government  of  that 
country  and  made  a  treaty  with  it  of  "friendship,  alliance  and  commerce."  The 
object  of  Great  Britain  was  twofold :  to  alienate  the  Indians  from  Spain  and 
France,  and  to  facilitate  the  intercourse  of  the  traders  with  them.  In  con- 
sequence of  this  treaty  and  of  the  good  mutual  disposition  engendered,  a  con- 
dition of  peace  and  friendship  was  maintained  for  many  years  between  the 
Colonists  and  the  Cherokees.  Indeed,  these  amicable  relations  were  disturbed 
only  when  the  hunters  and  explorers  by  ignoring  the  rights  of  the  Indians 
aroused  their  suspicion  and  stimulated  their  resentment. 

CONDITION    OF    TENNESSEE  FOUND   BY   EARLY   EXPLORERS 

On  page  77  of  his  Annals,  Ramsey  says : 

"At  the  time  of  its  first  exploration,  Tennessee  was  a  vast  and  almost  un- 
occupied wilderness — a  solitude  over  which  an  Indian  hunter  seldom  roamed, 
and  to  which  no  tribe  put  in  a  distinct  and  well  defined  claim.  For  this 
reason,  and  on  account  of  the  mildness  of  its  climate,  and  the  rich  pasturage 

1  Moytoy  of  Telliquo,  probably  the  modern  Tellieo. 

51 


52  TENNESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE 

furnished  by  its  varied  ranges  of  plain  and  mountain,  Tennessee,  in  common 
with  Kentucky,  had  become  an  extensive  park,  of  which  the  beasts  of  the 
forest  held  undisturbed  possession.  Into  these  wild  recesses,  savage  daring 
did  not  often  venture  to  penetrate.  Equidistant  from  the  settled  territories 
of  the  southern  and  northern  Indian  tribes,  it  remained,  by  common  con- 
sent, uninhabited  by  either,  and  little  explored.  The  approach  of  civilization, 
from  several  directions,  began  to  abridge  the  territories  of  surrounding  In- 
dian nations;  and  the  margin  of  this  great  terra  incognita  was  occasionally 
visited  by  parties  of  savages  in  pursuit  of  game,  and  as  places  of  retreat  from 
the  encroachments  of  a  superior  race.  In  these  respects,  the  value  of  the 
country  began  to  be  appreciated  as  hunting  grounds,  and  as  affording  im- 
munity from  the  molestations  of  civilized  man.  Vague  and  uncertain  claims 
to  several  portions  of  the  territory  were  asserted  by  as  many  several  tribes; 
but  no  part  of  the  present  Tennessee  was  held  by  the  actual  and  permanent 
occupancy  of  the  Indians,  except  that  section  embraced  by  the  segment  of  a 
circle,  of  which  Tennessee  River  is  the  periphery,  from  the  point  where  it 
intersects  the  North  Carolina  line  to  that  where  this  stream  enters  the  State 
of  Alabama.  This  was  settled  by  the  Cherokees.  All  of  Tennessee,  besides 
this,  was  uninhabited,  though  a  portion  of  it  was  claimed  or  occupied  as  hunt- 
ing grounds  by  the  Shawnees,  the  Chickasaws,  the  Choctaws  and  the  Chero- 
kees." 

Tennessee  was,  indeed,  a  virgin  land,  clad  in  nature's  richest  verdure,  pre- 
served for  countless  ages  as  the  chosen  hunting  ground  of  the  red  men.  During 
these  years  in  which  the  land  was  unoccupied  by  man,  game  of  all  kinds  multi- 
plied until  this  section  teemed  with  buffalo,  deer,  bear,  elk,  wolves,  panthers,  and 
small  game  and  birds  of  almost  infinite  variety.  The  differences  in  topography 
were  matched  by  wide  latitude  in  lavish  vegetation — giant  forests,  impenetrable 
canebrakes  and  thickets,  grape  jungles  and,  here  and  there,  wild-pea  vines,  so 
thickly  matted  and  so  over-running  the  undergrowth  as  to  impede  travel  on  foot 
or  on  horse-hack. 

And  not  only  was  game  abundant,  but  also  fruits  and  berries  in  season  in 
prodigal  profusion,  as  Hon.  Albert  V.  Goodpasture  says  in  his  "Indian  Wars 
and  Warriors  of  the  Old  Southwest,"  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine'  for 
March,  1918: 

"From  the  summit  of  almost  any  hill  in  the  Tennessee  mountains  one 
might  have  beheld  a  vast  expanse  of  green  meadows  and  strawberry  fields, 
the  meandering  river  gliding  through  them,  saluting  in  its  turnings  and 
swellings,  green,  turfy  knolls,  embellished  with  parterres  of  blooming  flowers 
and  ripening  fruit.  There  the  young  warriors  stalked  the  flocks  of  wild 
turkeys  strolling  through  the  meads,  and  chased  the  herds  of  deer  prancing 
and  bounding  over  the  hills;  and  there  the  young  maidens  gathered  the  rich, 
fragrant  strawberries,  and  in  a  gay  and  frolicsome  humor,  chased  their  com- 
panions and  stained  their  lips  and  cheeks  with  the  red,  ripe  fruit;  or,  re- 
clining on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  mountain  stream,  their  fair  forms  half 
concealed  in  the  shadow  of  the  blooming  and  fragrant  bowers  of  magnolia, 
azalea,  perfumed  calycanthus,  and  sweet  yellow  jessamin,  listlessly  toyed  in 
its  cool,  fleeting  waters." 

Of  this  land   Richard    Henderson   said: 

"The  country  might  invite  a  prince  from  his  palace,  merely  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  contemplating  its  beauty  and  excellence;  but  only  add  the  rapturous 
ideas  of  property,  and  what  allurements  can  the  world  offer  for  the  loss  of 
so  glorious  a  prospect?"2 

Tiir  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,  p.  7. 


A  RIFLEMAN  OF  THE  OLD  DAYS 


FIXING  THE   OLD  FLINTLOCK    RIFLE 


JHF  IIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVF.RSITY  OFM.UMIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  55 

THE   TRADERS 

It  was  most  natural  that  such  a  paradise  as  this  should  not  only  induce 
strenuous  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  for  retention,  but  should  also  prove 
irresistible  to  the  white  men  for  acquisition.  The  first  white  men  to  enter  were 
the  traders,  followed  closely  by  the  hunters. 

Beginning  with  Doherty,  who,  as  early  as  1690,  visited  the  Cherokees,  there 
were  many  traders  who  carried  on  a  large  and  lucrative  business  with  the  In- 
dians. Of  these,  Adair,  who  made  an  extensive  and  intelligent  tour  in  1730, 
is  perhaps  the  best  known  to  history.  Ramsey  tells  of  him,  pp.  62-77  and  Hay- 
wood, pp.  38-51. 

In  1714,  Charleville  established  a  trading  post  at  the  French  Lick.  In  1740, 
also,  a  party  of  traders  from  Virginia  visited  the  Cherokees,  traveling  on  the 
Great  Path  to  the  center  of  that  nation.  A  Mr.  Vaughan  is  mentioned  as  the 
packman  of  this  party.  The  early  traders  generally  confined  themselves  to 
the  Great  Path,  until  they  reached  the  Little  Tennessee  River  and  then  spread 
out  among  the  villages  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  The  traders  exchanged 
traps,  rifles,  beads,  cloth,  hatchets,  and  trinkets  of  little  value  for  furs  and 
hides  which  richly  compensated  them  for  the  privations  and  hardships  which 
necessarily  attached  to  such  an  occupation.  Incidentally  they  learned  the  paths 
leading  to  the  hunting  grounds  and  the  most  fertile  soils;  also  the  lands  in- 
habited by  the  Indians.  The  traders,  generally  foreigners,  frequently  Scotch- 
men who  had  not  long  been  in  this  country,  were  welcomed  by  the  Indians  and 
seldom  molested ;  and  they  oftentimes  gave  the  border  communities  timely  warn- 
ing of  a  meditated  attack  by  the  red  men. 

EXPLORERS  AND  HUNTERS 

Such  glowing  accounts  of  the  country  were  brought  back  by  the  traders 
and  so  rapidly  did  their  fortunes  accumulate  that  the  cupidity  and  enterprise 
of  others  were  aroused.  This  was  particularly  true  of  the  hunters  on  the  east- 
ern side  of  the  mountains  whose  hunting  grounds  were  fast  becoming  depleted 
of  game,  through  unconcerned  slaughter  and  the  rapid  encroachments  into  the 
mountains  of  the  increasing  population  along  the  seaboard,  which  population 
was  seeking  better  hunting  grounds  and  cheaper  lands.  Hunters  began  to  ac- 
company the  traders  and  instead  of  trading  plunged  boldly  into  the  rich  new 
lands  teeming  with  game.  Then  the  hunters,  ignoring  the  traders  entirely,  made 
incursions  by  themselves  and  were  amply  rewarded. 

Ramsey,  quoting  Monette,  says,  p.  65 :  "As  early  as  1748,  Dr.  Thomas 
"Walker,  of  Virginia,  in  company  with  Colonels  Wood,  Patton  and  Buchanan, 
and  Capt.  Charles  Campbell,  and  a  number  of  hunters,  made  an  exploring  tour 
upon  the  western  waters.  Passing  Powell's  Valley,  he  gave  the  name  of  'Cum- 
berland' to  the  lofty  range  of  mountains  on  the  west.  Tracing  this  range  in  a 
southwestern  direction,  he  came  to  a  remarkable  depression  in  the  chain ;  through 
this  he  passed,  calling  it  '  Cumberland  Gap. '  On  the  western  side  of  the  range 
he  found  a  beautiful  mountain  stream,  which  he  named  'Cumberland  River,' 
both  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,3  then  prime  minister  of  England." 
These  names  have  been  retained  and,  together  with  Loudon,  are  the  chief  names 
in  Tennessee  of  English  origin. 


s  This  was  the  victor  in  the  battle  of  Culloden,  of  whom  Thomas  Campbell,  the  poet  said: 
' '  Proud  Cumberland  prances  insulting  the  slain 
And  their  hoof  beaten  bosoms  are  trod  on  the  plain." 


56  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

In  1760,  Doctor  Walker  made  another  exploring  trip,  crossing  the  Clinch 
River  and  Powell's  River  and  penetrated  into  Kentucky.  In  the  next  year  a 
company  was  formed  composed  of  Wallen,  Scaggs,  Blevins,  Cox  and  fifteen 
others  who  came  into  what  was  later  known  as  Carter's  Valley  in  Hawkins 
County.  They  hunted  for  eighteen  months,  principally  upon  Clinch  and  Powell 
rivers.  Wallen 's  (or  Walden's)  Ridge  and  Wallen 's  (Walden's)  Creek  re- 
ceived their  names  from  the  leader  of  the  enterprise.  From  the  great  length 
of  time  they  were  absent  from  their  homes  these,  and  others,  were  called  "long 
hunters." 

DANIEL   BOONE   AND   THE   BOONE   TREE 

At  the  head  of  one  of  these  hunting  companies  was  Daniel  Boone  "from 
the  Yadkin,  in  North  Carolina,  and  traveled  with  them  as  low  as  the  place 
where  Abingdon  now  stands,  and  there  left  them." 

This  is  the  first  historical  mention  of  the  coming  of  this  famous  hunter  and 
colonizer  into  the  western  wilds,  but  there  is  virtually  no  doubt  that  he  had 
hunted  in  the  Watauga  region  at  an  earlier  date ;  for,  on  a  beech  tree  in  this 
section  was,  until  1916,  when  the  tree  was  blown  down,  an  inscription  sup- 
posed to  have  been  made  by  Daniel  Boone.  According  to  Miss  Myrtle  Leonard 
of  Jonesboro,  who  painted  the  picture  of  the  Boone  tree  found  opposite  page 
20  of  the  third  volume  of  Heiskell's  "Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee 
History,"  "the  Boone  Tree  is  on  the  old  stage  road  leading  from  Jonesboro  to 
Blountville.  It  is  about  eight  miles  northeast  of  Jonesboro,  and  nine  miles  from 
Johnson  City.  It  is  about  four  miles  from  where  Duncan,  the  first  white  man, 
was  buried  in  Tennessee,  and  only  two  miles  from  where  William  Bean  built 
his  cabin.  Then  just  a  mile  from  this  tree,  on  Boone's  Creek,  is  the  Boone 
Falls.  It  is  said  that  Boone  safely  escaped  from  the  Indians  by  hiding  under 
the  rocks  over  which  the  water  falls."4 

After  the  tree  fell,  Mr.  Heiskell  secured  from  E.  W.  Hughes,  of  Piney  Flats, 
Tenn.,  four  gavels  made  from  the  Boone  tree.  One  of  these  he  presented  to  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Society  and  one  to  the  Tennessee  Historical   Committee. 

In  connection  with  the  Boone  tree  Mr.  Hughes  wrote  the  following  letter: 

"Pinev  Flats,  Tenn.,  Aug.  23,  1921. 
"Mr.  S.  G.  Heiskell, 
"Knoxville,  Tenn. 
"Dear  Sir: 

"About  ten  miles  North  of  Jonesboro,  Tenn.,  in  Washington  County,  East 
Tennessee,  on  the  waters  of  Boone  Creek,  there  stood  until  a  few  years  ago  a 
giant  beech  tree  that  was  the  most  famous  tree  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  or 
probably  in  the  United  States.  Thousands  of  people  from  the  state  and 
near-by  states  have  journeyed  to  see  the  historical  inscription  that  was  carved 
on  its  smooth  bark.  The  inscription  was  plain  to  read  until  about  eighteen 
years  ago,  but  since,  visitors  and  curious  people  have  obliterated  this  in- 
scription which  reads, 

'D  Boon, 

'Cilled  A  Bar 

'In  Year  1760' 

"This   tree   stood   on   the   land   now   owned   by   Mr.   LaFayette   Isley,   in   a 

magnificent  forest  of  beech  and  hickory.     It  was  29  inches  across  the  stump 

and  about  70  feet  high.     It  leaned  sharply  to  the  west,  probably  20  degrees, 

in   which  direction  it   fell   about   1916.      I   believe  the  scene  around   this  spot 


*  Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  20. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  57 

has  changed  very  little  since  D.  Boon  passed  that  way  over  150  years  ago. 
The  stately  trees  have  never  been  disturbed  and  the  only  work  of  man  that 
can  be  seen  is  a  stone  marker  standing  in  eight  feet  of  the  spot  on  which  the 
Boone  Tree  stood.  These  markers  were  erected  a  few  years  ago  by  the  Ten- 
nessee Daughters  of  the  Revolution  and  are  placed  a  few  miles  apart,  desig- 
nating his  trail  through  Tennessee  from  North  Carolina  to  Kentucky.  Mr. 
Isley  cut  off  some  logs  from  this  tree  and  it  was  the  writer's  privilege  to 
make  some  library  tables  and  other  souvenirs  for  its  owner.  Three  or  four 
gavels  were  sent  to  Mr.  S.  G.  Heiskell,  of  Knoxville,  with  the  request  to 
place  them  where  they  would  be  preserved  to  the  people  of  the  state. 

"It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  the  operation  of  making  these  tables,  a  leaden 
bullet  was  sawn  through  its  middle  and  each  half  adhered  to  its  wooden 
bed  all  through  the  operation  of  manufacture  and  finish,  and  shows  in  the 
table  today.  The  bullet  was  about  five  inches  in  from  the  bark  toward  the 
heart.  The  painting  was  made  by  Miss  Myrtle  Leonard,  of  Jonesboro,  and 
loaned  for  this  picture.5 

"Verv  respectfullv, 

*"E.  W.   Hughes." 

In  1762,  Wallen's  party  returned  and  hunted  on  the  waters  of  the  Clinch 
River.  In  1763  they  entered  the  wilderness  again,  this  time  passing  through 
Cumberland  Gap  and  hunting  on  the  upper  Cumberland  River. 

In  1764,  Daniel  Boone  again  left  his  home  on  the  Yadkin  River  to  explore 
the  wilds,  this  time  as  the  representative  of  Henderson  &  Company.  He  was 
accompanied  by  his  relative,  Samuel  Callaway  (also  sometimes  spelled  Callo- 
way and  Calaway),  the  ancestor  of  the  Callaway  family  of  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky and  Missouri.  They  were  followed  by  Henry  Scoggins,  who  was  also 
employed  by  Henderson  &  Company.  Scoggins  passed  down  from  the  upper 
Cumberland  and  established  his  station  at  Mansco's  (Mansker's)   Lick. 

"About  the  last  of  June,  1766,  Col.  James  Smith,  late  of  Bourbon  County, 
in  Kentucky,  set  off  to  explore  the  great  body  of  rich  lands  which  by  con- 
versing with  the  Indians  he  understood  to  be  between  the  Ohio  and  Cherokee  6 
rivers,  which  the  Indians  had  then  lately  ceded  by  treaty  made  with  Sir 
William  Johnson  to  the  King  of  Great  Britain.  He  went  in  the  first  place 
to  Holston  River,  and  thence  traveled  westwardly  in  company  with  Joshua 
Horton,  Uriah  Stone  and  William  Baker  who  came  from  near  Carlisle,  four 
in  all,  and  a  mulatto  slave  7  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  which  Mr.  Horton 
had  with  him.  They  explored  the  country  south  of  Kentucky,  and  no  vestige 
of  any  white  man  was  to  be  found  there,  more  than  there  now  is.  west  of  the 
head  waters  of  the  Missouri.  They  also  explored  Cumberland  and  Tennessee 
rivers  from  Stone's  River  down  to  the  Ohio.  Stone's  River  is  a  fourth  branch 
of  Cumberland,  and  empties  into  it  eight  or  ten  miles  above  Nashville.  These 
travelers  so  named  it  in  their  journal,  after  one  of  themselves,  Mr.  Uriah 
Stone,  and  ever  since  that  time  it  has  retained  the  name."8 

In  1767,  John  Findley,  a  "fearless  Indian  trader"  from  North  Carolina, 
passed  through  upper  East  Tennessee,  through  Cumberland  Gap  and  as  far 
as  the  Kentucky  River. 

From  the  year  1763,  when  the  French  and  Indian  War  ended,  the  incur- 
sions of  the  hunters  and  explorers  into  the  region  west  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains became  increasingly  more  numerous  and  unrestrained.  The  spirit  of 
exploration,  indeed,  became  almost  a  mania  and  in  1768,  1769  and  1770  actual 
settlers  came  into  that  country,  the  first  of  whom  settled  in  the  valley  of  the 
Watauga,  thinking  that  they  were  still  in  Virginia. 


s  Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  21. 

o  The  Tennessee  River. 

"  The  first  negro  in  Tennessee. 

8  Haywood,  pp.  !!."i-:(6. 


58  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Lord  Dunmore,  in  a  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth,  said  of  the  restlessness 
of  the  people : 

"The  established  Authority  of  any  government  in  America,  and  the  pol- 
icy of   Government  at  home,  are  both  insufficient   to  restrain  the  Americans 

#  #  #  They  acquire  no  attachment  to  Place :  But  wandering  about  Seems 
engrafted  in  their  Nature;  and  it  is  a  weakness  incident  to  it,  that  they  Should 
for  ever  immagine  the  Lands  further  off,  are  Still  better  than  those  upon 
which  they  are  already  settled."9 

The  Cherokees  seeing  the  throngs  of  these  bold,  fearless,  daring,  adven- 
turous and  ambitious  backwoodsmen,  approaching  constantly  nearer,  made  ap- 
plication in  1767  for  running  a  dividing  line  between  the  western  settlements 
of  North  Carolina  and  their  hunting  grounds.  Again  in  1768,  according  to 
Monette,  they  protested  against  the  encroachments  of  the  settlers  upon  the 
headwaters  of  the  Kanawha  and  the  north  fork  of  the  Holston  who  they  said 
were  on  territory  claimed  by  the  Indians.  They  also  protested  against  the 
feared  occupancy  of  lands  farther  south  by  woodsmen,  explorers  and  settlers. 
The  superintendents  of  Indian  affairs  were  accordingly  instructed  to  establish 
the  boundaries  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians  and  to  purchase  from  the 
Indians  the  lands  already  occupied  by  the  King's  subjects. 

In  a  valuable  article  entitled  "Henderson  and  Company's  Purchase  Within 
the  Limits  of  Tennessee,"  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  for 
April,  1919,  Judge  S.  C.  Williams  says: 

"After  the  Seaboard  had  been  secured  and  consolidated  by  the  white  man 
and  the  danger  of  attack  by  the  Indians  became  more  and  more  remote,  then 
the  minds  of  the  bolder  and  more  ambitious  began  to  turn  longingly  to  the 
rich  and  broad  lands  to  the  west,  especially  to  the  unoccupied  lands  beyond 
the  Alleghanies. 

"For  many  years  prior  to  the  Revolutionary  war  there  were  many  and 
repeated  efforts  on  the  part  of  leading  and  enterprising  men  of  the  Atlantic 
Seaboard  to  acquire  lands  and  effect  colonizations  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
As  early  as  1747  a  number  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Virginia  formed 
the  Ohio  Company,  to  which  two  years  later  was  granted  a  domain  of  500,000 
acres  to  which  Christopher  Gist  was  sent  as  locating  agent  from  his  home 
on  Yadkin  River  in  North  Carolina.  About  the  same  time  the  Loyal  Land 
Company  of  Virginia  was  organized  and  it  received  a  royal  grant  of  800,000 
acres  of  land.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  who  later  came  in  contact  with  Richard 
Henderson  in  the  survey  of  the  Virginia-North  Carolina  state  line  west  of 
the  mountains,  was  sent  to  explore  the  lands  of  the  company. 

"Encouraged  by  the  apparent  ease  with  which  these  two  companies  se- 
cured such  extensive  grants,  many  other  schemes  were  set  on  foot  for  west- 
ward expansion  and  colonization.  One  of  these  was  the  plan  projected  by 
Samuel  Hazard,  a  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  in  1754-55  to  procure  'a  grant 
of  so  much  land  as  shall  be  necessary  for  the  Settlement  of  an  ample  colony 

*  *  *  to  be  divided  from  Virginia  and  Carolina  by  the  Great  Chain  of 
Mountains  that  run  along  the  Continent  from  the  North  Eastern  to  the  South 
Western  Parts  of  America.' 

"Following  the  termination  of  the  war  between  the  British  and  French 
in  favor  of  the  former,  to  the  British  Ministry  fell  the  task  of  formulating 
policies  respecting  the  trans- Alleghany  territory.  As  a  result  of  the  cabinet's 
consideration,  on  October  7,  1763,  King  George  III  issued  a  proclamation  de- 
claring that  the  lands  west  of  the  mountains  were  reserved  'for  the  present' 
for  the  hunting  grounds  and  homes  of  the  Indian  tribes.  This  proclamation 
for  a  while  was  a  deterring  influence,  although  it  fell  short  of  being  an 
absolute  prohibition  of  white  settlements   in  that   settlements  were   only  for- 

s  The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,  p.  8. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  59 

bidden  when  made  'without  our  special  leave  and  license  for  that  purpose 
tirst  obtained.'  One  of  the  chief  purposes  of  the  proclamation  was  the  quiet- 
ing of  the  fears  of  the  several  tribes  that  the  advance  of  the  whites  would 
displace  them. 

"The  hopes  of  promoters  revived  when  in  1767  Sir  William  Johnson  in 
the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix  purchased  of  the  Six  Nations  of  Indians  a  large 
domain  claimed  by  the  Cherokees.  This  purchase  was  made  under  authority 
of  the  British  Government  and  the  act  was  susceptible  to  the  construction 
that  the  door  was  open  for  the  westward  advance  of  settlers  provided  the 
Indians  could  be  satisfied  in  respect  of  their  claims  to  the  soil." 

MOSES  FISK'S  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  TENNESSEE 

In  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  January,  1897,  is  published  Fisk's 
Historical  Sketch  of  Tennessee,  of  which  we  reproduce  subjoined  the  part  per- 
taining to  East  Tennessee.  Introductory  to  the  article  in  question,  Hon.  A.  V. 
Goodpasture  gives  a  biographical  sketch  of  the  author,  who  was  one  of  the  many 
remarkable  men  who  came  to  Tennessee  in  the  early  days  and  helped  to  make 
this  one  of  the  great  states  in  the  Union.  The  biographical  sketch  and  the 
article  are  as  follows : 

The  enclosed  historical  notice  of  Tennessee,  which  is  the  earliest  one  I  know 
of,  by  a  citizen  of  the  state,  was  published  in  the  "Massachusetts  Historical  Col- 
lections," 2nd  Series,  Vol.  7,  under  date,  July  1,  1816. 

The  author,  Moses  Fisk  (1759-1843),  was  a  native  of  Grafton,  Mass.  He 
graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1786,  and  from  1788-1795  was  a  tutor 
in  that  institution.  One  of  his  pupils  has  left  the  very  highest  tribute  to  his 
services  in  that  capacity.  The  following  is  from  a  letter  of  Gen.  E.  W. 
Ripley :  10 

"The  period  is  long  since  I  have  seen  you,  but  the  very  precepts  which 
you  afforded,  although  at  the  time  they  seemed  to  be  'seed  sown  on  the  barren 
ground,'  yet  as  discretion  developed  itself,  the}"  imparted  a  force  and  an  im- 
pulse to  the  future  destiny  of  my  life.  If  it  has  been  my  lot  to  acquire  dis- 
tinction or  reputation ;  if  I  have  served  the  interests  of  my  country  in  any 
manner  however  limited,  the  cause  of  it  may  be  traced  to  the  admonitions  and 
precepts  of  three  respectable  benefactors:  yourself,  Captain  Dunham  and 
Wm.  Woodward." 

He  left  Dartmouth  for  the  West  in  1795,  and  in  1796  arrived  in  Knoxville, 
bearing  a  letter  from  Senator  Wm.  Blount  to  Governor  John  Sevier.  Not  long 
afterwards  he  declined  the  presidency  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina, 
tendered  him  through  Mr.  Blount,  at  whose  solicitation  he  entered  the  legal 
profession.  In  1803,  he  was  authorized  by  the  Legislature  to  compile  the  laws 
of  this  state,  and  those  of  North  Carolina  in  force  in  this  state,  but  his  com- 
pilation was  never  published,  that  of  Judge  Haywood  having  appeared  before 
it  was  ready  for  submission  to  the  Legislature.  Afterwards  he  was  a  leading 
magistrate  in  his  county,  but  he  never  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  law. 

The  most  remunerative  profession,  in  the  early  settlement  of  this  state,  was 
that  of  surveyor.  For  this  he  was  thoroughly  qualified.  His  skill  as  a  mathe- 
matician was  recognized  by  the  state  more  than  once.  In  1801.  under  the  act 
authorizing  the  governor  to  appoint  three  commissioners,  "one  of  whom  shall 
be  a  mathematician  capable  of  taking  latitude"  to  settle  and  locate  the  true 
boundary  line  between  this  state  and  Virginia ;  he  was  appointed  by  Governor 


i"  Manuscript  letter  Gen.  Ripley,  Feb.  7,  1817. 


60  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Roane  "commissioner  and  mathematician."  Again  in  1817,  he  was  requested 
by  Governor  McMinn  to  act  as  mathematician,  to  determine  the  true  point  of 
latitude  taken  on  the  northern  boundary  of  the  state11  "with  a  view  to  aid 
in  the  adjustment   of  difference  between  us  and  the  Kentuckians." 

Exercising  his  skill  as  surveyor,  he  acquired  a  large  acquaintance  with  the 
lands  of  the  state,  and  secured  for  himself  vast  bodies  in  what  are  now  Over- 
ton, White,  Jackson  and  Clay  counties.  On  this  he  established  the  Town  of  Hil- 
ham,  which  he  spent  much  money  to  develop.  He  laid  out  systems  of  turnpike 
roads  centering  at  Hilham,  and  together  with  his  friend,  Sampson  Williams, 
endowed  a  female  school  known  as  Fisk  Female  Academy,  which  was  one  of 
the  first  female  schools  chartered  in  this  country,  having  been  established  by 
the  Legislature  in  1806.  He  was  a  great  educator  and  influenced  the  lives  of 
a  multitude  of  young  men,  who  afterward  became  distinguished  in  the  service 
of  their  country. 

He  was  on  terms  of  familiar  correspondence  with  many  leading  thinkers 
and  writers,  such  as  Levi  Hedge,  who  wanted  his  opinion  of  his  "Logic,"  and 
J.  Morse,  whose  "Geography"  he  revised  for  this  part  of  the  country,  and  all 
the  leading  men  of  this  state.  He  was  a  member  of  the  "American  Antiquarian 
Society"  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  for  many  years,  and  did  much  valuable  work  for 
it.  He  has  a  paper  on  the  antiquities  of  this  state,  in  the  first  volume  of  its  trans- 
actions, published  in  1820.  He  was  made  a  corresponding  member  of  the 
"Massachusetts  Historical  Society,"  in  whose  collection  the  following  paper 
appears : 

A  Summary  Notice  of  the  First  Settlements  Made  by  White  People  Within  the 
Limits  Which  Bound  the  State  of  Tennessee 

IN   EAST   TENNESSEE 

In  the  spring  of  1768,  a  few  adventurers,  from  the  neighborhood  of  Raleigh, 
in  North  Carolina,  crossed  the  mountains,  westwardly,  in  search  of  a  new  place 
of  residence.  And,  having  explored  the  country  on  the  Watauga  River,  they 
selected  a  spot  there,  made  some  preparations,  returned,  and,  the  same  year, 
moved  over  their  families,  ten  in  number,  to  live  in  the  interminable  wilder- 
ness. 

At  the  head  of  this  little  colony  was  James  Robertson,  afterwards  so  exten- 
sively known  by  the  title  of  General;  whose  name  the  early  history  of  Ten- 
nessee, if  ever  written  in  detail,  will  exhibit  on  many  a  page. 

This  now  became  a  place  of  rendezvous  to  all  who  followed  their  footsteps 
over  the  same  stupendous  heights.  And  so  many  gathered  in,  from  the  Caro- 
linas  and  Virginia,  that,  within  three  years,  they  could  muster  nearly  three 
hundred  soldiers. 

But,  in  the  very  infancy  of  the  settlement,  by  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees, 
held  under  the  authority  from  the  government  of  the  last  mentioned  province, 
a  boundary  was  established  to  run  from  the  White  Top  Mountain  in  a  west 
direction  to  Holston  River,  on  a  parallel  of  latitude  of  about  36%  degrees.  The 
inhabitants  of  Watauga  were,  consequently,  left  on  Indian  ground,  in  no  better 
condition  than  that  of  trespassers.  And  it  was  not  long  before  they  were  or- 
dered by  Alexander  Cameron  to  move  off.  Cameron  was  deputy  agent  for 
the  government  of  England,  resident  among  the  Cherokees.     But  part  of  the 

'i  Manuscript  letter  Gov.  McMinn,  Apr.  21,  1817. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  61 

Cherokees,  notwithstanding  his  zeal,  expressed  a  desire  that  the  trespassers 
might  be  permitted  to  remain,  provided  they  would  make  no  further  encroach- 
ments. 

Tli is  favorable  symptom  was  not  long  neglected.  But  Robertson  and  John 
Bean  were  deputed  by  these  tenants  at  will,  in  1771,  to  treat  with  their  land- 
lords, and  agree  upon  articles  of  accommodation  and  friendship.  The  attempt 
succeeded.  For,  though  the  Indians  refused  to  give  up  the  lands  gratuitously, 
they  consented,  for  a  stipulated  amount  of  merchandise,  muskets,  and  other 
articles  of  convenience,  the  value  of  the  whole  estimated  at  five  or  six  thou- 
sand dollars,  to  lease  for  eight  years  all  the  country  on  the  waters  of  the  Wa- 
tauga. After  this  the  settlement  increased  with  still  greater  rapidity  than 
before.  The  next  year,  Jacob  Brown,  with  a  family  of  two,  migrated  from 
North  Carolina,  and  settled  on  Nollichucky  River,  a  step  nigher  to  the  scalpers. 
There  he  kept  a  little  supply  of  goods  suited  to  their  taste  and  convenience, 
in  order  to  maintain  traffic  with  them  to  advantage.  And,  by  this  means,  in- 
gratiating himself  into  their  favor,  he  soon  courted  them  to  a  treaty,  in  which 
he  contracted  for  the  lands  on  the  Nollichucky,  as  had  been  done  on  the  Wa- 
tauga. 

The  property  paid  to  the  Indians  in  fulfillment  of  these  covenants  was 
compensated  for,  in  both  cases,  by  sales  of  the  lands.  Those  who  advanced 
it  reimbursed  themselves  from  the  settlers. 

Thus  a  nursery  of  population  was  planted  in  East  Tennessee  never  to  be 
eradicated. 

But,  far  removed  from  the  parent  provinces,  separated  not  only  by  track- 
less forests,  but  by  numerous  ranges  of  mountains,  they  were  as  little  protected, 
controlled,  or  recollected,  by  any  government  whatever,  as  their  co-tenants,  the 
bears.  What  people  ever  approached  nearer  to  the  imaginary  state  of  nature? 
Yet  they  lived  in  extraordinary  harmony  among  themselves,  and  in  perfect  amity 
with  the  Cherokees,  the  only  power  by  which  they  were  recognized. 

Multiplied,  however,  as  they  were,  some  more  formal  act  of  association  had 
been  considered  as  expedient.  And,  accordingly,  a  code  of  laws  was  drawn  up 
to  be  signed  by  every  individual.  If  any  one  should  refuse  he  was  to  be  de- 
barred from  its  benefits.     But  there  was  no  recusant. 

What  example  does  history  furnish  of  a  government  more  perfectly  demo- 
cratical  than  this?  Magistrates  were  elected,  under  the  domination  of  trustees, 
by  whom  all  controversies  were  to  be  decided,  conformably  to  the  written  code. 
There  was  much  energy  in  the  system,  and  it  proved  very  satisfactory. 

Thus  organized,  their  affairs  continued  prosperous,  till  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolutionary  war.  And  so  great  had  been  the  augmentation,  that,  in 
1776,  they  could  have  raised  seven  or  eight  hundred  riflemen. 

But,  when  it  appeared  that  this  great  conflict  would  inevitably  become  uni- 
versal, Cameron  sent  very  enticing  letters  to  them,  endeavoring  with  many  fine 
promises  of  protection  in  case  of  their  loyalty,  to  attach  them  to  the  British 
interest.  The  peril  of  their  situation  was  too  obvious;  but  they  unanimously 
resolved,  whatever  the  issue  should  be,  to  participate  in  the  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. 

As  soon  as  Cameron  had  ascertained  this  determination,  a  project  was  de- 
vised to  spread  desolation  over  the  whole  settlement  at  once,  by  making  a 
sudden  incursion,  and  attacking  it  on  all  sides  by  surprise.  But  the  barbarous 
design  was  happily  frustrated.     The  electrical  flame  of  liberty,  so  spontaneous, 

Vol.  1—5 


64  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

dishonest  lawyers  of  the  county  courts,  now  gave  place  to  open  anarchy  and 
secret    ineendiarism. "  - 

Governor  Tryon  and  his  officers  and  the  ruling  classes  generally  were  not 
broad  enough  in  their  sympathies  to  see  that  justice  only  was  sought  by  an 
oppressed  people,  but  thought  that  an  insurrection  was  in  progress  threatening 
property,  life  and  government.  "The  governor  called  out  the  militia  of  the 
province  and  led  an  army  of  well-nigh  one  thousand  men  and  officers  against 
the  Regulators,  who  had  assembled  at  Alamance  to  the  number  of  2,000.  Try  on 
stood  firm  upon  the  demands  that  the  people  should  submit  to  government  and 
disperse  at  a  designated  hour.  The  Regulators,  on  their  side,  hoped  to  secure  the 
reforms  they  desired  by  intimidating  the  governor  with  a  great  display  of  force. 
The  battle  was  a  tragic  fiasco  for  the  Regulators,  who  fought  bravely,  but  with- 
out adequate  arms  or  real  leadership.  With  the  conclusion  of  this  desultory  ac- 
tion, a  fight  lasting  about  two  hours  (May  16,  1771),  the  power  of  the  Regu- 
lators was  completely  broken."3 

"This  vanguard  of  the  army  of  westward  advance,  independent  Americans 
in  spirit  with  a  negligible  sprinkling  of  Loyalists,  now  swept  in  a  great  tide 
into  the  northeastern  section  of  Tennessee."4 

CHARACTER   AND   ORIGIN   OP   THE   EARLY   SETTLERS   OP   TENNESSEE 

While  it  would  be  stultification  to  affect  blindness  to  the  manifest  and,  in- 
deed, manifold  shortcomings  of  the  early  pioneers,  explorers  and  settlers  in 
Tennessee,  yet  their  strong  and  good  qualities  were  transcendent  and  predomi- 
nant. They  were  a  virile  and  prepotent  people,  the  progenitors  of  men  who, 
but  a  little  later  were  among  the  rulers  of  the  nation.  These  frontier  folk, 
moreover,  became,  and  are  now,  the  most  peculiarly  and  characteristically  Ameri- 
can people  on  this  continent. 

For  the  most  part  they  were  Scotch-Irish  and  pure  Anglo-Saxon.  Roosevelt, 
in  his  "Winning  of  the  West,"  p.  134,  says  of  them: 

"The  backwoodsmen  were  Americans  by  birth  and  parentage,  and  of  mixed 
race;  but  the  dominant  strain  in  their  blood  was  that  of  the  Presbyterian 
Irish — the  Scotch-Irish,  as  they  were  often  called.  Full  credit  has  been 
awarded  the  Roundhead  and  the  Cavalier  for  their  leadership  in  our  history; 
nor  have  we  been  altogether  blind  to  the  deeds  of  the  Hollander  and  the  Hu- 
guenot ;  but  it  is  doubtful  if  we  have  wholly  realized  the  importance  of  the  part 
played  by  that  stern  and  virile  people,  the  Irish,  whose  preachers  taught  the  creed 
of  Knox  and  Calvin.  These  Irish  representatives  of  the  Covenanters  were  in  the 
west  almost  what  the  Puritans  were  in  the  northeast,  and  more  than  the  Cavaliers 
were  in  the  south.  Mingled  with  the  descendants  of  many  other  races,  they  never- 
theless formed  the  kernel  of  the  distinctively  and  intensely  American  stock  who 
were  the  pioneers  of  our  people  in  their  march  westward,  the  vanguard  of  the 
army  of  fighting  settlers,  who  with  axe  and  rifle  won  their  way  from  the  Alle- 
ghanies  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Pacific." 

In  a  foot  note  on  the  same  page,  he  says: 

"Among  the  dozen  or  so  most  prominent  backwoods  pioneers  of  the  west  and 
southwest,  the  men  who  were  the  leaders  in  exploring  and  settling  the  lands,  and 
in  fighting  the  Indians,  British  and  Mexicans,  the  Presbyterian  Irish  stock  fur- 
nished Andrew  Jackson,   Samuel  Houston,  David  Crockett,  James  Robertson ; 

2  The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,  p.  182. 

3  Ibid.,  p.   183. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  190. 


A  MOUNTAIN  MILL 


A  POUNDING  MILL 


fHE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  »F  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  67 

Lewis,"'  the  leader  of  the  backwoods  hosts  in  their  first  great  victory  over  the 
northwestern  Indians ;  and  Campbell,  their  commander  in  their  first  great  victory 
over  the  British.0  The  other  pioneers  who  stand  beside  the  above  were  such  men 
as  Sevier,  a  Shenandoah  Huguenot;  Shelby,  of  Welsh  blood;  and  Boone  and 
Clark,  both  English  stock,  the  former  from  Pennsylvania,  the  latter  from 
Virginia. ' ' 

Few  of  the  Scotch-Irish  came  to  America  before  the  year  1700.  Within  two 
or  three  decades  after  this  date,  however,  they  began  literally  to  swarm  across 
the  Atlantic.  Most  of  them  disembarked  at  Philadelphia  and  drifted  south  along 
the  eastern  escarpment  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains  and  down  the  valleys  into 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas.  Some  came  by  way  of  Charleston  and  from  this 
point  pushed  up  into  the  back  country.    A  few  only  came  by  other  routes. 

THE   WATAUGA    SETTLEMENT 

The  various  treaties  concerning  the  boundaries  of  white  settlement,  entered 
into  with  the  Indians,  had  an  important  bearing  upon  the  establishment  of  Wa- 
tauga Settlement,  of  Carter's  Valley  Settlement  and  the  Nollichucky  Settle- 
ment. The  Cherokee  boundary  established  by  Governor  Tryon,  in  1767,  and 
by  John  Stuart,  in  1768,  extended  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha  River. 
In  1763  the  King  of  England  had  issued  a  proclamation  that  no  treaties  must 
be  made  with  the  Indians  unless  with  his  express  permission.  Therefore,  when, 
by  the  treaty  of  Port  Stanwix,  on  November  5,  1768,  negotiated  for  Virginia 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  and  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis,  the  Six  Nations  sold  to  the 
Crown  their  nebulous  title  to  a  large  stretch  of  country,  including  all  the  land 
between  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  rivers,  a  strong  migration  to  the  southwest  took 
place,  because  the  colonists  assumed  that  this  new  tract  was  open  for  settle- 
ment. This  movement  was  most  marked  along  the  southwest  border  of  Vir- 
ginia toward  and  into  the  valley  of  the  Holston  River.  Governor  Botetourt 
of  Virginia,  realizing  that  the  settlers  were  pressing  on  into  the  Indian  country, 
sought  further  negotiations  with  the  Cherokees  who  had  made  vehement  com- 
plaints in  regard  to  the  unauthorized  invasion  of  their  lands.  They  also  laid 
claim  to  the  lands  ceded  by  the  Six  Nations.  Accordingly,  a  new  treaty  was 
made  at  Lochaber,  South  Carolina,  on  October  18,  1770,  whereby  a  new  line 
was  established.  This  line  ran  as  follows :  Beginning  at  the  intersection  of 
the  North  Carolina-Cherokee  line,  a  little  more  than  seventy  miles  east  of  Long 
Island  in  the  Holston  River,  thence  west  to  a  point  six  miles  east  of  Long  Is- 
land ;  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha  River.  A  strong  influx  of 
population  poured  into  the  additional  territory  thus  made  available  for  the  set- 
tlement. 

In  1769  or  1770,  William  Been  located  on  the  Watauga,  as  has  been  related. 
Probably  in  1771  Parker  and  Carter  set  up  a  store  near  the  present  city  of 
Rogersville  in  Hawkins  County  and  the  community  soon  formed  about  it  was 
called  Carter's  Valley  Settlement.  Probably  in  1771,  Jacob  Brown,  with  one 
or  two  families,  settled  on  the  Nollichucky  River  and  opened  a  stoic  for  trade 
with  the  Indians. 


s  General  Andrew  Lewis,  who  built  Fort  Loudon  in  1756.  The  reference  is  to  the  battle 
of  Point  Pleasant  on  the  Ohio  Eiver,  fought  on  Oct.  10,  1774,  between  the  northwest  Indians, 
largely  Shawnees,  and  the  Virginia  troops  ordered  out  by  Governor  Dunmore.  In  that  battle 
Capt.  Evan  Shelby,  father  of  Isaac  Shelby,  commanded  a  company  of  men  from  what  is  now 
Sullivan  and  Carter  counties,  Tennessee.  Among  them  were  James  Robertson  and  Valentine 
Sevier. 

6  Col.  William  Campbell  of  Virginia,  commander   in  the  battle  of   King's  Mountain. 


68  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  line  established  by  the  treaty  of  Lochaber  was  surveyed  in  1771  by  Col. 
John  Donelson.  The  surveying  party  was  accompanied  by  some  Indian  chiefs, 
of  whom  Atta-Kulla-Kulla  (the  Little  Carpenter)  suggested  that  they  be  paid 
an  extra  consideration  of  £500  for  which  the  line  might  be  run  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Great  Kanawha.  The  line  was  so  run,  although  the  extra  consideration 
was  not  paid. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  three  settlements  thought  they  were  in  Virginia  until, 
in  1771,  Anthony  Bledsoe,  a  surveyor  of  experience,  proved  that,  upon  the  ex- 
tension of  the  boundary  line,  these  settlers  would  be  found  to  be  within  the 
limits  of  North  Carolina.  Thereupon,  in  1772,  Alexander  Cameron,  Indian 
agent  resident  among  the  Cherokees,  a  deputy  of  John  Stuart,  required  "all 
persons  who  had  made  settlements  beyond  the  said  line  to  relinquish  them.". 
The  inhabitants  of  the  Brown  Settlement  on  the  Nollichucky  withdrew  to  the 
Watauga.  The  Watauga  Settlement  and  the  Carter's  Valley  Settlement  re- 
mained undisturbed. 

THE   WATAUGA    ASSOCIATION 

The  plight  in  which  the  Watauga  settlers  now  found  themselves  was  in- 
deed desperate.  True,  the  whites  and  the  Indians  were  at  peace  and  the  set- 
tlers so  far  were  undisturbed,  but  they  could  not  remain  in  this  anomalous 
situation.  Representatives  of  the  settlers  met  and  deputed  James  Robertson  and 
John  Been,  as  Fisk  said,  "to  treat  with  their  landlords."  As  we  have  already 
seen  in  Fisk's  article,  the  attempt  was  successful,  the  land  was  leased  from  the 
Indians  for  ten  years.  Prior  to  taking  this  step,  however,  they  found  them- 
selves compelled  to  organize  a  civil  government  under  which  to  live.  The  need 
was  urgent.  They  could  not  look  for  protection  to  Virginia,  for  they  were  not 
within  the  limits  of  that  colony.  To  appeal  to  North  Carolina  was  futile,  be- 
cause conditions  in  that  colony  were  turbulent  and  disorderly  and  the  govern- 
ment had  more  trouble  on  its  hands  than  it  could  well  handle  in  its  long  settled 
districts.  So  that  it  was  useless  to  appeal  to  it  for  aid  in  governing  a  remote 
region  like  the  Watauga.  They  proceeded,  therefore,  to  form  an  association  for 
their  own  guidance,  protection  and  government.  By  reason  of  his  force  of 
character  and  his  familiarity  with  associations  which  had  been  formed  in  North 
Carolina,  James  Robertson  was  naturally  looked  to  as  the  leader  of  this  unprec- 
edented movement. 

Dr.  Archibald  Henderson  declares  the  convention  which  adopted  the  Articles 
of  Association  to  be  "the  first  governmental  assemblage  of  free-born  American 
citizens  ever  held  west  of  the  Alleghenics.  The  government  then  established 
was  the  first  free  and  independent  government,  democratic  in  spirit,  representa- 
tive in  form,  ever  organized  upon  the  American  continent."7 

Governor  Dunmore  in  a  letter  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  dated  May  16,  1774,  says : 

"They  appointed  magistrates,  and  framed  laws  for  their  present  occasion, 
and  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  erected  themselves  into,  though  an  inconsider- 
able, yet  a  separate  State."  He  also  said  in  the  same  letter  that  it  "sets  a 
dangerous  example  to  the  people  of  America,  of  forming  governments  distinct 
from  and  independent  of  his  Majesty's  authority." 

Doctor  Ramsey  says  of  the  Articles  of  Association:     "They  formed,   it  is 


The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,  pp.  197-198. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  69 

believed,  the  first  written  compact  for  civil  government  anywhere  west  of  the 
Alleghanies. "  8 
Roosevelt  says: 

"They  decided  to  adopt  written  articles  of  agreement,  by  which  their  con- 
duct should  be  governed;  and  these  were  known  as  the  Articles  of  the  Watauga 
Association.  They  formed  a  written  constitution,  the  first  ever  adopted  west 
of  the  mountains,  or  by  a  community  composed  of  American-born  freemen.  It 
is  this  fact  of  the  early  independence  and  self-government  of  the  settlers  along 
the  headwaters  of  the  Tennessee  that  gives  to  their  history  its  peculiar  im- 
portance. They  were  the  first  men  of  American  birth  to  establish  a  free  and 
independent  community  on  the  continent. " !) 

Furthermore,  it  became  the  precedent  and  exemplar  for  Transylvania,  Frank- 
lin and  Cumberland,  all  of  which  formed  independent  governments. 

The  Watauga  settlers  assembled  in  a  convention,  somewhat  similar  to  the 
town  meetings  still  held  in  the  New  England  states.  This  convention  was  held 
at  Robertson's  station  and  probably  all  the  stations  were  represented.  They 
elected  a  court  of  five  as  follows : 

John  Carter,  ex-officio  chairman  John   Sevier 

Charles  Robertson  Zach.  Isbell 

James  Robertson 

Other  Officers 
William  Tatham,  clerk  Lewis  Bowyer,  attorney 

A  sheriff  was  also  authorized ;  but  his  name  is  not  given. 
The  five  members  of  the  court  were  the  real  ruling  body  and  had  entire 
control  of  all  matters  affecting  the  common  welfare.  All  affairs  in  controversy 
were  settled  by  them;  and  all  their  proceedings  were  noted  for  the  prudence 
and  moderation  with  which  they  behaved  in  their  peculiar  position.  Roosevelt 
expresses  great  admiration  for  the  praiseworthy  conduct  of  this  court  in  the 
conduct  of  their  difficult  duties  in  which  many  mistakes  might  easily  have  been 
made.     He  says: 

"They  were  careful  to  avoid  embroiling  themselves  with  the  neighboring 
colonial  legislatures ;  and  in  dealing  with  non-residents  they  made  them  give 
bonds  to  abide  by  their  decision,  thus  avoiding  any  necessity  of  proceeding 
against  their  persons.  On  behalf  of  the  community  itself,  they  were  not  only 
permitted  to  control  its  internal  affairs,  but  also  to  secure  lands  by  making 
treaties  with  a  foreign  power,  the  Indians ;  a  distinct  exercise  of  the  right  of 
sovereignty.  They  heard  and  adjudicated  all  cases  of  difference  between  the 
settlers  themselves ;  and  took  measures  for  the  common  safety.  In  fact  the 
dwellers,  in  this  little  outlying  frontier  commonwealth,  exercised  the  rights  of 
full  statehood  for  a  number  of  years;  establishing  in  true  American  style  a 
purely  democratic  government  with  representative  institutions,  in  which,  under 
certain  restrictions,  the  will  of  the  majority  was  supreme,  while,  nevertheless, 
the  largest  individual  freedom,  and  the  utmost  liberty  of  individual  initiative 
were  retained.  The  framers  showed  the  American  predilection  for  a  written 
constitution  or  civil  compact ;  and,  what  was  more  important  they  also  showed 
the  common-sense  American  spirit  that  led  them  to  adopt  the  scheme  of  govern- 
ment which  should  in  the  simplest  way  best  serve  their  needs,  without  bothering 
their  heads  over  mere  high-sounding  abstractions. 

"The  court  or  committee  held  their  sessions  at  stated  and  regular  times, 
and  took  the  law  of  Virginia  as  their  standard  for  decisions,  they  saw  to  the 
recording  of  deeds  and  wills,  settled  all  questions  of  debate,  issued  marriage 
licenses,  and  carried  on  a  most  vigorous  warfare  against  law  breakers,  especially 

s  Annals  of  Tennessee,  p.  107. 

»  The  Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  I,  p.  231. 


70  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

horse  thieves.  For  six  years  their  government  continued  in  full  vigor;  then,  in 
February,  1778,  North  Carolina  having  organized  Washington  County,  which 
included  all  of  what  is  now  Tennessee,  the  governor  of  that  state  appointed 
justices  of  the  peace  and  militia  officers  for  the  new  county,  and  the  old  system 
came  to  an  end.  But  Sevier,  Robertson  and  their  fellow  committeemen  were  all 
members  of  the  new  court,  and  continued  almost  without  change  their  former 
system  of  procedure  and  direct  and  expeditious  methods  of  administering  jus- 
tice ;  as  justices  of  the  peace  they  merely  continued  to  act  as  they  acted  while 
arbitrators  of  the  Watauga  Association,  and  in  their  summary  mode  of  dealing 
with  evil-doers  paid  a  good  deal  more  heed  to  the  essence  than  to  the  forms  of 
law."10 

As  an  example  of  the  expeditious  methods  of  this  court  it  may  be  said  that, 
in  one  case,  a  culprit  charged  with  horse-theft  was  arrested  on  Monday,  tried 
on  Wednesday,  and  hung  on  Friday  of  the  same  week. 
In  1775  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  was  chosen,  viz. : 
John  Carter,  chairman  William  Been 

Charles  Robertson  John  Jones 

James  Robertson  George  Russell 

Zach.  Isbell  Jacob  Womack 

John  Sevier  Robert  Lucas 

James  Smith  William  Tatham 

Jacob  Brown 
(See  page  seventy-one  for  the  reason  for  choosing  this  committee.) 

Robertson's  perilous  journey  to  the  cherokees 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  Robertson  and  Been  were  successful  in  ne- 
gotiating a  lease  with  the  Indians.  After  it  was  signed,  in  honor  of  the  event 
and  of  the  good  feeling  which  prevailed  upon  both  sides,  a  day  was  appointed 
on  which  to  hold  a  great  race,  wrestling  matches  and  other  sports  in  which  both 
the  whites  and  the  Indians  took  part.  Nothing  occurred  to  mar  the  pleasure 
of  the  occasion  until  evening  when  some  lawless  men  from  Wolf  Hills  (now 
Abingdon,  Va.)   killed  an  Indian.     The  other  Indians  withdrew  in  anger. 

The  settlers  well  knowing  the  savage  lex  talionis  of  the  Indians  seriously 
feared  their  just  anger.  From  this  deplorable  situation  they  were  rescued  by 
the  tact,  address  and  character  of  James  Robertson,  who  went  alone  to  the 
Cherokees,  placated  their  wrath  and  averted  a  bloody  and  perhaps  disastrous 
war.  This  mission  was  fraught  with  the  utmost  peril.  He  literally  took  his 
life  in  his  hand.  But  the  Indians  knew  him  and  trusted  him,  discussed  the  af- 
fair calmly  with  him  in  council  and  agreed  to  refrain  from  vengeance  and  to 
trust  to  the  efforts  of  the  whites  to  punish  the  wrong-doers. 

Notwithstanding  the  evils  done  by  bad  elements  on  both  sides,  the  Indians 
and  the  Watauga  settlers  lived  in  peace  for  many  years  after  this  time,  and 
both  profited  by  it. 

FUNCTIONS  OP  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THIRTEEN  AND  THE  COURT  OP  FIVE 

Students  of  Tennessee  for  many  years  have  been  puzzled  as  to  the  various 
duties  performed  by  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  and  the  Court  of  Five.  Mr. 
A.  V.  Goodpasture  has  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  this  question  and  has 
embodied  his  conclusions,  which  seem  indubitable  in  an  article  entitled  "The 


io  The  Winning  of  the  West,  pp.  233-234. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  71 

Watauga  Association,"  published  in  the  issue  of  the  American  Historical  Maga- 
zine for  April,  1898.  On  account  of  its  great  value  historically  it  is  herewith 
reproduced : 

THE  WATAUGA  ASSOCIATION 

The  political  history  of  Tennessee  begins  with  a  convention  of  the  settlers 
on  the  Watauga  River,  1772,  which  organized  the  Watauga  Association,  and 
appointed  a  court  consisting  of  five  members,  which  was  entrusted  with  the 
entire  administration  of  its  laws;  and  its  military  history  commences  some 
three  years  later,  when  a  joint  convention  of  the  Watauga  and  Nollichucky  set- 
tlements met  in  1775,  and  unanimously  declared  for  the  American  cause,  and 
appointed  a  committee  of  safety  of  thirteen  members,  authorized  to  pledge  the 
settlements  for  their  part  of  the  continental  expenses,  to  cooperate  with  the 
United  Colonies,  and  to  direct  and  control  the  military  affairs  of  the  settlements. 

The  first  settlements  in  Tennessee  were  made  under  widely  varying  condi- 
tions. Those  lying  north  of  the  Holston  River  and  along  the  Virginia  border 
were  only  extensions  of  the  frontier  settlements  of  that  Province,  and  have  no 
history  independent  of  that  of  Botetourt,  Fincastle  and  Washington  counties, 
in  which,  successively,  they  were  believed  to  be  included,11  earlier  than  1779, 
when  the  extension  of  the  line  by  Walker  and  Henderson  revealed  the  fact 
that  they  were  in  North  Carolina.12  There  were  two  of  them — that  east  of 
Long  Island,  generally  called  the  North  Holston  Settlement,  and  the  Carter's 
Valley  Settlement,  which  was  west  of  Long  Island. 

The  North  Holston  settlement  was  east  of  the  Indian  line  established  by  the 
Treaty  of  Loehaber,  in  1770,  which  commenced  at  the  south  branch  of  Holston 
River,  six  miles  east  of  Long  Island,  and  ran  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kan- 
awha,13 and  its  people  adhered  to  the  government,  and  lived  under  the  laws  14 
of  Virginia  until  1779.     Its  leading  family  was  the  Shelbys. 

Gen.  Evan  Shelby  (1720-1794),  a  native  of  Wales,  emigrated  with  his  father 
to  Maryland,  when  about  fifteen  years  of  age.  Here  he  became  a  noted  woods- 
man, and  figured  prominently  in  the  Indian  wars  on  the  border.  He  reached 
the  Holston  in  1771,  and  settled  at  King's  Meadows.  He  held  the  rank  of 
colonel  in  the  Virginia  service  at  the  time  the  Walker-Henderson  line  was 
run  in  1779,  and  his  place  being  found  to  lie  in  North  Carolina,  his  office  was 
vacated,  and  William  Campbell  was  promoted  to  the  full  rank  of  a  colonel  in 
his  stead.15  His  son,  Isaac  Shelby  (1750-1826),  who  came  to  Holston  with 
him,  was  first  a  lieutenant,  then  a  captain,  afterwards  a  commissary,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1779,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  from 
Washington  County.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  was  commissioned  a  major 
by  Governor  Jefferson  and  put  in  command  of  the  guards  which  were  to  ac- 
company the  commissioners  for  extending  the  line  between  Virginia  and  North 


ii  Fincastle  County,  Va.,  was  taken  from  Botetourt  in  1774.  In  Oct.,  1776,  Fincastle  was 
divided  into  Kentucky,  Washington  and  Montgomery,  the  name  of  Fincastle  being  dropped. 
Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia.     Mead,  pp.  425-6. 

i2  The  boundary  line  between  this  state  and  the  state  of  Virginia  hath  never,  until  lately, 
been  extended  by  actual  survey,  further  than  that  part  of  Holston  Eiver  that  lies  directly 
due  west  from  a  place  well  known  by  the  name  of  Steep  Rock,  and  all  the  lands  westward  of 
the  said  place  lying  on  the  north  and  northwest  side  of  the  said  Holston  River,  hath,  by  mistake 
of  the  settlers  in  that  part  of  the  country,  been  held  and  deemed  to  be  in  the  State  of 
Virginia,  etc.    Acts  of  N.  C,  1779,  Ch.  25,  Sec.  1,  Haywood  and  Cobb,  Vol.  2,  p.  23. 

is  Ramsey,  p.  102. 

i*  Ramsey,  p.  106. 

is  King's  Mt.  and  Its  Heroes.     Draper,  p.  387. 


72  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Carolina,  which  line  disclosed  his  residence  to  lie  within  the  limits  of  the  latter 
state.  He  was  immediately  appointed  a  magistrate  and  a  colonel  in  the  County 
of  Sullivan,  in  North  Carolina.10 

The  Carter's  Valley  Settlement  was  likewise  believed  to  be  in  Virginia,  but 
was  beyond  the  Indian  line,  so  that  they  were  deprived  of  the  blessing  of  be- 
ing under  the  immediate  direction  of  any  regular  judicature.17  Still,  they 
hoped  to  hold  their  lands  as  first  settlers,  under  the  law  of  that  province.18 
In  May,  1776,  they  petitioned  the  Virginia  Convention  that  they  might  "be 
incorporated  into  and  deemed  a  part  of  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  whose  protec- 
tion they  claimed,  and  whose  direction  and  jurisdiction  they  acknowledged  in 
the  fullest  extent. "  19 

Among  the  settlers  in  Carter's  Valley  was  John  Carter,  for  whom  the  valley 
was  named,  and  who  afterwards  became  a  prominent  member  of  the  Watauga 
Settlement,20  and  chairman  of  its  committee  of  safety.  Carter,  in  partnership, 
it  is  stated,  with  one  Parker,21  opened  a  store  in  the  valley,  which  was  robbed 
by  the  Indians.  When  Henderson  held  his  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  at  Syca- 
more Shoals  in  1775,  Carter  appeared  and  demanded  the  valley  as  compensa- 
tion for  the  injuries  he  had  sustained.  The  Indians  agreed  to  part  with  the 
land,  but  required  additional  compensation,  which  was  agreed  to  and  paid, 
Robert  Lucas  having  been  admitted  as  a  partner,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  raise 
the  requisite  amount.22  Prior  to  this  time,  persons  emigrating  to  Natchez  fre- 
quently stopped  on  the  Holston  for  a  year  or  two,  cleared  land  and  made  crops 
of  corn,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  settlement  and  pre-emption  rights  under 
the  laws  of  Virginia,  which  they  sold  to  immigrants  coming  to  reside  perma- 
nently in  the  country.  After  their  purchase,  however,  Carter  and  Lucas  leased 
their  lands  to  job-purchasers,  and  it  was  at  this  time,  probably,  that  they  re- 
moved to  Watauga  settlement.  In  1776,  the  inhabitants  of  Carter's  Valley 
complained  bitterly  to  the  Virginia  Convention,  "that  John  Carter  and  Robert 
Lucas,  two  gentlemen  of  the  neighboring  settlement,  called  Washington  District, 
taking  advantage  of  the  present  disorder,  pretend  that  they  have  purchased  the 
lands  of  the  petitioners,  and  have  exercised  unwarrantable  oppressions,  in  seiz- 
ing their  improved  possessions  without  allowing  them  any  reward,  or  giving 
them  the  least  notice,  and  publicly  declaring  that  all  others  who  will  not  accede 
to  their  terms,  and  receive  titles  of  them,  at  such  exorbitant  prices  as  they  shall 
think  proper  to  exact,  shall  be  turned  out  of  possession."  23  And  when  the  val- 
ley was  ascertained  to  be  in  North  Carolina,  they  refused  to  longer  hold  under 
the  Carter-Lucas  purchase,  that  province  having  promptly  refused  to  recog- 
nize their  right  to  buy  lands  from  the  Indians.24 


i'1  King's  Mt.  and  Its  Heroes.     Draper,  pp.  411-412. 

i"  Am.  Archives  (4th  Series),  Vol.  6,  p.  1553. 

,s  Ramsey,  p.  10(5.  The  first,  claim  presented  to  the  commissioner  to  grant  certificates  for 
settlement  and  pre-emption  claims  in  Kentucky  County  was  that  of  Isaac  Shelby  for  raising  a 
crop  of  corn  in  the  county  in  1776.     It  was  granted.    Butler's  Kentucky  (Ed.  1834),  p.  100. 

ifl  American  Archives   (Fourth  Series),  Vol.  VI,  1533. 

-"'  John  Carter's  residence  was  about  half  a  mile  north  of  Elizabethton.     Ramsey,  p.  141. 

2i  Parker  is  not  mentioned  in  connection  with  Carter  and  Lucas,  either  in  the  Petition  of 
Inhabitants  of  Pendleton  District,  or  in  the  Act  of  North  Carolina  making  compensation  for 
the  Indian  purchase. 

22  The  North  Carolina  Legislature.  1783,  granted  to  Landon  Carter,  son  and  heir  of  John 
Carter,  who  did  not  live  many  years  after  this  transaction,  and  to  the  heirs  of  Robert  Lucas, 
who  was  killed  in  defense  of  Davidson  County,  for  their  expense,  trouble  and  risk  in  making 
this  purchase  of  land  from  the  Cherokee  Indians,  ten  thousand  acres  of  land  on  Clinch  River, 
in  the  same  act  by  which  Henderson  and  his  associates  received  one  hundred  and  ninety 
thousand  acres.     Martin's  Private  Acts  of  North  Carolina,  p.  116. 

23  American  Archives  (Fourth  Series),  Vol.  VI,  1533. 
2+  Haywood,  pp.  55-6. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  73 

These  two  settlements,  therefore,  lived,  during  all  the  historic  life  of  the 
Watauga  Association,  under  the  laws  and  protection  of  Virginia,  and  had  no 
other  connection  with  the  South  Holston  settlements  than  that  of  near  and 
friendly  neighbors,  who  stood  in  common  peril  from  the  Indians  during  the 
wars  which  commenced  with  the  first  struggles  for  American  independence. 
And  the  only  distinctively  Tennessee  history  from  1769  to  1779,  was  made  by 
a  people  south  of  the  Holston  River. 

During  this  period  there  were  two  South  Holston  settlements,  that  on  the 
Watauga  River,  called  Watauga,  and  Brown's  on  the  Nollichucky  River.  The 
latter  settlement  was  just  being  planted  at  the  time  the  Watauga  Association 
was  formed  in  1772,  and  took  no  part  in  its  organization.25  Jacob  Brown  (1736- 
1785)  a  native  of  South  Carolina,20  brought  one  or  two  families  from  North 
Carolina,27  and  opened  a  store  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Nollichucky  in  1772. 
He  was  afterwards  a  member  of  the  committee  of  safety,  by  whose  appointment 
he  became  a  colonel,  and  distinguished  himself  as  a  patriot  and  soldier,  both 
in  the  Indian  wars  and  at  King's  Mountain.  He  died  from  a  wound  accidentally 
received  while  out  hunting.28  Following  the  example  of  the  Watauga  settlers, 
and  in  the  same  year,  Brown,  who  had  ingratiated  himself  with  the  Indians, 
obtained  from  them  a  lease  of  the  lands  on  the  Nollichucky  River,  similar  to 
that,  made  to  the  Watauga  settlers. 2!)  But  Brown's  settlement  was  not  admitted 
to  the  Watauga  Association  until  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  some 
three  years  after  its  organization.30 

The  first  decade  of  Tennessee  history  centers  in  the  little  settlement  on  the 
Watauga  River,  of  which  James  Robertson  (1742-1814)  was  the  leading  spirit. 
Robertson  was  a  native  of  Brunswick  County,  Va.,  but  in  his  youth  had  re- 
moved with  his  parents,  John  and  Mary  (Gower)  Robertson,  to  Orange  County, 
North  Carolina,31  made  famous  by  the  battle  of  the  Alamance,  where  the  first 
blood  was  shed  in  resistance  to  British  oppression  in  America.32  His  father 
seems  to  have  been  poorer  than  the  average,  even  in  Orange  County,  where  at 
that  time,  extreme  poverty  prevailed,  and  his  education  was  wholly  neglected. 
Like  another  distinguished  citizen  of  Tennessee  who  emigrated  from  the  same 
place,33  and  afterwards  rose  to  the  presidency  of  the  United  States,  Robertson 
received  the  first  rudiments  of  an  education  from  his  enlightened  wife.34  But 
his  native  talent,  his  resolute  spirit  and  his  inspiring  manner  were  such  that  he 
could  neither  have  been  an  indifferent  spectator  in  the  stirring  scenes  of  the 
first  years  of  the  Regulators,  nor  could  he  have  passed  unnoticed  through  them. 
At  the  very  time  they  were  charging  Edmund  Fanning,  the  county  clerk,  with 
demanding  and  receiving  $15  for  a  marriage  license,  and  only  a  month  after 
he  had  pleaded  guilty  to  an  indictment  for  six  several  instances  of  extortion,35 
on  October  20,  1768,  Robertson  was  married  to  Charlotte,  daughter  of  George 


-5  Ramsey  's,  pp.  109  and  145. 

2«  King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes.     Draper,  p.  424. 

27  Ramsey,  p.  110. 

-'*  King's  Mountain  and  Its  Heroes.     Draper,  p.  424. 

20  Haywood,  p.  55. 

30  Haywood,  p.  61. 

si  Putnam,  p.  18. 

32  Wheeler 's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  p.  59. 

33  Wake  County,  North  Carolina.  The  Legislature  met  Dec  5,  1770,  dismembered  the 
refractory  County  of  Orange,  and  distributed  parts  of  it  among  three  new  counties,  the  home 
Robertson  was  about  to  leave,  falling  into  that  of  Wako.  Wheeler's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I, 
p.  58. 

•"■*  Putnam,  p.  21. 

35  Wheeler's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  p.  57. 


74  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and  Mary  Reeves,  who  had  come  to  Northampton  Comity.  If  such  an  exorbitant 
fee  were  exacted  of  him  no  doubt  lie  found  it  difficult  to  pay. 

During  the  year  or  more  of  quiet  dejection  following  the  dispersion  of  the 
Regulators  in  the  fall  of  1768,  he  determined  to  seek  a  home  beyond  the  reach 
of  British  oppression,  and  accordingly,  in  the  spring  of  1770,  he  crossed  the 
mountain  with  the  avowed  intention  of  finding  a  home  for  himself  and  family, 
and  with  commissions  to  do  a  like  service  for  many  of  his  friends  who  wished 
desirable  locations  near  his  own.36  Reaching  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Wa- 
tauga he  selected  a  satisfactory  place,  accepted  the  hospitalities  of  one  Honey- 
cut,  raised  a  crop  of  corn,  and  returned,  alone,  for  his  family  and  friends.  On 
the  trackless  mountain  he  lost  his  way,  and  would  have  perished  but  for  the 
providential  relief  afforded  by  two  hunters  who  chanced  to  discover  him,  when 
his  strength  was  fairly  exhausted  from  hunger  and  fatigue.37 

On  his  return  he  found  great  excitement,  not  only  in  Orange,  but  in  Rowan 
and  Dobbs  counties  as  well.  Goaded  to  desperation,  the  Regulators  had  defied 
and  resisted  civil  officers,  assaulted  and  beaten  attorneys  and  broken  up  courts.38 
The  tyrannical  and  energetic  governor  took  active  steps,  not  only  to  suppress, 
but  to  crush  them.  Public  meetings  were  forbidden,  Orange  County  dismem- 
bered, the  sale  of  powder  and  lead  prohibited,  an  army  was  raised,  and  by 
the  fourteenth  of  May,  1771,  Governor  Tryon  encamped  on  the  banks  of  the 
Alamance,  with  a  force  of  more  than  eleven  hundred  men.39  On  the  sixteenth 
the  battle  of  Alamance  was  fought,  in  which  the  Regulators  were  routed  and 
their  power  completely  broken.     But,  to  use  the  language  of  Mr.  Bancroft, 

"It  is  a  mistake  if  any  have  supposed  that  the  Regulators  were  cowed  down 
by  their  defeat  at  the  Alamance.  Like  the  mammoth,  they  shook  the  bolt  from 
their  brow  and  crossed  the  mountain. ' '  40 

And  the  first  fruits  of  this  great  exodus  were  James  Robertson  and  his  fam- 
ily and  friends,  who  crossed  over  to  their  Watauga  homes  in  the  spring  of  1771. 

Robertson  has  justly  been  called  the  "Father  of  Tennessee." 

It  is  true  his  name  is  more  intimately  linked  with  the  history  of  the  mid- 
dle portion  of  the  state,  but  his  public  services  here  antedate  the  settlement  of 
the  Cumberland  valley  by  a  period  of  nearly  ten  years,  during  which  time 
he  was  the  leading  spirit  of  the  Watauga  settlements,  where  he  proved  him- 
self in  every  way  worthy  of  the  affectionate  title  he  has  received.  He  had  an 
elevation  of  soul  that  enabled  him  to  take  upon  himself  the  burden  of  the  whole 
community.  He  was  wholly  unconscious  of  self.  He  never  sought  popularity, 
nor  honor,  nor  position.  If  there  were  a  service  too  humble  to  attract  the  am- 
bitious, a  post  so  perilous  as  to  make  the  brave  quail,  or  a  duty  so  difficult  as 
to  fill  every  heart  with  despair,  that  service  or  post  or  duty  was  accepted  as 
a  matter  of  course  by  James  Robertson.  And  his  head  was  so  cool  and  clear ; 
he  had  such  a  brave,  resolute  and  devoted  spirit ;  and  his  vigilance  was  so  alert 
and  active,  that  success  followed  him  like  the  blessings  of  a  special  providence. 

He  was  not  the  first  to  settle  on  the  banks  of  the  Watauga.  Perhaps  that 
distinction  is  properly  accorded  to  William  Been,  who  built  his  cabin  near  the 
mouth  of  Boone's  Creek  in  1769. 

But  by  the  spring  of  1772,  when  the  first  political  organization  in  the  state 


so  Putnam,  p.  21. 

st  Haywood,  pp.  52-3. 

3»  Wheeler's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  p.  57. 

39  Wheeler 's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  p.  58. 

*o  Bancroft  to  Swain.  Ramsev,  p.  102. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  75 

was  effected,  their  little  community  numbered  mam-  families.  Some  of  them 
had  settled  there  in  consequence  of  the  Treaty  of  Lochaber,  by  which  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  Virginia  was  moved  back  to  within  six  miles  of  Long  Island,41 
and  at  first  they  hoped  to  be  found  within  the  limits  of  that  province.42  In 
1771,  an  experimental  survey  from  Steep  Rock  to  Beaver  Creek,  made  by  An- 
thony Bledsoe,  indicated  clearly  that  they  would  fall  in  North  Carolina  upon 
an  extension  of  the  line.43  This,  however,  was  only  a  private  survey,  and  they 
do  not  seem  to  have  taken  any  action  in  consequence  of  it.  But  in  1772  Vir- 
ginia made  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  by  which  it  was  agreed  that 
her  southern  boundary  should  be  a  line  running  west  from  White  Top  Moun- 
tain in  latitude  36°  30'.  This  line  was  not  actually  surveyed,  but  the  Holston 
River  was  tacitly  accepted  by  all  parties  as  the  southern  boundary  of  Virginia. 

Under  this  treaty  Alexander  Cameron,  an  agent  of  the  British  government 
residing  among  the  Cherokees,  ordered  the  Watauga  settlers  to  move  off.44  It 
is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  order  did  not  mention  either  the  Nollichucky  or 
Carter's  Valley  settlement.  Brown  was  just  then  planting  the  Nollichucky  set- 
tlement, which  seems  not  to  have  attracted  the  agent's  notice,  but  he  recognized 
that  he  was  within  the  Cherokee  hunting  ground,  and  made  terms  with  the 
Indians  to  secure  his  possession.  Carter's  Valley,  on  the  other  hand,  lying 
north  of  the  supposed  line,  was  not  included  in  the  order,  and  its  settlers  took 
no  notice  of  it. 

The  order  was  leveled  at  the  Watauga  settlers,  and  placed  them  in  a  most 
critical  situation.  They  suddenly  found  themselves  without  laws,  and  beyond 
the  protection  of  any  power  stronger  than  their  own  feeble  arm.  It  would 
have  been  folly  to  rely  for  protection  on  North  Carolina,  if  they  had  been  so 
inclined,  but  we  have  reason  to  believe  they  did  not  desire  a  political  connection 
with  her,  at  that  time,  as  they  neither  adopted  her  laws  nor  sought  her  recog- 
nition until  after  she  had  asserted  her  independence  of  Great  Britain.  More- 
over, they  were  now  officially  declared  to  be  trespassers  on  the  Cherokee  hunt- 
ing ground,  and  could  obtain  title  to  their  lands  neither  from  the  Indians  nor 
from  the  Provincial  government.  The  proclamation  of  the  King,  in  1763, 
"strictly  enjoined  and  required  that  no  private  person''  should  presume  to 
purchase  any  lands  from  the  Indians.45  Fortunately  for  them  a  profound  peace 
existed  between  the  colonies  and  the  southern  Indians,  and  when  the  British 
agent  ordered  them  to  move  back,  some  of  the  Cherokees  expressed  a  wish  that 
they  might  be  permitted  to  remain,  on  condition  that  they  should  make  no  fur- 
ther encroachments.46  This  seems  to  have  disarmed  the  agent,  but  it  left  the 
settlers  in  the  precarious  condition  of  tenants  at  will  with  the  Indians. 

At  this  juncture,  a  convention  of  the  Watauga  47  settlers  was  called  to  con- 
sider their  anomalous  and  unhappy  situation,  and  to  devise  means  for  its  im- 
provement. They  never  thought  of  abandoning  their  homes.  They  said  they 
were  "too  inconveniently  situated  to  move  back,"  and,  besides,  they  were  "un- 
willing to  lose  the  labor  bestowed  on  their  plantations. ' '  Inspired  by  the  genius 
of  common  sense,  they  determined  to  do  two  things:     First,  to  form  a  govern-. 

41  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washington  District.     Ramsey,  p.  135. 

42  Same.     Ramsey,  p.  135. 
*s  Haywood,  p.  54. 

44  Ramsey,  p.  109. 

4s  Ramsey,  p.  71. 

4(5  Haywood,  p.  54. 

*t  Caldwell,  in  his  excellent  little  work,  entitled  Studies  in  the  Constitutional  History  of 
Tennessee,  p.  18,  says:  "The  settlements  originally  composing  the  Association  were  Watauga 
and  Carter 's  Valley, ' '  but  he  is  manifestly  in  error. 


76  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ment  of  their  own  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  their  settlement ;  and  sec- 
ond, to  lease  for  a  term  of  years  the  lands  on  which  they  lived,  conceiving  that 
the  King's  proclamation  of  1763,  prohibiting  them  from  buying  the  land  from 
the  Indians,  did  not  extend  to  a  leasing. 

Accordingly,  they  entered  into  a  written  association  and  article  for  the 
government  of  the  settlement,48  which  was  the  first  written  constitution  adopted 
by  the  consent  of  a  .free  and  independent  people  of  America.41'  The  instrument 
itself  has  not  been  preserved,  and  much  confusion  and  inaccuracy  respecting 
its  scheme  of  government  have  been  caused  by  an  incorrect  interpretation  of 
the  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washington  District  to  the  Provincial  Coun- 
cil of  North  America,  by  the  able  and  laborious  historian  to  whose  careful  and 
persistent  research  we  owe  its  publication.50 

The  nearest  contemporary  authority  we  have,  states  that  "they  appointed 
magistrates,  and  framed  laws  for  their  present  occasion,  and  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  erected  themselves  into,  though  an  inconsiderable,  yet  a  separate 
state."51  Moses  Fisk  (1759-1843),  who  had  a  wide  acquaintance  among  the 
pioneers  of  Tennessee,  and  did  much  careful  investigation  in  matters  touching 
its  history  and  antiquities,  writing  in  1816,  says:  "A  code  of  laws  was  drawn 
up  to  be  signed  by  every  individual.  If  any  should  refuse  he  was  to  be  debarred 
from  its  benefits.    But  there  was  no  recusant." 

Magistrates  were  elected  under  the  denomination  of  trustees  by  whom  all 
controversies  were  to  be  decided,  conformably  to  the  written  code.  There  was 
much  energy  in  the  system,  and  it  proved  very  satisfactory.  Thus  organized, 
their  affairs  continued  prosperous  till  the  commencement  of  the  Revolutionary 
war.52  Haywood  is  in  substantial  accord  with  Fisk  and  almost  as  brief,  though 
he  adds  some  important  information  not  noticed  by  the  latter.  From  him  we 
learn  that  the  magistrates,  whom  he  calls  commissioners,  were  five  in  number, 
and  that  James  Robertson  was  one  of  the  five ;  and  also  that  they  had  a  clerk 
and  a  sheriff,  and  held  their  sessions  at  stated  and  regular  times,  taking  the 
laws  of  Virginia  as  the  standard  of  their  decisions.53  The  substance  of  these 
several  statements  is,  that  the  Watauga  settlement  met  in  mass  convention  and 
adopted  a  written  constitution,  in  which  the  laws  of  their  own  state  were  re- 
pudiated and  the  Virginia  system  adopted.  This  constitution  was  signed  by 
every  member  of  the  community,  and  a  court,  consisting  of  five  magistrates, 
having  a  clerk  and  a  sheriff,  were  appointed  to  administer  the  law,  under  the 
constitution. 

This  is  entirely  consistent  with  the  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washing- 
ton District,  when  rightly  understood.     But  Ramsey,  after  repeating  without 


48  Haywood,  p.  54. 

*»  Compare  Bamsey,  p.  107 ;  Kelly,  in  Proceedings  of  the  First  Scotch-Irish  Congress, 
p.  153;  Allison,  in  Proceedings  of  the  17th  Meeting  of  the  Tenn.  Press  As.,  p.  27;  Koosevelt's 
Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  I.  p.  184;  Caldwell's  Studies  in  the  Constitutional  History  of  Tenn., 
p.  27.  Caldwell,  p.  29,  criticises  Bancroft  for  the  statement  that  Watauga  "set  the  people 
of  America  the  example  of  erecting  themselves  into  a  State  independent  of  the  authority  of 
the  British  King,"  apparently  without  having  his  attention  called  to  the  fact  that  the  lan- 
guage is  substantially  that  of  the  British  Governor  of  Virginia  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  who 
says,  "it  at  least  sets  a  dangerous  example  to  the  people  of  America,  of  forming  governments 
distinct  from  and  independent  of  his  Majesty's  authority."  Dunmore  to  Dartmouth,  May  16, 
1774.      Bancroft    (First  Ed.),  Vol.   6,   p.'   401    note. 

5"  Bamsey. 

si  Dunmore  to  Dartmouth.  May  16,  1774.     Bancroft  (First  Ed.),  Vol.  7,  p.  401  note. 

52  A  Summary  Notice  of  the  First  Settlements  Made  by  White  People  Within  the  Limits 
Which  Bound  the"  State  to  Tennessee.  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  (Second  Series),  Vol.  7,  p.  59;  re- 
printed  with   a   sketch   of  the  Author   in  the    American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.  17. 

ss  Haywood,  pp.  54,  59. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  77 

qualification  what  Haywood  says,  confounding  the  court  with  the  committee  of 
safety,  adds  the  irreconcilable  statement,  "that  Watauga  settlers,  in  convention 
assembled,  elected  as  commissioners  the  thirteen  members  of  the  committee  who 
signed,  in  their  official  capacity,  the  Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washington 
District,54  although,  according  to  all  authorities,  some  of  them,  like  Jacob  Brown, 
for  instance,  who  was  just  then  forming  his  little  settlement  on  the  Nollichucky, 
were  not  originally  members  of  the  Watauga  Association.  Of  these,  he  says 
it  is  believed,  but  on  what  authority  does  not  appear,  that  John  Carter,  Charles 
Robertson,  James  Robertson,  Zack  Isbell  and  John  Sevier,  were  elected  as  the 
court,  with  John  Carter,  who,  we  have  every  reason  to  believe,  was  then,  and 
for  some  years  afterwards  engaged  in  selling  goods  and  trading  in  settlement 
and  pre-emption  claims  in  Carter's  Valley,  as  its  chairman."55 

These  statements  coming  from  an  author  usually  so  accurate  and  trustworthy, 
have  misled  as  able  and  discriminating  writers  as  Phelan,  Roosevelt  and  Cald- 
well, and  has  given  them  an  immense  deal  of  trouble  in  undertaking  to  construct 
a  government  by  amalgamating  the  court  with  the  committee  of  safety.  Phelan 
says,  "having  assembled  in  general  convention,  like  the  inhabitants  of  the  old 
New  England  towns,  a  committee  of  thirteen  was  elected  as  a  kind  of  general 
body  for  legislative  purposes.  The  executive  and  judicial  power  was  lodged  in 
five  commissioners  elected  by  the  thirteen  from  their  own  body.  The  five  com- 
missioners elected  one  of  their  number  chairman,  who  was  ex-officio  chairman 
of  the  committee  of  thirteen.56 

"A  clerk  was  elected  by  the  committee.  Among  the  most  important  legislative 
functions  performed  by  this  body  was  the  establishment  of  instruments  for  the 
recording  of  wills  and  deeds."57 

Roosevelt  follows  in  the  same  line,  but  a  little  more  picturesquely.  He  says, 
after  "holding  a  kind  of  folk-thing,  akin  to  the  New  England  town-meeting,  they 
then  elected  a  representative  assembly,  a  small  parliament  or  'witenagamot,' 
which  met  at  Robertson's  station.  Apparently  the  freemen  of  each  little  fort 
or  palisaded  village,  each  blockhouse  that  was  the  center  of  a  group  of  detached 
cabins  and  clearings,  sent  a  member  to  this  first  frontier  legislature."58  Evi- 
dently he  had  not  observed  the  fact  that  at  that  time  there  was  not  a  fort  or 
palisaded  village  or  blockhouse  in  the  settlement.59  Caldwell,  in  his  critical 
analysis  of  the  Watauga  constitution,  quotes  what  both  Haywood  and  Ramsey 
say,  and  giving  credence  to  both,  of  course,  finds  the  matter  in  inextricable  con- 
fusion.   He  says : 

"This  court  or  board  of  five  commissioners  appears  to  have  exercised  all 
judicial  and  executive  authority.00  It  is  impossible  to  define  the  respective 
powers  of  the  committee  of  thirteen,  and  of  the  court  or  commission  of  five. 
The  thirteen  do  not  appear  to  have  had  any  part  in  the  actual  conduct  of  the 
public  business."  01 

"Nothing  can  be  said  definitely  concerning  the  committee  of  thirteen,  except 
that  it  met  in  1772,  and  appointed  the  court,  to  which  it  appears  to  have  en- 
trusted all  the  functions  of  administration."02 

54  Ramsey,  p.  107. 

55  Ramsey,  p.  107. 

5(1  It  would  he  a  remarkable  thing  if  a  subcommittee  were  permitted  to  name  the  chairman 
of  the  full  committee.     The  reverse  is  often  done. 
57  Phelan,  pp.  33-4. 

5R  Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  I,  p.  184. 
*!•  Ramsey,  p.  146;   Haywood,  p.  61. 

60  Studies  in  the  Constitutional  History  of  Tennessee,  p.  17. 

61  Studies  in  the  Constitutional  History  of  Tennessee,  p.  21. 
«2  Id.,  p.  22. 


78  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

And  speaking  of  the  Cumberland  compact : 

"I  do  not  find  the  equivalent  of  the  sub-committee  or  court  of  five,  which 
seems  to  have  had  the  actual  administration  in  Watauga."  ,;3  "The  most  strik- 
ing of  these  variances  is  the  omission  of  the  sub-committee  or  court  of  five, 
from  the  Cumberland  organization.  It  is  impossible  to  say  with  certainty  why 
this  was  done ;  my  own  opinion  is,  that  the  Watauga  people  had  found  by  ex- 
perience that  it  was  not  necessary  to  have  both  the  court  of  five  and  the  com- 
mittee of  thirteen.  It  is  to  be  inferred  that  in  Watauga  the  large  body  became 
practically  of  no  value,  rendering  no  service."1'4 

A  careful  study  of  the  petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washington  District,  in 
the  light  of  contemporary  history,  will  reveal  the  fact  that  the  court  and  com- 
mittee were  wholly  distinct  and  separate  bodies,  created  at  different  times  and 
for  different  purposes.  Fisk  says,  "When  it  appeared  that  this  grand  conflict 
(the  Revolutionary  war)  would  inevitably  become  universal,  Cameron  sent  very 
enticing  letters  to  them,  endeavoring  with  many  fine  promises  of  protection  in 
case  of  their  loyalty,  to  attach  them  to  the  British  interest.  The  peril  of  their 
situation  was  too  obvious;  but  they  unanimously  resolved,  whatever  the  issue 
should  be,  to  participate  in  the  struggle  for  independence. ' ' 65  June  15,  1775, 
George  Washington  was  elected  commander-in-chief  of  the  American  forces,  and 
in  July  the  Virginia  convention  met  and  appointed  a  committee  of  safety  for  the 
Province,  naming  Edmund  Pendleton  as  its  president.  The  committee  of  safety 
of  Fincastle  County  was  headed  with  Rev.  Charles  Cummings,  a  zealous  whig, 
and  a  son-in-law  of  John  Carter,  of  Lancaster  County,  Virginia.66  In  August 
the  North  Carolina  Congress  declared  that  the  people  of  that  Province  would 
pay  the  due  proportion  of  the  continental  expense,  and  appointed  a  Provincial 
Council,  consisting  of  thirteen  members,  and  provided  for  the  election  of  a  com- 
mittee of  safety,  of  thirteen  members,  in  each  district  in  the  Province.67  About 
this  time,  the  settlers  on  the  Watauga  and  Nollichucky,  who  styled  themselves 
Washington  District,  appointed  a  committee  of  thirteen,  not  materially  differ- 
ent, to  say  the  least,  from  the  committee  of  safety  in  each  of  the  six  recognized 
districts  of  North  Carolina.  And  their  neighbors  in  Carter's  Valley  formed 
themselves  into  a  society,  called  Pendleton  District,  appointed  a  committee,  and 
presented  a  petition  to  the  committee  of  Fincastle  County,  through  whom  it  was 
forwarded  to  the  Virginia  Convention,  in  which  "they  think  it  unnatural  that 
they,  though  few,  should  remain  inactive,  while  their  brethren  are  bleeding  in 
the  field."68 

July  4,  1776,  the  American  Declaration  of  Independence  was  adopted,  and 
immediately  after  that  event  the  inhabitants  of  Washington  District  presented 
their  petition  to  the  Provincial  Council  of  North  America,  praying  to  be  annexed 
to  the  Province,  in  such  a  manner  as  might  enable  them  to  share  in  the  glorious 
cause  of  liberty ;  enforce  their  laws  under  authority,  and  in  every  respect  become 
the  best  members  of  society.    It  bears  no  date,  but  was  received  August  22,  1776. 

The  petitioners  speak  of  the  Donelson  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians 
(1770),  which  induced  many  of  them  to  settle  on  the  Watauga,  expecting  to  be 
in  Virginia,  and  to  hold  their  lands  by  their  improvements  as  first  settlers;  of 
their  disappointment,  when  the  line  was  run,  to  find  themselves  in  North  Caro- 


63  Id.,  p.  39. 


64  Studies  in  the  Constitutional  History  of  Tennessee,  pp.  43-4. 

n^  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.  21. 

suFoote's  Sketches  of  Virginia  (Second  Series),  pp.  122-124. 

67  Wheeler 's  North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  pp.  73-4. 

68  American  Archives   (Fourth  Series),  Vol.  VI,  1553. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  79 

lina;  of  their  lease  of  land  from  the  Cherokees  (1772)  for  the  term  of  ten  years; 
and  of  yielding  to  the  precedent  set  by  Henderson  &  Co.,  many  of  whom,  they 
declared,  were  gentlemen  of  the  law,  and  making  a  purchase  in  fee  simple 
(1775).     Then  they  proceed: 

This  petition  in  full  in  appendix. 

"The  purchase  was  no  sooner  made  (i!'  than  we  were  alarmed  by  the  report 
of  the  present  unhappy  differences  between  Great  Britain  and  America,  on 
which  report  (taking  now  the  United  Colonies  for  our  guide),  we  proceeded  to 
choose  a  committee,  which  was  done  unanimously  by  consent  of  the  people." 

They  next  give  the  causes  that  led  them  to  form  a  court  (and  they  never 
confuse  the  terms  "court"  and  "committee"),  show  the  legality  of  its  proceed- 
ings and  their  want  of  proper  authority  to  try  and  punish  felons. 

Turning  to  matters  connected  with  the  war,  they  give  an  account  of  their 
military  establishment,  which  they  say  were  chosen  agreeable  to  the  rules  estab- 
lished by  the  committee. 

The  whole  is  then  submitted  to  the  candid  and  impartial  judgment  of  the 
Provincial  Council,  and  it  is  signed  by  the  members  of  the  committee,  and  by 
one  hundred  others.70 

It  clearly  appears  from  the  petition  that,  while  the  court  was  established  in 
1772,  the  committee  was  not  created  until  1775.  Take  the  committee,  therefore, 
out  of  the  Watauga  constitution  and  the  nature  and  functions  of  both  court  and 
committee  become  plain  and  simple. 

Finding  themselves  without  laws  and  bej'ond  the  jurisdiction  of  any  govern- 
ment, the  people  of  the  Watauga  settlement  met  in  mass  convention,  in  1772, 
adopted  a  constitution,  and  appointed  a  court  of  five  commissioners,  to  whom 
they  entrusted  all  the  powers  of  the  government.  This  was  in  a  time  of  pro- 
found peace,  which  continues  until  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

Afterwards  in  1775,  when  the  great  conflict  came  on  a  second  convention  was 
held  by  the  two  settlements  on  the  Watauga  and  Nollichucky,  to  take  into  con- 
sideration the  ' '  unhappy  differences  between  Great  Britain  and  America, ' '  which 
convention  "taking  now  the  United  Colonies  for  their  guide,  proceeded  to  choose 
a  committee,"  whose  duties  were  identical  with  those  of  a  committee  of  safety, 
as  they  were  understood  at  that  time.  ' '  They  resolved  to  adhere  to  the  rules  and 
orders  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  in  open  committee  acknowledged  them- 
selves indebted  to  the  United  Colonies  their  full  proportion  of  the  continental 
expense."  71 

They  took  charge  of  the  military  establishments  and  appointed  the  military 
officers.72  They  administered  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  such  persons  as  were 
suspected  of  disaffection  to  the  American  cause.73  They  enlisted  a  company  of 
fine  riflemen  for  service  on  the  sea  shore,  who  were  actually  embodied  and  put 
under  command  of  Captain  James  Robertson,  when  an  Indian  invasion  being 
threatened,  it  became  necessary  to  send  them  to  the  frontiers.74  They  strength- 
ened the  forts  and  took  every  measure  that  could  add  to  the  security  of  their 


6fl  The  purchase  was  made  March  19,  1775,  and  the  battle  of  Lexington  was  fought  April 
19,  1775. 

7"  Ramsey,  p.  135. 
"Ramsey,  pp.  134-138. 

72  Ramsey,  p.  136. 

73  They  appointed  Carter  from  Watauga,  and  Brown  from  Nollichucky,  colonels,  and  Wo- 
mack  of  Watauga,  major.    Ramsey,  p.  145. 

7*  Ramsey,  p.  137. 


80  TENNESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE 

people,  and  having  exhausted  their  own  resources,  they  sent  an  express  to  Vir- 
ginia for  aid  and  supplies  of  powder  and  lead.75 

We  may  well  conclude  that  the  committee  did  not  become  valueless  nor  cease 
to  render  service  until  Washington  District  was  annexed  to  North  Cai-olina,  and 
both  the  court  and  committee  of  safety  gave  place  to  the  regular  government 
of  the  State. 

THE   LEADERS   OP   WATAUGA 

The  members  of  the  Court  and  of  the  Committee  of  Thirteen  were  all  picked 
men.  When  the  articles  of  the  association  were  adopted  every  man  of  the 
Watauga  settlement  signed  them.  All  of  them  were  remarkable  men  and  two  of 
them,  Robertson  and  Sevier,  were  among  the  greatest  pioneer  developers  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States.  Roosevelt  says  that  Robertson  and  Sevier  were 
two  of  the  three  greatest  leaders  of  development  west  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains, the  third  being  George  Rogers  Clark.  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson  naturally 
adds  a  fourth,  his  ancestor,  Richard  Henderson.  The  following  is  a  brief  state- 
ment regarding  the  five  men  who  composed  the  court: 

James  Robertson  was  born  in  Brunswick  County,  Virginia,  June  28,  1742, 
of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  From  early  in  his  youth  he  displayed  the  qualities  and 
characteristics  which  made  him  great.  He  was  quiet,  reflective,  conservative, 
wise,  a  firm  believer  in  the  basic  principles  of  civil  liberty  and  the  right  of  local 
self  government.  He  was  an  unusual  combination  of  initiative  without  rashness 
and  of  prudence  without  timidity.  His  sound  judgment,  indomitable  courage, 
great  energy,  perseverance  and  knowledge  of  men's  character,  together  with  his 
acquaintance  with  the  wiles  and  stratagems  of  the  Indians  made  him  the  natural 
and  undisputed  leader.  He  has  been  called  variously  "The  Father  of  Ten- 
nessee" (by  Andrew  Jackson),  "The  Father  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  and  "The 
Father  of  West  Tennessee."  He  richly  deserved  each  appellation,  for  he  was 
the  leader  of  the  community  which  began  the  history  of  East  Tennessee.  He 
was  the  founder  of  the  Cumberland  Settlement  from  which  Middle  Tennessee 
developed ;  and  he  was  the  Indian  agent  in  West  Tennessee,  where  he  died  Sep- 
tember 1,  1814. 

In  his  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,  page  39,  Haywood  says  of 
Robertson : 

"He  merited  all  the  eulogium,  esteem  and  affection,  which  the  most  ardent 
of  his  countrymen  have  ever  bestowed  upon  him.  Like  almost  all  those  in 
America,  who  have  ascended  to  eminent  celebrity,  he  had  not  a  noble  lineage 
to  boast  of,  nor  the  escutcheoned  armorials  of  a  splendid  ancestry.  But  he  had 
what  was  far  more  valuable,  a  sound  mind,  healthy  constitution,  a  robust  frame, 
a  love  of  virtue,  an  intrepid  soid,  and  an  emulous  desire  for  honest  fame." 

Roosevelt  says  of  him: 

"Robertson  first  came  to  the  Watauga  in  1770,  he  had  then  been  married 
for  two  years,  and  had  been  'learning  his  letters  and  spell'  from  his  well- 
educated  wife;  for  he  belonged  to  a  backwoods  family,  even  poorer  than  the 
average,  and  he  had  not  so  much  as  received  the  rudimentary  education  that 
could  be  acquired  at  an  'old-field'  school.  But  he  was  a  man  of  remarkable 
natural  powers,  above  the  medium  height,  with  wiry,  robust  form,  light-blue 
eyes,  fair  complexion  and  dark  hair ;  his  somewhat  sombre  face  had  in  it  a  look 
of  self-contained  strength  that  made  it  impressive :  and  his  taciturn,  quiet,  mas- 

75  Ramsey,  p.  150. 


CABTN  OF  JOHN  SEVIER,  ONE  OF  THE  PROMINENT   MEN  OF  THE  TIMES  WHO 
SETTLED  IN  KNOXVILLE  ABOUT  1807 


IMF  I.HMAKr 

OF  FHE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  83 

terful  way  of  dealing  with  men  and  affairs,  together  with  his  singular  mixture 
of  cool  caution  and  most  adventurous  daring  gave  him  an  immediate  hold  even 
upon  such  lawless  spirits  as  those  of  the  border."  76 

John  Sevier  was  born  in  Rockingham  County,  Va.,  September  23,  1745.  His 
ancestors  were  French  Huguenots  whose  name  was  Xavier.  His  educational 
advantages  were  limited  but  he  availed  himself  of  them  most  diligently.  He 
came  to  the  Watauga  in  1772  about  a  year  or  two  later  than  Robertson's  arrival. 
In  almost  all  respects  except  highmindedness  and  courage  he  was  a  decided 
contrast  to  Robertson.  He  was  a  gentleman  by  birth  and  breeding.  "While  not 
a  learned  man  he  was  extremely  intelligent  and  was  a  friend  and  correspondent 
of  many  of  the  most  prominent  and  able  statesmen  of  the  times,  including 
Madison  and  Franklin.  It  was  said  that  he  was  the  handsomest  man  in  Ten- 
nessee during  his  lifetime.  He  was  tall,  fair,  with  blue  eyes  and  brown  hair, 
of  slender  build  and  erect  military  carriage.  He  was  fluent  and  gallant,  gen- 
erous and  convivial,  of  a  gay  and  pleasure-loving  temperament,  yet  his  manners 
were  polished  and  he  had  great  natural  dignity.  He  was  impulsive,  yet,  in  his 
campaigns  with  the  Indians,  prudent  and  judicious.  He  was  especially  fond  of 
two  things,  popularity  and  Indian  fighting ;  and  he  was  successful  in  both  roles. 
He  fought  thirty-five  battles  and  all  victoriously;  and  he  was  undoubtedly  the 
most  popular  man  in  Tennessee  during  his  lifetime.  He  died  near  Fort  Decatur, 
Alabama,  September  24,  1815. 

John  Carter  came  from  Virginia,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Tennessee. 
He  established  what  was  known  as  Carter's  Valley  Settlement  in  1771  or  1772, 
but  soon  left  to  reside  in  the  Watauga  Valley  where,  by  reason  of  his  intelligence 
and  patriotism,  he  became  a  leader  and  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
of  Thirteen  and  also  of  the  Court.     He  was  both  wise  and  popular. 

Charles  Robertson  was  made  a  trustee  of  the  Watauga  Association.  When 
their  lands  were  leased  from  the  Cherokees  and,  later,  when  they  were  purchased, 
the  conveyance  was  made  to  Charles  Robertson.  He  was  distinguished  for  his 
great  good  sense  and  wisdom  as  well  as  his  essential  goodness. 

Zachariah  Isbell  was  popular,  trustworthy,  having  the  confidence  of  the 
entire  community,  a  fearless  soldier  and  for  many  years  was  engaged  in  the  mili- 
tary operations  of  the  country. 

WATAUGA  OLD  FIELDS 

Very  few  people  know  what  the  "Watauga  Old  Fields"  were. 

The  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  this  expression  made  by  N.  E.  Hyder  in 
the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  July,  1903,  is  both  important  and  interest- 
ing.   He  says: 

"Watauga  Old  Fields,  Carter  County,  Tennessee,  made  famous  as  being  the 
first  permanent  settlement  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  west  of  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains; the  place  where  the  first  self-constituted  court  of  five  was  organized  and 
exercised  its  power ;  where  the  first  courthouse  and  jail  were  erected,  and  the 
rendezvous  at  Sycamore  Shoals  of  the  heroes  of  King's  Mountain,  has  a  history 
that  antedates  all  this  perhaps  by  a  thousand  of  years.  Judge  Andrew  Greer, 
an  Indian  trader  and  the  first  settler  in  these  'Old  Fields'  (attracted  by  their 
beauty  and  fertility),  asked  the  Cherokee  chiefs  about  them  and  was  told  that 
they  were  'always  there.'  They  had  neither  knowledge  or  tradition  of  when  or 
by  whom  they  had  been  occupied.     It  is  the  intention  of  this  paper  to  record  a 

'«  Winning  of  the  West,  Vol.  I,  pp.  223-224. 


84  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

few  things  concerning  these  'Old  Fields'  and  their  inhabitants  as  gathered  by 
personal  observation  and  investigation. 

"The  land  embraced  in  and  surrounding  the  'Watauga  Old  Fields'  is  as 
old  as  any  in  the  United  States  as  evidenced  by  forests  of  fir,  pine,  stunted  oak 
and  tamarack  such  as  are  now  found  in  latitudes  much  farther  north.  Petrified 
wood  is  found  in  abundance.  Through  these  forests  must  have  roamed  the 
reindeer  and  elk. 

"That  it  was  inhabited  at  a  very  early  period  is  proven  by  the  stone  tools, 
ornaments  and  weapons  both  of  the  paleolithic  and  neolithic  ages.  The  'AVa- 
tauga  Old  Fields'  proper  extended  from  the  mouth  of  Stony  Creek  down  the 
river  to  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek  at  the  bend  of  the  river,  about  eight  miles. 
And  wherever  there  was  a  level  or  bottom  piece  of  land  along  any  river  or  creek 
in  Carter  County,  there  was  an  old  field  or  deserted  village,  as  proven  by 
finding  stone  implements,  broken  pottery  or  kitchen-middens  and  stone  mills  of 
various  sizes  from  one-half  bushel  down  to  one-half  pint.  A  large  cemetery 
was  known  to  be  about  one-half  mile  northeast  of  Elizabethton  from  which  had 
been  taken  beads,  stone  axes,  arrow  points,  pottery  (whole)  and  a  few  copper 
implements.  But  the  high  water  of  1901  exposed  other  cemeteries  in  these  '  Old 
Fields'  with  like  deposits  in  them  and  rough  stone  knives,  or  scrapers,  'pear 
shaped.'  Two  peculiar  stones  have  been  found,  one  a  rough  sandstone  about 
twenty  inches  long  and  five  inches  in  diameter  with  a  groove  around  the  center 
polished  like  the  groove  around  the  stone  axe ;  the  other  is  the  tool  that  was 
used  in  cutting  these  grooves  and  polishing  stone  implements  of  utility,  war 
and  ornament.  It  is  in  the  shape  of  a  common  oil  stone  used  by  carpenters  to 
sharpen  their  plane  bits  and  other  tools  and  is  about  six  inches  long  by  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  thick  and  so  hard  that  tempered  steel  will  scarcely  scratch  it. 
From  the  careful  burial  of  their  dead  we  are  led  to  believe  that  they  had 
knowledge  of  the  Oriental  world  either  through  history  or  tradition,  for  in  all 
Oriental  countries  peculiar  honors  have  always  been  paid  to  the  remains  of  the 
dead.  These  graves  that  have  been  washed  open  in  the  'Watauga  Old  Fields' 
where  tradition  made  no  mention  of  a  grave,  have  all  been  placed  east  and 
west,  a  perpetual  monument  to  Masonic  integrity.  Their  burial  custom  accord- 
ing to  Masonic  usage  shows  that  they  were  civilized  and  practiced  the  ancient 
and  'mystic  rites'  of  the  Masonic  order.  In  these  graves  are  found  clay  coffins 
nearly  two  inches  thick  and  curved  to  fit  the  dead  body  (many  fragments  as 
large  as  the  hand  are  yet  to  be  seen).  From  the  depth  of  the  implements,  pieces 
of  bone  and  clay  coffins  we  infer  that  the  dead  body  was  placed  near  the  surface 
of  the  earth  and  the  coffin  constructed  around  and  over  it  either  of  moistened 
or  baked  clay  and  then  mounded  with  dirt  or  sand. 

"There  is  no  evidence  here  of  forts,  houses  or  places  of  worship.  Ashes  and 
coal  have  been  dug  out  several  feet  below  the  surface  of  the  earth.  That  the 
country  was  densely  populated  is  proven  by  the  number  of  these  'Old  Fields' 
themselves  and  the  large  cemeteries  already  exposed.  That  they  were  an  agri- 
cultural race  is  shown  by  the  'Old  Fields'  themselves  and  the  rude  implements 
of  husbandry  found.  The  inhabitants  were  industrious  for  they  had  the  rough 
implements  and  material  of  nearly  every  craft  of  ancient  times.  That  they 
were  warlike  is  shown  by  their  weapons.  That  they  had  tribal  organization  is 
shown  by  the  large  cemeteries.  A  few  tumuli  found  in  the  gaps  of  the  higher 
mountains  show  that  they  were  superstitious.  Who  they  were  and  whence  they 
came  and  what  became  of  them  will  perhaps  remain  a  mystery — for  all  ages 
to  come.  They  are  as  completely  lost  as  the  'lost  tribes  of  the  children  of 
Israel,'  unless  they  are  a  part  of  these  tribes.  Reasoning  from  his  gregarious 
customs,  implements  or  husbandry,  pottery,  etc.,  we  may  connect  him  with 
either  the  Incas  of  South  America,  the  Toltecs  of  Central  America  or  the  Aztecs 
of  Mexico.  This  is  a  reasonable  inference,  but  not  conclusive.  Whether  he 
was  a  white  or  a  colored  man  is  a  matter  of  mere  conjecture. 

"Whether  the  paleolithic  man  was  driven  out  by  the  neolithic  man  or  each 
absorbed  or  exterminated  by  the  other  is  a  matter  for  future  investigation,  but 
that  each  existed  here  is  as  clearly  proven  from  the  age  of  the  land  and  remains 
found  as  any  archaeological  fact  can  be." 


CHAPTER  V 

HENDERSON'S    PURCHASE    AND    EVENTS    LEADING    UP    TO    THE 
BATTLE  OF  KING'S  MOUNTAIN 

The  establishment  of  the  Watauga  Association  in  1772  and  Dunmore's  war 
in  1774,  may  be  said  to  have  paved  the  way  for  further  concessions  on  the  part 
of  the  Cherokee  Indians.  Although  the  Watauga  settlers  were  outside  the  limits 
of  Virginia,  they  were  nevertheless  invited  by  Governor  Dunmore  to  take  part 
in  the  war  against  the  northwest  Indians,  which  war  culminated  at  the  battle  of 
Point  Pleasant.  In  this  war  a  number  of  the  settlers  of  Watauga  took  part. 
Prominent  among  them  were  John  Sevier,  who  had  been  made  a  captain  by 
Dunmore;  Isaac  Shelby,  Valentine  Sevier,  Jr.,  James  Robertson  and  his  brother 
Elijah  Robertson. 

The  necessity  of  further  dealings  with  the  Indians  was  accentuated  by  the 
fact  that  the  Watauga  settlers  had  defied  both  North  Carolina  and  the  Crown 
by  adopting  the  laws  of  Virginia  in  the  conduct  of  their  civil  government,  and 
also  by  the  fact  that  they  had  ignored  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Josiah 
Martin  issued  on  March  26,  1774,  "requiring  the  said  settlers  immediately  to 
retire  from  Indian  Territories." 

At  this  juncture  Judge  Richard  Henderson  and  his  associates  consummated 
with  the  Cherokees  a  treaty  and  purchase  which  led  to  the  most  interesting  and 
serious  consequences.  Henderson  had  secretly  employed  Daniel  Boone,  soon 
after  his  return,  in  1771,  from  the  exploration  of  Kentucky,  to  treat  with  the 
Cherokees  for  a  lease  or  purchase  of  the  lands  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains. 

For  several  years  Judge  Henderson  was  delayed  in  carrying  out  his  plan 
both  by  reason  of  his  judicial  duties  and  his  investigations  into  the  question  of 
whether  there  were  any  laws  in  existence  forbidding  the  purchase  of  lands  from 
the  Indians.  Lord  Mansfield  gave  him  the  "sanction  of  his  great  authority  in 
favor  of  the  purchase. "  1  He  received  similar  legal  opinions  from  other  authori- 
ties in  England  and  was  fully  persuaded  that  there  was  no  legal  bar  whatever 
to  his  seeking  to  acquire  by  purchase  from  the  Cherokees  the  vast  domain  of  the 
trans-Alleghany.  He  argued  that,  by  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix,  the  claims 
of  the  Shawnees  and  the  Iroquois  to  the  trans-Alleghany  territory  were  ceded 
to  the  Crown.  The  Shawnees  and  the  Cherokees  acquiesced  in  this  treaty  and 
England  acknowledged  the  claim  of  the  Cherokees  to  these  lands,  while  over  all 
was  the  claim  of  the  Crown  to  the  right  of  eminent  domain.  Henderson  thought 
he  had  a  legal  right  to  disregard  the  royal  proclamation  of  1763  because  it  was 
of  the  nature  of  a  temporary  expedient. 

It  was  Henderson's  dream  to  establish  an  independent  state,  a  republic, 
perhaps,  or,  at  any  rate,  a  self-governing  community,  which,  in  course  of  time, 
might  become  a  flourishing  commonwealth.  By  starting  it  as  a  proprietary 
colony,  he  would,  as  it  developed,  become,  through  the  sale  of  the  lands,  ever 
increasing  in  value,  a  strong  and  wealthy  personage,  if  not  potentate. 

1  Butler 's  History  of  Kentucky. 

85 


86  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Meanwhile,  Boone,  impatient  at  the  delay  in  the  consummation  of  Hender- 
son's plans,  had  gone  into  Kentucky,  heedless  of  dangers  and  of  land  titles. 
He  was  attacked  by  the  Indians,  driven  back  and  some  of  his  party  killed.  Other 
parties,  also,  from  Virginia,  went  into  Kentucky  paying  no  regard  to  the  warn- 
ings of  the  Shawnee  Indians  who  said  the  encroachments  of  the  whites  were 
"designed  to  deprive  us  of  the  hunting  of  the  country,  as  usual  *  *  *  the 
hunting  we  stand  in  need  of  to  buy  our  clothing." 

In  1772  George  Rogers  Clark  went  into  Kentucky  by  way  of  the  Ohio  and, 
in  1774,  Capt.  James  Harrod  and  his  party  laid  out  a  town  in  the  Kentucky 
area.  Also,  in  the  same  year  a  surveying  party  under  Col.  Win.  Preston, 
located  lands  covered  by  military  grants  in  this  area. 

These  facts,  while  not  strictly  included  in  Tennessee  history,  are  mentioned, 
because  they  are  connected  with  the  history  of  this  state,  and  especially  because 
Henderson's  purchase  included  lands  lying  in  one  undivided  body  in  both  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee. 

Furthermore,  Governor  Dunmore's  countenance  of  these  encroachments 
exasperated  the  Indians  all  the  more,  while  Dunmore's  war  was  being  prose- 
cuted ;  but,  when  peace  was  finally  declared,  it  made  possible  the  advance  of 
Henderson  over  the  Transylvania  trail  in  1775,  the  establishment  of  the  fort  at 
Boonesborough  and  the  ultimate  addition  to  the  American  Confederation  of  the 
wonderful  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

HENDERSON    AND    COMPANY 

In  1774,  Boone,  not  dismayed  by  his  unfortunate  encounters  with  the 
Indians,  to  which  reference  has  already  been  made,  advised  Judge  Henderson 
that  the  time  was  propitious  for  opening  negotiations  with  the  Cherokees  for  the 
purchase  of  the  trans-Alleghany  "region.  Henderson,  thereupon,  to  facilitate 
this  desideratum  organized  a  company  composed  of  men  of  force  and  action, 
leaders  in  the  colony,  ready  to  hazard  fortune  and  life  itself  in  efforts  for  the 
promotion  of  this  gigantic  and  alluring  enterprise.  Those  who  first  composed 
the  company  were  Richard  Henderson,  his  uncle  and  law  partner,  John  Wil- 
liams, and,  according  to  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson,  "in  all  probability,  their 
close  friends  Thomas  and  Nathaniel  Hart."  To  these  were  now  added  Colonel 
John  Luttrell  and  William  Johnston.2 

The  men  interested  met  at  Hillsborough,  N.  G,  August  27,  1774,  and 
organized  a  new  company  called  the  Louisa  Company.  In  their  articles  of 
agreement  they  stated  that  their  object  in  acquiring  lands  from  the  Indians  was 
for  the  purpose  of  "settling  the  country."  Each  partner  agreed  to  "furnish 
his  quota  of  expenses  necessary  towards  procuring  the  grant, ' '  They  also  agreed 
to  become  "equal  sharers  in  the  property,"  and  to  "support  each  other  with  our 
lives  and  fortunes." 

Judge  Henderson  then  visited  the  Cherokee  chiefs  at  their  towns,  being 
accompanied  by  Col.  Nathaniel  Hart  and  with  Thomas  Price,  an  experienced 
Indian  trader,  as  his  guide.  The  Indian  chiefs  received  them  kindly  and 
entered  seriously  upon  the  negotiations,  the  result  of  their  first  deliberations 
being  that  Atta-Kulla-Kulla,  the  old  chief  and  a  young  buck  and  a  squaw 
"attend  the  said  Henderson  and  Hart  to  North  Carolina  and  there  examine  the 
goods  and  merchandise  which  had  been  by  them  offered  as  the  consideration  of 


See  also  Ramsey's  Annals,  p.  117. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  87 

the  purchase."  The  goods  which  the  Louisa  Company  had  bought  at  Cross 
Creek  (now  Fayetteville,  N.  C.)  met  the  entire  approval  of  the  Indians. 

On  January  6,  1775,  three  new  partners  were  added  to  the  company,  viz : 
David  Hart,  Leonard  H.  Bullock  and  James  Hogg,  and  the  name  of  the  com- 
pany was  again  changed  to  Transylvania  Company.  Hillsborough,  N.  C,  was 
the  starting  point  of  the  western  migration  and  the  pioneers  left  this  place  for 
Sycamore  Shoals,  on  the  Watauga,  en  route  for  Kentucky.  Most  liberal  terms 
were  offered  them  and  a  tremendous  sensation  was  created  in  North  Carolina 
and  Virginia.  It  seems  strange,  but  such  seems  to  have  been  the  fact  that  the 
daring  company,  headed  by  Henderson  entered  into  these  agreements  with  their 
proposed  settlers  before  they  had  actually  acquired  the  lands  from  the  Indians. 
Col.  Wm.  Preston  wrote  to  George  Washington  concerning  the  contemplated 
"large  purchase  Iby  one  Colonel  Henderson  of  North  Carolina  from  the 
Cherokees  *  *  *.  I  hear  that  Henderson  talks  with  great  Freedom  and 
Indecency  of  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  sets  the  Government  at  Defiance  &  says 
if  he  once  had  five  hundred  good  Fellows  settled  in  that  Country  he  would  not 
Value  Virginia."  ;i 

The  following  account  of  the  treaty  and  purchase  made  by  the  Transylvania 
Company  is  from  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson's  "Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest," 
pages  221-226: 

"Early  in  177.")  runners  were  sent  off  to  the  Cherokee  towns  to  summon  the 
Indians  to  the  treaty  grounds  at  the  Sycamore  Shoals  of  the  Watauga ;  and 
Boone,  after  his  return  from  a  hunt  in  Kentucky,  in  January,  was  summoned 
by  Judge  Henderson  to  aid  in  the  negotiations  preliminary  to  the  actual  treaty. 
The  dominating  figure  in  the  remarkable  assemblage  at  the  treaty  ground,  con- 
sisting of  twelve  hundred  Indians  and  several  hundred  whites,  was  Richard 
Henderson,  'comely  in  person,  of  a  benign  and  social  disposition,'  with  coun- 
tenance betokening  the  man  of  strenuous  action — 'noble  forehead,  prominent 
nose,  projecting  chin,  firm-set  jaw,  with  kindness  and  openness  of  expression.' 
Gathered  about  him,  picturesque  in  garb  and  striking  in  appearance,  were  many 
of  the  buckskin-clad  leaders  of  the  border — James  Robertson,  John  Sevier,  Isaac 
Shelby,  William  Bailey  Smith,  and  their  compeers — as  well  as  his  Carolina 
friends  John  Williams,  Thomas  and  Nathaniel  Hart,  Nathaniel  Henderson,  Jesse 
Benton,  and  Valentine  Searcy. 

"Little  was  accomplished  on  the  first  day  of  the  treaty  (March  14th)  ;  but 
on  the  next  day,  the  Cherokees  offered  to  sell  the  section  bargained  for  by 
Donelson  acting  as  agent  for  Virginia  in  1771.  Although  the  Indians  pointed 
out  that  Virginia  had  never  paid  the  promised  compensation  of  five  hundred 
pounds  and  had  therefore  forfeited  her  rights,  Henderson  flatly  refused  to 
entertain  the  idea  of  purchasing  territory  to  which  Virginia  had  the  prior  claim. 
Angered  by  Henderson's  refusal,  The  Dragging  Canoe,4  leaping  into  the  circle 
of  the  seated  savages,  made  an  impassioned  speech  touched  with  the  romantic 
imagination  peculiar  to  the  American  Indian.  With  pathetic  eloquence  he  dwelt 
upon  the  insatiable  land-greed  of  the  white  men,  and  predicted  the  extinction 
of  his  race  if  they  committed  the  insensate  folly  of  selling  their  beloved  hunting- 
grounds.  Roused  to  a  high  pitch  of  oratorical  fervor,  the  savage  with  uplifted 
arms  fiercely  exhorted  his  people  to  resist  further  encroachments  at  all  hazards 
— and  left  the  treaty  ground.  This  incident  brought  the  conference  to  a  star- 
tling and  abrupt  conclusion.  On  the  following  day,  however,  the  savages  proved 
more  tractable,  agreeing  to  sell  the  land  as  far  south  as  the  Cumberland  River. 
In  order  to  secure  the  additional  territory  watered  by  the  tributaries  of  the 
Cumberland,  Henderson  agreed  to  pay  an  additional  sum  of  two  thousand 
pounds.     Upon   this   day   there   originated  the  ominous   phrase   descriptive   of 

3  Letters  to  Washington,  MS.  Division,  Library  of  Congress. 

*  Ramsey  says,  p.  117.  that  it  was  said  to  be  Oeonostota  who  delivered  the  animated  ami 
pathetic  speech. 


88  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Kentucky  when  Dragging  Canoe,  dramatically  pointing  toward  the  west,  de- 
clared that  a  Dark  Cloud  hung  over  that  land,  which  was  known  as  the  Bloody 
Ground.5 

"On  the  last  day,  March  17th,  the  negotiations  were  opened  with  the  signing 
of  the  'Great  Grant.'  The  area  purchased,  some  twenty  millions  of  acres,  in- 
cluded almost  all  of  the  present  State  of  Kentucky,  and  an  immense  tract  in 
Tennessee,  comprising  all  of  the  territory  watered  by  the  Cumberland  River  and 
all  of  its  tributaries.  For  'two  thousand  weight  of  leather  in  goods'  Henderson 
purchased  'the  lands  lying  down  Holston  and  between  the  Watauga  lease, 
Colonel  Donelson's  line  and  Powell's  Mountain'  as  a  pathway  to  Kentucky — 
the  deed  for  which  was  known  as  the  'Path  Deed.'  By  especial  arrangement, 
Carter's  Valley  in  this  track  went  to  Carter  and  Lucas;  two  days  later,  for 
two  thousand  pounds,  Charles  Robertson  on  behalf  of  the  Watauga  Association 
purchased  a  large  tract  in  the  valley  of  the  Holston,  Watauga  and  New  rivers; 
and  eight  days  later  Jacob  Brown  purchased  two  large  areas,  including  the 
Nollichucky  Valley.  This  historic  treaty,  which  heralds  the  opening  of  the 
West,  was  conducted  with  absolute  justness  and  fairness  by  Judge  Henderson 
and  his  associates.  No  liquor  was  permitted  on  the  treaty  ground ;  and  Thomas 
Price,  the  ablest  of  the  Cherokee  traders,  deposed  that  'he  at  that  time  under- 
stood the  Cherokee  language,  so  as  to  comprehend  everything  which  was  said 
and  to  know  that  what  was  observed  on  either  side  was  fairly  and  truly  trans- 
lated ;  that  the  Cherokees  perfectly  understood  what  lands  were  the  subject  of 
the  treaty.  *  *  * '  The  amount  paid  by  the  Transylvania  Company  for  the 
imperial  domain  was  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling,  in  money  and  in  goods. 

"Although  Daniel  Boone  doubtless  assisted  in  the  proceedings  prior  to  the 
negotiation  of  the  treaty,  his  name  nowhere  appears  in  the  voluminous  records 
of  the  conference.  Indeed,  he  was  not  present  then ;  for  a  fortnight  before  the 
conclusion  of  the  treaty  he  was  commissioned  by  Judge  Henderson  to  form  a 
party  of  competent  woodmen  to  blaze  a  passage  through  the  wilderness.  On 
March  10th  this  party  of  thirty-six  ax-men,  under  the  leadership  of  Boone, 
started  from  the  rendezvous,  the  Long  Island  of  Holston,  to  engage  in  the 
arduous  labor  of  cutting  out  the  Transylvania  Trail." 

But  Henderson  was  not  successful  in  founding  his  "state"  in  Kentucky. 
Virginia  refused  to  recognize  the  validity  of  his  purchase,  yet  rewarded  his 
enterprise  by  giving  him  200,000  acres  of  his  own  selection  in  Kentucky.  North 
Carolina  also  granted  him  and  his  associates  190,000  acres  located  in  Powell's 
Valley,  where  some  settlers  had  already  made  their  homes. 

EVENTS  LEADING  TO  THE  BATTLE  OP  KING'S  MOUNTAIN 

Within  a  short  time  after  their  purchase  from  the  Cherokees  had  been  con- 
summated, and  following  the  action  of  North  Carolina  which  had  appointed  a 
Committee  of  Safety  in  each  district,  the  settlers  on  the  Watauga  assumed  for 
their  country  the  name  of  "Washington  District."  Although  no  formal  act  was 
passed  by  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  recognizing  the  Watauga  Associa- 
tion or  Washington  District,  the  recognition  was  virtually  made  in  November, 
1776,  when  Charles  Robertson  (he  spelled  it  Roberson),  John  Carter,  John  Hall, 
and  John  Sevier  were  admitted  as  delegates  to  its  General  Assembly  from  Wash- 
ington District.  It  was  not  until  November,  1777,  that  North  Carolina  estab- 
lished Washington  County  which  included  all  her  possessions  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  Their  local  affairs  were  being  conducted  very  harmoni- 
ously and  their  relations  with  the  Indians  were  amicable,  when  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  brought  about  a  radical  change. 


o  There  is  a  widespread  but  erroneous  idea  that  Kentucky  means  "Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground."  The  derivation  is  from  the  Indian  word  Kantakee,  which  means  a  level  tract,  a 
prairie.    See  "The  Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,"  by  Henderson,  p.  117. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  89 

During  the  spring  of  1776  plans  were  concerted,  chiefly  through  John  Stuart, 
the  Indian  superintendent  of  the  Southern  District  for  the  British  Government, 
and  Alexander  Cameron  his  agent  residing  among  the  Cherokees,  for  uniting  the 
Loyalists  and  the  Indians  in  a  crushing  attack  upon  the  Tennessee  settlements 
and  the  back  country  of  North  Carolina.  Warning  of  the  approaching  invasion 
had  been  sent  to  the  Watauga  settlers  by  Atta-Kulla-Kulla's  niece,  Nancy  Ward, 
the  "Pocahontas  of  the  West."  The  settlers  flocked  for  refuge  into  their  sta- 
tions or  forts  and  awaited  with  steadiness,  although  with  dread  for  the  threat- 
ened attacks  which  were  made  by  two  forces  aggregating  about  seven  hundred 
warriors. 

On  July  20, 1776,  the  pioneers  marched  from  Heaton  's  Station,  to  the  number 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy  to  meet  the  Indians,  double  their  number  led  by 
The  Dragging  Canoe.  Although  they  were  attacked  by  another  force  in  the  rear, 
while  thus  engaged,  they  signally  defeated  the  Indians.  This  conflict  was  called 
the  battle  of  the  Long  Island  Flats.  On  the  next  day  the  Indians  under  Old 
Abraham  were  repulsed  by  the  small  garrison  under  Robertson  and  Sevier  at 
Watauga  fort,  although  the  siege  was  maintained  by  the  Indians  for  several 
weeks.  It  was  during  this  siege,  according  to  persistent  tradition,  that  Kate 
Sherrill,  called  "Bonnie  Kate"  was  pursued  to  the  stockade  by  Indians.  An 
athletic  young  officer,  seeing  her  plight,  leaped  to  the  top  of  the  stockade,  shot 
down  the  foremost  savage  and  leaning  over,  drew  her  up  and  to  safety.  That 
officer  was  John  Sevier  who,  according  to  true  romance,  became  the  husband  of 
the  beautiful  maiden. 

The  details  of  this  and  the  other  Indian  wars,  in  which  the  Tennessee  settlers 
engaged,  are  given  in  the  chapter  devoted  to  "Indian  Wars  and  Indian  Chiefs," 
and,  hence,  only  the  main  facts  are  here  given  to  sustain  the  continuity  of  his- 
torical narration. 

The  activities  of  the  Indians  caused  the  pioneers  to  unite  and  repulse  the 
savages  and  keep  them  from  moving  against  the  rear  of  the  settlements  in  North 
Carolina.  So  well  was  their  work  done  that  they  were  called  the  "Rear-Guard 
of  the  Revolution." 

DEFEAT  OF  THE  INDIANS  AND  AVERY 's  TREATY 

Besides  the  two  forces  of  the  Indians  which  had  attacked  the  settlers  at  Long 
Island  Flats  and  at  Watauga  fort,  two  others  were  put  in  the  field,  one  of  which 
laid  waste  the  Holston  region  and  the  other  made  an  invasion  of  the  Carter's 
Valley  settlement,  from  which,  after  killing  several  white  people,  it  withdrew. 
The  designs  of  the  English  now  being  plain  and  the  atrocities  of  the  Indians 
unendurable,  a  concerted  plan  to  invade  in  force  the  country  of  the  savages  was 
determined  upon  and  put  into  execution.  Virginia  troops  under  Col.  Wm. 
Christian  and  North  Carolina  troops  under  Colonel  Williams  and  Major  Wins- 
ton attacked  the  Cherokee  towns. 

At  the  same  time,  2,400  North  Carolina  troops,  under  General  Rutherford 
advanced  along  what  was  afterwards  called  Rutherford's  trace.  A  strong  force 
of  South  Carolinians,  also,  under  Colonel  Williamson  assailed  the  Keowee  towns 
of  the  Senecas  and  the  Cherokees  east  of  the  Unaka  Mountains.  Simultaneously, 
Col.  Leonard  McBury,  with  a  force  of  Georgians  attacked  the  Indians  along  the 
Tugaloo  and  advanced  westward.     The   Indians  were  defeated   wherever  they 


90  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

made  resistance.  Many  of  their  towns  burned,  their  crops  and  provisions 
destroyed,  they  were  compelled  to  sue  for  peace. 

Two  separate  treaties  were  made;  one  at  DeWitt's  Corner  between  the 
Indians  and  commissioners  from  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  the  other  at  Fort 
Henry,6  near  Long  Island  in,  the  Holston  River,  between  the  Indians  and  com- 
missioners of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 

With  this  latter  only  is  the  history  of  Tennessee  concerned.  This  treaty, 
generally  referred  to  as  the  Treaty  of  Long  Island  is  styled:  "Articles  of  a 
Treaty  of  Peace,  Made  and  Concluded  at  Fort  Henry,  on  Holston  River,  near 
the  Long  Island,  July  20,  1777,  between  the  Commissioners  from  the  State  of 
North  Carolina  on  Behalf  of  said  State  of  the  One  Part  and  the  Subscribing 
Chiefs  of  That  Part,  of  the  Cherokee  Nation  Called  the  Overhill  Indians  on  the 
Other  Part." 

The  provisions  of  this  treaty  were :  an  enlargement  of  the  boundaries  of  the 
lands  which  the  settlers  had  leased  in  1772  and  bought  in  1775 ;  that  peace 
should  always  exist  between  the  Contracting  parties,  the  adjudication  of  all  con- 
troversies; and  the  regulations  for  trade  and  intercourse  between  the  Cherokees 
and  the  whites.  In  order  that  the  treaty  might  be  put  into  successful  operation 
James  Robertson  was  appointed  by  the  commissioners  as  Indian  agent  to  reside 
among  the  Cherokees. 

WATAUGA  IN  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR 

Prior  to  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain  it  was  necessary  for  the  pioneers  to 
watch  the  Tories  as  well  as  the  Indians.  Many  of  the  Tories,  indeed,  were  sin- 
cerely attached  to  the  British  crown  and  its  system  of  government,  but  many 
others  saw  in  the  American  revolt  the  opportunity  to  wreak  vengeance  upon  their 
enemies  and  to  gain  prominence  and  wealth  by  persecuting  the  "Rebels." 
In  remote  regions,  like  the  Watauga,  the  worst  passions  were  displayed;  there 
was  a  constant  procession  of  thefts  and  murders.  Fortunately,  the  bad  men 
were  in  the  minority  and  were  gradually  eliminated,  some  of  them  seeking  refuge 
among  the  Indians  where  their  influence  was  pernicious.  Their  efforts  against 
the  sturdy  elements  of  the  Watauga  were  secret,  but  for  a  long  time  persistent. 
As  an  instance  of  their  desperate  vindictiveness  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  at 
one  time,  a  number  of  Tories  attempted  to  surprise  and  murder  John  Sevier  in 
his  own  home. 

In  1778  a  land  office  was  opened  in  the  Holston  settlements  and  all  the  settlers 
were  recpxired  to  register  and  make  entries  according  to  the  North  Carolina  laws. 
All  of  the  men  in  the  settlement  were  required  to  be  at  the  services  of  the  State 
as  militia  in  the  campaign  against  the  Indians,  and  the  money  due  them  for  their 
services  was  sufficient  to  pay  for  their  claims.  A  wagon  road  across  the  moun- 
tain also  was  made,  so  that  by  the  year  1779,  facility  of  access  and  increased 
security  from  attack  by  the  Indians,  following  the  Treaty  of  Long  Island, 
although  there  was  never  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  caused  a  steady  increase  in 
the  volume  of  immigration.  As  the  region  became  settled,  clergymen  came  in 
and  established  churches.  As  early  as  1780  Dr.  Samuel  Doak  established  Martin 
Academy,  the  first  institution  of  learning  located  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

In  1779  the  Indian  chief  The  Dragging  Canoe,  who  refused  to  take  part  in 
the  Treaty  of  Holston,  established  a  force  of  lawless  Indians  and  a  few  renegade 


6  Named  for  Patrick  Henry. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  91 

white  men  down  the  river  from  Chickamauga  with  headquarters,  at  Niekajack 
Cave.  Forthwith  they  began  depredations.  Evan  Shelby,  father  of  Isaac 
Shelby,  later  Governor  of  Kentucky,  was  impelled  to  destroy  their  rendezvous. 
In  1779,  that  part  of  Washington  County  which  was  north  of  the  Holston  was 
cut  off  and  made  into  the  County  of  Sullivan  by  the  Legislature  of  North  Caro- 
lina. In  this  county  the  Shelby  family  were  leaders.  In  Washington  County 
John  Sevier  was  the  leader,  being  looked  upon  as  the  militia  commander  long 
before  he  received  his  commission  of  County  Lieutenant.  In  the  neighboring 
county  of  Washington  in  Virginia,  the  Campbells  were  the  leading  family. 

These  frontier  leaders  were  generally  jealous  of  each  other.  For  example, 
Evan  Shelby  distrusted  John  Sevier ;  Arthur  Campbell  was  jealous  of  both 
Sevier  and  Isaac  Shelby,  and  these  two  last  named  men  entertained  similar 
feelings  toward  William  Campbell.  Hence,  it  can  easily  be  understood  how  arose 
the  semi-rancorous  attitude  of  some  of  these  heroes  with  regard  to  the  credit 
and  praise  that  properly  belonged  to  them  because  of  their  leadership  and 
valorous  conduct  at  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

After  General  Hamilton  captured  Vincennes  in  1777,  he  sent  letters  to  the 
British  agents  in  the  South  urging  them  to  arouse  the  Indians  against  the 
colonists.  We  have  already  seen  the  results  of  the  campaign  of  the  Indians  and 
of  the  concerted  war  upon  them  by  the  colonists  of  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

The  British,  however,  not  dismayed  by  the  failure  of  the  Indian  war,  made 
strong  and  successful  efforts  to  crush  these  colonists  and  under  Cornwallis' 
triumphant  campaigns  these  colonies  in  the  summer  of  1780  lay  helpless  at  their 
feet.  By  the  end  of  1779  they  had  conquered  Georgia.  In  May,  1780,  they 
captured  Charleston,  speedily  reduced  to  submission  all  of  South  Carolina  and 
then  marched  into  North  Carolina. 

Cornwallis  had  a  mixed  force  of  British,  Hessians,  Tories,  Irish  volunteers 
and  refugees.  As  he  gained  battle  after  battle  the  numerous  friends  to  the 
King's  cause  nocked  to  his  standard  in  throngs.  This  was  notably  the  case  after 
the  defeat  of  Gates  at  Camden. 

In  Tarleton  and  Ferguson  he  had  two  very  able  officers ;  the  former  a  cavalry 
commander,  ruthless  and  savage ;  the  latter  less  brutal  but  equally  efficient. 

THE   MOUNTAINEERS 

During  the  early  years  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution  the  men  of  Watauga 
had  taken  virtually  no  part  in  the  campaigns  against  the  British.  Their  duty 
was  to  keep  the  Indians  in  subjection,  but  when  Colonel  Clark  was  defeated  by 
the  British  in  Georgia,  he  sought  refuge  in  Watauga  and,  on  his  return,  car- 
ried with  him  some  recruits  who  gave  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  the  mili- 
tary operations  in  which  they  took  part.  On  their  return  home  they  inflamed 
the  people  with  their  account  of  the  atrocities  of  the  British  and  the  Tories,  so 
that  a  little  later  Shelby  in  Sullivan  County  and  Sevier  in  Washington  County 
experienced  no  difficulty  in  enrolling  men  for  service  against  the  hated  oppres- 
sors. And  when  the  British  moved  northward  they  joined  Colonel  McDowell 
who  commanded  the  North  Carolina  troops  at  Cherokee  Ford,  South  Carolina. 

Colonel  Shelby  with  600  men  captured  Colonel  Patrick  Moore  and  his  force 
in  Thicketty  Fort;  at  Cedar  Springs  he  was  attacked  by   Ferguson   but  not 


92  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

defeated.  On  August  18th  he  surprised  and  brilliantly  defeated  the  British 
at  Musgrove's  Mill;  and  was  about  to  attack  the  post  at  Ninety-Six,  when  he 
was  informed  by  courier  from  Colonel  McDowell  of  Gates'  defeat  at  Camden. 
Retreat  was  difficult  but  was  successfully  accomplished. 

After  the  battle  at  Camden,  Ferguson,  informed  that  in  the  settlements 
beyond  the  mountains  were  some  of  the  backwoodsmen  who  had  been  in  arms 
against  him,  sent  by  a  man  whom  he  had  captured  a  warning  to  cease  their 
hostilities  and  threatened  that,  if  they  did  not  at  once  desist,  he  would  march 
across  the  mountains,  hang  their  leaders,  put  their  fighting  men  to  the  sword  and 
burn  their  settlements.  He  had  Tories  from  the  Watauga  who  could  have  con- 
ducted him  there.  Hence,  he  may  have  been  serious  in  his  threat.  However, 
when  the  Holston  men  were  informed  of  Ferguson's  message,  they  were  inflamed 
with  anger  and  immediately  took  measures  to  combat  the  danger. 

Shelby  was  the  first  to  learn  the  news  and  he  at  once  rode  down  to  Sevier's 
home  on  the  Nollichucky.  It  will  be  remembered  that  these  two  men  were  the 
militia  heads  of  their  respective  counties.  Sevier  and  Shelby  decided  to  col- 
lect their  men  at  once  and  the  latter  sent  out  one  of  his  brothers  to  Arthur 
Campbell,  the  militia  lieutenant  of  Washington  County,  Virginia,  invoking  the 
assistance  of  the  Virginians.  Arthur  Campbell  sent  word  to  his  cousin,  Col. 
Wm.  Campbell,  who  at  first  said  that  he  would  not  change  his  plans  to  raise  men 
to  join  General  Gates'  army,  but  finally,  after  a  second  and  more  urgent  request, 
consented  to  join  Shelby  and  Sevier. 

The  following  account  of  the  meeting  and  the  march  to  attack  Ferguson  is 
abridged  from  Roosevelt's  narrative  in  "The  Winning  of  the  West,"  pages 
138-163 : 

"The  appointed  meeting-place  was  at  the  Sycamore  Shoals  at  the  Watauga. 
There  the  riflemen  gathered  on  the  25th  of  September,  Campbell  bringing  400 
men,  Sevier  and  Shelby  240  each,  while  the  refugees  under  McDowell  amounted 
to  about  one  hundred  and  sixty.  With  Shelby  came  his  two  brothers,  one  of 
whom  was  slightly  wounded  at  King's  Mountain;  while  Sevier  had  in  his  regi- 
ment no  less  than  six  relations  of  his  own  name,  his  two  sons  being  privates, 
and  his  two  brothers  captains.  One  of  the  latter  was  mortally  wounded  in  the 
battle. 

"To  raise  money  for  provisions  Sevier  and  Shelby  were  obliged  to  take,  on 
their  individual  guaranties,  the  funds  in  the  entrytaker's  offices  that  had  been 
received  from  the  sale  of  lands.  They  amounted  in  all  to  nearly  $13,000,  every 
dollar  of  which  they  afterwards  refunded. 

"On  the  26th  they  began  the  march,  over  a  thousand  strong,  most  of  them 
mounted  on  swift,  wiry  horses.  They  were  led  by  leaders  they  trusted,  they 
were  wonted  to  Indian  warfare,  they  were  skilled  as  horsemen  and  marksmen, 
they  knew  how  to  face  every  kind  of  danger,  hardship  and  privation.  Before 
leaving  their  camping-ground  at  the  Sycamore  Shoals  they  gathered  in  the  open 
grove  to  hear  a  stern  old  Presbyterian  preacher  7  invoke  on  the  enterprise  the 
blessing  of  Jehovah.  Leaning  on  their  long  rifles,  they  stood  in  rings  around  the 
black-frocked  minister,  a  grim  and  wild  congregation,  who  listened  in  silence 
to  his  words  of  burning  zeal  as  he  called  on  them  to  stand  stoutly  in  the  battle 
and  to  smite  their  foes  with  the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon. 

"The  army  marched  along  Doe  River,  driving  their  beef  cattle  with  them, 
and  camped  that  night  at  the  'Resting  Place,'  under  Shelving  Rock,  beyond 
Crab  Orchard.  Next  morning  they  started  late,  and  went  up  the  pass  between 
Roan  and  Yellow  mountains.  The  tableland  on  the  top  was  deep  in  snow.  Here 
two  Tories  who  were  in  Sevier's  band  deserted  and  lied  to  warn  Ferguson;  and 
the  troops,  on  learning  of  the  desertion,  abandoned  their  purpose  of  following 

7  Rev.  Samuel  Doak.    Draper,  176. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  93 

the  direct  route,  and  turned  to  the  left,  taking  a  more  northerly  trail.  It  was 
of  so  difficult  a  character  that  Shelby  afterwards  described  it  as  '  the  worst  route 
ever  followed  by  an  army  of  horsemen. '  That  afternoon  they  partly  descended 
the  east  side  of  the  range,  camping  in  Elk  Hollow,  Hearing  Roaring  Run.  The 
following  day  they  went  down  through  the  ravines  and  across  the  spurs  by  a 
stony  and  precipitous  path,  in  the  midst  of  magnificent  scenery,  and  camped 
at  the  mouth  of  Grassy  Creek.  On  the  29th  they  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  at 
Gillespie's  Gap,  and  saw  afar  off,  in  the  mountain  coves  and  rich  valleys  of 
the  upper  Catawba,  the  advanced  settlements  of  the  Carolina  pioneers — for 
hitherto  they  had  gone  through  an  uninhabited  waste.  That  night  they  camped 
on  the  North  Fork  of  the  Catawba,  and  the  next  day  they  went  down  the  river 
to  Quaker  Meadows,  McDowell's  home. 

"At  this  point  they  were  joined  by  350  North  Carolina  militia  from  the 
counties  of  Wilkes  and  Surry,  who  were  creeping  along  through  the  woods 
hoping  to  fall  in  with  some  party  going  to  harass  the  enemy.  They  were  under 
Col.  Benj.  Cleaveland,  a  mighty  hunter  and  Indian  fighter,  and  an  adventurous 
wanderer  in  the  wilderness.  He  was  an  uneducated  backwoodsman,  famous  for 
his  great  size,  and  his  skill  with  the  rifle,  no  less  than  for  a  curious  mixture  of 
courage,  rough  good-humor,  and  brutality  in  his  character. 

"On  October  1st  the  combined  forces  marched  past  Pilot  Mountain,  and 
camped  near  the  head  of  Cane  and  Silver  creeks.  Hitherto  each  colonel  had 
commanded  his  own  men,  there  being  no  general  head,  and  every  morning  and 
evening  the  colonels  had  met  in  concert  to  decide  the  day's  movements.  The 
whole  expedition  was  one  of  volunteers.  Disorders  had  naturally  broken  out. 
The  men  of  the  different  companies  felt  some  rivalry  towards  one  another ;  and 
those  of  bad  character,  sure  to  be  found  in  any  such  gathering,  could  not  be 
properly  controlled.  , 

"On  the  2nd  of  October  they  all  gathered  to  see  what  could  be  done  to  stop 
the  disorders  and  give  the  army  a  single  head.  To  solve  the  difficulty  Shelby 
proposed  that  the  supreme  command  should  be  given  to  Colonel  Campbell,  who 
had  brought  the  largest  body  of  men  with  him,  and  who  was  a  Virginian, 
whereas  the  other  four  colonels  were  North  Carolinians.  This  proposition  was 
at  once  agreed  to;  and  its  adoption  did  much  to  ensure  the  subsequent  success. 
Shelby  not  only  acted  wisely,  but  magnanimously ;  for  he  was  himself  of  superior 
rank  to  Campbell,  and  moreover  was  a  proud,  ambitious  man,  desirous  of 
military  glory. 

"The  mountain  army  had  again  begun  its  march  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
third  day  of  the  month.  Before  starting  the  colonels  summoned  their  men, 
told  them  the  nature  and  danger  of  the  service,  and  asked  such  as  were  un- 
willing to  go  farther  to  step  to  the  rear;  but  not  a  man  did  so. 

"When  they  set  out  their  uncertainty  as  to  Ferguson's  movements  caused 
them  to  go  slowly,  their  scouts  sometimes  skirmishing  with  lurking  Tories. 
They  reached  the  mouth  of  Cane  Creek,  near  Gilbert  Town,  on  October  4th. 
With  the  partisans  that  had  joined  them  they  then  numbered  1,500  men.  Mc- 
Dowell left  them  at  this  point  to  go  to  Gates  with  the  request  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  general  to  command  them.  For  some  days  the  men  had  been  living 
on  the  ears  of  green  corn  which  they  plucked  from  the  fields,  but  at  this 
camping-place  they  slaughtered  some  beeves  and  made  a  feast. 

"The  mountaineers  had  hoped  to  catch  Ferguson  at  Gilbert  Town,  but  they 
found  that  he  had  fled  towards  the  northeast,  so  they  followed  after  him. 
Many  of  their  horses  were  crippled  and  exhausted,  and  many  of  the  footmen 
footsore  and  weary ;  and  the  next  day  they  were  able  to  go  but  a  dozen  miles 
to  the  ford  of  Green  River. 

"That  evening  Campbell  and  his  fellow  officers  held  a  council  to  decide 
what  course  was  best  to  follow.  Lacey,  riding  over  from  the  militia  companies 
who  were  marching  from  Flint  Hill,  had  just  reached  their  camp ;  he  told  them 
the  direction  in  which  Ferguson  had  fled,  and  at  the  same  time  appointed  the 
Cowpens  as  the  meeting  place  for  their  respective  forces.  Their  whole  army 
was  so  jaded  that  the  leaders  knew  they  could  not  possibly  urge  it  on  fast 
enough  to  overtake  Ferguson,  and  the  flight  of  the  latter  made  them  feel  all 

Vol.  1—7 


94  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  more  confident  that  they  could  heat  him,  and  extremely  reluctant  that  he 
should  get  away.  In  consequence  they  determined  to  take  seven  or  eight 
hundred  of  the  least  tired,  best  armed,  and  best  mounted  men,  and  push 
rapidly  after  their  foe,  picking  up  on  the  way  any  militia  they  met,  and  leav- 
ing the  other  half  of  their  army  to  follow  as  fast  as  they  could. 

"At  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  the  picked  men  set  out,  about 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  in  number.  In  the  afternoon  they  passed  by  several 
large  bands  of  Tories,  who  had  assembled  to  join  Ferguson ;  but  the  Holston 
men  were  resolute  in  their  determination  to  strike  at  the  latter,  and  would  not 
be  diverted  from  it,  nor  waste  time  by  following  the  lesser  enemies. 

"Riding  all  day  they  reached  Cowpens  when  the  sun  had  already  set,  a 
few  minutes  after  the  arrival  of  the  Flint  Hill  militia  under  Lacey,  Hill  and 
Williams.  The  tired  troops  were  speedily  engaged  in  skinning  beeves  for  their 
supper,  roasting  them  by  the  blazing  camp  fires ;  and  fifty  acres  of  corn,  be- 
longing to  the  rich  Tory  who  owned  the  Cowpens,  materially  helped  the  meal. 
Meanwhile  a  council  was  held,  in  which  all  the  leading  officers,  save  Williams, 
took  part.  Campbell  was  confirmed  as  commander-in-chief,  and  it  was  de- 
cided to  once  more  choose  the  freshest  soldiers,  and  fall  on  Ferguson  before  he 
could  either  retreat  or  be  reinforced.  The  officers  went  round,  picking  out  the 
best  men,  the  best  rifles,  and  the  best  horses.  Shortly  after  nine  o'clock  the 
choice  had  been  made,  and  910  picked  riflemen,  well  mounted,  rode  out  of 
the  circle  of  flickering  firelight,  and  began  their  night  journey.  A  few  deter- 
mined footmen  followed,  going  almost  as  fast  as  the  horses,  and  actually 
reached  the  battlefield  in  season  to  do  their  share  of  the  fighting. 

"All  this  time  Ferguson  had  not  been  idle.  He  first  heard  of  the  advance 
of  the  backwoodsmen  on  September  30th,  from  the  two  Tories  who  had  de- 
serted Sevier  on  Yellow  Mountain.  He  had  furloughed  many  of  his  loyalists, 
as  all  formidable  resistance  seemed  at  an  end ;  and  he  now  sent  out  messengers 
in  every  direction  to  recall  them  to  his  standard. 

"Ferguson  had  not  waited  for  outside  help.  He  threw  himself  into  the 
work  of  rallying  people  of  the  plains,  who  were  largely  loyalists,  against  the 
over-mountain  men,  appealing  not  only  to  their  royalist  sentiments,  but  to  their 
strong  local  prejudices,  and  to  the  dread  many  of  them  felt  for  the  wild  border 
fighters.  On  the  first  of  October  he  sent  out  a  proclamation,  of  which  copies 
were  scattered  broadcast  among  the  loyalists.  It  was  instinct  with  the  fiery 
energy  of  the  writer,  and  well  suited  to  goad  into  action  the  rough  Tories, 
and  the  doubtful  men,  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  He  told  them  that  the 
Back  Water  men  had  crossed  the  mountains,  with  chieftains  at  their  head  who 
would  surely  grant  mercy  to  none  who  had  been  loyal  to  the  king.  He  called 
on  them  to  grasp  their  arms  on  the  moment  and  run  to  his  standard,  if  they 
desired  to  live  and  bear  the  name  of  men. 

' '  The  British  were  still  in  the  dark  as  to  the  exact  neighborhood  from  which 
their  foes — the  'swarm  of  backwoodsmen,'  as  Tarleton  called  them — really 
came.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  they  were  in  part  from  Kentucky,  and 
that  Boone  himself  was  among  the  number.  However,  Ferguson  probably  cared 
very  little  who  they  were;  and  keeping,  as  he  supposed,  a  safe  distance  away 
from  them,  he  halted  at  King's  Mountain  in  South  Carolina  on  the  evening 
of  October  6th,  pitching  his  camp  on  a  steep,  narrow  hill  just  south  of  the 
North  Carolina  boundary.  The  King's  Mountain  range  itself  is  about  sixteen 
miles  in  length,  extending  in  a  southwesterly  course  from  one  state  into  the 
other.  The  stony,  half-isolated  ridge  on  which  Ferguson  camped  was  some 
six  or  seven  hundred  yards  long  and  half  as  broad  from  base  to  base,  or  two- 
thirds  that  distance  on  top.  The  steep  sides  were  clad  with  a  growth  of  open 
woods,  including  both  saplings  and  big  timber.  Ferguson  parked  his  bag- 
gage wagons  along  the  northeastern  part  of  the  mountain.  The  next  day  he 
did  not  move.  He  was  as  near  to  the  army  of  Cornwallis  at  Charlotte  as  to 
the  mountaineers,  and  he  thought  it  safe  to  remain  where  he  was._  He  deemed 
the  position  one  of  great  strength,  as  indeed  it  would  have  been,  if  assailed  in 
the  ordinary  European  fashion;  and  he  was  confident  that  even  if  the  rebels 
attacked  him,  he  could  easily  beat  them  back.    But  as  General  Lee,  'Light  Horse 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  95 

Harry,'  afterwards  remarked,  the  hill  was  much  easier  assaulted  with  the  rifle 
than  defended  with  the  bayonet. 

"The  backwoodsmen,  on  leaving  the  camp  at  the  Cowpens,  marched  slowly 
through  the  night,  which  was  dark  and  drizzly ;  many  of  the  men  got  scat- 
tered through  the  woods,  but  joined  their  commands  in  the  morning — the 
morning  of  October  7th.  The  troops  bore  down  to  the  southward,  a  little  out 
of  the  straight  route,  to  avoid  any  patrol  parties;  and  at  sunrise  they  splashed 
across  the  Cherokee  ford.  Throughout  the  forenoon  the  rain  continued,  but 
the  troops  pushed  steadily  onwards  without  halting,  wrapping  their  blankets 
and  the  skirts  of  their  hunting  shirts  round  their  gunlocks,  to  keep  them  dry. 
Some  horses  gave  out,  but  their  riders,  like  the  thirty  or  forty  footmen  who 
had  followed  from  the  Cowpens,  struggled  onwards  and  were  in  time  for  the 
battle.  When  nearing  King's  Mountain  they  captured  two  Tories,  and  from 
them  learned  Ferguson's  exact  position;  that  'he  was  on  a  ridge  between  two 
branches,  where  some  deer  hunters  had  camped  the  previous  fall.'  These  deer 
hunters  were  now  with  the  oncoming  backwoodsmen,  and  declared  that  they 
knew  the  ground  well.  Without  halting,  Campbell  and  the  other  colonels  rode 
forward  together,  and  agreed  to  surround  the  hill,  so  that  their  men  might 
fire  upwards  without  risk  of  hurting  one  another.  It  was  a  bold  plan ;  for 
they  knew  their  foes  probably  outnumbered  them ;  but  they  were  very  con- 
fident of  their  own  prowess,  and  were  anxious  to  strike  a  crippling  blow. 
From  one  or  two  other  captured  Tories,  and  from  a  staunch  Whig  friend,  they 
learned  the  exact  disposition  of  the  British  and  loyalist  force,  and  were  told 
that  their  noted  leader  wore  a  light,  parti-colored  hunting  shirt ;  and  he  was 
forthwith  doomed  to  be  a  special  target  for  the  backwoods  rifles.  When  within 
a  mile  of  the  hill  a  halt  was  called,  and  after  a  hasty  council  of  the  different, 
colonels — in  which  Williams  did  not  take  part — the  final  arrangements  were 
made  and  the  men  who  had  been  marching  in  loose  order,  were  formed  in  line 
of  battle.  They  then  rode  forward  in  absolute  silence,  and  when  close  to  the 
west  slope  of  the  battle  hill,  beyond  King's  Creek,  drew  rein  and  dismounted. 
They  tied  their  horses  to  trees,  and  fastened  their  great  coats  and  blankets  to 
the  saddles,  for  the  rain  had  cleared  away.  A  few  of  the  officers  remained 
mounted.  The  countersign  of  the  day  was  'Buford, '  the  name  of  the  colonel 
whose  troops  Tarleton  had  defeated  and  butchered.  The  final  order  was  for 
each  man  to  look  carefully  at  the  priming  of  his  rifle,  and  then  go  into  battle 
and  fight  until  he  died. 

"The  foes  were  now  face  to  face.  On  the  one  side  were  the  American 
backwoodsmen,  under  their  own  leaders,  armed  in  their  own  manner,  and 
fighting  after  their  own  fashion,  for  the  freedom  and  the  future  of  America ; 
on  the  opposite  side  were  other  Americans — the  loyalists,  led  by  British  offi- 
cers, armed  and  trained  in  the  British  fashion,  and  fighting  on  behalf  of  the 
empire  of  Britain  and  the  majesty  of  the  monarchy.  The  Americans  numbered 
all  told,  about  nine  hundred  and  fifty  men.  The  British  forces  were  composed 
in  bulk  of  the  Carolina  loyalists — troops  similar  to  the  Americans  who  joined 
the  mountaineers  at  Quaker  Meadows  and  the  Cowpens ;  the  difference  being 
that  besides  these  low-land  militia,  there  were  arrayed  on  one  side  the  men 
from  Watauga,  the  Holston  and  Nollichucky,  and  on  the  other  side  the  loyalist 
regulars.  Ferguson  had,  all  told,  between  nine  hundred  and  a  thousand  troops, 
a  hundred  and  twenty  or  thirty  of  them  being  the  regulars  or  'American  Vol- 
unteers,' the  remainder  Tory  militia.  The  forces  were  very  nearly  equal  in 
number.  What  difference  there  was,  was  probably  in  favor  of  the  British  and 
Tories.  There  was  not  a  bayonet  in  the  American  Army,  whereas  Ferguson 
trusted  much  to  this  weapon.  All  his  volunteers  and  regulars  were  expert  in 
its  use,  and  with  his  usual  ingenuity  he  had  trained  several  of  his  loyalist  com- 
panies in  a  similar  manner,  improvising  bayonets  out  of  their  hunting  knives. 
The  loyalists  whom  he  had  had  with  him  for  some  time  were  well  drilled.  The 
North  Carolina  regiment  was  weaker  on  this  point,  as  it  was  composed  of 
recruits  who  had  joined  him  but  recently. 

"The  Americans  were  discovered  by  their  foes  when  only  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  away." 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  BATTLE  OF  KING'S  MOUNTAIN  AND  ITS  CONSEQUENCES 

The  battle  of  King's  Mountain  was  one  of  the  most  spectacular  of  the  many 
spectacular  conflicts  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  It  was  indeed  unique.  Here, 
in  an  engagement  occupying  but  little  more  than  one  hour  a  band  of  raw  back- 
woodsmen hastily  collected  and  absolutely  without  training  (Shelby,  indeed, 
said  to  the  troops,  before  they  went  into  battle,  that  each  should  "be  his  own 
officer")  attacked,  surrounded,  and  killed  or  captured  an  entire  British  army, 
well  trained  under  one  of  the  ablest  and  bravest  officers  in  their  service  on  well 
fortified  ground  of  their  own  selection. 

The  official  report  of  the  battle,  brief,  if  not,  indeed,  laconic,  is  doubtless  the 
best  account  of  it  written  in  so  circumscribed  a  space.  It  was  sent  to  General 
Gates  and  was  found  among  his  papers.     It  was  as  follows: 

"A  Statement  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Western  Army  from  the  25th  of 
September,  1780,  to  the  reduction  of  Major  Ferguson,  and  the  army  under  his 
command. 

"On  receiving  intelligence  that  Major  Ferguson  had  advanced  as  high  as 
Gilbert  Town,  in  Rutherford  County,  and  threatened  to  cross  the  mountains  to 
the  western  waters,  Col.  Wm.  Campbell  with  400  men  from  Washington  County, 
Va. ;  Col.  Isaac  Shelby,  with  240  men  from  Sullivan  County,  North  Caro- 
lina, and  Lieut. -Col.  John  Sevier,  with  240  men  from  Washington  County, 
North  Carolina,  assembled  at  Watauga  on  the  25th  of  September,  where  they 
were  joined  by  Col.  Charles  McDowell,  with  160  men  from  the  counties  of  Burke 
and  Rutherford,  who  had  fled  before  the  enemy  to  the  western  waters. 

"We  began  our  march  on  the  26th,  and  on  the  30th  we  were  joined  by 
Colonel  C^aveland,  on  the  Catawba  River,  with  350  men  from  the  counties  of 
Wilkes  and  Surry.  No  one  officer  having  properly  the  right  to  the  command- 
in-chief,  on  the  1st  of  October  we  dispatched  an  express  to  Major  General  Gates, 
informing  him  of  our  situation,  and  requesting  him  to  send  a  general'  officer  to 
take  command  of  the  whole.  In  the  meantime,  Colonel  Campbell  was  chosen 
to  act  as  commandant  till  such  general  officer  should  arrive. 

"We  reached  the  Cowpens  on  the  Broad  River  in  South  Carolina  where  we 
were  joined  by  Col.  James  Williams,  on  the  evening  of  the  6th  of  October,  who 
informed  us  that  the  enemy  lay  encamped  somewhere  near  the  Cherokee  Ford 
of  Broad  River,  about  thirty  miles  distant  from  us.  By  a  council  of  the  prin- 
cipal officers,  it  was  then  thought  advisable  to  pursue  the  enemy  that  night 
with  900  of  the  best  horsemen,  and  leave  the  weak  horses  and  footmen  to 
follow  as  fast  as  possible.  We  began  our  march  with  900  of  the  best  men  about 
eight  o'clock  the  same  evening,  marched  all  night,  and  came  up  with  the  enemy 
about  three  o'clock,  p.  m.  of  the  7th,  who  lay  encamped  on  the  top  of  King's 
Mountain,  twelve  miles  north  of  the  Cherokee  Ford,  in  the  confidence  that  they 
could  not  be  forced  from  so  advantageous  a  post.  Previous  to  the  attack  in  our 
march  the  following  disposition  was  made: 

"Co'onel  Shelby's  regiment  formed  a  column  in  the  center  on  the  left; 
Colonel  Campbell's  another  on  the  right;  part  of  Colonel  Cleaveland's  headed 
by  Major  Winston  and  Colonel  Sevier's  formed  a  large  column  on  the  right 
wing.  In  this  order  we  advanced,  and  got  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the 
enemy  before  we  were  discovered.  Colonel  Shelby's  and  Colonel  Campbell's 
regiment  began  the  attack,  and  kept  up  a  fire  on  the  enemy  while  the  right  and 

96 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  97 

left  wings  were  advancing:  forward  to  surround  them.  The  engagement  lasted 
an  hour  and  five  minutes,  the  greater  part  of  which  time  a  heavy  and  incessant 
fire  was  kept  up  on  both  sides.  Our  men  in  some  parts  where  the  regulars 
fought,  were  obliged  to  give  way  a  small  distance  two  or  three  times,  but  rallied 
and  returned  with  additional  ardour  to  the  attack.  The  troops  upon  the  right 
having  gained  the  summit  of  the  eminence,  obliged  the  enemy  to  retreat  along 
the  top  of  the  ridge  where  Colonel  Cleaveland  commanded,  and  were  there 
stopped  by  his  brave  men.  A  flag  was  immediately  hoisted  by  Captain  Du- 
poister,  the  commanding  officer  (Major  Ferguson  having  been  killed  a  little 
before),  for  a  surrender.  Our  fire  immediately  ceased,  and  the  enemy  laid  down 
their  arms — the  greater  part  of  them  loaded — and  surrendered  themselves  to  us 
prisoners  at  discretion.  It  appears  from  their  own  provision  returns  for  that 
day,  found  in  their  camp  that  their  whole  force  consisted  of  1,125  men,  out  of 
which  they  sustained  the  following  loss :  Of  the  regulars,  one  major,  one  cap- 
tain, two  lieutenants  and  fifteen  privates  killed,  thirty-five  privates  wounded. 
Left  on  the  ground  not  able  to  march,  two  captains,  four  lieutenants,  three 
ensigns,  one  surgeon,  five  sergeants ;  three  corporals,  one  drummer,  and  fifty- 
nine  privates  taken  prisoners. 

"Loss  of  Tories,  two  colonels,  three  captains,  and  201  privates  killed;  one 
major  and  127  privates  wounded  and  left  on  the  ground  not  able  to  march ; 
twelve  captains,  eleven  lieutenants,  two  ensigns,  one  quarter-master,  one  ad- 
jutant, two  commissaries,  eighteen  sergeants  and  600  privates  taken  prisoners. 
Total  loss  of  the  enemy,  1,105  men  at  King's  Mountain. 

"Given  under  our  hands  at  camp. 

"William  Campbell, 
"Isaac  Shelby, 
"Benjamin  Cleaveland. 

"The  loss  on  our  side: 

"Killed — 1  colonel,  "Wounded — 1  major, 

1  major,  3  captains, 

2  lieutenants,  3  lieutenants, 
•1  ensigns,                                                          53  privates, 

19  privates,  — 

— ■  60  total  wounded." 

28  total  killed. 

THE  ACCOUNT  OP  A  PARTICIPANT 

Official  accounts  of  historic  events,  supremely  important  though  they  be, 
seldom  possess  the  active,  living,  vital  interest,  which  pertains  to  the  narrative 
of  those  who  took  part  and  were  themselves  parts  of  the  occurrences  which  they 
relate.  It  is,  therefore,  with  pleasure,  that  we  give  space  to  the  story  of  a 
participant,  published  for  the  first  time  in  "The  Portfolio"  for  July,  1849. 
This  paper  was  read  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society, 
held  on  June  5,  1849.  It  was  placed  before  the  Society  by  Mr.  John  R.  Aiken 
who  said  that  it  had  been  found  among  the  papers  of  James  Campbell ;  that  it 
was  written  by  Robert  Campbell,  an  ensign  in  Captain  Dussart's  company,  and 
who,  when  Captain  Dussart  was  wounded  early  in  the  action,  commanded  the 
company. 

Ensign  Campbell  says: 

"In  the  fall  of  the  year  1780,  when  the  American  cause  wore  a  very  gloomy 
aspect  in  the  Southern  States,  Cols.  Arthur  and  William  Campbell  hearing  of 
the  advance  of  Colonel  Ferguson  along  the  mountains  in  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  and  that  the  Whigs  were  retreating  before  him  unable  to  make  any 
effectual  resistance,  formed  a  plan  to  intercept  him,  and  communicated  it  to 
the  commanding  officers  of  Sullivan  and  Washington  counties  in  the  State  of 


98  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

North  Carolina.  They  readily  agreed  to  cooperate  in  any  expedition  against 
Colonel  Ferguson.  Col.  Arthur  Campbell  immediately  gave  orders  to  the 
Militia  of  Washington  County,  Va.,  amounting  to  near  four  hundred  to  make 
ready  to  march,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Wm.  Campbell,  who  was  known  to 
be  an  enterprising  and  active  officer.  Colonels  Shelby  and  Sevier  raised  a  party 
of  about  three  hundred,  joined  him  in  his  march,  and  moved  with  forced 
marches  toward  Colonel  Ferguson.  At  the  same  time  Colonels  Williams,  Cleave- 
land,  Tracy,  and  Branon,  of  the  States  of  North  and  South  Carolina,  each  con- 
ducted a  small  party  towards  the  same  point,  amounting  to  near  three  hundred. 
Colonel  Ferguson  had  notice  of  their  approach,  by  a  deserter  that  left  the  army 
on  Yellow  Mountain;  and  immediately  commenced  his  march  for  Charlotte, 
despatching  at  the  same  time  different  messengers  to  Lord  Cornwallis  with 
information  of  his  danger.  These  messengers  being  intercepted  on  their  way, 
no  movement  was  made  to  favor  his  retreat. 

"These  several  corps  of  American  volunteers,  amounting  to  near  one  thou- 
sand men,  met  at  Gilbert  Town,  and  the  officers  unanimously  chose  Colonel 
Campbell  to  command.  About  seven  hundred  choice  riflemen  mounted  their 
horses  for  the  purpose  of  following  the  retreating  army.  The  balance,  being 
chiefly  footmen,  were  left  to  follow  on  and  come  up  as  soon  as  they  could.-  The 
pursuit  was  too  rapid  to  render  an  escape  practicable.  Ferguson  finding  that 
he  must  inevitably  be  overtaken,  chose  his  ground  and  waited  for  the  attack, 
on  King's  Mountain.  On  the  7th  of  October  in  the  afternoon,  after  a  forced 
march  of  forty-five  miles  on  that  day  and  the  night  before,  the  volunteers  came 
up  with  him. 

"The  forenoon  of  the  day  was  wet,  but  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  come 
on  him  undiscovered,  and  took  his  piquets,  they  not  having  it  in  their  power  to 
give  an  alarm.  They  were  soon  formed  in  such  order  as  to  attack  the  enemy 
on  all  sides.  The  Washington  and  Sullivan  regiments  were  formed  in  the  front, 
and  on  the  right  flank ;  the  North  and  South  Carolina  troops  under  Colonels 
Williams,  Sevier,  Tracy,  Cleaveland,  and  Branon  on  the  left.- — The  two  armies 
now  in  full  view,  the  center  of  the  one  nearly  opposite  the  center  of  the  other, 
the  British  main  guard  posted  nearly  half  way  down  the  mountain,  the  com- 
manding officer  gave  the  word  of  command  to  raise  the  Indian  war-whoop  and 
charge.  In  a  moment  King's  Mountain  resounded  with  their  shouts,  and  on  the 
first  fire  the  guard  retreated,  leaving  some  of  their  men  to  crimson  the  earth. 
The  British  beat  to  arms  and  immediately  formed  on  the  top  of  the  mountain, 
behind  a  chain  of  rocks  that  appeared  impregnable,  and  had  their  wagons  drawn 
up  on  their  flank  across  the  end  of  the  mountain,  by  which  they  made  a  strong 
breastwork.  Thus  concealed,  the  American  Army  advanced  to  the  charge.  In 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  the  wings  came  round,  and  the  action  became  general. 
The  enemy  annoyed  our  troops  very  much  from  their  advantageous  position. 
Colonel  Shelby,  being  previously  ordered  to  reconnoitre  their  position,  observing 
their  situation  and  what  a  destructive  fire  wyas  kept  up  from  behind  those  rocks, 
he  ordered  Robt.  Campbell,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Virginia  line,  to  endeavor 
to  dislodge  them ;  and  led  them  on  nearly  to  the  ground  to  which  he  had  ordered 
them,  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  lines  and  within  forty  steps  of  the  same; 
but  discovering  that  our  men  were  repulsed  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountain, 
he  gave  orders  to  advance  and  post  themselves  opposite  to  the  rocks  and  near 
to  the  enemy ;  and  then  returned  to  assist  in  bringing  up  the  men  in  order  who 
had  been  charged  with  the  bayonet.  These  orders  were  punctually  obeyed  and 
they  kept  up  such  a  galling  fire,  as  to  compel  Ferguson  to  order  a  company  of 
regulars  to  face  them,  with  a  view  to  cover  his  men  that  were  posted  behind 
the  rocks.  At  this  time  a  considerable  fire  was  drawn  to  this  side  of  the 
mountain  by  the  repulse  of  those  on  the  other,  and  the  loyalists  not  being  per- 
mitted to  leave  their  posts.  The  scene  was  not  of  long  duration ;  for  it  was 
the  brave  Virginia  volunteers,  and  those  under  Colonel  Shelby,  on  their  attempt- 
ing rapidly  to  ascend  the  mountain,  that  were  charged  with  the  bayonet.  They 
obstinately  stood  until  some  of  them  were  thrust  through  the  body,  and  having 
nothing  but  their  rifles  by  which  to  defend  themselves,  they  were  forced  to 
retreat.     They  were  soon  rallied  by  their  gallant  commanders,  Campbell  and 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  99 

Shelby,  and  other  brave  officers,  and  by  a  constant  and  well  directed  fire  of 
their  rifles,  drove  them  back  in  their  turn,  strewing  the  face  of  the  mountain 
with  their  assailants,  and  kept  advancing  until  they  drove  them  from  some  of 
their  posts.  Ferguson  being  heavily  pressed  on  all  sides,  ordered  Captain 
Dupeister  to  reinforce  some  of  the  extreme  posts  with  a  full  company  of  British 
regulars.  He  marched,  but  to  his  astonishment,  when  he  arrived  at  the  place 
of  his  destination,  he  had  almost  no  men,  being  exposed  in  that  short  distance 
to  the  constant  fire  of  their  rifles.  He  then  ordered  his  cavalry  to  mount,  but 
to  no  purpose.  As  quick  as  they  were  mounted,  they  were  taken  down  by 
some  bold  marksman.  Being  driven  to  desperation  by  such  a  scene  of  mis- 
fortune, Colonel  Ferguson  endeavored  to  make  his  escape,  and  with  two  colonels 
of  the  loyalists,  mounted  his  horse  and  charged  on  that  part  of  the  line  which 
was  defended  by  the  party  who  had  been  ordered  around  the  mountain  by 
Colonel  Shelby,  it  appearing  too  weak  to  resist  them.  But  as  soon  as  he  got  to 
the  line,  he  fell  and  the  other  two  officers  attempting  to  retreat,  soon  shared  the 
same  fate.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Colonel  Campbell  advanced  in  front  of 
his  men,  and  climbed  over  a  steep  rock  close  by  the  enemy's  line,  to  get  a  view 
of  the  situation,  and  saw  they  were  retreating  behind  the  rocks  that  were  near 
to  him.  As  soon  as  Captain  Dupeister  observed  that  Colonel  Ferguson  was 
killed,  he  raised  a  flag  and  asked  for  quarters.  It  was  soon  taken  out  of  his 
hand  by  one  of  our  officers  on  horseback,  and  raised  so  high  that  it  could  be 
seen  by  our  line,  and  the  firing  immediately  ceased.  The  loyalists  at  the  time  of 
their  surrender,  were  driven  into  a  crowd,  and  being  closely  surrounded,  they 
could  not  have  made  any  further  resistance. 

"In  this  sharp  action,  150  of  Colonel  Ferguson's  party  were  killed,  and  some- 
thing over  that  number  were  wounded.  Eight  hundred  and  ten  (of  whom  100 
were  British  regulars)  surrendered  themselves  prisoners,  and  1,500  stand  of 
arms  were  taken. 

"The  loss  of  the  American  Army  on  this  occasion  amounted  to  thirty  killed, 
and  something  over  fifty  wounded,  among  whom  were  a  number  of  brave 
officers.  Colonel  Williams,  who  has  been  so  much  lamented,  was  shot  through 
the  body  near  the  close  of  the  action,  in  making  an  attempt  to  charge  upon 
Ferguson.  He  lived  long  enough  to  hear  of  the  surrender  of  the  British  Army. 
He  then  said,  'I  die  content  since  we  have  gained  the  victory,'  and  expired. 

"The  third  night  after  the  action,  the  officers  of  the  Carolinas  complained 
to  Colonel  Campbell  that  there  were  among  the  prisoners  a  number  who  had 
previous  to  the  action  on  King's  Mountain,  committed  cool  and  deliberate  mur- 
der, and  other  enormities  alike  atrocious,  and  requested  him  to  order  a  court- 
martial  to  examine  into  the  matter.  They  stated  that  if  they  should  escape, 
they  were  exasperated  and  they  feared  they  would  commit  other  enormities 
worse  than  they  had  formerly  done.  Colonel  Campbell  complied,  and  ordered 
a  court-martial  immediately  to  sit,  composed  of  the  field  officers  and  captains, 
who  were  ordered  to  enquire  into  the  complaints  which  had  been  made.  The 
court  was  conducted  orderly,  and  witnesses  were  called  and  examined  in  each 
case.  The  consequence  was  that  there  were  thirty-two  condemned.  Out  of 
those,  nine,  who  were  thought  the  most  dangerous,  and  who  had  committed  the 
most  atrocious  crimes  were  executed.  The  others  were  pardoned  by  the  com- 
manding officer.  One  of  the  crimes  proven  against  a  captain  that  was  executed 
was  that  he  had  called  at  the  house  of  a  Whig,  and  enquired  if  he  was  at  home, 
being  informed  by  his  son,  a  small  boy,  that  he  was  not,  he  immediately  drew 
out  his  pistol  and  shot  him. 

"The  officers  on  that  occasion  acted  from  an  honorable  motive  to  do  the 
greatest  good  in  their  power  for  the  public  service,  and  to  check  those  enormities 
so  frequently  committed  in  the  states  of  North  and  South  Carolina  at  that  time ; 
their  distress  being  almost  unequalled  in  the  annals  of  the  American  Revolution." 

RESULTS  OP  THE  BATTLE  OP  KING'S  MOUNTAIN 

The  effects  of  the  victory  at  King's  Mountain  were  direct,  immediate  and 
far-reaching.    Immediately  it  revived  the  waning  hopes  of  the  colonists,  inspired 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CUMBERLAND  SETTLEMENT 

"While  the  stirring  events  narrated  in  the  chapter  immediately  preceding  were 
taking  place,  another  history-making  enterprise  was  being  put  on  foot — the 
establishment  of  the  settlement  on  the  bend  of  the  Cumberland  River. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  James  Robertson  had  been  appointed  Indian  agent 
with  his  residence  among  the  Cherokees.  He  lived  with  them  at  Chota  and  his 
influence  on  them  was  great  and  salutary.  In  1779,  he  notified  the  pioneers  of 
the  Watauga  that  the  Indians  were  planning  an  attack.  Thereupon  Evan 
Shelby,  anticipating  the  threatened  movement,  attacked  the  savages  and  com- 
pletely defeated  them.  The  time  was  opportune  for  the  location  of  the  settlement 
at  the  French  Lick. 

Of  this  enterprise  James  Robertson  and  John  Donelson  were  the  leaders. 
They  formed  a  partnership  under  the  impulse  and  direction  and,  more  than  all 
else,  under  the  inducements  of  Richard  Henderson.  It  seems  strange,  indeed, 
that  historians  so  generally  have  ignored  Henderson's  connection  with  the  Cum- 
berland enterprise.  Haywood  and  Ramsey  say  nothing  of  this  man  who  was 
the  directing  and  controlling  impulse  in  both  the  colonization  and  early  govern- 
ment of  the  "wilderness  empire  of  the  Cumberland."  Henderson's  ability  is 
nowhere  seen  more  clearly  than  in  his  selection  of  his  leaders.  That  he  could 
induce  such  a  man  as  James  Robertson  to  leave  a  self-governing  community 
which  he  had  largely  founded  and  where  he  had  a  prosperous  and  happy  home 
to  brave  again  the  hardships  and  dangers  of  a  primeval  and  almost  unknown 
country,  shows  most  conclusively  Judge  Henderson's  powers  of  persuasion.  John 
Donelson,  too,  was  a  man  of  standing,  substance  and  influence  in  Virginia  be- 
fore he  came  to  Tennessee.  Yet  Roosevelt,  following  Ramsey  and  Haywood, 
says  that,  after  the  Virginia  Legislature,  in  1778,  had  discountenanced  the  va- 
lidity of  the  Transylvania  purchase,  Judge  Richard  Henderson  "drifts  out  of 
history." 

But  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson,  a  descendant  of  Judge  Richard  Henderson 
says: 

"With  the  bursting  of  the  Transylvania  bubble  and  the  vanishing  of  the 
golden  dreams  of  Henderson  and  his  associates  for  establishing  the  fourteenth 
American  colony  in  the  heart  of  the  trans-Alleghany  region,  all  might  have 
seemed  lost.  But  is  Richard  Henderson  disheartened  by  this  failure  of  his 
imperialistic  dreams?  Does  he,  as  Mr.  Roosevelt  crassly  affirms,  'drift  out  of 
history'?  No;  the  purest  and  greatest  achievement  of  his  meteoric  career  still 
lies  before  him.  The  genius  of  the  colonizer  and  the  ambition  of  the  speculator, 
in  striking  conjunction,  inspire  him  to  attempt  to  repeat  on  North  Carolina 
soil,  along  solidly  practical  lines,  the  revolutionary  experiment  which  the  ex- 
tension of  the  sovereignty  of  the  Old  Dominion  over  the  Kentucky  area  had 
doomed  to  inevitable  failure.  It  was  no  longer  his  purpose,  however,  to  at- 
tempt to  found  an  independent  colony,  separate  from  North  Carolina  and 
hostile  to  the  American  Government,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Transylvania,  which 

102 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  103 

had  been  hostile  to  the  royal  government  and  founded  in  defiance  thereof. 
Millions  of  acres  within  the  chartered  limits  of  North  Carolina  had  been  pur- 
chased by  him  and  his  associates  from  the  Cherokees  on  March  17,  1775.  One 
of  the  courses  of  the  Great  Grant,  as  it  was  called,  read:  'down  the  sd.  (Cum- 
berland) River,  including  all  its  waters  to  the  Ohio  River';  and  James  Robertson 
in  his  deposition  before  the  Virginia  Commissioners,  April  16,  1777,  describing 
the  Sycamore  Shoals  Treaty,  categorically  stated :  '  The  Indians  then  agreed  to 
sell  the  land  as  far  as  Cumberland  River  and  said  Henderson  insisted  to  have 
Cumberland  River  and  the  waters  of  Cumberland  River,  which  the  Indians 
agreed  to.'  "  * 

Henderson  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Cumberland  region  was  within  the 
limits  of  North  Carolina.  Robertson  thought  it  was  in  Virginia.  The  truth 
could  be  ascertained  only  by  a  survey.  In  1779,  these  two  states  appointed  a 
joint  commission  to  make  a  survey  and  extend  their  boundary.  North  Carolina 
appointed  Richard  Henderson  and  William  B.  Smith ;  Virginia  appointed  Dr. 
Thomas  Walker  and  Daniel  Smith. 

While  their  survey  was  proceeding,  James  Robertson,  with  the  untiring 
energy  and  sure  efficiency  which  characterized  him,  proceeded  actively  to  recruit 
a  party  for  the  preliminary  exploration. 

Preceding  this  time  for  many  years  hunters  had  come  into  the  country  sur- 
rounding the  French  Lick.  We  have  already  spoken  of  Charleville,  Demonbreun, 
Dr.  Thomas  Walker  and  his  party,  and  of  others.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there  is 
no  question  that  numerous  parties  and  individuals  ventured  into  this  region, 
but  few  of  whose  names  have  been  preserved  and  of  whose  journeys  and  dis- 
coveries there  is  no  verbal  or  written  account.  Of  those  who  are  known  and  who 
made  some  impress  of  their  presence  were :  John  Rains,  Kasper  Mansker,  Abra- 
ham Bledsoe,  John  Baker,  Joseph  Drake,  Obediah  Terril,  Uriah  Stone,  Henry 
Smith,  Ned  Cowan,  Joseph  Holliday  and  Thomas  Sharp  Spencer,  the  last  named 
of  whom  was  the  most  important.  He  came  in  1776  and  remained  until  the 
arrival  of  the  permanent  settlers  in  1779.  Haywood,  Ramsey,  Putnam  and  other 
historians  tell  many  ancedotes  of  him  in  connection  with  his  gigantic  size, 
strength  and  fearless  intrepidity.  Many  anecdotes  are  also  told  by  these  his- 
torians of  other  hunters,  trappers  and  traders  of  these  times.  These  forerun- 
ners subserved  an  indispensably  useful  purpose  in  preparing  the  way  for  the 
permanent  settlers.  In  1778,  the  first  settlement  of  about  a  dozen  families 
located  near  Bledsoe's  Lick,  now  Castalian  Springs,  in  Sumner  County.  Near 
this  settlement  Richard  Hogan,  Spencer  and  Holliday  planted  corn  in  the  same 
year.  "About  the  same  time  a  number  of  French  traders  advanced  up  the  Cum- 
berland River  as  far  as  the  'Bluff,'  where  they  erected  a  trading  post  and  a  few 
log  cabins." 

Such  was  the  setting  when  James  Robertson,  with  a  party  of  eight  white  men 
and  one  negro,  set  forth  from  Holston  settlement  on  February  6,  1779,  to  make 
a  preliminary  examination  and  to  plant  corn  ' '  that  bread  might  be  prepared  for 
the  main  body  of  emigrants  in  the  fall."  They  erected  a  few  log  huts  and  forts 
on  the  high  ground  near  the  Lick  and  also  put  in  a  crop  of  corn  there. 

Leaving  three  of  their  number  to  protect  the  crop  from  the  ravages  of  the 
wild  beasts,  the  rest  returned  for  their  families.  On  the  way  back  Robertson 
visited  George  Rogers  Clark  at  Post  St.  Vincent  in  the  Illinois  to  consult  him 
about  Virginia  "cabin  rights,"  still  thinking  that  the  bend  of  the  Cumberland 
was  in  that  state.    He  then  repaired  to  Watauga  to  take  charge  of  the  migration. 

*  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.  160. 


1(14  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE   MIGRATION   PROM    EAST  TENNESSEE  TO  THE  BEND  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND 

It  was  the  plan  to  send  two  parties,  one  comprising  men,  goods  and  some 
horses  and  other  live  stock ;  the  other  by  water,  including  all  the  women  and 
children  and  most  of  the  household  goods.  It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  that  Robert- 
son, after  arriving  at  the  Bluffs,  should  send  some  of  the  men  to  Muscle  Shoals 
on  the  Tennessee  River  and  to  leave  signs  there  whether  or  not  it  was  practi- 
cable for  them  to  make  the  rest  of  the  trip  by  land.  But  this  part  of  the  pro- 
gram was  found  to  be  impracticable  for  Robertson  to  perform  on  account  of 
the  severity  of  the  weather,  the  threatened  attacks  of  the  Indians  and  the  almost 
impenetrable  forests  and  canebrakes  which  intervened. 

Robertson's  party,  by  land,  passed  through  Cumberland  Gap,  Southern 
Kentucky  as  far  as  Red  River,  thence  south  to  the  Cumberland  opposite  the 
French  Lick  which  point  they  reached  on  Christmas  Day,  1779,  and,  on  New 
Year's  Day,  1780,  crossed  the  river  on  the  ice  to  the  present  site  of  Nashville. 

The  other  party,  by  water,  was  led  by  John  Donelson,  who  fortunately  wrote 
a  journal  in  the  form  of  a  diary,  telling  in  a  simple  but  absorbing  narrative, 
the  daily  experiences  and  adventures  of  the  argonauts.  No  fabled  Jason  ever 
led  his  adventurers  in  search  of  the  golden  fleece  on  a  journey  beset  with  more 
hardships  and  danger.  No  novelist,  of  most  inventive  imagination,  ever  told 
more  fascinatingly  of  the  perils  of  his  hero.  So  interesting  and  important  is  it 
that  it  is  reproduced  in  full  in  this  chapter. 

Donelson 's  fleet  consisted  of  about  thirty  boats,  comprising  mostly  flat-boats, 
dug-outs  and  canoes,  besides  the  Adventure  which  served  the  purpose  of  a 
flag  ship  and  was  virtually  a  large  scow,  containing  more  than  thirty  men  be- 
sides some  families.  Although  they  started  on  December  22,  1779,  they  really 
did  not  begin  the  voyage  until  February  27,  1780,  when  they  left  Cloud  Creek. 

On  the  last  day  of  March  they  met  Judge  Henderson,  who,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  one  of  the  commissioners  who  had  been  appointed  by  North 
Carolina  to  run  the  boundary  line,  conjointly  with  the  Virginia  commissioners, 
between  the  two  states.  They  had  not  proceeded  far  before  the  commissioners 
disagreed  and  ran  two  separate  lines. 

VOYAGE  OP  THE  DONELSON  PARTY 

Journal  of  a  Voyage,  intended  by  God's  permission,  in  the  good  boat  Ad- 
venture, from  Fort  Patrick  Henry,  on  Holston  River,  to  the  French  Salt 
Springs  on  Cumberland  River,  kept  by  John  Donelson. 

December  22,  1779. — Took  our  departure  from  the  fort,  and  fell  down  the 
river  to  the  mouth  of  Reedy  Creek,  where  we  were  stopped  by  the  fall  of  water 
and  most  excessive  hard  frost ;  and  after  much  delay,  and  many  difficulties,  we 
arrived  at  the  mouth  of  Cloud's  Creek  on  Sunday  evening,  the  20th  February, 
1780,  where  we  lay  by  until  Sunday,  the  27th,  when  we  took  our  departure 
with  sundry  other  vessels  bound  for  the  same  voyage,  and  on  the  same  day  struck 
the  Poor-valley-shoal,  together  with  Mr.  Boyd  and  Mr.  Rounsifer,  on  which 
shoal  we  lay  that  afternoon  and  succeeding  night  in  much  distress. 

Monday,  February  28th,  1780. — In  the  morning,  the  water  rising,  we  got  off 
the  shoal,  after  landing  thirty  persons  to  lighten  our  boat.  In  attempting  to 
land  on  an  island,  received  some  damage,  and  lost  sundry  articles,  and  came  to 
camp  on  the  south  shore,  where  we  joined  sundry  other  vessels  also  bound  down. 

Tuesday,  29th. — Proceeded  down  the  river  and  encamped  on  the  north  shore, 
the  afternoon  and  following  day  proving  rainy. 

Wednesday,  March  1st. — Proceeded  on  and  encamped  on  the  north  shore, 
nothing  happening  that  day  remarkable. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  105 

March  2nd. — Rain  about  half  the  day;  passed  the  mouth  of  French  Broad 
River,  and  about  twelve  o'clock  Mr.  Henry's  boat,  being  driven  on  the  point 
of  an  island  by  the  force  of  the  current,  was  sunk,  the  whole  cargo  much  dam- 
aged, and  the  crew's  lives  much  endangered,  which  occasioned  the  whole  fleet 
to  put  on  shore,  and  go  to  their  assistance,  but  with  much  difficulty  baled  her 
out  and  raised  her,  in  order  to  take  in  her  cargo  again.  The  same  afternoon 
Reuben  Harrison  went  out  a  hunting,  and  did  not  return  that  night,  though 
many  guns  were  fired  to  fetch  him  in. 

Friday,  3rd. — Early  in  the  morning  fired  a  four-pounder  for  the  lost  man, 
sent  out  sundry  persons  to  search  the  woods  for  him,  firing  many  guns  that  day 
and  the  succeeding  night,  but  all  without  success,  to  the  great  grief  of  his 
parents  and  fellow  travelers. 

Saturday,  4th. — Proceeded  on  our  voyage,  leaving  old  Mr.  Harrison,  with 
some  other  vessels,  to  make  further  search  for  his  lost  son;  about  ten  o'clock 
the  same  day  found  him  a  considerable  distance  down  the  river,  where  Mr.  Ben 
Belew  took  him  on  board  his  boat.  At  three  o'clock,  three  p.  m.,  passed  the 
mouth  of  Tennessee  River,  and  camped  on  the  south  shore,  about  ten  miles  below 
the  mouth  of  Tennessee. 

Sunday,  5th. — Cast  off  and  got  under  way  before  sunrise ;  the  morning  prov- 
ing very  foggy,  many  of  the  fleet  were  much  bogged ;  camped  on  the  north  shore, 
where  Captain  Hutching 's  negro  man  died,  being  much  frosted  in  his  feet  and 
legs,  of  which  he  died. 

Tuesday,  7th. — Got  under  way  very  early;  the  day  proving  very  windy,  a 
S.  S.  W.,  and  the  river  being  wide,  occasioned  a  high  sea,  insomuch  that  some 
of  the  smaller  crafts  were  in  danger,  therefore  came  to  the  uppermost  Chicka- 
mauga  town,  which  was  then  evacuated,  where  we  lay  by  that  afternoon  and 
camped  that  night.  The  wife  of  Ephraim  Peyton  was  here  delivered  of  a  child. 
Mr.  Peyton  had  gone  through  by  land  with  Captain  Robertson. 

Wednesday,  8th. — Cast  off  at  ten  o'clock,  and  proceeded  down  to  an  Indian 
village,  which  was  inhabited,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river:  they  invited  us  to 
come  ashore ;  called  us  brothers,  and  showed  other  signs  of  friendship,  insomuch 
that  Mr.  John  Caffrey  and  my  son  then  on  board,  took  a  canoe  which  I  had  in 
tow,  and  were  crossing  over  to  them,  the  rest  of  the  fleet  having  landed  on  the 
opposite  shore.  After  they  had  gone  some  distance,  a.  half -breed,  who  had  called 
himself  Archy  Goody,  with  several  other  Indians, ,  jumped  into  a  canoe,  met 
them,  and  advised  them  to  return  to  the  boat,  which  they  did,  together  with 
Goody,  and  several  canoes,  which  left  the  shore  and  followed  directly  after  him. 
They  appeared  to  be  friendly.  After  distributing  some  presents  among  them, 
with  which  they  seemed  much  pleased,  we  observed  a  number  of  Indians  on  the 
other  side  embarking  in  their  canoes,  armed  and  painted  with  red  and  black. 
Coody  immediately  made  signs  to  his  companions,  ordering  them  to  quit  the 
boat,  which  they  did,  himself  and  another  Indian  remaining  with  us  and  telling 
us  to  move  off  instantly.  We  had  not  gone  far  before  we  discovered  a  number 
of  Indians,  painted,  proceeding  down  the  river  as  it  were  to  intercept  us.  Coody, 
the  half-breed,  and  his  companion  sailed  with  us  for  some  time,  and  telling  us 
that  we  had  passed  all  the  towns,  and  were  out  of  danger,  left  us.  But  we  had 
not  gone  far  until  we  came  in  sight  of  another  town,  situated  likewise  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  nearly  opposite  a  small  island.  Here  again  they  invited 
us  to  come  on  shore,  called  us  brothers,  and  observing  the  boats  standing  off  for 
the  opposite  channel,  told  us  that  "their  side  of  the  river  was  better  for  boats 
to  pass."  And  here  we  must  regret  the  unfortunate  death  of  young  Mr.  Payne, 
on  board  Captain  Blackmore's  boat,  who  was  mortally  wounded  by  reason  of 
the  boat  running  too  near  the  northern  shore,  opposite  the  town  where  some  of 
the  enemy  lay  concealed ;  and  the  more  tragical  misfortune  of  poor  Stuart,  his 
family  and  friends,  to  the  number  of  twenty-eight  persons.  This  man  had 
embarked  with  us  for  the  Western  country,  but  his  family  being  diseased  with 
small-pox,  it  was  agreed  between  him  and  the  company  that  he  should  keep  some 
distance  in  the  rear,  for  fear  of  the  infection  spreading;  and  he  was  warned 
each  night  when  the  encampment  should  take  place  by  the  sound  of  a  horn. 
After  we  had  passed  this  town,  the  Indians  having  now  collected  to  a  consider- 


106  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

able  number,  observing  his  helpless  situation,  singled  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
fleet,  intercepted  him,  killed  and  took  prisoners  the  whole  crew,  to  the  great 
grief  of  the  whole  company,  uncertain  how  soon  they  might  share  the  same 
fate:  their  cries  were  distinctly  heard  by  those  boats  in  the  rear.  We  still 
perceived  them  marching  down  the  river  in  considerable  bodies,  keeping  pace 
with  us  until  the  Cumberland  Mountain  withdrew  them  from  our  sight,  when 
we  were  in  hopes  we  had  escaped  them.  We  are  now  arrived  at  the  place'  called 
Whirl,  or  Suck,  where  the  river  is  compressed  within  less  than  half  its  common 
width  above,  by  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  which  juts  in  on  both  sides.  In 
passing  through  the  upper  part  of  these  narrows,  at  a  place  described  by  Coody, 
which  he  termed  the  "boiling  pot,"  a  trivial  accident  had  nearly  ruined  the 
expedition.  One  of  the  company,  John  Cotton,  who  was  moving  down  in  a 
large  canoe,  had  attached  it  to  Robert  Cartwright's  boat,  into  which  he  and 
his  family  had  gone  for  safety.  The  canoe  was  here  overturned,  and  the  little 
cargo  lost.  The  company,  pitying  his  distress,  concluded  to  halt  and  assist 
him  in  recovering  his  property.  They  had  landed  on  the  northern  shore,  at 
a  level  spot,  and  were  going  up  to  the  place,  when  the  Indians,  to  our  astonish- 
ment, appeared  immediately  over  us  on  the  opposite  cliffs,  and  commenced 
firing  down  upon  us,  which  occasioned  a  precipitate  retreat  to  the  boats.  We 
immediately  moved  off.  The  Indians,  lining  the  bluffs  along,  continued  their 
fire  from  the  heights  on  our  boats  below,  without  doing  any  other  injury  than 
wounding  four  slightly.     Jennings'  boat  is  missing. 

We  have  now  passed  through  the  Whirl.  The  river  widens  with  a  placid 
and  gentle  current,  and  all  the  company  appear  to  be  in  safety,  except  the 
family  of  Jonathan  Jennings,  whose  boat  ran  on  a  large  rock  projecting  out 
from  the  northern  shore,  and  partly  immersed  in  water,  immediately  at  the 
Whirl,  where  we  were  compelled  to  leave  them,  perhaps  to  be  slaughtered  by 
their  merciless  enemies.  Continued  to  sail  on  that  day,  and  floated  throughout 
the  following  night. 

Thursday,  9th. — This  morning  about  four  o'clock  we  were  surprised  by  the 
cries  of  "Help  poor  Jennings,"  at  some  distance  in  the  rear.  He  had  dis- 
covered us  by  our  fires,  and  came  up  in  the  most  wretched  condition.  He  states, 
that  as  soon  as  the  Indians  had  discovered  his  situation,  they  turned  their  whole 
attention  to  him,  and  kept  up  a  most  galling  fire  on  his  boat.  He  ordered  his 
wife,  a  son  nearly  grown,  a  young  man  who  accompanied  them,  and  his  two 
negroes,  to  throw  all  his  goods  into  the  river,  to  lighten  their  boat  for  the  pur- 
pose of  getting  her  off;  himself  returning  their  fire  as  well  as  he  could,  being  a 
good  soldier  and  an  excellent  marksman.  But  before  they  had  accomplished 
their  object,  his  son,  the  young  man  and  the  negro  were  wounded.  Before 
they  left  the  boat,  Mrs.  Jennings,  however,  and  the  negro  woman  succeeded  in 
unloading  the  boat,  but  chiefly  by  the  exertions  of  Mrs.  Jennings,  who  got 
out  of  the  boat  and  shoved  her  off;  but  was  near  falling  a  victim  to  her  own 
intrepidity,  on  account  of  the  boat  starting  so  suddenly  as  soon  as  loosened 
from  the  rocks.  Upon  examination  he  appears  to  have  made  a  wonderful  es- 
cape, for  his  boat  is  pierced  in  numberless  places  by  bullets.  It  is  to  be  re- 
marked that  Mrs.  Peyton,  who  was  the  night  before  delivered  of  an  infant,  which 
was  unfortunately  killed  in  the  hurry  and  confusion  consequent  upon  such  a 
disaster,  assisted  them,  being  frequently  exposed  to  wet  and  cold  then  and 
afterwards,  and  that  her  health  appears  to  be  good  at  this  time,  and  I  think  and 
bope  she  will  do  well.  Their  clothes  were  very  much  cut  with  bullets,  especially 
Mrs.  Jennings'. 

Saturday,  11th. — Got  under  way  after  having  distributed  the  family  of  Mrs. 
Jennings  in  the  other  boats.  Rowed  on  quietly  that  day,  and  encamped  for  the 
night  on  the  northern  shore. 

Sunday,  12th. — Set  out,  and  after  a  few  hours'  sailing  we  heard  the  crowing 
of  cock's,  and  soon  came  within  view  of  the  town:  here  they  fired  on  us  again 
without  doing  any  injury.  After  running  until  about  ten  o'clock,  came  in 
sight  of  the  Muscie  Shoals.  Halted  on  the  northern  shore  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  shoals,  in  order  to  search  for  the  signs  Captain  James  Robertson  was  to 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  107 

make  for  us  at  that  place.  He  set  out  from  Holston  in  the  fall  of  1779,  and 
was  to  proceed  by  the  way  of  Kentucky  to  the  Big  Salt  Lick  on  Cumberland 
River,  with  several  others  in  company,  was  to  come  across  from  the  Big  Salt 
Lick  to  the  upper  end  of  the  shoals,  there  to  make  such  signs  that  we  might 
know  he  had  been  there,  and  that  it  was  practicable  for  us  to  go  across  by  land. 
But  to  our  great  mortification  we  can  find  none,  from  which  we  conclude  that 
it  would  not  be  prudent  to  make  the  attempt ;  and  are  determined,  knowing  our- 
selves to  be  in  such  imminent  danger,  to  pursue  our  journey  down  the  river. 
After  trimming  our  boats  in  the  best  manner  possible,  we  ran  through  the  shoals 
before  night.  When  we  approached  them  they  had  a  dreadful  appearance  to 
those  who  had  never  seen  them  before.  The  water  being  high  made  a  dreadful 
roaring,  which  could  be  heard  at  some  distance  among  the  driftwood  heaped 
frightfully  upon  the  points  of  the  islands,  the  current  running  in  every  pos- 
sible direction.  Here  we  did  not  know  how  soon  we  should  be  dashed  to  pieces, 
and  all  our  troubles  ended  at  once.  Our  boats  frequently  dragged  on  the  bot- 
tom, and  appeared  constantly  in  danger  of  striking;  they  warped  much  as  in 
a  rough  sea.  But,  by  the  hand  of  Providence,  we  are  now  preserved  from  the 
danger  also.  I  do  not  know  the  length  of  this  wonderful  shoal :  it  has  been 
represented  to  me  to  be  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles ;  if  so,  we  must  have  descended 
very  rapidly,  as  indeed  we  did,  for  we  passed  it  in  about  three  hours.  Came 
to,  and  encamped  on  the  northern  shore,  not  far  below  the  shoals,  for  the  night. 

Monday,  13th. — Set  out  early.  On  this  day  two  boats,  approaching  too  near 
the  shore,  were  fired  on  by  the  Indians ;  five  of  the  crew  were  wounded,  but 
not  dangerously.  Came  to  camp  at  night  near  the  mouth  of  a  creek.  After 
kindling  fires  and  preparing  for  rest,  the  company  were  alarmed  on  account 
of  the  incessant  barking  our  dogs  kept  up ;  taking  it  for  granted  the  Indians 
were  attempting  to  surprise  us,  we  retreated  precipitately  to  the  boats,  fell 
down  the  river  about  a  mile,  and  encamped  on  the  other  shore.  In  the  morning 
I  prevailed  on  Mr.  Coffey  and  my  son  to  cross  below  in  a  canoe,  and  return 
to  the  place;  which  they  did,  and  found  an  African  negro  we  had  left  in  the 
hurry,  asleep  by  one  of  the  fires.  The  voyagers  then  returned  and  collected 
their  utensils  which  had  been  left. 

"Wednesday,  15th. — Got  under  way,  and  moved  on  peaceably  on  the  five 
following  days,  when  we  arrived  at  the  -mouth  of  the  Tennessee  on  Monday  the 
20th,  and  landed  on  the  lower  point,  immediately  on  the  bank  of  the  Ohio. 
Our  situation  here  is  truly  disagreeable.  The  river  is  very  high  and  the  current 
rapid,  our  boats  not  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  stemming  a  rapid  stream, 
our  provision  exhausted,  the  crews  almost  worn  down  with  hunger  and  fatigue, 
and  know  not  what  distance  we  have  to  go,  or  what  time  it  will  take  us  to 
reach  our  place  of  destination.  The  scene  is  rendered  more  melancholy,  as  sev- 
eral boats  will  not  attempt  to  ascend  the  rapid  current.  Some  intend  to  descend 
the  Mississippi  to  Natchez ;  others  are  bound  for  the  Illinois — among  the  rest 
my  son-in-law  and  daughter.  We  now  part,  perhaps  to  meet  no  more,  for  I 
am  determined  to  pursue  my  course,  happen  what  will. 

Tuesday,  21st. — Set  out,  and  on  this  day  came  to  the  mouth  of  a  river  which 
I  thought  was  the  Cumberland.  Some  of  the  company  declared  it  could  not 
be,  it  was  so  much  smaller  than  we  expected.  But  I  never  heard  of  any  river 
running  in  between  the  Cumberland  and  Tennessee.  It  appeared  to  flow  with 
gentle  current.  We  determined,  however,  to  make  the  trial,  pushed  up  some 
distance,  and  encamped  for  the  night. 

Saturday,  25th. — Today  we  were  much  encouraged;  the  river  grows  wider; 
the  current  is  very  gentle ;  we  are  now  convinced  it  is  the  Cumberland.  I  have 
derived  great  assistance  from  a  small  square  sail  which  was  fixed  up  on  the 
day  we  left  the  mouth  of  the  river ;  and  to  prevent  any  ill  effects  from  sudden 
flaws  of  wind,  a  man  was  stationed  at  each  of  the  lower  corners  of  the  sheet,  with 
directions  to  give  way  whenever  it  wras  necessary. 

Sunday,  26th. — Got  under  way  early ;  procured  some  buffalo  meat ;  though 
poor,  it  was  palatable. 

Monday,  27th. — Set  out  again;  killed  a  swan,  which  was  very  delicious. 

Tuesday,  28th. — Set  out  very  early  this  morning;  killed  some  buffalo. 


108  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Wednesday,  29th. — Proceeded  up  the  river;  gathered  some  herbs  on  the 
bottoms  of  the  Cumberland,  which  some  of  the  company  called  "Shawnee  salad." 

Thursday,  30th. — Proceeded  on  our  voyage.  This  day  we  killed  some  more 
buffalo. 

Friday,  31st. — Set  out  this  day,  and,  after  running  some  distance,  met  with 
Col.  Richard  Henderson,  who  was  running  the  line  between  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  At  this  meeting  we  were  much  rejoiced.  He  gave  us  every  informa- 
tion we  wished  and  further  informed  us  that  he  had  purchased  a  quantity  of 
corn  in  Kentucky,  to  be  shipped  at  the  falls  of  Ohio,  for  the  use  of  the  Cum- 
berland settlement.  We  are  now  without  bread,  and  are  compelled  to  hunt 
the  buffalo  to  preserve  life.  Worn  out  with  fatigue,  our  progress  at  present  is 
slow.  Camped  at  night  near  the  mouth  of  a  little  river,  at  which  place,  and 
below  there  is  a  handsome  bottom  of  rich  land.  Here  we  found  a  pair  of  hand 
millstones,  set  up  for  grinding,  but  appeared  not  to  have  been  used  for  a 
great  length  of  time.  Proceeded  on  quietly  until  the  12th  of  April,  at  which 
time  we  came  to  the  mouth  of  a  little  river  running  in  on  the  north  side,  by 
Moses  Renfroe  and  his  company  called  "Red  River,"  up  which  they  intended 
to  settle.  Here  they  took  leave  of  us.  We  proceeded  up  Cumberland,  nothing 
happening  material  until  the  23rd,  when  we  reached  the  first  settlement  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river,  one  mile  and  a  half  below  the  Big  Salt  Lick,  and  called 
Eaton's  Station,  after  a  man  of  that  name,  who,  with  several  other  families, 
came  through  Kentucky  and  settled  there. 

Monday,  April  24th. — This  day  we  arrived  at  our  journey's  end  at  the  Big 
Salt  Lick,  where  we  have  the  pleasure  of  finding  Captain  Robertson  and  his 
company.  It  is  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  us  to  be  enabled  to  restore  to  him 
and  others  their  families  and  friends,  who  were  entrusted  to  our  care,  and  who, 
some  time  since,  perhaps,  despaired  of  ever  meeting  again.  Though  our  pros- 
pects at  present  are  dreary,  we  have  found  a  few  log  cabins  which  have  been 
built  on  a  cedar  bluff  above  the  Lick  by  Captain  Robertson  and  his  company. 

THE    CUMBERLAND    COMPACT 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  their  arrival,  Robertson's  party  had  built  three 
forts  or  stations;  and,  by  the  time  when  Donelson's  party  arrived,  April  24, 
1780,  there  were  eight  stations,  viz. : 

The  Fort  on  the  Bluff  l  (also  called  The  Bluffs),  Freeland's  Station,  Asher's 
Station,  Gasper's  or  Mansker's  Station,  Eaton's  Station,  Bledsoe's  Station,  Fort 
Mission  and  Stone's  River  (also  called  Donelson's  or  Clover  Bottom).2 

These  forts  were  a  necessity  occasioned  by  fear  of  the  Indians.  When  they 
first  arrived,  there  were  no  Indians  in  that  entire  section,  but  in  a  short  time 
a  large  band  of  Delaware  Indians  was  discovered  on  Mill  Creek.  They  pro- 
fessed friendship  and  said  that  they  were  merely  hunting.  Nevertheless,  they 
committed  some  depredations.  But  the  Chickasaws,  Creeks  and  Cherokees  be- 
came continuously  more  troublesome  and  were  guilty  of  many  murders. 

Being  thus  isolated,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness  far  from  other  human  habi- 
tations, they  quickly  realized  the  necessity  of  adopting  a  form  of  local  self- 
government,  irrespective  of  the  laws  of  either  North  Carolina  or  Virginia. 

Indeed,  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1780,  only  the  seventh  day  after  the  arrival 
of  John  Donelson's  party,  representatives  from  the  eight  stations  met  at  Nash- 
borough  and  adopted  the  compact  or  form  of  government,  known  variously  as 
the  government  of  the  "General  Arbitrators,"  Triers,  or  Judges,  or  perhaps 
more  generally  and  appropriately  as  the  "Government  of  the  Notables."     On 


1  Robertson  named  the  infant  settlement-,  Nashborongh,  after  Gen.  Francis  Nash,  a  North 
Carolina  officer  who  had  been  killed  in  the  battle  of  Germantown,  in  1778. 

2  So  called  because,  when  the  white  people  first  came,  it  was  covered  with  a  thick  growth 
of  white  clover. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  109 

the  thirteenth  of  May  "additional  resolutions  and  further  association  were 
entered  into  at  Nashborough, "  to  regulate  entries  and  locations  of  land;  to  pro- 
tect and  provide  for  the  children  and  widows  of  those  who  should  die  or  be 
killed  by  the  Indians ;  regulating  the  military  defenses ;  calling  into  service 
men  from  each  station ;  impressing  horses ;  imposing,  collecting  and  appropriat- 
ing fines,  etc. 

Of  this  compact,  Putnam  says : 

' '  The  original,  together  with  many  loose  sheets  of  paper  covered  with  writing, 
and  of  deep  interest  connected  with  the  men  and  transactions  of  that  day, 
were  discovered  by  the  writer  of  these  sketches  in  the  year  1846,  in  an  old  trunk 
which  had  evidently  belonged  to  Col.  Robert  Barton,  who  *  *  *  was  a  use- 
ful citizen,  one  of  the  Notables  of  that  day. ' ' 3 

The  first  page  of  this  document  is  lacking,  probably  destroyed,  the  second 
torn,  but  the  rest  is  in  good  condition,  legible,  and  is  carefully  preserved  in 
the  Archives  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society. 

The  entire  instrument  was  signed  by  all  the  male  settlers,  probably  not  all 
at  the  same  time.  In  all  there  are  256  signatures  and  only  one  had  to  make 
his  mark. 

Considering  the  fact  that  this  was  the  second  mutual  agreement  made  by  the 
inhabitants  of  a  local  community  in  Tennessee  for  their  own  government  and 
civic  guidance,  it  is  deemed  important  that  it  be  inserted  here  entire,  that  it 
may  be  thoroughly  and  profitably  studied.  With  the  exception  of  the  first  page, 
which  was  lost,  the  rest  of  the  document  follows,  the  missing  words  in  brackets, 
have  been  supplied  by  Putnam : 

ARTICLES  OP  AGREEMENT,  OR  COMPACT  OP  GOVERNMENT,  ENTERED  INTO  BY  SETTLERS 
ON  THE  CUMBERLAND  RIVER,  1ST   MAY,  1780 

*  *  *  property  of  right  shall  be  determined  as  soon  (as)  conveniently 
may  be,  in  the  following  manner:  The  free  men  of  this  country  over  the  age 
(of  twenty)  one  years  shall  immediately,  or  as  soon  as  may  (be  convenient) 
proceed  to  elect  or  choose  twelve  conscientious  and  (deserving)  persons  from  or 
out  of  the  different  stations,  that  is  (to)  say:  Prom  Nashborough,  three;  Gas- 
per's, two;  Bledsoe's,  one;  Asher's,  one;  Stone's  River,  one;  Freeland's,  one; 
Eaton's,  two;  Port  Union,  one.  Which  said  persons,  or  a  majority  of  them, 
after  being  bound  by  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  to  do  equal  and  impartial  justice 
between  all  contending  parties,  according  to  the  best  of  their  skill  and  judgment, 
having  due  re(gard)  to  the  regulations  of  the  Land  Office  herein  established, 
shall  be  competent  judges  of  the  matter,  and  *  *  *  hearing  the  allegations 
of  both  parties,  and  (their)  witnesses,  as  to  the  truth  of  the  case,  shall  have 
(power)  to  decide  the  controversies,  and  determine  who  is  of  right  entitled  to  an 
entry  for  such  land  so  in  dispute,  when  said  determination  or  decision  shall  be 
forever  bind(ing)  and  conclusive  against  the  future  claim  of  the  party  against 
whom  such  judgment  (shall  be  rendered).  And  the  Entry  Taker  shall  make 
a  (record  thereof)  in  his  book  accordingly,  and  the  entry  *  *  *  tending 
party  so  cast  shall  be  *  *  *  if  it  had  never  been  made,  and  the  land  in 
dispute     *     *     #     to  the  person  in  whose  favor  such  judgment  shall     *     *     *. 

*  *  *  in  case  of  the  death,  removal,  or  absence  of  any  of  the  judges  so 
to  be  chosen,  or  their  refusing  to  act,  the  station  to  which  such  person  or  per- 
sons belong,  or  was  chosen  from,  shall  proceed  to  elect  another  or  others  in  his 
or  their  stead ;  which  person  or  persons  so  chosen,  after  being  sworn,  as  afore- 
said, to  do  equal  and  impartial  justice,  shall  have  full  power  and  authority  to 
proceed  to  business  and  act  in  all  disputes  respecting  the  premises,  as  if  they 
had  been  originally  chosen  at  the  first  election. 

s  History  of  Middle  Torncssee,  p.  85. 


110  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

That  Ihe  entry  book  shall  be  kept  fair  and  open  by  *  *  *  person  to  be 
appointed  by  said  Richard  Henderson  *  *  *  chose,  and  every  entry  for 
land  numbered  and  dated,  and  *  *  *  order  without  leaving  any  blank 
leaves    or    spaces,     *     *     *     to   the    inspection    of   the   said  twelve   judges    or 

*  *     *     of  them,  at  all  times. 

That  whereas  many  persons  have  come  to  this  country  without  implements 
of  husbandry,  and  from  other  circumstances  are  obliged  to  return  without  mak- 
ing a  crop,  and  (intend)  removing  out  this  fall,  or  early  next  spring,  and  it 

*  *  *  reason  *  *  *  such  should  have  the  preemp(tion)  *  *  *  of 
such  places  as  they  may  have  chosen  *  *  *  the  purpose  of  residence,  there- 
fore it  is  *  *  *  be  taken  for  all  such,  for  as  much  land  as  they  are  en- 
titled to  from  their  head-rights,  which  said  lands  shall  be  reserved  for  the 
particular  person  in  whose  name  they  shall  be  entered,  or  their  heirs;  provided 
such  person  shall  remove  to  this  country  and  take  possession  of  the  respective 
place  or  piece  of  land  so  chosen  or  entered,  or  shall  send  a  laborer  or  laborers, 
ami  a  white  person  in  his  or  her  stead,  to  perform  the  same,  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  May,  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one;  and 
also  provided  such  land  so  chosen  and  entered  for  is  not  entered  and  claimed 
by  some  person  who  is  an  inhabitant,  and  shall  raise  a  crop  of  corn  the  present 
year  at  some  station  or  place  convenient  to  the  general  settlement  in  this  coun- 
try. But  it  is  fully  to  be  understood  that  those  who  are  actually  at  this  time 
inhabitants  of  this  country  shall  not  be  debarred  of  their  choice  or  claim  on 
account  of  the  right  of  any  such  absent  or  returning  person  or  persons.  It  is 
further  proposed  and  agreed  that  no  claim  or  title  to  any  lands  whatsoever 
shall  be  set  up  by  any  person  in  consequence  of  any  mark,  or  former  improve- 
ment, unless  the  same  be  entered  with  the  Entry  Taker  within  twenty  days 
from  the  date  of  this  association  and  agreement ;  and  that  when  any  person  here- 
after shall  mark  or  improve  land  or  lands  for  himself,  such  mark  or  improve- 
ment shall  not  avail  him  or  be  deemed  an  evidence  of  prior  right  unless  the 
same  be  entered  with  the  Entry  Taker  in  thirty  days  *  *  *  from  the  time 
of  such  mark  or  improvement ;  but  no  other  person  shall  be  entitled  to  such 
lands  so  as  aforesaid  to  be  reserved  *  *  «=  consequence  of  any  purchase, 
gift,  or  otherwise. 

That  if  the  Entry  Taker  to  be  appointed  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  perform 
his  duty,  or  be  found  by  said  Judges,  or  a  majority  of  them,  to  have  acted 
fraudulently,  to  the  prejudice  of  any  person  whatsoever,  such  Entry  Taker 
shall  be  immediately  removed  from  his  office,  and  the  book  taken  out  of  his 
possession  by  the  said  judges,  until  another  shall  be  appointed  to  act  in  his 
room. 

That  as  often  as  the  people  in  general  are  dissatisfied  with  the  doings  of 
the  Judges  or  Triers  so  to  be  chosen,  they  may  call  a  new  election  at  any  time 
of  the  said  stations,  and  elect  others  in  their  stead,  having  due  respect  to  the 
number  now  agreed  to  be  elected  at  each  station,  which  persons  so  to  be  chosen 
shall  have  the  same  power  with  those  in  whose  room  or  place  they  shall  or  may  be 
chosen  to  act. 

That  as  no  consideration-money  for  the  lands  on  Cumberland  River,  within 
claim  of  the  said  Richard  Henderson  and  Company,  and  which  is  the  subject 
of  this  association,  is  demanded  or  exacted  by  the  said  Company,  until  a 
satisfactory  and  undisputable  title  can  be  made,  so  we  think  it  reasonable  and 
just  that  the  twenty-six  pounds,  thirteen  shillings  and  four  pence,  current 
money,  per  hundred  acres,  the  price  proposed  by  the  said  Richard  Henderson, 
shall  be  paid  according  to  the  value  of  money  on  the  first  day  of  January  last 
being  the  time  when  the  price  was  made  public  (and)  settlement  encouraged 
thereon  by  said  Henderson,  and  the  said  Richard  Henderson  on  his  part  does 
hereby    agree   that   in   ease    of   the   rise   or  appreciation   of  money   from   that 

*  *  *  an  abatement  shall  be  made  in  the  sum  according  to  its  raised  or 
appreciated  value. 

That  where  any  person  shall  remove  to  this  country  with  intent  to  be- 
come an  inhabitant,  and  depart  this  life,  either  by  violence  or  in  the  natural 
way,  before  he  shall  have  performed  the  requisites  necessary  to  obtain  lands, 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  111 

the  child  or  children  of  such  deceased  person  shall  he  entitled,  in  his  or  her 
room,  to  such  quantity  of  land  as  such  person  would  have  been  entitled  to  in 
case  he  or  she  had  have  lived  to  obtain  a  grant  in  their  own  name ;  and  if  such 
death  be  occasioned  by  the  Indians,  the  said  Henderson  doth  promise  and 
agree  that  the  child  or  children  shall  have  as  much  as  amounts  to  their  head- 
rights  gratis,  surveyor's  and  other  incidental  fees  excepted. 

And  whereas,  from  our  remote  situation  and  want  of  proper  officers  for  the 
administration  of  justice,  no  regular  proceedings  at  law  can  be  had,  for  the 
punishment  of  the  offences  and  attainment  of  right,  it  is  therefore  agreed,  that 
until  we  can  be  relieved  by  government  from  the  many  evils  and  inconveniences 
arising  therefrom,  the  judges  or  triers  to  be  appointed  as  before  directed,  when 
qualified,  shall  be  and  are  hereby  declared  a  proper  court  or  jurisdiction  for 
the  recovery  of  any  debt  or  damages;  or  where  the  cause  of  action  or  com- 
plaint has  arisen,  or  hereafter  shall  commence,  for  anything  done  or  to  be  done, 
among  ourselves,  within  this  our  settlement  on  Cumberland  aforesaid,  or  in  our 
passage  hither,  where  the  laws  of  our  country  could  not  be  executed,  or  damages 
repaired  in  any  other  way;  that  is  to  say,  in  all  cases  where  the  debt  or  dam- 
ages or  demand  does  or  shall  not  exceed  one  hundred  dollars,  any  three  of  the 
said  Judges  or  Triers  shall  be  competent  to  make  a  Court,  and  finally  decide  the 
matter  in  controversy ;  but  if  for  a  larger  sum,  and  either  party  shall  be  dis- 
satisfied with  the  judgment  or  decision  of  such  Court,  they  may  have  an  ap- 
peal to  the  whole  twelve  Judges  or  Triers,  in  which  case  nine  members  shall 
be  deemed  a  full  Court,  whose  decision,  if  seven  agree  in  one  opinion,  the  matter 
in  dispute  shall  be  final,  and  their  judgment  carried  into  execution  in  such 
manner,  and  by  such  person  or  persons,  as  they  may  appoint;  and  the  said 
Courts  respectively,  shall  have  full  power  to  tax  such  costs  as  they  may  think 
just  and  reasonable,  to  be  levied  and  collected  with  the  debt  or  damages  so  to 
be  awarded. 

And  it  is  further  agreed,  that  a  majority  of  the  said  Judges,  Triers,  or 
General  Arbitrators,  shall  have  power  to  punish  in  their  discretion,  having 
respect  to  the  laws  of  our  country,  all  offences  against  the  peace,  misdemeanors, 
and  those  criminal,  or  of  a  capital  nature,  provided  such  Court  does  not  proceed 
with  execution  so  far  as  to  affect  life  or  member ;  and  in  case  any  should  be 
brought  before  them  whose  crime  is  or  shall  be  dangerous  to  the  State,  or  for 
which  the  benefit  of  clergy  is  taken  by  law,  and  sufficient  evidence  or  proof  of 
the  fact  or  facts  can  probably  be  made,  such  Court,  or  a  majority  of  the  mem- 
bers, shall  and  may  order  and  direct  him,  her,  or  them  to  be  safely  bound  and 
sent  under  a  strong  guard  to  the  place  where  the  offence  was  or  shall  be  com- 
mitted, or  where  legal  trial  of  such  offence  can  be  had,  which  shall  accordingly 
be  done,  and  the  reasonable  expense  attending  the  discharge  of  this  duty 
ascertained  by  the  Court,  and  paid  by  the  inhabitants  in  such  a  proportion  as 
shall  be  hereafter  agreed  on  for  that  purpose. 

That  as  this  settlement  is  in  its  infancy,  unknown  to  government,  and  not 
included  within  any  county  within  North  Carolina,  the  State  to  which  it 
belongs,  so  as  to  derive  the  advantages  of  those  wholesome  and  salutary  laws 
for  the  protection  and  benefit  of  its  citizens,  we  find  ourselves  constrained  from 
necessity  to  adopt  this  temporary  method  of  restraining  the  licentious,  and 
supplying,  by  unanimous  consent,  the  blessings  flowing  from  a  just  and  equi- 
table government,  declaring  and  promising  that  no  action  or  complaint  shall 
be  hereafter  instituted  or  lodged  in  any  Court  of  Record  within  this  State,  or 
elsewhei*e,  for  anything  done  or  to  be  done  in  consequence  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  said  Judges  or  General  Arbitrators  to  be  chosen  and  established  by  this 
our  Association. 

That  the  well-being  of  this  country  entirely  depends  under  Divine  Provi- 
dence, on  unanimity  of  sentiment  and  concurrence  in  measures,  and  as  clashing 
interests  and  opinions,  without  being  under  some  restraint,  will  most  certainly 
produce  confusion,  discord  and  almost  certain  ruin,  so  we  think  it  our  duty  to 
associate,  and  hereby  form  ourselves  into  one  society  for  the  benefit  of  present 
and  future  settlers,  and  until  the  full  and  proper  exercise  of  the  laws  of  our 


112  TENNESSEE.  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE 

country  can  be  in  use,  and  the  powers  of  government  exerted  among  us:  we  do 
most  solemnly  and  sacredly  declare  and  promise  each  other  that  we  will  faith- 
fully and  punctually  adhere  to,  perform,  and  abide  by  this  our  Association, 
and  al  all  times,  if  need  be,  compel,  by  our  united  force,  a  due  obedience  to 
these  our  rules  and  regulations.  In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  sub- 
scribed our  names  in  token  of  our  entire  approbation  of  the  measures  adopted. 

The  additional  resolutions  and  further  association  which  were  entered  into 
on  the  13th  of  May,  were  as  follows : 

That  all  young  men  over  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  and  able  to  perform 
militia  duty,  shall  be  considered  as  having  a  full  right  to  enter  for  and  obtain 
lands  in  their  own  names,  as  if  they  were  of  full  age;  and  in  that  case  not  to 
be  reckoned  in  the  family  of  his  father,  mother,  or  master,  so  as  to  avail  them 
of  any  land  on  their  account. 

That  where  any  person  shall  mark  or  improve  land  or  lands,  with  intent 
to  set  up  a  claim  thereto,  such  person  shall  write  or  mark  in  legible  characters 
the  initial  letters  of  his  name  at  least  together  with  the  day  of  the  month  and 
year  on  which  he  marked  or  improved  same,  at  the  spring  or  most  notorious 
part  of  the  land,  on  some  convenient  tree  or  other  durable  substance,  in  order 
to  notify  his  intentions  to  all  such  as  may  inquire  or  examine,  and  in  case  of 
dispute  with  respect  to  priority  of  right,  proof  of  such  transaction  shall  be  made 
by  the  oath  of  some  different  witness,  or  no  advantage  or  benefit  shall  be  de- 
rived from  such  mark  or  improvement ;  and  in  all  cases  where  priority  of  mark 
or  occupancy  cannot  be  ascertained  according  to  the  regulations  and  prescrip- 
tions herein  proposed  and  agreed  to,  the  oldest  or  first  entry  in  the  office  to  be 
opened  in  consequence  of  this  Association  shall  have  the  preference,  and  the 
lands  granted  accordingly. 

It  is  further  proposed  and  agreed  that  the  Entry  Office  shall  be  opened  at 
Nashborough,  on  Friday,  the  19th  of  May,  instant,  and  kept  from  thenceforward 
at  the  same  place,  unless  otherwise  directed  by  any  future  Convention  of  the 
people  in  general,  or  their  representatives. 

That  the  Entry  Taker  shall  and  may  demand  and  receive  twelve  dollars 
for  each  entry  to  be  made  in  his  book,  in  manner  before  directed,  and  shall 
give  a  certificate  thereof,  if  required;  and  also  may  take  the  same  fee  for  every 
caveat  or  counter-claim  to  any  lands  before  entered ;  and  in  all  cases  where 
a  caveat  is  to  be  tried  in  manner  before  directed,  the  Entry  Book  shall  be  laid 
before  the  said  Committee  of  Judges,  Triers,  or  General  Arbitrators,  for  their 
inspection  and  information,  and  their  judgment  upon  the  matter  in  dispute 
fairly  entered  as  before  directed ;  which  said  Court  or  Committee  is  also  to 
keep  a  fair  and  distinct  journal  or  minutes  of  all  their  proceedings,  as  well 
with  respect  to  lands  as  other  matters  which  may  come  before  them  in  conse- 
quence of  these  our  resolutions. 

It  is  also  firmly  agreed  and  resolved  that  no  person  shall  be  admitted  to 
make  an  entry  for  any  lands  with  the  said  Entry  Taker,  or  permitted  to  hold 
the  same,  unless  such  person  shall  subscribe  his  name  and  conform  to  this  our 
Association,  Confederacy,  and  General  Government,  unless  it  be  for  persons 
who  have  returned  home,  and  are  permitted  to  have  lands  reserved  for  their 
use  until  the  first  day  of  May  next,  in  which  case  entries  may  be  made  for  such 
absent  persons,  according  to  the  true  meaning  of  this  writing,  without  their 
personal  presence,  but  shall  become  utterly  void,  if  the  particular  person  or 
persons  for  whom  such  entry  shall  be  made  should  refuse  or  neglect  to  perform 
the  same  as  soon  as  conveniently  may  be  after  their  return,  and  before  the  said 
first  day  of  May  in  the  year  1781. 

Whereas  the  frequent  and  dangerous  incursions  of  the  Indians,  &  almost 
daily  massacre  of  some  of  our  inhabitants,  renders  it  absolutely  necessary,  for 
our  safety  and  defence,  that  due  obedience  be  paid  to  our  respective  officers 
elected  and  to  be  elected  at  the  several  stations  or  settlements,  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  men  or  militia  at  such  fort  or  station. 

It  is  further  agreed  and  resolved  that  when  it  shall  be  adjudged  necessary 
and  expedient  by  such  commanding  officer  to  draw  out  the  militia  of  any  fort 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  113 

or  station  to'  pursue  or  repulse  the  enemy,  the  said  officer  shall  have  power  to 
call  out  such  and  so  many  of  his  men  as  he  may  judge  necessary,  and  in  case 
of  disobedience  may  inflict  such  fine  as  he  in  his  discretion  shall  think  just  and 
reasonable ;  and  also  may  impress  the  horse  or  horses  of  any  person  or  persons 
whomsoever,  which,  if  lost  or  damaged  in  such  service,  shall  be  paid  for  by 
the  inhabitants  of  such  fort  or  station  in  such  manner  and  such  proportion  as 
the  Committee  hereby  appointed,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  direct  and  order ; 
but  if  any  person  shall  be  aggrieved,  or  think  himself  unjustly  vexed  and  in- 
jured by  the  fine  or  fines  so  imposed  by  his  officer  or  officers,  such  person  may 
appeal  to  the  said  Judges  or  Committee  of  General  Arbitrators,  who,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  them,  shall  have  power  to  examine  the  matter  fully,  and  make  such 
order  therein  as  they  may  think  just  and  reasonable,  which  decision  shall  be 
conclusive  on  the  party  complaining,  as  well  as  the  officer  or  officers  inflicting 
such  fine ;  and  the  money  arising  from  such  fine  shall  be  carefully  applied  for 
the  benefit  of  such  fort  or  station,  in  such  manner  as  the  said  Arbitrators  shall 
hereafter  direct. 

It  is  lastly  agreed  and  firmly  resolved  that  a  dutiful  and  humble  address  or 
petition  be  presented,  by  some  person  or  persons  to  be  chosen  by  the  inhabitants, 
to  the  General  Assembly,  giving  the  fullest  assurance  of  the  fidelity  and  attach- 
ment to  the  interest  of  our  country,  and  obedience  to  the  laws  and  Constitution 
thereof.  Setting  forth  that  we  are  confident  our  settlement  is  not  within  the 
boundaries  of  any  nation  or  tribe  of  Indians,  as  some  of  us  know  and  all  be- 
lieve that  they  have  fairly  sold  and  received  satisfaction  for  the  land  or 
territories  whereon  we  reside,  and  therefore  we  hope  we  may  not  be  considered 
as  acting  against  the  laws  of  our  country  or  the  mandates  of  government. 

That  we  do  not  desire  to  be  exempt  from  the  ratable  share  of  the  public 
expense  of  the  present  war,  or  other  contingent  charges  of  government.  That 
we  are,  from  our  remote  situation,  utterly  destitute  of  the  benefit  of  the  laws 
of  our  country,  and  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  the  Indians,  without  any 
justifiable  or  effectual  means  of  embodying  our  militia,  or  defending  ourselves 
against  the  hostile  attempts  of  our  enemy ;  praying  and  imploring  the  immediate 
aid  and  protection  of  our  government,  by  erecting  a  county  to  include  our  set- 
tlements, appointing  proper  officers  for  the  discharge  of  public  duty,  taking  into 
consideration  our  distressed  situation  with  respect  to  the  Indians,  and  granting 
such  relief  and  assistance  as  in  wisdom,  justice,  and  humanity  may  be  thought 
reasonable. 

Nashborough,  13th  May,  1780. 

AUTHORSHIP    OP   THE   CUMBERLAND   COMPACT 

Most  persons,  including  virtually  all  the  historians,  ascribe  to  James  Robert- 
son the  credit  of  having  written  the  Cumberland  Compact,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  there  are  internal  evidences  which,  upon  study  and  reflection,  in- 
dicate that  he  could  not  have  been  the  author  of  this  remarkable  document. 
However,  this  belief  was  well  nigh  universal  until  the  year  1916  when  Dr. 
Archibald  Henderson  proved  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  that  his  ancestor,  Rich- 
ard Henderson  was  the  author  of  it.  This  proof  was  offered  in  an  address  de- 
livered in  Watkins  Hall,  Nashville,  on  April  27,  1916,  before  the  joint  meeting 
of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society  and  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Asso- 
ciation. 

In  that  address  Doctor  Henderson  spoke  of  the  strenuous  struggles  and  al- 
most incredible  hardships  of  the  Cumberland  settlers,  of  the  part  which  Richard 
Henderson  played  in  acquiring  the  land  on  which  they  had  located,  of  his 
interesting  James  Robertson  and  John  Donelson  in  the  enterprise  and  of  his 
presence  in  the  settlement  just  prior  to  and  at  the  exact  time  when  the  compact 
was  signed.     He  said: 


114  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Doctor  Henderson  in  his  proof  takes  up  various  statements  and  paragraphs 
showing  that,  in  large  part,  the  compact  is  a  contract  between  Henderson  and 
Company  and  the  Cumberland  people,  and,  having  been  an  eminent  lawyer 
and  judge,  he  naturally  would  draw  up  this  contract;  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
he  was  the  only  one  concerned  who  could  draw  it  up.     He  said: 

"The  indisputable  facts  that  Richard  Henderson,  eminent  as  lawyer  and 
jurist,  was  the  only  lawyer  on  the  Cumberland  in  May,  1780,  and  that  his 
name  heads  the  list  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-odd  signatures  to  the  document 
known  as  the  Cumberland  Compact,  has  led  one  of  the  justices  of  your  own 
Supreme  Court,  a  deep  student  of  early  Tennessee  history,  the  Hon.  Samuel  C. 
Williams,  to  state  in  print  that  'without  serious  doubt'  Judge  Henderson  was 
the  draftsman  of  the  compact  of  government." 

Furthermore,  the  document  is  in  Judge  Henderson's  handwriting.  This 
fact  was  determined  by  Judge  John  H.  DeWitt,  president  of  the  Tennessee 
Historical  Society  and  Dr.  W.  A.  Provine,  editor  of  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  both  of  whom  compared  the  writing  of  the  compact  with  other  speci- 
mens of  Judge  Henderson's  handwriting  and  declared  that  the  writing  of  the 
compact  was  by  him.  On  the  20th  of  May,  1916,  these  two  gentlemen  made  an 
affidavit  to  this  fact,  ending  with  the  following  words:  "*  *  *  we  are  both 
convinced  without  reservation  that  the  handwriting  of  the  Cumberland  Com- 
pact and  all  of  the  aforesaid  documents  is  one  and  the  same.  We  especially 
noted  the  signatures  of  Judge  Richard  Henderson  as  traced  from  the  Salisbury 
Court  House  records  as  appended  to  the  Cumberland  Compact  are  identical. 

"We  are  convinced  from  these  comparisons  that  Judge  Richard  Henderson 
was  the  draftsman  and  author  of  the  original  Cumberland  Compact." 

Dr.  Archibald  Henderson  says  that  "two  hundred  and  thirty-odd"  signed 
the  Cumberland  Compact.  As  a  matter  of  fact  256  signed  it,  of  whom  only  one 
was  compelled  to  make  his  mark.  It  must  not  be  assumed,  however,  that  all 
these  names  were  signed  on  the  same  day.  They  were  probably  subscribed  from 
time  to  time  as  long  as  the  association  lasted,  that  is  until  1783,  when  Davidson 
County  was  established. 

GOVERNMENT    UNDER    THE    CUMBERLAND    COMPACT 

Immediately  after  the  adoption  of  the  agreement,  the  government  provided 
by  it  was  put  in  operation.  The  militia  was  organized  and  James  Robertson 
was  elected  colonel  and  John  Donelson,  lieutenant  colonel. 

"The  Court  and  Government  of  Notables"  was  organized  and  began  its 
work.  James  Robertson,  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Court,  performed  the  first 
marriage  ceremony.  Yet  while  this  Court  functioned  there  are  no  records 
showing  what  they  did  until  January  7,  1783.  The  minutes  of  the  meeting  of 
the  Committee  of  that  date  partly  explain  this  lack.     They  begin  as  follows : 

North  Carolina,  Cumberland  River,  January  7,  1783. 

The  manifold  suffering  and  distresses  that  settlers  here  have  from  time  to 
time  undergone,  even  almost  from  our  first  settling;  with  the  desertion  of  the 
greater  number  of  the  first  adventurers,  being  so  discouraging  to  remaining 
few,  that  all  administration  of  justice  seemed  to  cease  from  amongst  us ;  which, 
however  weak,  whether  in  constitution,  administration,  or  execution,  yet  has 
been  construed  in  our  favor,  against  those  whose  malice  or  interest  would  in- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  115 

sinuate  us  a  people  fled  to  a  hiding  place  from  justice,  and  the  revival  of  them 
again  earnestly  recommended ;  and  now  having  a  little  respite  granted,  and 
numbers  returning  to  us,  it  appears  highly  necessary  that  for  the  common  weal 
of  the  whole,  the  securing  of  the  peace,  the  performance  of  contract  between 
man  and  man,  together  with  the  suppression  of  vice,  again  to  revive  our  former 
manner  of  proceedings,  pursuant  of  the  plan  agreed  upon  at  our  first  settling 
here,  and  to  proceed  accordingly,  until  such  times  as  it  shall  please  the  Legis- 
lature to  grant  us  the  salutary  benefit  of  the  law  duly  administered  amongst  us 
by  their  authority. 

"To  the  end,  previous  notice  having  been  given  to  the  several  stations  to 
elect  twelve  men  of  their  several  stations,  whom  they  thought  most  proper  for 
the  business,  and  being  elected,  to  meet  at  Nashborough  the  7th  day  of  January, 
1783,  accordingly  there  met  at  the  time  and  place  aforesaid,  Col.  James  Robert- 
son, Capt.  George  Freeland,  Thomas  Molloy,  Isaac  Linsey,  David  Rounsevall, 
Heydon  Wells,  Jas.  Maulding,  Ebenezer  Titus,  Sam'l  Barton,  Andrew  Ervin. "  4 

SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND  SETTLERS 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Cumberland  Compact,  a  land  office  was  opened 
and  the  entry-taker  was  appointed  by  Judge  Henderson  in  accordance  with  the 
agreement.  The  lands  were  registered  for  the  nominal  fee  of  $10  per  1,000 
acres,  but  Henderson's  Company  was  never  able  to  secure  a  "satisfactory  and 
indisputable  title."  Hence,  no  payments  were  ever  made.  In  1783  North 
Carolina  declared  the  purchase  of  the  Transylvania  Company  void,  but  gave 
them  200,000  acres  in  Powell's  Valley.5 

Under  Robertson's  wise  and  able  leadership  the  settlers  began  their  strug- 
gle with  the  elements,  with  the  wild  beasts,  with  the  renegades  who  came  to  the 
settlement  as  to  an  asylum,  and,  above  all,  with  the  savage  and  bloodthirsty 
Indians.  This  struggle  continued  for  more  than  two  years  before  they  had 
firmly  intrenched  themselves  in  their  wilderness  home  and  had  vindicated  their 
claim  to  the  land  by  right  of  conquest  and  occupancy. 

THE  DARK  DAYS 

The  winter  of  1780  had  been  of  remarkable  severity  and  the  spring  rainy. 
Game,  though  abundant,  was  lean,  yet  because  of  its  abundance,  there  was  no 
thought  of  immediate  or  ultimate  destitution.  But  in  February  the  Indians 
made  their  appearance  and  began  their  atrocities.  They  did  not  at  first  attack 
the  whites,  but  alarmed  the  game  and  dispersed  the  buffalo  and  deer  which  had 
been  accustomed  to  come  to  the  Lick.  So  successful  were  they,  indeed,  in  car- 
rying out  this  plan  that  the  settlers  were  forced  to  travel  long  distances  and 
incur  the  danger  of  being  killed  by  the  savages.  Remote  and  separate  homes 
had  to  be  abandoned  and  the  people  were  closely  confined  to  the  stations,  prin- 
cipally those  at  Nashborongh  and  Eaton's.  Some  remained  at  Freeland 's  and 
a  few  stayed  near  Mansker's  until  the  end  of  the  year. 

They  had  no  corn  and  could  raise  but  little.  Moreover,  their  powder  and 
lead,  having  been  used  prodigally,  began  to  fail  them;  and  this  shortage  caused 
them  their  keenest  apprehension.     In  this  crisis,  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  James 

4  Sec  The  American  Historical  Magazine  for  April,  1902. 

5  North  Carolina   State  Records,  Vol.  XXIV,  pp.  530-531. 


116  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Robertson,  with  one  of  his  sons  and  some  other  men  of  experience.,  made  a  most 
perilous  journey  to  stations  in  Kentucky  to  secure  supplies. 

Beginning  with  the  spring  and  continuing  throughout  the  summer  and  fall 
the  attacks  of  the  Indians  were  incessant  and  deadly.  People  were  killed  in 
the  woods,  at  the  springs,  and  even  in  the  shadow  of  the  stations.  The  Chicka- 
saws,  angered,  it  is  said,  by  the  erection  of  Fort  Jefferson  on  the  Mississippi 
River,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  in  their  territory,  attacked  the  Cumber- 
land settlers  and  massacred  all  the  inhabitants  of  Renf  roe's  Station  except  one, 
and  killed  others.  The  Indians  also  killed  all  but  one  white  man  and  two  ne- 
groes who  were  gathering  John  Donelson's  crop  of  corn  and  cotton.0 

At  this  juncture,  Robertson  returned  with  a  supply  of  ammunition  just  in 
time  to  save  Freeland's  Station.  In  this  station,  Felix  Robertson,  son  of  James 
Robertson,  was  born  on  January  11,  1781.  He  was  the  first  white  child  born 
in  Nashville. 

The  attack  on  Freeland's  Station  was  made  ou  January  15,  1781,  and, 
through  the  vigilance  of  James  Robertson,  was  repulsed.7 

Soon  after  this  Colonel  Robertson  had  an  interview  with  Opiomingo,  the 
Chickasaw  chief,  and  made  an  alliance  with  him  whereby  the  Chickasaws  were 
detached  from  the  British  influences  and  were  ever  afterwards  the  stanch 
friends  and  allies  of  the  Cumberland  colonists. 

Other  roving  bands  of  Indians,  however,  kept  up  their  hostilities — Cherokees, 
Creeks,  Chickamaugas,  Shawnees,  Delawares,  and  Wyandots. 

The  hardships  endured  and  especially  the  fear  of  the  Indians  caused  many 
of  them  to  leave,  including  John  Donelson  and  his  family,  who  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky, so  that  the  number  remaining  became  small.  Enough  remained,  how- 
ever, to  defeat  the  Indians  in  the  Battle  of  the  Bluffs,  fought  on  April  2,  1781. s 

Finding  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  take  the  forts  by  assault,  the 
Indians  resorted  to  guerilla  warfare  which  proved  deadly  and  exasperating. 
This  sort  of  warfare  was  pursued  not  only  in  the  Cumberland  country,  but 
also  in  the  settled  portions  of  East  Tennessee,  the  object  of  the  Indians  being 
to  drive  the  colonists  from  the  entire  country  by  waylaying  and  killing,  pre- 
venting agriculture  and  stealing  horses. 

As  a  result  by  1782  affairs  on  the  Cumberland  appeared  most  gloomy.9 
Hence  a  general  council  was  called  to  consider  the  advisability  of  abandoning 
the  Cumberland,  which  was  advocated  by  many  of  the  best  men.  Robertson, 
however,  in  a  strong  speech  advised  them  to  "fight  it  out  here"  and  said  he 
would  be  the  last  to  leave.  His  spirit  and  determination  prevailed.  The  proj- 
ect was  saved. 

And  when  it  was  announced  that  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  had  been  signed  at  Paris  on  November  30,  1782,  the 
settlers'  hopes  revived.  The  Indian  warfare  relaxed,  and  besides,  their  expe- 
rience enabled  them  to  combat  the  Indians  more  successfully.  The  prodigies 
of  valor  displayed  in  these  troublous  times  by  such  men  as  Spencer,  Hood,  Rains, 
Castleman,  Buchanan  and  others  have  never  been  surpassed  in  history  or  in  ro- 
mance even  "when  knighthood  was  in  flower." 


0  For  more  complete  account  of  this  massacre  see  chapters  on  Indian  Wars  and  on  His- 
toric Spots  and  Places.     This  was  the  first  crop  of  cotton  raised  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

?  For  more  complete  account  see  chapters  on  Indian  Wars  and  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 

8  Ibid. 

9  See  Putnam  's  History  of  Middle  Tennessee,  pp.  127-146. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  117 

NEW   COUNTIES 

In  1783  another  county  was  carved  out  of  Washington  County  and  was 
named  Greene  County  after  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene. 

In  the  same  year  Colonel  Robertson,  also,  was  sent  by  the  Cumberland  set- 
tlers to  Hillsboro,  which  was  at  that  time  the  capital  of  North  Carolina,  to  ask 
the  General  Assembly  to  establish  a  regular  land  office  at  Nashborough  and  to 
set  off  a  county  for  the  government  of  the  infant  settlement.  He  was  success- 
ful in  both  matters.  North  Carolina  established  at  Hillsborough  a  land  office, 
under  charge  of  John  Armstrong  and  generally  called  for  that  reason,  "John 
Armstrong's  Office."  It  also  established  at  Nashborough,  a  land  office  in  the 
charge  of  Martin  Armstrong.  In  the  Archives  of  Tennessee  are  many  land 
warrants  issued  from  both  of  these  offices. 

On  April  14,  1783,  North  Carolina  established  the  county  which  the  Cum- 
berland settlers  so  sorely  needed  and  named  it  Davidson  County,  after  Gen. 
William  Davidson,  a  gallant  officer  of  North  Carolina  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 
At  that  time  this  county  covered  the  entire  territory  west  of  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  which  was  generally  called  West  Tennessee  for  many  years.  An 
Inferior  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  at  Nashborough 
on  October  6,  1783,  and  was  invested  with  large  powers.  The  four  justices  of 
the  new  court  had  all  been  Triers  and  the  government  proceeded  with  very  lit- 
tle change. 

The  State  of  North  Carolina,  like  the  other  states,  had  issued  much  scrip 
during  the  war  to  pay  her  officers  and  men.  This  scrip  was  so  nearly  worthless 
that  the  soldiers  could  not  convert  it  into  anything  of  value.  Hence,  on  the 
conclusion  of  the  war,  it  was  proposed  that  this  scrip  be  received  for  warrants 
for  western  lands.  Pursuant  to  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan,  three  commis- 
sioners, Absalom  Tatum,  Isaac  Shelby  and  Anthony  Bledsoe  were  appointed, 
in  1782,  commissioners  to  lay  off  sufficient  land  to  meet  all  these  grants.  They 
began  the  work  early  in  1783. 10 

They  ran  the  "Commissioners'  Line"  and  the  "Continental  Line"  inclos- 
ing the  new  reservation  and  laid  off  the  25,000  acre  tract  given  to  Gen.  Nathanael 
Greene.11 


io  For  more  complete  account  see  Latitude  Hill  in  the  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places, 
n  See  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  STATE  OF  FRANKLIN 

The  East  Tennessee  patriots  who  won  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain  hastened 
home  with  all  speed  in  the  fear  that,  in  their  absence,  the  Indians  might  have 
attacked  the  settlements.  They  returned  just  in  time,  for  the  Cherokees  had 
planned  an  invasion  and  were  already  on  their  way.  Without  waiting  to  muster 
the  entire  force,  Sevier  immediately  ordered  out  the  troops  of  Washington 
County,  marched  forward  to  intercept  the  enemy  and  signally  defeated  them  in 
the  battle  of  Boyd's  Creek.  He  then  moved  south  with  a  force  of  700  mounted 
men  and  drove  the  Indians  before  him,  while  he  destroyed  town  after  town, 
until  he  reached  Tellico,  which  town  he  spared  and  at  which  he  met  a  delega- 
tion of  Cherokees,  who  sued  for  peace.  He  then  marched  against  the  Chickamau- 
gas,  destroyed  their  villages  and  devastated  the  country.  He  still  pressed  on  even 
into  the  Creek  territory  along  the  Coosa  River.  The  Indians,  terrified,  begged 
for  peace;  a  treaty  was  made  and  on  January  4,  1781,  the  three  commanders, 
Col.  John  Sevier,  Col.  Arthur  Campbell  and  Maj.  Joseph  Martin,  issued  a  joint 
address  to  the  Indians,  informing  them  of  the  terms  of  permanent  peace. 

Although  the  Indians  sued  for  peace,  they  still  stealthily  committed  atroci- 
ties, so  that  Sevier  sent  Campbell  to  proceed  against  them  in  another  campaign 
in  which  he  punished  them  severely  at  Tuckasijah  and  at  War  Ford,  after  which 
the  savages  were  generally  quiet  for  a  long  time. 

In  consequence  of  the  temporary  cessation  of  hostilities  with  the  Indians 
and  of  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  large  accessions  of  population 
were  made  in  East  Tennessee.  The  settlements  became  stronger  and  more  in- 
dependent. They  wished  for  better  protection,  a  more  stable  government,  and, 
by  all  means,  local  self-government.  There  was  a  prevalent  feeling  in  the  Wa- 
tauga country  that  North  Carolina  would  do  little,  if  anything,  for  the  people 
west  of  the  mountains.  Many  there,  also,  were  from  Virginia,  who  naturally 
felt  but  little  loyalty  to  North  Carolina.  And  all,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
were  inclined  to  cast  their  lot  with  the  frontier  communities  in  any  controversy 
with  North  Carolina. 

It  is  doubtless  true,  too,  that,  at  first  North  Carolina  was  as  anxious  to  get 
rid  of  these  troublesome  settlers  as  they  were  to  go.  The  four  counties  then 
organized  in  the  western  country  did,  indeed,  send  representatives  to  the  Legis- 
lature at  Hillsborough,  but  they  found  that  body  too  indifferent  to  the  needs 
of  these  remote  colonists.  North  Carolina  was  poor  and  not  inclined  to  incur 
any  expense  for  them.  In  the  Indian  wars  these  communities  had  incurred 
many  debts  which  they  expected  North  Carolina  to  pay.  But  little  payment 
was  made,  and  that  grudgingly.  Provision  was  not  made  for  the  extension  of 
courts  in  this  new  territory  and  outlaws  flocked  there.  The  irritation  of  the 
colonists  was  acute.    They  were  left  to  work  out  their  own  salvation. 

The  United  States  Government,  staggering  under  war  debts,  asked  the  states 
which  had  western  lands  to  deed  them  to  the  general  government  that,  by  the 
sale  of  these  lands,  the  debts  might  be  liquidated. 

118 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  119 

On  June  2,  1784,  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  passed  an  act  ceding 
to  the  Continental  Congress  all  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Tennessee,  with 
the  proviso  that  the  sovereignty  of  North  Carolina  should  extend  over  the  ceded 
lands  until  the  United  States  should  accept  the  gift,  and  that  the  act  should  be 
null  and  void  unless  the  gift  should  be  accepted  within  two  years.1 

The  purpose  of  the  act  is  expressed  in  the  first  paragraph,  as  follows : 

"1.  Whereas,  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  by  their  resolutions 
of  the  sixth  of  September  and  tenth  of  October,  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eighty,  have  earnestly  recommended  to  the  respective  states  in  the  Union 
claiming  or  owning  vacant  Western  territory  to  make  cessions  of  part  of  them ; 
and  whereas  by  their  resolution  of  the  eighteenth  of  April,  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  eighty-three,  as  a  further  means  as  well  as  hastening  the  ex- 
tinguishment of  the  debts  as  of  establishing  the  harmony  of  the  United  States, 
it  was  recommended  to  the  States  which  have  passed  no  acts  towards  com- 
plying with  the  said  resolutions  to  make  the  liberal  cessions  therein  recom- 
mended, and  this  State  ever  desirous  of  doing  ample  justice  to  the  public 
creditors  as  well  as  establishing  the  harmony  of  the  United  States." 

The  members  from  the  four  western  counties  voted  for  the  cession  and 
reported  the  action  taken  to  their  constituency.  Immediately  great  excitement 
arose.  It  was  feared  that  the  western  country  would  lapse  into  anarchy,  and 
the  feeling  was  general  that  some  action  should  be  taken  in  self-protection,  for 
they  doubted  that  Congress  would  take  action  promptly  and  they  thought  that 
meanwhile  North  Carolina  would  do  nothing  for  them ;  and  that  thus  they 
would  be  left  a  prey  to  the  Indians  on  the  one  side  and  to  the  lawless  white 
element  on  the  other. 

Davidson  County  being  almost  as  alien  as  another  state,  paid  no  attention 
to  the  movement.  They  were  busy  managing  their  own  affairs.  But  the  three 
counties  of  East  Tennessee  busied  themselves  at  once.  There  was  no  delay. 
The  cession  act  was  passed  in  June,  1784,  and  on  August  23  following,  a  con- 
vention of  more  than  forty  representatives  (two  from  each  captain's  company) 
met  at  Jonesboro  to  deliberate  upon  the  situation.  They  organized  by  electing 
John  Sevier,  president,  and  Landon  Carter,  son  of  John  Carter,  chairman  of 
the  Watauga  Court,  secretary.  A  committee,  of  whom  William  Cocke  was  chair- 
man, was  appointed  to  consider  the  situation.  They  reported  recommending 
that  people  of  the  three  counties  form  themselves  into  an  "Association,"  to 
ask  Congress  to  accept  the  cession  and  permit  the  people  of  that  territory  to  form 
a  government  to  be  taken  into  the  Union  as  a  state ;  also,  to  permit  the  inhabi- 
tants of  contiguous  parts  of  Virginia  to  be  included  in  the  new  state;  that  steps 
be  taken  to  frame  a  constitution  and  to  send  delegates  to  urge  the  consent  of 
Congress. 

The  report  was  adopted,  but  John  Tipton  led  a  minority  of  about  one-third 
of  the  delegates  in  opposing  the  immediate  declaration  of  independence.  A 
committee  of  two  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  plan  of  organization  and  reported 
the  next  day  recommending  that  a  convention  be  called  for  the  purpose  of 
framing  a  constitution  and  giving  a  name  to  the  new  state.  This  report  was 
adopted  and  a  convention  for  the  purpose  stated  was  called  to  meet  at  Jones- 
boro on  September  16. 2  The  delegates  to  this  convention  were  to  consist  of  five 
members  from  each  county.     The  convention  did  not  meet,  however,  at  the  time 


1  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  pp.  561-563.     Also,  sec  Ramsey's  Annals, 
p.   283. 

2  Announcement,  of  the  action  was  made  by  a  delegate  who  stepped  (o  the  door  for  this 
purpose  and  was  received  with  delight. 


120  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

appointed,  and  when  it  did  meet  in  November,  dissension  had  arisen  and  the 
convention  dissolved  in  confusion  without  taking  any  decisive  action. 

Meanwhile,  without  awaiting  the  action  of  Congress,  the  Legislature  of  North 
Carolina  in  session  at  Newbern,  October  22  to  November  25,  1784,  repealed  the 
cession  act  passed  in  June.  This  was  due  to  the  influence  of  Governor  Martin 
advised  by  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  representative  from  North  Carolina  to  Con- 
gress, who  said  that  North  Carolina  had  acted  precipitately.  The  assembly 
also  appointed  John  Sevier  brigadier-general  of  the  militia  of  Washington  Dis- 
trict, created  a  new  judicial  district  and  appointed  an  assistant  judge  and  an 
attorney-general. 

John  Sevier  now  thought  that  there  was  no  need  of  going  further  in  the 
secession  movement ;  and,  when  the  people  assembled  at  Jonesboro  on  Decem- 
ber 17,  1784,  he  said : 

"Our  grievances  are  redressed,  and  we  have  nothing  more  to  complain  of; 
my  advice  is  to  cease  all  efforts  to  separate  from  North  Carolina,  but  remain 
lirm  and  faithful  to  her  laws. ' ' 

The  people,  however,  had  been  aroused  to  a  condition  which  the  leaders 
could  not  control.  On  that  very  day  their  delegates  assembled  in  convention, 
chose  John  Sevier  as  chairman  and  F.  A.  Ramsey,3  as  secretary.  Rev.  Samuel 
Houston,  who  took  a  leading  part  in  the  deliberations,  addressed  the  conven- 
tion and  offered  a  prayer  for  wisdom  and  guidance  from  on  high.  A  consti- 
tution was  adopted  subject  to  the  ratification  of  a  convention  to  be  chosen  by 
the  people  to  meet  at  Greeneville  on  November  14,  1785.  No  copy  of  this  pro- 
visional constitution  is  in  existence.  However,  it  was  put  in  operation  and, 
under  it  a  Legislature  was  elected. 

The  new  Legislature  met  at  Jonesboro  and  elected  Landon  Carter,  speaker, 
and  Thomas  Talbot,  clerk  of  the  Senate ;  and  William  Cage,  speaker  and  Thomas 
Chapman,  clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

John  Sevier  was  then  elected  governor,  David  Campbell,  judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court,  and  Joshua  Gist  and  John  Anderson,  assistant  judges.  The  first 
session  of  the  Legislature  adjourned  on  March  31,  1785.4 

At  this  session  four  new  counties  were  created,  Spencer,  Caswell,  Sevier  and 
Wayne,  making  seven  in  all. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  acts  was  "An  act  for  the  promotion  of 
learning  in  the  county  of  Washington."  Under  this  act  Martin  Academy  was 
chartered.  This  was  the  first  institution  for  learning  established  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi Valley.  The  exact  date  of  the  establishment  of  it  is  uncertain.  It 
was  founded  by  Dr.  Samuel  Doak  as  early  as  1780  and  possibly  a  little  earlier 
and  was  named  for  the  governor  of  North  Carolina.  Doctor  Doak  was  not  only 
an  eminent  divine,  but  he  was  an  eminent  scholar  and  patriot.  He  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  efforts  to  create  the  independent  State  of  Franklin. 

By  another  act  the  skins  of  animals  and  articles  of  common  manufacture,  as 
tallow,  whisky,  sugar,  tobacco,  etc.,  were  made  legal  tender.  Daniel  Webster 
referred  to  this  currency  in  his  speech  on  the  Sub-Treasury  Bill,  delivered  on 
March  24,  1838.  In  his  reply,  Hugh  Lawson  White  made  this  remark:  "It 
will  be  remembered  that  the  governor,  chief  justice,  and  some  other  officers 
were  to  be  paid  in  deer-skins,  other  inferior  officers  were  to  be  paid  in  raccoon- 
skins."5 


3  Father  of  the  historian,  Dt.  J.  G.  M.  Ramsey. 

*  For  a  synopsis  of  the  acts  passed  by  the  session,  see  Ramsey  's  Annals,  pp.  293-299. 

s  See  Heiskell's  Andrew  Jackson  and   Early  Tennessee  History,  Vol.  II,  p.  47. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  121 

Governor  Sevier  informed  Governor  Alexander  Martin,  of  North  Carolina, 
of  the  action  of  the  western  settlers,  and  the  reasons  for  their  actions.  Governor 
Martin  at  once  issued  a  manifesto  endeavoring  to  refute  the  reasoning  of  the 
settlers  in  which  manifesto  there  was  both  conciliation  and  warning.  A  war 
of  manifestos  followed.  The  authorities  of  the  new  state  also  sent  a  memorial  to 
Congress  by  William  Cocke,  setting  forth  the  conditions  and  asking  to  be  taken 
into  the  Union  as  a  state,  but  Congress  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  petition. 

This  disagreeable  situation  was  somewhat  aggravated  by  the  killing  of  the 
Indian  chief,  Butler,  by  Col.  James  Hubbard  (or  Hubbart),  and  the  conse- 
quent fear  of  an  Indian  uprising. 

THE   CONSTITUTION   OP   FRANKLIN 

On  November  14,  1785,  the  constitutional  convention  met  at  Greeneville,  as 
ordered  to  ratify  or  reject  the  constitution  which  had  been  submitted  by  Rev. 
Samuel  Houston  at  Jonesboro  in  November,  1784.  The  Commons  met  in  the  log 
Courthouse  and  the  Senate  in  a  room  in  the  tavern.  There  was  bitter  rivalry 
between  the  factions  represented  by  John  Sevier  and  John  Tipton,  the  latter  of 
whom  fought  strenuously  for  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  submitted  by 
Houston.  The  committee  appointed  for  the  purpose  reported  a  Bill  of  Rights 
and  the  Houston  constitution.  A  printed  edition  of  this  report  was  issued  in 
1786  in  pamphlet  form.  The  Tennessee  Historical  Society  possesses  one  of  these 
pamphlets,  which  is  possibly  the  only  copy  of  this  document  in  existence.  It 
was  presented  to  the  Society  on  April  9,  1880  by  Dr.  J.  G.  M.  Ramsey.  It  con- 
sists of  a  preface,  which  is  an  argument  in  favor  of  its  adoption  by  the  people, 
followed  by  "A  Declaration  of  Rights,"  which  in  turn  is  followed  by  "The  Con- 
stitution or  Form  of  Government. ' '  6 

Below  is  given  a  reprint  of  the  title  page  of  this  pamphlet  which  is  very 
nearly  a  facsimile : 

A 
DECLARATION  OF  RIGHTS. 

ALSO,  THE 

CONSTITUTION, 

OR 

FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT, 

Agreed  to  and  Resolved  Upon,  by  the  Representatives 
op  the  Freemen  of  the 

STATE  OF  FRANKLAND, 

Elected  and  Chosen  for  That  Particular  Purpose,   In   Convention  Assembled, 
At  Greeneville,  the  14th  of  November,  1785. 


PHILADELPHIA 

Printed  by  FRANCIS  BAILEY,  at  Yorick's  Head. 

MDCCLXXXVI 


<!  This   pamphlet  is  published  entire   in   The  American   Historical  Magazine,  Vol.    I,  pp. 
50-63. 


122  TENNESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE 

As  this  constitution  was  rejected,  it  is  not  deemed  desirable  to  reproduce  it 
here;  but  some  of  its  provisions  are  so  unique  that  it  is  thought  well  briefly  to 
mention  them. 

In  this  document  the  new  state  is  spoken  of  as  the  "State  of  Frankland," 
but  in  the  constitution  adopted  it  was  called  the  "State  of  Franklin." 

Full  religions  liberty  was  established,  so  far  as  the  rights  of  worship  went, 
but  no  one  was  to  hold  office  unless  he  had  certain  property,  unless  he  was  a 
Christian  who  believed  in  the  Bible,  in  Heaven,  in  Hell  and  in  the  Trinity. 
Also,  office  could  not  be  held  by  clergymen,  doctors,  lawyers,  immoral  men,  Sab- 
bath breakers,  profane  swearers,  gamblers,  and  drunkards.  The  constitution 
was  put  in  the  form  of  a  catechism  to  be  taught  in  the  schools. 

The  exclusion  of  lawyers  appealed  particularly  to  that  part  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation  which  looked  upon  a  lawyer  with  jealousy,  suspicion  and  dislike.  The 
concluding  paragraph  of  the  "Preface"  shows  clearly  the  feeling  of  that  con- 
tingent which  supported  the  Houston  constitution : 

"To  conclude:  dear  reader,  lay  aside  prejudice,  and  search  honestly  for 
truth,  and  not  for  catches  and  quibbles,  patiently  weighing  every  part  in  con- 
nection with  the  whole,  and  very  probably  you  will  clearly  see,  that  the  general 
part  and  the  substance  of  the  Report  of  the  Committee  contains  principles, 
provisions,  and  restrictions  which  secure  the  poor  and  the  ruled  from  being 
trampled  on  by  the  rich  and  the  rulers :  also  their  property  and  money  from 
being  taken  from  them  to  support  the  extravagance  of  the  great  men — and  that 
it  is  full  of  that  which  tends  to  free  them  from  prevailing  enormous  wickedness, 
and  to  make  the  citizens  virtuous,  also,  that  it  is  well  calculated  to  open  the 
eyes  of  the  people  to  look  in  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  public,  and  know  and 
judge  for  themselves  when  their  rights  and  privileges  are  enjoyed  or  infringed ; 
and  therefore  suitable  to  remove  ignorance  from  the  country,  which  is  as  bene- 
ficial to  men  who  wish  to  live  upon  the  people,  as  ignorance  is  in  the  Church 
of  Rome  to  support  the  tyranny  of  the  Pope  and  his  clergy. " 

"After  a  hot  debate  and  some  tumultuous  scenes"  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee favoring  the  Houston  constitution  was  rejected  and  the  whole  house  on 
motion  of  John  Sevier  adopted  a  constitution  based  on  the  North  Carolina  Con- 
stitution. Those  who  favored  the  Houston  constitution  tried  in  vain  to  have 
some  material  parts  of  their  plan  incorporated  in  the  Constitution  adopted,  but 
succeeded  in  having  their  dissent  entered  upon  the  journal.  That  dissent  was 
as  follows : 

"A  dissent  entered  by  the  following  members  to  what  has  been  agreed  to  in 
Convention : 

"Because  we  deem  the  Report  of  the  Committee,  excluding  that  part  of  the 
thirty-second  Article,  which  fixes  a  tax  upon  certain  articles,  as  indigo,  tobacco, 
flour,  etc.,  to  be  the  sense  of  a  majority  of  the  free  men  of  Frankland,  and 
more  agreeable  to  a  Republican  Government  which  Report  so  amended  we  hold 
out  for  the  consideration  of  the  people." 

This  dissent  was  signed  by  nineteen  delegates  including  the  Tipton  fol- 
lowers and  headed  by  David  Campbell,  Samuel  Houston,  and  John  Tipton. 

TEXT  OP   THE   FRANKLIN   CONSTITUTION 

For  many  years  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the  State  of  Franklin  was  lost. 
In  1904  it  was  found  tied  up  in  a  little  paper  box  in  the  office  of  the  Insurance 
Commissioner  on  the  third  floor  of  the  capitol  at  Raleigh,  N.  C.7    It  will  be  noted 


7  The  American  Historical  Magazine  for  October,  1904,  p.  399. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  123 

that  it  begins  with  a  "Declaration  of  Independence."  As  this  constitution  is 
not  found  in  any  other  history,  it  is  peculiarly  pleasurable  to  reproduce  it 
herewith : 

Constitution  of  the  State  op  Franklin 
declaration  op  independence 

Your  Committee  appointed  to  collect  and  adjust  the  reason  which  impels  us 
to  declare  ourselves  Independent  of  North  Carolina  Report  as  follows  (to  wit) 
Whereas  we  the  freemen  inhabitants  of  part  of  the  Country  included  in  the 
limits  of  an  Act  of  North  Carolina  Ceding  certain  vacant  Territory  to  Congress ; 
have  declared  ourselves  Independent  of  North  Carolina  a  decent  respect  to  the 
opinions  of  mankind  make  it  proper  that  we  should  manifest  to  the  world  the 
reasons  which  Induced  us  to  a  declaration,  which  are  as  follows. 

First.  That  the  Constitution  of  North  Carolina  declares  that  it  shall  be 
Justifiable  to  erect  New  States  Westward  whenever  the  Consent  of  the  Legisla- 
tive shall  Countenance  it,  &  this  consent  is  implied  we  conceive  in  the  Cession 
act  which  has  thrown  us  into  such  a  citation  that  the  influence  of  the  Law  in 
common  cases  become  almost  a  nullity  &  in  criminal  Jurisdiction  had  intirely 
seased  which  reduced  us  to  the  verge  of  anarchy. 

2nd.  The  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  have  detained  a  Certain  quantity  of 
Goods,  which  was  procured  to  satisfy  the  Indians  for  the  lands  we  possess  which 
detainure  we  fully  conseive  has  so  exasperated  them  that  they  have  actually 
committed  hostilities  upon  us  &  we  are  alone  impeled  to  defend  ourselves  from 
these  raviges ! 

3rdly.  The  resolutions  of  Congress  held  out  from  time  to  time  incouraging 
the  erection  of  New  States  have  appeared  to  us  ample  incouragement. 

4thly.  Our  local  situation  is  such  that  we  not  only  apprehend  that  we 
should  be  seperated  from  North  Carolina ;  but  almost  every  sensible  disinter- 
ested traviler  has  declared  it  incompatible  with  our  Interest  to  belong  in  union 
with  the  Eastern  part  of  the  State  for  we  are  not  only  far  removed  from  the 
Eastern  part  of  North  Carolina.  But  seperated  from  them  by  high  &  almost 
impasable  mountains  which  naturally  divide  us  from  them  have  proved  to  us 
that  our  interest  is  also  in  many  respects  distinct  from  the  inhabitants  on  the 
other  side  &  much  injured  by  an  union  with  them. 

5th.  And  lastly  we  Unanimously  agree  that  our  lives  liberties  and  Pros- 
perity can  be  more  secure  &  our  happiness  much  better  propagated  by  our 
separation  &  consiquently  that  it  is  our  duty  and  unalienable  right  to  form 
our  selves  into  a  new  Independent  State. 

DECLARATION    OF   RIGHTS 

A  Declaration  of  rights  made  by  the  representatives  of  the  Freemen  of  the 
State  of  Franklin — 

1st.     That  all  Political  power  is  vested  in  &  derived  from  the  people  only — 

2nd  Sec.  That  the  people  of  the  State  ought  to  have  the  sole  &  exclusive 
right  of  regulating  the  Internal  Government  thereof. 

3rd  Sec.  That  no  man  or  set  of  men,  are  intitled  to  exclusive  or  seperate 
Emoluments  or  Privileges  from  the  community.  But  in  consideration  of  Public 
services. 

4th  Sec.  That  the  Legislature,  executive,  &  Supreme  Judicial  Powers  of 
Governmant  ought  to  be  forever  separate  &  distinct  from  each  other. 

5th  Sec.  That  all  powers  of  suspending  laws  or  the  execution  of  laws,  by 
any  authority  without  the  consent  of  the  Representatives  of  the  People  is  in- 
jurious to  their  Rights  &  ought  not  to  be  exercised. 

6th  Sect.  That  Elections  of  Members  to  serve  as  representatives  in  General 
Assembly  ought  to  be  free. 

Sect.  7th.     That  in  all  prosecutions  every  man  has  a  right  to  be  informed 


124  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  the  accusation  against  him,  and  to  confront  the  accusors  &  witnesses  with 
other  Testimony  &  shall  not  be  compelled  to  give  Evidence  against  himself. 

8th  Sect.  That  no  freeman  shall  be  put  to  answer  any  criminal  Charges, 
but  by  indictment  Presentment  or  Impeachment. 

9th  Sect.  That  no  freemen  shall  be  convicted  of  any  Crime  but  by  the 
unanimous  verdict  of  a  Jury  of  good  and  Lawfull  men  in  open  Court  as  here- 
tofore used. 

10th  Sect.  That  excessive  Bail  should  not  be  required  nor  excessive  fines 
imposed  nor  crewel  Punishments  inflicted. 

11th  Sect.  That  General  Warrants,  whereby  any  officer  or  messinger  may 
be  commanded  to  search  suspected  places  without  Evidence  of  the  fact  Com- 
mitted, or  to  seize  any  person  or  persons  not  named  whose  offenses  is  not  par- 
ticularly discribed  &  supported  by  evidence,  are  dangerous  to  Liberty,  &  ought 
not  to  be  granted. 

12th  Sect.  That  no  freeman  ought  to  be  taken  imprisoned,  or  dismissed 
of  his  freehold  Liberties  or  Privileges,  or  outlawed  or  exiled,  or  in  any  man- 
ner but  by  the  Laws  of  the  Land. 

13th  Sect.  That  every  freeman  restrained  of  his  liberty  is  entitled  to  a 
remedy  to  inquire  into  the  lawfulness  thereof  &  to  remove  if  unlawful  &  that 
such  remedy  ought  not  to  be  denied  or  detailed. 

14th  Sect.  That  in  all  Controverces  at  law  respecting  property  the  Ancient 
mode  of  tryal  by  Jury  is  one  of  the  best  securities  of  the  rights  of  the  people  & 
ought  to  remain  sacred  &  invincible. 

15th  Sect.  That  the  freedom  of  the  press  is  one  of  the  great  Bulwarks  of 
liberty,  &  therefore  ought  never  to  be  restrained. 

16th.  That  the  people  of  this  State  ought  not  to  be  taxed,  or  made  Subject 
to  the  payment  of  any  impost  or  duty  without  the  consent  of  themselves  or  their 
Representatives  in  General  Assembly  freely  given. 

17th.  That  the  people  have  a  right  to  bear  arms  for  the  defence  of  the 
State ;  and  as  Standing  armies  in  times  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  liberty  they 
ought  not  to  be  kept  up ;  and  that  the  Military  should  be  kept  under  strict 
subordination  to  and  Governed  by  the  civil  power. 

18th.  That  the  people  have  a  right  to  assemble  together,  to  consult  for  their 
common  good  to  instruct  their  Representatives,  &  to  apply  to  the  Legislature 
for  Redress  of  Grievances. 

19th.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  unalienable  right  to  worship  God 
Almighty  according  to  the  dictate  of  their  own  conscience. 

20th.  That  for  redress  of  Grievances  and  for  amending  and  strengthening 
the  laws,  Elections  ought  to  be  often  Held. 

21st.  That  a  frequent  recurrence  to  Fundimental  principles  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  preserve  blessings  of  liberty. 

22nd.  That  no  hereditary  Emoluments  privileges,  or  honours  ought  to  be 
granted  and  Conferred  in  this  State. 

23rd.  That  perpetuities  &  Monopolies  are  Contrary  to  the  genius  of  a  free 
State  and  ought  not  to  be  allowed. 

24th.  That  representative  laws  punishing  Facts  committed  before  the  ex- 
istence of  such  laws  and  by  them  only  declared  criminal,  are  oppressive  unjust 
and  incompatible  with  Liberty,  wherefore  no  ex  post  facto  law  ought  to  be  made. 

25th.  That  the  people  have  a  right  by  the  Representatives  to  enact  laws  to 
encourage  Virtue  &  Suppress  vice  and  immorality. 

CONSTITUTION 

The  Constitution,  or  form  of  government  agreed  to  and  resolved  upon  by 
the  representatives  of  the  freedom  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  elected  and  chosen 
for  that  particular  purpose  in  convention  Assembled  at  Jonesborrough  the  17th 
Dec.  Anno.  Dom.  1784. 

Sect.    1st.     That  the  legislative  authority   shall   be  vested  in  two  distinct 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  125 

branches,  both  dependent  on  the  people  (to  Wit.)  a  Senate  and  a  house  of  com- 
mons. 

Sect,  2nd.  That  the  Senate  shall  be  composed  of  the  Representative  Annu- 
ally chosen  by  ballot  from  each  County  untill  there  be  ten  Counties  in  the  State 
after  that  period  one  from  each  county. 

Sect.  3rd.  That  the  house  of  Commons  shall  be  composed  of  representatives 
annually  chosen  by  Ballot  four  for  each  County  until  there  be  ten  Counties 
within  the  State  and  after  that  period  two  for  each  County. 

Sect.  4th.  That  the  Senate  and  house  of  Commons  Assembled  for  the  pur- 
pose of  legislation  shall  be  denominated  the  General  Assembly. 

Sect.  5th.  That  each  Member  of  the  Senate  shall  have  usually  resided  in 
the  County  in  which  he  is  chosen  for  one  year  immediately  preceeding  his 
Election  &  for  the  same  time  shall  have  possessed  and  continue  to  possess  in  the 
County  which  he  represents  not  less  than  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  fee. 

Sect.  6th.  That  each  member  of  the  house  of  Commons  shall  have  usually 
resided  in  the  County  in  which  he  is  chosen  for  one  year  immediately  preceeding 
his  Election. 

Sect.  7th.  That  all  Freemen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  who  have  been 
inhabitants  of  any  one  County  within  the  State  twelve  Months  preceeding  the 
day  of  any  Election  &  possessed  of  a  freehold  within  the  same  County  of  fifty 
acres  of  land  for  six  months  before  and  at  the  day  of  Election  shall  be  intitled 
to  vote  for  a  Member  of  the  Senate. 

Sect.  8th.  That  all  freemen  of  the  age  of  twenty  one  years,  who  have  been 
Inhabitants  of  any  County  in  this  State  twelve  Months  immediately  preceeding 
the  day  of  any  Election  &  shall  have  paid  public  taxes,  shall  be  intitled  to  vote 
for  Members,  for  the  house  of  Commons  for  the  County  in  which  he  resides. 

Sect.  9th.  That  all  persons  possessed  of  a  freehold  in  any  Town  in  this 
State  have  a  right  of  representation  &  also  all  freemen  who  have  been  Inhabit- 
ants of  any  such  Town  twelve  Months  next  before  &  at  the  day  of  Election 
&  shall  have  paid  public  taxes  Shall  be  intitled  to  vote  for  a  Member  to  repre- 
sent such  Town  in  the  house  of  Commons  provided  always  That  this  Sect.  Shall 
not  Intitle  any  inhabitant  of  Such  Town  to  vote  for  Members  of  the  house  of 
Commons  for  the  County  in  which  he  may  reside  nor  any  freeholder  in  such 
County  who  resides  without  or  beyond  the  limits  of  such  town  to  vote  for  a 
Member  for  said  Town. 

Sect.  10th.  That  the  Senate  &  house  of  Commons  when  met  shall  each  have 
power  to  chose  a  speaker  and  other  officers  be  Judges  of  the  qualifications  and 
Elections  of  their  Members  set  upon  their  own  adjournment  from  day  to  day 
&  prepare  bills  to  be  passed  into  laws.  The  two  houses  shall  direct  writs  of 
Election  for  supplying  intermediate  vacancies  and  shall  also  Jointly  by  Bal- 
lot adjourn  Themselves  to  any  future  day  &  place. 

Sect.  11th.  That  all  Bills  shall  be  read  three  times  in  each  house  before 
they  pass  into  laws  &  be  signed  by  the  Speaker  of  Both  houses  and  Motion  and 
second  the  yeas  and  nays  shall  be  taken  on  the  passing  of  any  act  and  printed 
with  the  same. 

Sect.  12th.  That  every  person  who  shall  be  chosen  A  Member  of  Senate 
or  house  of  Commons  or  appointed  to  any  Office  or  place  of  Trust  before  taking 
his  Seat  or  entering  upon  the  execution  of  his  office  Shall  Take  an  Oath  to  the 
State  and  all  Officers  also  shall  take  an  Oath  of  Office. 

Sect.  13th.  That  the  General  Assembly  shall  by  a  Joint  Ballot  of  both 
houses  appoint  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Courts  of  law  and  Equity  &  Attorney 
General  who  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor  and  hold  their  Offices  dur- 
ing good  behavior. 

Sect.  14th.  That  the  Senate  and  house  of  Commons  shall  have  power  to 
appoint  the  General  and  field  Officers  of  the  Militia  and  all  Officers  of  the 
regular  Army  of  the  State. 

Sect.  15th.  That  the  Senate  and  house  of  Commons  Jointly  at  their  first 
meeting  after  each  annual  Election  Shall  by  ballot  Elect  a  Governor  for  one 
vear  who  shall  not  be  Eligible  to  the  Office  longer  than  three  years  in  Six  suc- 

Vol.  1—9 


126  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

cessive  years,  that  no  person  under  thirty  years  of  age  and  who  has  not  been 
a  resident  in  this  State  above  one  year,  and  having  in  the  State  a  freehold  in 
land  &  Tenements  above  the  Value  of  two  hundred  &  fifty  pounds  shall  be 
Eligible  as  a  Governor. 

Sect.  16th.  That  the  Senate  and  the  house  of  Commons  Jointly  at  their 
first  meeting  after  each  annual  Election  shall  by  Ballot  Elect  five  persons  to 
be  a  Council  of  State  for  one  year,  who  shall  advise  the  Governor  in  the  Execu- 
tion of  his  Office  &  that  three  Members  Shall  be  a  quorum  their  advice  and  pro- 
ceedings shall  be  entered  in  a  Journal  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose  only  and 
signed  by  the  Members  present  to  any  part  of  which  any  Member  present 
may  enter  his  dissent  and  such  Journal  shall  be  laid  before  the  General  As- 
sembly, when  called  for  by  them. 

Sect.  17th.  That  there  shall  be  a  Seal  of  this  State  which  shall  be  kept  by 
the  Governor  and  used  by  him  as  Occasion  may  Require  and  shall  be  called  the 
Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Franklin  &  be  affixed  to  all  Grants  and  Commissions. 

Sect.  18th.  The  Governor  for  the  time  being  shall  be  Captain  General  & 
Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Militia  &  in  the  recess  of  the  General  Assembly 
shall  have  power  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  Council  of  State  Imbody  the 
Militia  for  the  Pubiic  Safety. 

Sect.  19th.  That  the  Governor  for  the  time  being  shall  have  power  to  draw 
for  &  apply  such  sums  of  money  as  Shall  be  voted  by  the  General  Assembly  for 
the  Contingencies  of  Government  &  be  accountable  to  them  for  the  same  and 
he  also  may  by  &  with  the  advice  of  the  Council  Of  State  lay  Embargoes  or 
prohibit  the  Exportation  of  any  Commodities  for  any  term  not  exceeding 
thirty  days  at  any  one  time  in  the  recess  of  the  General  Assembly  and  shall 
have  the  power  of  granting  the  pardons  and  reprieves  except  where  the  prose- 
cutions shall  be  carried  on  by  the  General  Assembly  or  the  law  shall  otherwise 
direct  in  which  case  he  may  in  the  recess  grant  a  reprieve  Untill  the  next 
sitting  of  the  General  Assembly  &  may  exercise  all  other  executive  powers  of 
Government  Limited  &  restrained  as  by  this  Constitution  is  Mentioned  and  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  the  State  and  on  his  death  inability  of  absents  from  the 
State  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate  for  the  time  being  &  in  case  of  his  death  In- 
ability or  absents  from  the  State  The  Speaker  of  the  house  of  Commons  shall 
exercise  the  powers  of  Government  after  such  death  or  during  such  absentsor 
Inability  of  the  Governor  or  Speaker  of  the  Senate  or  until  a  new  nomination 
is  made  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Sect.  20th.  That  in  every  case  where  any  officer  the  Right  of  whose  ap- 
pointment is  by  this  Constitution  vested  in  General  Assembly  shall  during 
their  recess  die,  or  his  office  by  other  means  shall  become  vacant,  the  governor 
shall  have  power,  with  the  advice  of  the  Council  of  State  to  fill  up  such  vacancy 
by  granting  a  temporary  Commission  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  next  Ses- 
sion of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sect.  21st.  That  the  Governor  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Courts  of  Law  and 
Equity  and  Attorney  general  shall  have  adequate  Salaries  during  their  con- 
tinuance in  Office. 

Sect.  22nd.  That  the  General  Assembly  shall  by  Joint  Ballot  of  both 
houses  annually  appoint  a  Treasurer  or  Treasurers  for  this  State. 

Sect,  23rd.  *  That  the  governor  and  other  officers  offending  against  the  State 
by  violating  any  part  of  this  Constitution  Maladministration  or  corruption  may 
be  prosecuted  on  the  impeachment  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  presentment  of 
the  grand  Jury  of  any  Court  of  Supreme  Jurisdiction  of  this  State. 

Sect.  24th."  That  the  general  assembly  shall  by  Joint  Ballot  of  both  houses, 
Triannually  appoint  a  Secretary  for  the  State. 

Sect.  25th.  That  no  persons  who  heretofore  have  been  or  hereafter  may  be 
receivers  of  publick  Moneys,  shall  have  a  seat  in  either  house  of  General  As- 
sembly, or  Eligible  to  any  office  in  this  State  untill  such  persons  shall  have 
fully  accounted  for  &  paid  into  the  Treasury  all  sums  for  which  they  may  be 
Accountable  &  liable  if  legally  called  upon. 

Sect.  26th.  That  no  treasurer  shall  have  a  Seat  in  either  Senate  house  of 
Commons  or  Council  of  State  during  his  Continuance  in  that  office,  or  before 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  127 

he  shall  finally  setled  his  accounts  with  the  public  for  all  moneys  which  may  be 
in  his  hands  at  the  expiration  of  his  office  belonging  to  the  State  and  have  paid 
the  same  into  the  hands  of  the  Succeeding  Treasurer. 

Sect.  27th.  That  no  officer  in  the  regular  army  or  Navy  in  the  Service  & 
pay  of  the  United  States  Nor  any  Contractor  or  agent  for  supplying  such 
army  or  Navy  with  Clothing  or  provisions  shall  have  a  seat  in  either  Senate 
house  of  Commons  or  Council  of  State  or  be  Eligible  thereto  any  member  of 
the  Senate  house  of  Commons  or  Council  of  State  being  appointed  to  and  ac- 
cepting of  such  office  shall  thereby  Vacate  his  Seat. 

Sect.  28th.  That  no  member  of  the  Council  of  State  shall  have  a  seat  in 
either  the  Senate  or  house  of  Commons  provided  nevertheless  that  the  governor 
&  Council  shall  attend  the  General  assembly  during  the  sitting  of  the  same 
and  that  it  shall  be  a  part  of  their  official  duty  to  revise  all  bills  before  they  be 
passed  and  recommend  such  amendments  as  they  may  think  proper. 

Sect.  29th.  That  no  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Law  or  Equity  shall 
have  a  seat  in  the  Senate  house  of  Commons  or  Council  of  State. 

Sect.  30th.  That  no  Secretary  of  the  State  Attorney  General  or  Clerk  of 
any  Court  of  Record  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  Senate  house  of  Commons,  or 
Council  of  State. 

Sect.  31st.  That  no  Clergyman  or  preacher  of  the  gospell  of  any  denomina- 
tion shall  be  Capable  of  being  a  Member  of  either  the  Senate  or  house  of  Com- 
mons while  he  continues  in  the  service  of  the  pastoral  function. 

Sect.  32nd.  That  no  person  who  shall  deny  the  being  of  a  God  or  the 
truth  of  the  protestant  religion  or  the  divine  authority  either  of  the  old  or 
new  Testament  or  who  shall  hold  religious  principles  in  Campateable  with  the 
freedom  &  safety  of  the  State  shall  be  capable  of  holding  any  office  or  place 
of  trust  or  profit  in  Civil  department  within  this  State. 

Sect.  33rd.  That  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  within  their  respective  Coun- 
ties in  this  State  shall  in  future  be  recommended  to  the  Governor  for  the  time 
being  by  the  representatives  in  General  Assembly  and  the  Governor  shall  com- 
mition  them  accordingly,  and  the  Justices  Commissioned  shall  hold  their  offices 
during  good  behavior  &  shall  not  be  removed  from  office  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, unless  for  misbehavior  Absence  or  inability. 

Sect.  34th.  That  there  shall  be  no  Establishment  of  any  one  religious 
Church  or  denomination  in  this  State  in  preference  to  any  other,  neither  shall 
any  person  on  any  pretense  whatsoever  be  compelled  to  attend  any  place  of 
Worship  contrary  to  his  own  faith  or  judgment  nor  be  obliged  to  pay  for  the 
purchase  of  any  Glebe  or  the  building  of  any  worship  house  or  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  any  Minister  of  Ministry  Contrary  to  what  he  believes  right  or  has 
voluntarily  and  personally  engaged  to  perform;  but  all  persons  shall  be  at 
liberty  to  exercise  their  own  mode  of  worship  provided  that  nothing  herein 
contained  shall  be  construed  to  eccept  preachers  of  treasonable  or  Seditious 
discourses  from  legall  trial  or  punishment. 

Sect.  35th.  That  no  person  in  the  State  shall  hold  more  than  one  lucrative 
office  at  any  one  time  provided  that  no  appointment  in  the  Militia  or  the 
office  of  a  Justice  of  the  Peace  shall  be  considered  as  a  lucrative  office. 

Sect.  36.  That  all  Commissions  &  Grants  shall  run  in  the  name  of  the  State 
of  Franklin  &  bear  test  &  be  signed  by  the  Governor,  all  writs  shall  run  in 
the  same  manner  &  bear  test  and  be  signed  by  the  Clerks  of  the  respective 
Courts  Indictments  shall  conclud  against  the  peace  &  dignity  of  the  State. 

Sect.  37th.  That  the  deligate  for  this  State  to  the  Continental  Congres 
while  necessary,  shall  be  chosen  annually  by  the  General  Assembly,  by  ballot 
but  may  be  superseded  in  the  mean  time  in  the  same  manner,  and  no  person 
shall  be  Elected  to  serve  in  that  capacity  for  more  than  three  years  successively. 

Sect.  38th.  That  there  shall  be  a  sheriff  coroner  or  coroners  &  Constables 
in  Each  County  within  the  State. 

Sect.  39th.  That  the  person  of  a  debtor  where  there  is  not  a  strong  pre- 
sumption of  fraud  shall  not  be  Continued  in  prison  after  delivering  up  bona  fide 
all  his  Estate  real  and  personal  for  the  use  of  his  Creditors,  in  such  manner 
as  shall  be  hereafter  regulated  by  law  all  prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  suffitiant 


128  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

securities  unless  for  Capital  offence  is  when  the  proof  is  Evident  or  presumption 
great. 

Sect.  40th.  That  any  foreigner  who  comes  to  settle  in  this  State  having  first 
taken  an  oath  Allegiance  to  the  Same  may  purchase  or  by  other  just  means  ac- 
quire hold  and  transfer  land  or  other  real  estate  and  after  one  years  residence 
shall  be  deemed  a  free  Citizen. 

Sect.  41st.  That  a  School  or  Schools  shall  be  established  by  the  legislature, 
for  convenient  instruction  of  youth  with  such  Salleries  to  the  masters  paid  by 
the  public  as  may  enable  them  to  instruct  at  low  prices:  and  all  learning  shall 
be  duly  encouraged  &  promoted  in  one  or  more  Universities. 

Sect.  42nd.  That  no  purchase  of  Lands  shall  be  made  of  Indians  natives, 
but  on  behalf  of  the  publick  by  authority  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sect.  43rd.  That  the  future  legislature  of  the  State  shall  regulate  intails  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  prevent  perpetuities. 

■Sect.  44th.  That  the  declaration  of  the  rights  is  hereby  declared  to  be  part 
of  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  &  ought  never  to  be  Violated,  on  any  pretence 
whatsoever. 

Sect.  45.  That  any  member  of  either  Houses  of  General  Assembly  shall 
have  liberty  to  discent  from  &  protest  against  any  act  or  resolves  which  he  may 
think  injurious  to  the  public,  or  any  individual  &  have  the  reasons  of  his  dis- 
sent interred  on  the  Journals. 

Sect.  46.  That  neither  house  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  proceed  upon 
public  business  unless  a  Majority  of  all  the  Members  of  such  house  are  actually 
present  &  that  upon  motion  made  and  seconded  the  yeas  and  Nays  upon  any 
question  shall  be  taken  and  entered  on  the  Journals  &  that  the  Journals  of  the 
proceedings  of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  printed  &  made 
public  immediately  after  their  adjournment. 

This  Constitution  is  not  intended  to  preclude  the  present  Convention  from 
making  a  temporary  provision  for  the  well  ordering  of  this  State  untill  this 
General  Assembly  shall  establish  Government  agreeable  to  the  mode  herein 
described.    Resolved, — 

That  this  Convention  Recomend  this  Constitution  for  the  Sereous  Considera- 
tion of  the  people  during  Six  Ensuing  Months  after  which  time  Before  the 
Expiration  of  the  Year  that  they  Choose  a  Convention  for  the  Express  purpose 
of  Adopting  it  in  the  Name  of  the  people  if  Agreed  to  By  them  or  altering  it  as 
Instructed  By  them. 

It  was  evidently  the  desire  and  intention  of  the  adherents  of  Houston  to  name 
the  new  State  Frankland,  the  "land  of  the  free."  By  whom  it  was  changed  to 
Franklin,  in  honor  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  is  not  clear,  but  the  credit  for  it  is 
generally  given  to  Sevier,  who  on  July  19,  1785,  wrote  to  Governor  Patrick 
Henry,  of  Virginia,  as  follows:  "The  people  on  the  western  waters  in  No. 
Carolina,  for  many  Reasons  too  long  to  Trouble  you  with,  have  formed  them- 
selves into  a  new  State  by  the  name  of  Franklin,  and  have  appointed  their 
Governor." 

The  affairs  of  the  new  State  ran  well  for  more  than  a  year.  Governor  Mar- 
tin, of  North  Carolina  had  shown  much  diplomatic  skill  in  handling  the  situation 
and  his  successor,  Governor  Caswell  was  equally  tactful.  He  asserted  the  author- 
ity of  North  Carolina  quietly  but  persistently.  Early  in  1786  his  considerate 
policy  was  strengthened  by  the  defection,  from  Sevier's  cause  of  John  Tipton, 
Houston  and  their  adherents  who  had  been  piqued  by  the  cavalier  and  inconsider- 
ate rejection  of  their  constitution.  Tipton's  jealousy  of  Sevier  was  a  potent 
stimulus  to  the  former's  activities. 

Sevier's  opponents  held  elections  for  representatives  and  local  officers,  and, 
so  far  as  they  were  able,  reestablished  the  laws  of  the  mother  state.  But  Sevier 
was  not  to  be  deterred  from  his  course. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  129 

The  conditions  that  followed  were  grave  indeed.  Both  sides  held  courts, 
and  each  was  in  turn  broken  up  by  armed  men  of  the  other  side.  Sometimes  the 
adherents  fought  each  other  savagely.  On  one  occasion  Sevier  and  Tipton 
engaged  in  a  fist  fight.  By  the  fall  of  1786  North  Carolina's  influence  had  been 
so  strengthened  that  she  was  enabled  fully  to  reassume  its  sovereignty  and  juris- 
diction over  the  trans-montane  counties  and  passed  an  act  declaring  that,  at  the 
proper  time  the  western  counties  would  be  erected  into  an  independent  state, 
if  they  would  return  to  their  allegiance  and  be  patient.  Free  pardon  and 
oblivion  were  offered  to  all  who  would  return,  but  the  majority  stood  firm. 

Seeing  the  trend  of  matters,  Sevier  and  Cocke  appealed  to  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. On  August  12,  1786,  Franklin  wrote  in  reply  to  Cocke:  "I  think  you  are 
perfectly  right  in  resolving  to  submit  them  (the  points  in  dispute)  to  the  Deci- 
sion of  Congress  and  to  abide  by  their  Determination."8  But  when,  nearly  a 
year  later,  Sevier  asked  him  for  counsel,  Franklin  had  changed  his  mind,  and, 
on  June  30,  1787,  wrote : 

"There  are  only  two  things  that  Humanity  induces  me  to  wish  you  may 
succeed  in :  The  Accomodating  your  Misunderstanding  with  the  Government  of 
North  Carolina,  by  amicable  Means ;  and  the  Avoiding  an  Indian  war,  by  pre- 
venting Encroaching  so  remote  a  Seat  of  Government,  and  the  difficulty  to  that 
Government  in  ruling  well  so  remote  a  People,  would  I  think  be  powerful  In- 
ducements with  it,  to  accede  to  any  fair  &  reasonable  Proposition  it  may  receive 
from  you  towards  an  Accomodation. ' '  9 

Sevier  and  his  friends  made  frenzied  efforts  to  achieve  independence.  On 
November  30,  1786,  David  Campbell  wrote  a  long  letter  to  Governor  Caswell 
in  which  he  said  : 

"The  plans  laid  for  a  regular  &  Systematical  Government  in  this  Country 
are  greatly  frustrated  by  the  opposition  from  your  Country.  Can  a  people  so 
nearlj-  connected  as  yours  are  with  ours  delight  in  our  misfortunes? 

"The  rapid  Settlements  that  are  making  and  have  been  made  out  of  the 
bounds  prescribed  both  by  your  State  &  ours,  is  a  matter  worthy  of  your  con- 
sideration. Our  divisions  are  favorable  to  those  who  have  a  mind  to  transgress 
our  Laws?  If  you  were  to  urge  us,  and  it  were  possible  we  should  revert  back 
to  you,  in  what  a  Labyrinth  of  difficulties  would  you  be  involved?  Witness  the 
many  Lawsuits  which  have  been  decided  under  the  Sanction  of  the  Laws  of 
Franklin,  the  retryal  of  which  would  involve  many  persons  in  certain  Ruin.  If 
we  set  out  wrong,  or  were  too  hasty  in  our  Separation,  this  Country  is  not 
altogether  to  blame;  Your  State  pointed  out  the  Line  of  Conduct  which  we 
adopted.  We  really  thought  you  in  earnest  when  you  ceded  us  to  Congress;  if 
you  then  thought  we  ought  to  be  seperate,  or  you  now  think  we  ought,  permit  us 
to  compleat  the  Work  that  is  more  than  half  done;  suffer  us  to  give  energy 
to  our  Laws  &  Force  to  our  Counsels,  by  saying  we  are  a  seperate  and  independ- 
ent people,  and  we  will  yet  be  happy."  10 

On  December  13,  1786,  North  Carolina  adopted  a  report  of  a  committee  who 
said  that  they  were  so  "impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  sufferings  of  those  people 
(of  Washington,  Sullivan  and  Greene  counties),"  that  they  *  *  *  "beg 
leave  to  suggest  the  necessity  of  passing  an  Act  or  Acts  of  Oblivion,  so  as  to 
Conciliate  and  Quiet  the  minds  of  those  who  may  have  through  Blindness  or 
Passion,  acted  thus  unguardedly." 

8  Franklin  Papers,  Library  of  Congress. 

9  Franklin  Papers,  Library  of  Congress. 

'"The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  651. 


130  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

They  also  recommended  a  remission  of  taxes  for  the  years  1784  up  to  1787, 
and  that  "whenever  the  wealth  and  Numbers  of  the  Citizens  on  the  western 
waters  so  much  increase  as  to  make  the  same  accessary,  that  then  we  are  free  to 
say  a  separation  may  take  place  upon  Friendly  and  reciprocal  terms  and  under 
certain  compacts  and  stipulations."  n 

Although  on  July  31  to  August  3,  1786,  a  very  important  treaty1-  was  made 
with  the  Indians,  headed  by  Old  Tassel  and  Hanging  Maw  and  the  State  of 
Franklin,  whereby  a  better  feeling  was  caused  between  the  savages  and  the 
whites,  and  John  Sevier  exerted  all  the  diplomacy  in  his  power  to  placate  North 
Carolina,  telling  frankly  in  his  letter  of  October  28,  1786,  to  Governor  Caswell 
that  "under  present  Circumstances  the  greater  part  of  our  Western  Country 
Lies  in  a  very  doubtful  and  precarious  Situation,"13  nevertheless  that  State 
was  determined  that  the  people  of  Franklin  should  return  to  their  allegiance. 
To  effect  this  purpose  they  employed  Gen.  Evan  Shelby  and  Col.  John  Tipton 
to  a  large  extent ;  especially  the  latter  whose  enmity  to  Sevier  spurred  him  on 
keenly  to  extraordinary  efforts.  The  former  made  for  North  Carolina  a  tenta- 
tive agreement  on  Mar.  20,  1787, 14  with  John  Sevier  for  an  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  differences  on  the  basis  of  cooperation  and  exercise  of  authority  in 
common  but  it  was  rejected  by  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina.  In  his  letter 
of  March  21,  1787,  to  Governor  Richard  Caswell,  in  which  he  refers  to  this 
agreement,  General  Shelby  says:  "Many  people  are  firmly  attached  to  North 
Carolina,  others  are  as  obstinate  against  it.  However,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
time  and  reflection,  will  restore  them  friendly  to  North  Carolina."  15 

Sevier's  disappointment  at  the  failure  of  negotiations  is  reflected  in  his  letter 
of  April  6,  1787,  to  Caswell,  which  he  ended  as  follows:  "We  shall  continue  to 
Act  as  independent,  And  would  rather  suffer  death  in  all  its  various  and  fright- 
ful Shapes  than  Conform  to  anything  that  is  disgraceful."  1G 

All  along  North  Carolina  proceeded  in  the  exercise  of  her  sovereignty,  so  far 
as  her  initiative  was  concerned.  In  1786  she  had  carved  Sumner  County  out  of 
Davidson  and  Hawkins  County  out  of  Sullivan.  Hawkins  was  the  county  which 
the  State  of  Franklin  called  Spencer. 

By  the  spring  of  1787  the  tide  set  in  so  strongly  in  favor  of  North  Carolina 
that  it  was  evident  that  the  State  of  Franklin  could  not  be  established  without 
a  civil  war  and  to  this  Sevier  was  unwilling  to  resort.  This  view  is  clearly  indi- 
cated in  Governor  Caswell 's  letter  of  May  31,  1787  to  Gen.  Evan  Shelby,  who,  at 
Sevier's  request  was  still  endeavoring  to  act  as  a  pacificator.  In  that  letter 
Governor  Caswell  said:  "They  (the  Council)  think  it  would  be  very  imprudent 
to  add  to  the  dissatisfactions  of  the  people  there  by  shewing  a  wish  to  encourage 
the  shedding  of  blood,  as  thereby  a  civil  war  would  be  eventually  brought  on."  17 

THE  PALL  OP  FRANKLIN 

The  Legislature  of  Franklin  met  for  the  last  time  in  September,  1787.  After 
this  session  the  authority  of  the  state  was  so  weak  that  no  elections  were  held 
to  fill  the  places  of  the  members.     The  end  came  in  March,  1788,  when  Sevier's 


u  Ibid.,  p.  654. 

i-  Ibid.,   p.  655. 

is  Ibid.,  p.  659. 

i-i  Ibid.,  p.  674. 

is  Ibid.,  p.  671. 

io  Ibid.,  p.  680. 

i7  Ibid.,  p.  687. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  131 

term  as  governor  expired.  He  was  ineligible  to  reelection  and  there  was  no 
legislature  to  elect  his  successor.  The  collapse  of  the  state  government  and  the 
apparent  defection  of  his  friends  afflicted  Sevier  grievously.  He  soon  found, 
however,  that  his  friends  had  not  forsaken  him. 

This  fact  became  apparent  when  toward  the  end  of  his  administration,  John 
Tipton,  the  North  Carolina  sheriff,  had  seized  some  of  Sevier's  slaves  on  legal 
process.  Sevier,  who,  at  the  time,  was  on  the  border  of  Greene  County  taking 
action  for  the  defense  of  the  inhabitants  against  a  threatened  invasion  of  the 
Indians,  immediately  upon  hearing  of  Tipton's  act  raised  one  hundred  and  fifty 
men  and  marched  to  Tipton's  house  to  rescue  his  negroes. 1S  After  besieging 
Tipton  and  his  men  for  several  days,  although  with  his  force  Sevier  could 
undoubtedly  have  captured  Tipton's  place,  he  was  unwilling  to  cause  the  blood- 
shed which  would  be  entailed  by  doing  so  and  withdrew. 

Soon  after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office  Sevier  went  to  the  frontiers 
where  the  Indians  had  massacred  John  Kirk's  family  1!)  and  had  committed  other 
characteristic  atrocities  and  depredations,  and,  after  punishing  them  severely, 
returned  home  where  he  was  arrested  on  a  warrant  issued  by  Judge  Spencer, 
who  had  recently  held  court  at  Jonesboro,  on  the  charge  of  treason.  This  came 
about  through  the  influence  of  Gen.  Joseph  Martin  who  was  hostile  to  Sevier 
and  had  written  to  Governor  Johnston  of  North  Carolina  a  letter  in  which  he 
spoke  of  Sevier  in  terms  of  severe  reprehension.  The  arrest  was  made  by  John 
Tipton  who  acted  with  great  brutality  and  had  Sevier  handcuffed  and  sent  to 
Morganton.  There  is  tradition  that  one  of  the  guards  had  orders  from  Tipton 
to  kill  Sevier  on  the  way.  Be  that  as  it  may,  when  Sevier  reached  Morganton, 
he  was  among  friends  who  had  fought  with  him  at  King's  Mountain;  and,  after 
remaining  there  for  a  short  time,  he  left  unmolested  and  returned  home. 

Some  historians  have  given  various  romantic  or  highly  colored  versions  of 
"Sevier's  escape."  These  are  given  in  Ramsey's  Annals,  pages  427-429.  But 
the  records  of  Burke  County,  North  Carolina,  show  that  these  interesting 
accounts  are  baseless.  All  that  really  happened  was  that,  when  it  was  known 
that  John  Sevier  had  been  taken  away  in  handcuffs,  a  large  meeting  of  his 
friends  was  held  at  Jonesboro.  They  were  armed  and  ready  to  resort  to  any 
violence.  It  was  decided  to  send  to  Morganton  Dr.  Cosby,  Major  John  Sevier 
and  three  others.  Upon  their  arrival,  they  ascertained  that  Gens.  Charles  and 
Joseph  McDowell  had  become  Sevier's  bondsmen  and  that  he  was  free  from 
custody.  He  left  Morganton  in  open  daylight  with  his  friends ;  and  he  was  never 
tried  on  the  charge. 

Nevertheless,  the  star  of  Franklin  had  set.  In  April,  1788,  General  Martin 
wrote  to  Governor  Randolph  of  Virginia : 

"1  returned  last  evening  from  Green  Co.,  Washington  district,  North  Caro- 
lina, after  a  tower  through  that  Co'ntry,  and  am  happy  to  inform  your  Excel- 
lency that  the  late  unhappy  dispute  between  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  and 
the  pretended  State  of  Franklin  is  subsided." 

sevier's  succeeding  honors 

Brave,  constant,  unvacillating  and  ever  loyal  to  the  interests  of  the  pioneers, 
Sevier  had  been  drawn  into  the  movement  for  statehood  against  his  best  judg- 
ment.   But  once  caught  in  the  unique  dilemma  caused  by  the  cession  act  and  its 


1M  See  Eamsey's  Annals,  pp.  406-412. 

19  See  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places,  and  chapter  on   Indian  Wars. 


132  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sudden  repeal,  lie  went  with  his  friends  and  did  his  bests  without  success,  to 
accomplish  what  they  wished — the  impossible.  In  his  failure  a  weaker  character 
might  have  lost  standing  with  his  fellow  citizens.  Not  so  Sevier.  Not  long  after 
his  return  from  Morganton,  he  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  North  Carolina, 
representing  Greene  County,  and  attended  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly 
which  convened  at  Fayetteville  on  November  2,  1789.  The  Legislature  speedily 
repealed  the  act  which  debarred  him  from  holding  office.  He  was  seated,  and 
was  soon  made  the  brigadier-general  of  Washington  District.  In  1789,  also,  he 
was  elected  a  representative  in  the  United  States  Congress  from  Washington 
District,  North  Carolina,  a  district  coterminous  with  the  present  limits  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee.  He  was  the  first  member  of  Congress  west  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains. 

WAS   THE  SECESSION    OP   FRANKLIN    JUSTIFIABLE? 

Whether  the  people  of  East  Tennessee  were  justified  in  their  action  is  a 
mooted  matter.  But  the  opinion  of  the  writer  of  the  Prefatory  Notes  to  Volume 
VIII,  of  the  Colonial  Records  of  North  Carolina,  as  given  on  page  XXI,  seems 
sane  and  sound: 

"If  a  purpose  to  set  up  a  new  government  be  the  test  by  which  to  deter- 
mine whether  popular  resistance  to  a  government  be  rebellious  or  patriotic, 
what  about  the  attitude  of  our  revered  forefathers,  who  stood  ready  with  iron 
hand  to  crush  out  their  fellow-citizens  in  Tennessee  who,  having  thrown  off  the 
North  Carolina  yoke,  organized  themselves  into  what  they  called  the  State  of 
Franklin,  and  set  up  a  government  with  an  unmistakable  and  undeniable  exis- 
tence? They  certainly  had  a  new  de  facto  government  in  full  operation  in 
all  its  branches  actually  in  the  place  of  the  old.  The  people  who  did  this  cer- 
tainly were  not  anarchists,  and,  under  the  supposed  test,  ought  to  have  been 
let  alone." 

DEDICATION  OF  THE  MEMORIAL  TO  THE  STATE  OF  FRANKLIN 

On  June  14,  1918,  the  Samuel  Doak  Chapter  of  Daughters  of  the  American 
'Revolution  unveiled  and  dedicated  a  memorial  to  the  State  of  Franklin.  This 
memorial  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  capital  of  Franklin,  at  Greeneville.  The 
expense  for  the  memorial  was  borne  by  the  county  courts  of  Sullivan  and  Greene 
counties,  the  Cherokee  Club  and  the  Mothers  Club,  of  Greeneville,  the  Samuel 
Doak  Chapter  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  and  other  chapters 
of  the  D.  A.  R,  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  and  the  Junior  Order  of 
United  American  Mechanics,  of  Greeneville. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SO-CALLED  "SPANISH  CONSPIRACY"  AND 
THE  MERO  DISTRICT 

The  Mero  District  was  named  in  honor  of  Don  Estevan  Miro,  who  was  made 
governor  and  intendant  of  Louisiana  and  West  Florida  in  1788.  It  was  cut  off 
from  Washington  County,  which,  in  1784,  had  been  created  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  North  Carolina  and  had,  until  November,  1788,  comprised  the  entire 
part  of  the  state  west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  Mero  District  included 
Davidson,  Sumner  and  Tennessee  counties. 

Davidson  County  2  was  created  in  1783  by  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  North 
Carolina,  the  second  section  of  which  reads  as  follows: 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  it  is  hereby  Enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  all  that  part  of 
this  State  lying  west  of  the  Cumberland  mountain  where  the  Virginia  line 
crosses,  extending  westward  along  the  said  line  to  Tennessee  River,  thence  up 
said  river  to  the  mouth  of  Duck  River,  thence  up  Duck  River  to  where  the 
line  of  marked  trees  run  by  the  commissioners  for  laying  off  land  granted  the 
Continental  Line  of  this  State  intersects  said  river  (which  said  line  is  supposed 
to  be  in  thirty-five  degrees  fifty  minutes  north  latitude)  thence  east  along  said 
line  to  the  top  of  Cumberland  mountain,  thence  northwardly  along  said  moun- 
tain to  the  beginning,  shall  after  the  passing  of  this  Act  be  and  is  hereby  de- 
clared to  be  a  distinct  county  by  the  name  of  Davidson."  2 

THE  LAND  HUNGER 

The  first  settlers  on  the  Cumberland  were  attracted  by  the  hope  of  securing 
large  tracts  of  land.  Robertson  and  Donelson  both  were  drawn  by  this  lure, 
and  when  the  commissioners  previously  referred  to  laid  off  in  1783  the  military 
grants,  and  other  grants  had  been  made  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  65,932 
acres,  the  speculation  in  lands  and  land  warrants  became  rampant. 

The  location  of  the  bounty  lands  also  brought  the  settlements  in  the  Cum- 
berland country  a  large  stream  of  hardy  immigrants  who  constituted  a  part 
of  the  best  population.  The  advent  of  the  newcomers,  the  constantly  increas- 
ing population  reaching  out  for  more  and  more  land,  added  to  the  irritation 
of  the  Indians  and  caused  a  new  treaty  with  the  Chickasaws  and  the  Chero- 
kees  to  be  concluded  at  Nashborough  in  June,  1783.  This  was  held  at  the 
Cherokee  Spring,  on  the  Charlotte  Road.3  This  treaty  was  called  at  the  re- 
quest of  commissioners  Donelson  and  Martin  from  Virginia  and,  while  it  was 
not  favored  by  Robertson,  the  settlers,  by  a  small  majority,  voted  to  hold  it. 
By  this  treaty  the  Cherokees  ceded  to  North  Carolina  the  country  extending 


i  Named  for  General  William  Davidson,  of  North  Carolina,  a  gallant  officer  of  the 
Revolutionary  war,  killed  in  the  operations  against  the  British  in  North  Carolina. 

2  The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  540. 

3  This  was  near  Robertson's  Station  afterwards  built  west  of  Richland  Creek,  West  Nash- 
ville. Robertson  at  this  time,  however,  was  living  at  Freeland's  Station,  for  which,  see 
Historic  Spots  and  Places.  The  famous  Nashville  Campground  was  also  located  near  this 
spring  at  a  later  period. 

133 


1.54  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

from  tlif  Cumberland  River  south  to  the  ridge  separating  the  waters  which  flow 
into  the  Cumberland  from  those  which  flow  into  Duck  River.  The  terms  of  this 
treaty,  at  first  not  recognized  by  the  United  States,  were  confirmed  by  the 
treaties  of  Hopewell,  concluded  with  the  Cherokees  on  the  28th  day  of  November, 
1785,  and  with  the  Ohickasaws,  on  the  10th  day  of  January,  1786,  and  by  the 
treaty  of  Ilolston,  concluded  with  the  Cherokees,  July  2,  1791. 4 

THE   BEGINNING   OF   THE    HARASSMENTS    OP   SPAIN 

France  and  Spain  had  been  our  allies  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  Hence, 
when  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain  had  been  concluded  on  September 
3,  1783,  the  Tennessee  settlers  awaited  with  feelings  of  pleasure  the  develop- 
ments along  the  line  of  friendly  alliance  and  cooperation  with  Spain.  But  their 
disillusionment  was  not  long  delayed.  Spain  began  a  career  of  duplicity  in 
the  western  country  as  barbarous  as  it  was  unexampled. 

The  Spanish  intrigues  began,  indeed,  before  peace  had  been  secured.  Spain, 
supported  by  France,  wished  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States  to  be 
the  Allegheny  Mountains ;  that  Great  Britain  have  the  territory  north  of  the 
Ohio  River,  and  that  the  United  States  should  have  the  protectorate  rights  over 
the  eastern  part  of  the  territory  between  the  Ohio  and  Florida,  and  Spain  should 
have  similar  rights  over  the  western  part  of  the  same  region,  which  should  be 
kept  as  a  vast  hunting  ground.  Her  schemes,  however,  were  thwarted  by  the 
generosity  of  Great  Britain  by  which  the  Mississippi  became  our  western  bound- 
ary, the  Great  Lakes  our  northern  boundary.  Forced  to  content  herself  with 
the  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  Spain  began  her  secret  opera- 
tions against  the  settlements  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  which  efforts  included 
inciting  the  Indians  against  the  infant  colonies.  These  efforts  were  put  forth 
slowly  and  craftily  and  were  several  years  in  developing,  but  at  the  climax 
the  hostilities  of  the  Indians  and  the  restrictions  in  the  use  of  the  Mississippi 
River  became  disastrous  to  the  interests  of  the  Southwest. 

DEVELOPMENT  OP  THE  CUMBERLAND  COUNTRY 

The  government  of  the  Notables  ended  when,  soon  after  the  establishment 
of  Davidson  County,  Governor  Alex  Martin,  of  North  Carolina,  appointed  Isaac 
Bledsoe,  Samuel  Barton,  Francis  Prince  and  Isaac  Lindsey  judges  of  the  "In- 
ferior Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,"  which  court  was  organized  on 
October  6,  1783.  The  character  of  this  tribunal  was  similar  to  that  of  the 
Notables  which  added  authority  and  its  proceedings  at  its  session  beginning 
in  January,  1784,  are  given  with  some  fullness  by  Putnam  in  his  "History 
of  Middle  Tennessee,"  pages  211-215.5 

After  the  creation  of  Davidson  County  the  development  of  the  Cumberland 
country  was  rapid.  In  the  next  year  (1784)  Nashville  was  chartered,  the  first 
section  of  the  Act  being  as  follows: 

"I.  Be  it  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  it  is  hereby  Enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  directors  or 

*  Putnam 's  Middle  Tennessee,  pp.  238-241 ;  Imlay  's  Topographical  Description  of  the 
Western  Territory  of  North  America,  p.  586. 

5  In  these  records  and  in  correspondence  with  the  Spanish  government  are  references 
to  the  depredations  of  the  ' '  Colbert  gang ' '  and  of  the  connection  of  Col.  John  Montgomery 
therewith.  These  seem  to  have  been  ' '  greatly  exaggerated, ' '  especially  whatever  tends  to 
reflect  on  Montgomery,  the  founder  of  Clarksville  and  the  onomatist  of  Montgomery  County. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  135 

trustees  hereinafter  appointed,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  so  soon  as  may  be 
after  the  passing  of  this  Act,  cause  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  situate  on  the 
south  side  of  Cumberland  River  at  a  place  called  the  Bluff,  adjacent  to  the 
French  Lick,  in  which  the  said  Lick  shall  not  be  included,  to  be  laid  off  in  lots 
of  one  acre  each,  with  convenient  streets,  lanes  and  alleys,  reserving  four  acres 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  public  buildings,  on  which  land  so  laid  off  according 
to  the  directions  of  this  Act,  is  hereby  constituted,  erected  and  established  a 
town,  and  shall  be  called  and  known  by  the  name  of  Nash-Ville,  in  memory  of 
the  patriotic  and  brave  General  Nash."6 

DAVIDSON    ACADEMY 

In  1785  was  taken  the  first  step  in  the  series  of  efforts  which  ultimately  made 
Nashville  the  "Athens  of  the  South." 

This  was  the  passage  by  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  of  "an 
Act  for  the  Promotion  of  Learning  in  the  County  of  Davidson,"  the  caption 
and  beginning  of  which  are  as  follows: 

"Whereas  the  good  education  of  youth  has  the  most  direct  tendency  to 
promote  the  virtue,  increase  the  wealth  and  extend  the  fame  of  any  people ;  and 
as  it  is  the  indispensable  duty  of  every  legislature,  to  consult  the  happiness  of 
a  rising  generation  and  endeavor  to  fit  them  for  an  honorable  discharge  of 
the  social  duties  of  life.  And  whereas,  it  is  represented  to  this  General  Assembly, 
that  the  citizens  of  Davidson  County  are  desirous  of  making  an  early  and 
liberal  provision  for  the  instruction  of  youth,  by  laying  the  foundation  of  a 
public  seminary  in  that  county : 

"I.  Be  it  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  it  is  hereby  Enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the  Reverend 
Thomas  Craighead,  Hugh  Williamson,  Daniel  Smith,  William  Polk,  Anthony 
Bledsoe,  James  Roberson,  Lardner  Clark,  Ephraim  McClaine,  and  Robert  Hays, 
Esquires,  shall  be  and  they  are  hereby  declared  to  be  a  body  politic  and  corpo- 
rate, to  be  known  and  distinguished  by  the  title  of  the  trustees  of  Davidson 
Academy." 

It  became  Cumberland  College  in  1806,  the  University  of  Nashville  in  1825, 
and  is  now  The  George  Peabody  College  for  Teachers. 

SUMNER   COUNTY 

Sumner  County  was  organized  under  an  Act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  North  Carolina  on  November  17,  1786,  entitled  "An  Act  for  dividing  the 
County  of  Davidson,"7  the  preamble  and  first  section  of  which  are  as  follows: 

"Whereas  from  the  extent  of  the  county  of  Davidson,  it  renders  it  very  in- 
convenient and  troublesome  to  many  of  the  inhabitants  thereof  to  attend  the 
courts,  general  elections,  and  other  public  meetings  appointed  therein : 

"1.  Be  it  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  from  and  after  the 
passing  of  this  Act,  the  said  county  of  Davidson  be  divided  by  a  line  beginning 
where  the  county  line  crosses  the  west  fork  of  Stone's  River,  down  the  same 
to  the  junction  with  the  main  Stone's  River,  thence  a  direct  line  to  the  mouth 
of  Drake's  Lick  Creek,  thence  down  Cumberland  River  to  the  mouth  of  Kasper's 
Creek,  thence  up  the  said  creek  to  the  head  of  the  Wartrace  fork,  thence  a  north- 
wardly course  to  the  Virginia  line,  at  a  point  that  will  leave  Red  River,  old 
Station,  one  mile  to  the  east ;  all  that  part  of  Davidson  that  lies  to  the  west  of 

o  The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  616.  General  Francis  Nash, 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Germantown  in  1778. 

"In  the  Act  spelled  Davison;  The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  826. 


136  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  said  line,  shall  continue  and  remain  the  county  of  Davidson;  and  all  that 
pari  of  the  said  county  of  Davidson  that  lies  east  of  the  said  dividing  line,  shall 
thenceforth  he  erected  into  a  new  and  distinct  county  by  the  name  of  Sumner."  s 

The  first  court  of  Sumner  County  was  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  April, 
17S7.  at  the  house  of  John  Hamilton,  at  Station  Camp  Creek,  about  five  miles 
southwest  from  the  present  site  of  Gallatin.  The  members  of  that  court  were 
Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  Maj.  David  Wilson,  Maj.  George  Winchester,  Isaac  Lindsey, 
William  Hall,  John  Hardin,  Joseph  Kuykendale,  Col.  Edward  Douglas  and  Col. 
Isaac  Bledsoe.  David  Shelby,  son-in-law  of  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe,  was  ap- 
pointed clerk.9  All  of  these  were  able  men  and  some  of  them  very  prominent 
figures  in  the  history  of  Tennessee. 

THE   COLDWATER  EXPEDITION 

Instigated  by  Spain,  the  aggressions  of  the  Indians  became  so  intolerable 
in  1787  that  Colonel  Robertson  found  it  indispensable  to  punish  them  severely. 
For  this  purpose  he  organized  an  expedition;  and,  learning  from  the  friendly 
Chickasaws,  that  the  Indians  had  a  village  at  Coldwater,  now  Tuscumbia,  Ala., 
from  which  they  sent  forth  their  warriors  on  the  raids  against  the  Cumberland 
settlements,  guided  by  two  Chickasaws,  he  made  a  rapid  march  with  130  men, 
commanded  by  himself,  Col.  Robert  Hays,  and  Col.  James  Ford.  The  Indians 
were  surprised,  many  of  them  were  killed,  the  rest  of  them  dispersed  and  their 
village  burned.  A  large  quantity  of  goods  belonging  to  some  French  traders 
was  also  captured.1"  This  capture  resulted  in  a  correspondence  between  Colonel 
Robertson  and  M.  Francois  Cruzat,  the  French  commandant  at  St.  Louis.11 

TENNESSEE   COUNTY 

In  November,  1788,  Tennessee  County  was  carved  out  of  Davidson  County, 
by  an  act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  entitled,  "An  Act  for 
Dividing  the  County  of  Davidson,"  the  preamble  and  first  section  of  which 
are  as  follows : 

"Whereas  the  great  extent  of  the  county  of  Davidson  renders  it  incon- 
venient to  the  inhabitants  thereof  to  attend  courts,  general  musters  and  elections : 

"1.  Be  it  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  it  is  hereby  Enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  from  and  after 
the  passing  of  this  Act,  the  said  county  of  Davidson  shall  be  divided  by  a  line 
beginning  on  the  Virginia  line,  running  South  along  Sumner  County  to  the 
dividing  ridge  between  Cumberland  River  and  Red  River,  then  westwardly 
along  the  said  ridge  to  the  head  of  the  main  south  branch  to  the  mouth  thereof, 
then  due  south  across  Cumberland  River  to  Davidson  County  line :  and  all  that 
part  of  Davidson  County  that  lies  to  the  east  of  the  said  line,  shall  continue 
and  remain  the  county  of  Davidson :  and  all  that  part  of  the  said  county  of 
Davidson  that  lies  west  of  the  said  line,  shall  be  erected  into  a  county  by  the 
name  of  Tennessee."12 

Tennessee  County  included  all  the  territory  now  within  the  limits  of  Mont- 


s  Named  for  Gen.  Jethro  Sumner,  a  gallant  officer  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  Born  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1730,  he  removed  at  an  early  age  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  distinguished  himself  in 
the  war  under  both  Gates  and  Greene,  especially  in  the  battles  of  Camden  and  Eutaw  Springs. 

9  Cisco 's  Historic  Sumner  County,  p.  26. 

111  See  Putnam's  Middle  Tennessee,  pp.  257-264. 

11  Ibid.,  267  et  seq.;  also  see  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I. 

i-  The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  972. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  137 

gomery,  Robertson,  Dickson,  Houston  and  Stewart,  and  parts  of  Hickman, 
Humphreys  and  Cheatham.  Clarksville  was  made  the  county  seat  of  this  county. 
Tennessee  County  was  not  completely  organized,  however,  until  Januaiy, 
1791,  under  the  government  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  south  of  the 
River  Ohio.  The  records  of  this  county  begin  on  January  7,  1791.  This  county 
gave  up  its  name  in  1796,  when  the  territory  became  the  State  of  Tennessee. 

THE    SO-CALLED    "SPANISH    CONSPIRACY" 

Not  long  after  the  creation  of  Tennessee  County  one  of  the  representatives 
from  Davidson  County  (James  Robertson  and  Robert  Hays),  prepared  a  bill 
for  the  creation  of  a  new  district  for  the  holding  of  "superior  courts  of  law 
and  equity"  therein,  comprising  the  three  western  counties  of  Davidson,  Sum- 
ner and  Tennessee.    Judge  John  Allison  says  that : 

"It  is  said  that  Col.  James  Robertson,  in  answer  to  the  speaker's  call  for 
the  name  of  the  new  district,  arose  and  suggested  'Mero.' 

"Colonel  Robertson  evidently  gave  the  name  as  it  is  pronounced,  without 
spelling  it  (if  he  knew  how)  for  the  clerk,  and  the  clerk  wrote  it  M-e-r-o  instead 
of  'M-i-r-o, '  as  it  should  have  been.  The  name  is  pronounced  as  if  spelled 
'M-e-r-o,'  though  spelled  correctly  'M-i-r-o.'  "13 

The  Act  in  full  is  as  follows: 

"An  Act  to  amend  an  Act,  Entitled  'An  Act  to  Establish  a  Superior  Court 
of  Law  and  Equity  in  the  County  of  Davidson,'  and  for  Erecting  the  said  County 
of  Davidson,  and  the  Counties  of  Sumner,  and  Tennessee  into  a  Separate 
District. 

"Whereas  it  is  doubted  whether  the  jurisdiction  of  the  said  court  extends 
to  the  counties  of  Sumner  and  Tennessee :  and  whereas  it  is  necessary  such 
doubt  should  be  removed : 

"I.  Be  it  Enacted,  That  the  jurisdiction  of  the  said  court  shall  extend  as 
fully  in  all  respects  in  and  over  the  said  counties  of  Sumner  and  Tennessee  as 
in  and  over  the  county  of  Davidson. 

"II.  And  be  it  Enacted,  That  the  said  three  counties  are  hereby  erected 
into  a  separate  district  by  the  name  of  Mero :  and  that  the  superior  court  of 
law  and  equity  in  the  said  district  of  Mero,  shall  be  held  at  the  same  time  and 
place,  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  superior  court  of  law  and  equity  is 
directed  to  be  held  by  the  aforesaid  Act  in  the  county  of  Davidson. 

"III.  And  be  it  Enacted,  That  the  person  at  present  holding  and  exer- 
cising the  office  of  judge  of  the  superior  court  of  law  and  equity  in  the  county 
of  Davidson,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  continued  Judge  of  the  superior  court  of 
law  and  equity  in  and  for  the  district  of  Mero."14 

Andrew  Jackson,  who  had  but  recently  .come  to  Tennessee  from  Noi'th  Caro- 
lina and  was,  at  that  time,  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  was  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  state  as  attorney  general  for  the  District  of  Mero.15 

There  was  some  feeling  of  offense  both  in  the  eastern  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  in  the  Holston  and  Cumberland  communities  that  the  new  district 
should  be  given  the  name  of  the  representative  of  a  government  which  had 
shown  its  hostility  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  especially  to  those  of 
the  western  settlements.  In  thus  reasoning  they  failed  to  comprehend  the  far- 
sighted  policy  of  conciliation  which  actuated  James  Robertson,  who  for  the 
sake  of  his  people  sought  the  friendship  of  Spain  through  Miro,  her  governor, 
and  through  McGillivray,  chief  of  the  Creeks,  with  both  of  whom  he  conducted 
a  notable  correspondence. 


is  Judge  John  Allison  in  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  p.  116. 
«  The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  97"). 
is  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXI,  p.  717. 


138  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE    SITUATION    CONFRONTING    THE    COLONISTS 

The  truth  is  that  the  western  people  were  in  a  precarious  situation.  For 
years  Spain  had  had  them  harassed  by  the  Indians  in  the  effort  to  drive  them 
baek  to  the  eastern  escarpment  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains.  'The  effort  had 
failed  and  the  policy  of  Spain  changed.  Miro  was  now  apparently  seeking 
the  friendship  of  the  colonists  in  the  hope  of  attracting  them  to  move  from  the 
protection  of  the  United  States  to  that  of  Spain.  The  hope  was  so  expressed 
by  Miro  that  many  of  the  settlers  would  move  into  the  territory  governed  by 
him. 

In  the  fall  of  1787,  Robertson  and  Hays  had  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  in  which  one  paragraph  was  as  follows : 

"They  and  their  constituents,  they  say,  have  cheerfully  endured  the  most 
unconquerable  difficulties  in  settling  the  western  country,  in  full  confidence 
that  they  be  enabled  to  send  their  produce  to  market  through  the  rivers  which 
water  the  country ;  but  they  now  have  the  mortification,  not  only  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  that  channel  of  commerce  by  a  foreign  nation,  but  the  Indians  are 
rendered  more  hostile  through  the  influence  of  that  very  nation,  probably  with 
a  view  to  drive  them  from  the  country,  as  they  claim  the  whole  of  the  soil. ' ' 

No  relief,  however,  was  extended ;  and,  while  the  leaders,  like  Robertson,  ex- 
erted their  best  efforts  to  restrain  the  most  impetuous  and  turbulent  spirits, 
nevertheless  throughout  the  entire  trans-Allegheny  region  there  was  a  feeling 
of  discontent  and  unrest,  not  only  against  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  but  es- 
pecially a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  United  States  Government  which 
permitted  the  restraint  of  trade  by  Spain. 

In  June,  1784,  another  link  in  the  chain  of  Spanish  intrigue  was  forged. 
This  was  the  meeting  at  Pensacola  of  the  three  Spanish  governors  who  made 
a  treaty  with  the  powerful  Creek  chief,  Alexander  McGillivray  (or  McGilveray), 
"an  implied  agreement  to  'drive  off  the  settlers  upon  the  Cumberland,  or  to 
destroy  them  utterly.'  :  (This  wish  and  purpose  were  subsequently  avowed  in 
correspondence  between  the  parties.)  10 

This  alliance  tended  to  thwart  the  policy  of  Robertson  which  was  to  mold 
relations  with  all  in  such  a  way  that  the  people  of  the  Cumberland  community 
might  be  permitted  to  manage  their  own  affairs  in  their  own  way ;  encourage 
immigration ;  strengthen  their  own  hands ;  preserve  the  friendship  of  the  Span- 
iards and  gain  that  of  the  savage  tribes. 


GENESIS  OF  THE       CONSPIRACY 


"  17 


The  feelings  of  dissatisfaction  referred  to  were  at  their  very  apex  when  Don 
Diego  de  Gardoqui  came  to  the  United  States  in  1785,  as  the  charge  d 'affairs 
for  Spain.  In  his  negotiations  with  Jay,  who  strongly  proposed  that  the  United 
States  relinquish  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  for  twenty-five  years  in  re- 
turn for  other  advantages,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that   Spain  had  arrested 


is  Putnam  's  History  of  Middle  Tennessee. 

i?  In  an  article  entitled  ' '  The  Spanish  Conspiracy  in  Tennessee, ' '  published  in  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  3,  No.  4,  Dec.  1917,  Dr.  Archibald  Henderson  says: 
The  Spanish  Conspiracy  in  Tennessee  has  received  comparatively  little  notice; 
and  the  printed  materials  on  the  subject  are  few  and  chaotic.  The  Gardoqui  MSS.  in  the 
Durrett  Collection,  the  Gayarre  Transcripts  in  the  Louisiana  Historical  Society,  and  scattered 
letters  in  the  Archives  of  the  Indes  at  Seville,  I  find,  furnish  material  for  a  consecutive  nar- 
rative, and  enable  us  at  last  to  gain  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  Spanish  Conspiracy  in 
Tennessee." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  139 

our  traders  in  their  passage  down  the  river,  virtually  stopping  all  traffic  to  the 
Gulf,  he  quickly  discovered  that  the  fighting  spirit  of  the  frontiersmen  had  been 
aroused  and  that  schemes  had  actually  been  proposed  for  the  capture  of  New 
Orleans. 

Gardoqui  was  keen  to  take  advantage  of  the  separatist  sentiment  of  the 
western  settlements  in  behalf  of  Spain.  The  settlers  on  the  Holston  had  se- 
ceded and  formed  the  State  of  Franklin,  and,  Gardoqui  thought,  were  plastic 
material.  He  needed  an  agent  to  work  with  them  and  with  the  people  of  the 
Cumberland  settlements  relative  to  an  alliance  with  Spain.  He  selected  as  his 
emissary  Dr.  James  White,  who,  on  November  29,  1786,  had  been  appointed  by 
the  United  States  Government  as  superintendent  for  the  Southern  Department, 
and  instructed  by  him  to  make  secret  proposals  on  behalf  of  Spain  to  the  leaders 
of  the  disaffected  districts  and  to  act  in  concert  with  Don  Estevan  Miro,  gov- 
ernor of  Louisiana  in  carrying  out  the  purpose  of  his  mission. 

Doctor  White  1S  visited  Tennessee  and  interviewed  prominent  men  in  both 
the  State  of  Franklin  and  the  Cumberland  settlement,  including  John  Sevier, 
Joseph  Martin,  Anthony  Bledsoe,  and  James  Robertson.  He  wrote  to  Governor 
Miro  on  the  18th  of  April,  1789,  as  follows : 

"With  regard  to  Frankland,  Don  Diego  Gardoqui  gave  me  letters  for  the 
chief  men  of  that  district,  with  instructions  to  assure  them  that,  if  they  wished 
to  put  themselves  under  the  protection  of  Spain. and  favor  her  interests,  they 
should  be  protected  in  their  civil  and  political  government,  in  the  form  and 
manner  most  agreeable  to  them,  on  the  following  conditions :  '  1.  It  should  be 
absolutely  necessary,  not  only  in  order  to  hold  any  office,  but  also  any  land  in 
Frankland,  that  an  oath  of  allegiance  be  taken  to  his  Majesty,  the  object  and 
purport  of  which  should  be  to  defend  his  government  and  faithfid  vassals  on 
all  occasions,  and  against  all  his  enemies,  whoever  they  might  be.  2.  That  the 
inhabitants  of  that  district  should  renounce  all  submission  or  allegiance  what- 
ever to  any  other  Sovereign  or  power.'  They  have  eagerly  accepted  these  con- 
ditions, and  the  Spanish  minister  has  referred  me  to  your  favor,  patronage  and 
assistance  to  facilitate  my  operations.  With  regard  to  Cumberland,  what  I 
have  said  of  Frankland  applies  to  it  with  equal  force  and  truth."19 

The  professed  sentiment  of  James  Robertson  is  reflected  by  the  following 
excerpt  from  his  letter  to  McGillivray,  written  on  August  3,  1788 : 

"I  have  provided  a  gun  which  Mr.  Hoggatt  thinks  will  please  you.  I  have 
caused  a  deed  to  a  lot  in  Nashville  to  be  recorded  in  your  name,  and  beg  that 
you  will  let  me  know  whether  you  will  accept  a  tract  or  two  of  land  in  our 
young  country.  I  could  say  much  to  you  respecting  this  same  country,  but  am 
fully  sensible  you  are  better  able  to  judge  what  may  take  place  in  a  few  years 
than  myself.  In  all  probability  we  cannot  long  remain  in  our  present  state, 
and  if  the  British  or  any  commercial  nation  who  may  be  in  possession  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi  would  furnish  us  with  trade,  and  receive  our  produce 
there  cannot  be  a  doubt  but  the  people  on  the  west  side  the  Appalachian 
Mountains  will  open  their  eyes  to  their  real   interest."20 

The  situation  and  the  separatist  feelings  of  the  people  of  Franklin  are  shown 
even  more  clearly  in  the  subjoined  letter  written  by  John  Sevier  to  Seiior  Don 


is  Dr.  James  White  is  often  confused  with  General  James  White,  the  founder  of  Knox- 
ville  and  father  of  Hugh  Lawson  White.  Dr.  James  White  was  elected  to  represent  Davidson 
County  in  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  the  Territory  in  1794,  and  on  September  3rd  of  the 
same  year  was  elected  a  Delegate  to  Congress.  (See  Ramsey,  p.  628.)  In  1799  lie  removed 
to  Louisiana.  His  grandson,  Edward  Douglas  White,  was  chief  justice  of  the  United  States 
Suj  rerne  Court. 

'•' Gayarre's  History  of  Louisiana,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  258-259. 

2°  Robertson  correspondence  in  the  library  of  George  Pea  body  College   for  Teachers. 


140  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Diego  de  Gardoqui,  minister  of  Spain.  Doctor  Henderson,  who  includes  this 
letter  in  his  article  on  the  "Spanish  Conspiracy  in  Tennessee,"  published  in  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  234,  says  it  had  never  before  been 
published.  It  does  not  appear  in  any  other  history  of  Tennessee.  The  follow- 
ing is  the  text: 

Franklin,  September  12,  1788. 
Sir: 

Since  my  last,  of  the  18th  of  July,  upon  consulting  with  the  principal  men 
of  this  country,  I  have  been  particularly  happy  to  find  that  they  are  as  well 
disposed  and  willing  as  I  am  in  respect  to  your  proposals  and  guarantees.  You 
may  be  sure  that  the  favorable  hopes  and  ideas  that  the  people  of  this  country 
maintain  with  respect  to  the  future  probability  of  an  alliance  and  concession 
of  commerce  with  you  in  the  future  are  very  ardent  and  that  we  are  unani- 
mously determined  to  that  effect.  The  people  of  this  country  have  come  to 
realize  truly  upon  what  part  of  the  world  and  upon  which  nation  depend  their 
future  happiness  and  security,  and  they  readily  infer  that  the  interest  and 
prosperity  of  it  depend  entirely  upon  the  protection  and  liberality  of  your 
government.  We  must  expect  it  of  our  situation  and  circumstances  that  they 
will  lead  us  on  in  the  most  effective  manner  to  look  for  the  long  security  and 
prosperity  of  your  government  in  America  and,  being  the  first  to  resort  in  this 
way  to  your  protection  and  liberality  from  this  side  of  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains, we  feel  encouraged  to  maintain  the  greatest  hope  that  we  shall  be  granted 
all  reasonable  help  by  him  who  is  so  amply  able  to  do  it  and  to  give  the  pro- 
tection and  help  that  is  asked  in  this,  our  petition.  You  know  our  delicate 
situation  and  the  difficulties  in  which  wre  are  in  respect  to  our  mother  state, 
which  makes  use  of  all  stratagems  to  impede  the  development  and  prosperity 
of  this  country. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  possess  some  of  the  most  fertile  lands  on  this 
continent  and  easy  means  of  exportation,  yet  we  cannot  dispose  of  a  single 
article  of  its  products  (which  would  be  almost  innumerable)  unless  we  have 
authority  to  make  use  of  our  rivers  toward  the  ports  below.  Seeing  us  in 
these  embarrassments,  it  is  easy  for  you  to  realize  the  great  scarcity  of  specie 
in  this  country,  of  which  there  is  very  little  among  us.  Nothing  else  is  lacking 
in  order  to  assure  our  mutual  interests,  but  a  small  sum  of  this  article  (the 
quantity  of  which  I  leave  to  your  prudent  judgment)  and  such  other,  military, 
assistance  as  your  understanding  deems  it  necessary  and  convenient  to  supply 
us  with.  All  that  is  needed  to  attain  what  we  want  will  not  be  more  than  a 
few  thousand  pounds.  "We  are  further  encouraged  to  make  this  application 
because  of  your  knowledge  that  we  can  pay  promptly  for  whatever  you  may 
be  able  to  supply,  by  sending  the  products  of  this  country  to  the  ports  below. 
I  hope  that  the  payment  of  them  (i.  e.  of  the  loans)  will  be  made  with  all  con- 
venience and  that  the  pledges  and  receipts  of  our  friend,  James  Sevier  (who  is 
our  secretary),  will  obligate  both  myself  and  the  State  of  Franklin  until  they 
are  entirely  repaid  and  satisfied.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  help  which  is  asked 
will  be  considered  a  trifle  that  is  taken  out  of  your  treasury,  especially  when  it 
is  compared  with  the  important  object  to  which  it  is  directed,  and  when  we  can 
repay  so  soon  the  sum  that  is  advanced  and  when  it  will  leave  us  under  the 
greatest  obligation  of  gratitude  and  perpetual  friendship. 

We  are  determined,  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  us,  that  you  shall  so  regard 
us;  and  when  you  see  the  advantages  that  will  regularly  arise  from  this  con- 
nection, you  will  consider  that  our  interests,  which  run  in  the  same  channel, 
will  last  and  be  inseparable.  It  behooves  us  to  make  the  most  prompt  and 
necessary  preparations  for  defence.  If  any  break  should  happen,  we  must  be 
prepared  in  time — the  reason  for  which  will  necessarily  be  very  obvious  to  you. 
Therefore,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  anything  else  about  the  subject  and 
I  beg  you  to  inform  me  from  time  to  time,  whenever  opportunity  offers  and 
circumstances  require  it.  I  leave  to  you  the  choice  of  any  other,  more  easy 
mode  of  communication  than  the  present  one,  and  for  other  matters  I  refer  you 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  141 

to  my  son,  James,  who  is  a  competent  person  to  give  a  perfect  account  of  what- 
ever concerns  the  western  country.  Before  finishing,  it  may  be  necessary  to 
inform  you  that  there  will  be  no  more  favorable  occasion  than  the  present  one 
to  put  the  plan  into  action.  North  Carolina  has  rejected  the  constitution,  and 
at  the  least  a  considerable  time  will  pass  before  it  becomes  a  member  of  the 
Union,  if  this  happens.  I  beg  you  to  supply  James  with  whatever  you  think 
will  be  useful  to  us.  If  perchance  you  could  get  a  passport,  it  would  be  of  great 
profit  to  this  country,  because  it  is  probable  that  some  of  us  will  find  it  con- 
venient to  go  down  to  the  Spanish  ports ;  and  if  we  are  allowed  to  ship  products 
of  this  country  it  will  be  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  us. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Sir,  with  great  esteem  and  consideration,  your  most 
respectful  servant.  (Signed)  John  Sevier — To  Senor  Don  Diego  de  Gardoqui, 
Minister  of  Spain. 

While  these  efforts  to  seduce  Robertson  and  Sevier  were  in  progress,  similar 
efforts  were  being  put  forth  upon  Gen.  James  Wilkinson  in  the  endeavor  to 
win  Kentucky  over  to  Spain.  These  efforts,  too,  seem  to  have  gained  a  measure 
of  success,  for  in  the  spring  of  1788,  Wilkinson  wrote  Miro  a  letter  in  which 
he  said:  "All  my  predictions  are  verifying  themselves,  and  not  a  measure  is 
taken  on  both  sides  of  the  mountains  which  does  not  conspire  to  favor  ours." 
"Yet  it  would  be  doing  Sevier  and  his  adherents  a  capital  injustice  to  place  them 
in  the  same  category  with  the  utterly  corrupt  Wilkinson,  the  malodorous  Se- 
bastian, or  the  embittered  and  disloyal  George  Rogers  Clark."21 

Doctor  White  and  James  Sevier  went  to  New  Orleans  to  lay  their  plans  and 
proposals  before  Miro,  and,  by  a  strange  irony  of  fate,  on  the  very  day  (Octo- 
ber 10,  1788),  when  Gardoqui  wrote  to  Miro  a  letter  of  presentation  for  these 
representatives  on  the  part  of  Franklin,  John  Sevier  was  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  high  treason,  hand-cuffed  and  borne  away. 

When  Miro  was  informed  that  the  new  district  on  the  Cumberland  had 
been  named  for  him,  he  wrote  to  James  Robertson  and  Daniel  Smith  under  date 
of  April  24,  1789,  as  follows: 

"The  giving  of  my  name  to  your  district  has  caused  me  much  satisfaction, 
and  I  feel  myself  highly  honored  by  the  compliment.  It  increases  my  desire  to 
contribute  to  the  development  of  the  resources  of  that  province  and  the  pros- 
perity of  its  inhabitants.  I  am  extremely  flattered  at  your  proposition  to  enter 
into  correspondence  with  me,  and  I  hope  it  will  afford  me  the  opportunity  to 
be  very  agreeable  to  you." 

Haywood  (reprint,  1891,  p.  247)  says: 

"Colonel  Robertson  seeing  the  Union  in  disorder  and  at  the  point  of  dis- 
solution from  the  imbecility  of  its  own  structure,  and  expecting  no  aid  from 
that  quarter  or  from  North  Carolina,  which  betrayed  inability  and  disinclina- 
tion, thought  it  most  prudent  to  temporize  and  amuse  awhile  both  the  Spanish 
agents  and  the  Creek  chieftain ;  to  dissemble  the  deep  resentment  he  had  at 
their  conduct,  and  even  to  insinuate  that  he  had  come  to  a  state  of  unconcerned- 
ness  with  respect  to  their  main  object;  so  true  it  is  in  nature  that  the  strong 
and  the  rich  man  speaketh  surlily,  but  the  weak  one  in  the  language  of  mildness." 

Ramsey  and  Putnam  also  had  similar  ideas  concerning  the  attitude  and  ac- 
tions of  Robert. on  ;  but  they  did  not  have  access  to  certain  correspondence  which 
has  been  brought  to  light  since  their  times  which  proves  that  Robertson  and 
other  leaders  went  much  further  than  the  historians  mentioned  dreamed  of. 
As  Judge  John  Allison  says : 

"The  truth  is  that  the  correspondence  and  communications  alleged  to  have 
2i  Dt.  Archibald  Henderson  in  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  235. 


14L>  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

been  passed  between  Governor  Miro  and  certain  citizens  of  Kentucky  and  Cum- 
berland country  about  this  time  would  read  rather  curiously  if  offered  in  court 
to  vindicate  the  Kentucky  and  Cumberland  citizens  from  a  charge  of  disloyalty 
to  the  United  States."22 

For  example,  Robertson  wrote  a  significant  letter,  an  extract  from  which 
has  already  been  given.  Miro  also  received  letters  from  Robertson,  January  29, 
1789,  and  Daniel  Smith  (March  4,  1789),  and  in  a  letter  to  his  government, 
dated  April  23,  1789,  says : 

"The  bearer,  Fagot,  a  confidential  agent  of  General  Smith  informed  me  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Cumberland,  or  Miro,  would  ask  North  Carolina  for  an  act 
of  separation  the  following  fall,  and  that  as  soon  as  this  should  be  obtained  other 
delegates  would  be  sent  from  Cumberland  to  New  Orleans,  with  the  object  of 
placing  that  territory  under  the  domination  of  his  majesty."23 

Miro  showed  his  good  disposition  towards  Robertson  in  a  letter  written  on 
April  20,  1789,  in  regard  to  Robertson's  son-in-law,  in  which  he  said: 

"I  will  be  highly  pleased  with  his  coming  down  to  settle  in  this  province, 
and  much  more  if  you  and  your  family  should  come  along  with  him,  since  I 
can  assure  you  that  you  will  find  here  your  welfare,  without  being  either  mo- 
lested in  religious  matters,  or  paying  any  duty,  and  with  the  circumstance  of 
finding  always  market  for  your  crops     *     *     *     I  wish  to  be  useful  to  you."  24 

On  November  8,  1788,  Joseph  Martin,  at  that  time  the  United  States  agent 
to  the  Cherokees  and  the  Chickasaws,  wrote  a  letter  to  McGillivray  from  Tugo- 
loe,  N.  C.  This  letter  was  intercepted,  and  when  its  contents  were  made  known 
created  a  veritable  sensation.     In  it  he  said : 

"I  must  beg  that  you  write  me  by  the  first  opportunity  in  answer  to  what 
I  am  now  going  to  say  to  you.  I  am  daily  applied  to  by  a  body  of  very  re- 
spectable people  to  make  application  to  you  for  liberty  to  settle  on  Tombigby. 
If  you  give  proper  indulgence,  I  make  no  doubt  of  500  families  removing  there 
under  my  direction.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  determined  to  see  you  as  soon  as 
possible,  which  I  should  have  done  long  since  only  the  war  with  the  Cherokees 
put  it  out  of  my  power.  I  hope  to  do  honor  to  any  part  of  the  world  I  settle  in, 
and  am  determined  to  leave  the  United  States  for  reasons  that  I  can  assign  you 
when  we  meet,  but  durst  not  trust  it  to  paper."25 

And  besides  the  activities  of  James  Robertson,  Anthony  Bledsoe  and  Daniel 
Smith  in  the  negotiations  with  Doctor  White,  Governor  Miro  and  Alexander 
McGillivray,  a  convention  of  the  people  of  the  Cumberland  country  was  ac- 
tually held,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  paragraphs  from  a  letter  written  by 
Robertson  to  Miro,  September  2,  1789 : 

' '  I  must  beg  your  Excellency 's  permission  to  take  this  early  opportunity  of 
thanking  you  for  the  honor  you  did  me  in  writing  by  Mr.  White. 

"I  still  hope  that  your  Government,  and  these  Settlements,  are  destined  to 
be  mutually  friendly  and  useful,  the  people  here  are  impressed  with  the  neces- 
sity of  it. 

"We  have  just  held  a  convention;  which  had  agreed  that  our  members  shall 
insist  on  being  separated  from  North  Carolina. 

"Unprotected,  we  are  to  be  obedient  to  the  new  Congress  of  the  United 
States ;  but  we  cannot  but  wish  for  a  more  interesting  connection. 

"The  United  States  afford  us  no  protection.     The  district  of  Miro  is  daily 


-'-  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  p.  118. 

23  Probably  Andrew  Fagot. 

-i  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  240. 

25  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXII,  p.  788. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  143 

plundered  and  the   inhabitants  murdered  by  the   Creeks,   and   Cherokees,  un- 
provoked." * 

How  far  the  leaders  in  Franklin  and  in  Mero  District  would  have  gone  in 
the  movement  for  secession  from  the  United  States  and  union  with  Spain  will 
never  be  known,  as  all  efforts  to  this  end  were  stopped  by  the  action  of  North 
Carolina  in  ceding  her  western  territory  to  the  United  States.  The  acceptance 
of  the  cession  by  the  United  States,  the  confidence  that  the  western  settlers  had 
in  President  Washington,  the  return  of  Gardoqui  to  Spain  and  the  preparations 
of  Miro  also  to  depart  for  the  same  country,  all  combined  to  seal  the  fate  of 
the  separatist  movement  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  it. 

END  OP  THE  SPANISH   CONTROVERSY 

Nevertheless  Spain  continued  to  harass  the  transmontane  colonists  until  1795, 
a  period  of  approximately  ten  years,  when  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed,  on 
October  20  of  that  year,  at  San  Lorenzo  et  Real,  by  Thomas  Pinckney,  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  and  Prince  De  La  Paz,  on  the  part  of  Spain,  of  which 
treaty  Article  IV  reads  as  follows: 

"It  is  likewise  agreed,  that  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States,  which 
separates  them  from  the  Spanish  colony  of  Louisiana,  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
channel  or  bed  of  the  River  Mississippi,  from  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
said  states  to  the  completion  of  the  31st  degree  of  latitude  north  of  the  ecpaator. 
And  his  catholic  majesty  has  likewise  agreed,  that  the  navigation  of  the  said 
river  from  its  source  to  the  ocean  shall  be  free  only  to  his  subjects,  and  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  unless  he  should  extend  this  privilege  to  the 
subjects  of  other  powers  by  a  special  convention."26 

*Robertson  correspondence, 
so  Imlay,  p.  564. 


CHAPTER  X 

TERRITORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  SOUTH  OF  THE  RIVER  OHIO 

When  the  ill-starred  venture  into  secession  and  independent  government, 
known  as  the  State  of  Franklin  had  gradually  tottered  to  its  fall  and  had  be- 
come merely  a  matter  of  unique  history,  the  situation  of  its  former  citizens  was 
by  no  means  improved  over  that  distressing  condition  prior  to  the  separation. 
The  situation  was  particularly  precarious  for  the  people  south  of  the  Holston 
and  the  French  Broad,  as  they  were  left  exposed  to  the  Indians  who  were 
exasperated  at  their  encroachments.  Under  the  protection  of  Franklin  these 
pioneers  had  located  in  the  land  still  claimed  by  the  Cherokees,  and  when  the 
authority  of  North  Carolina  was  fully  restored  in  the  Holston  country  that 
state  refused  to  recognize  what  they  called  "intruders  on  the  Indian  lands." 
They  were  troubled,  too,  by  the  lawless,  unruly  elements  that  had  flocked  in 
with  the  legitimate  settlers.  Fortunately  the  Indians,  having  been  severely 
punished  by  Sevier,  were  at  peace  for  the  time  being,  so  that  they  were  un- 
molested. There  was  but  one  thing  for  these  exposed  and  neglected  people  to 
do  and  they  did  it  promptly  and  effectually. 

THE   FOURTH    INDEPENDENT  GOVERNMENT 

They  organized  themselves  into  an  association  for  common  protection  and 
order  was  restored.  This  community,  sometimes  called  the  Settlement  South 
of  the  Holston  and  the  French  Broad  became  the  fourth  independent  govern- 
ment established  in  Tennessee  before  it  became  a  state.  Its  people  signed  Ar- 
ticles of  Association  under  which  they  lived  and  regulated  their  own  affairs 
without  the  aid  or  consent  of  any  other  government  until  the  United  States 
organized  the  territory  south  of  the  River  Ohio. 

north  Carolina's  second  cession 

When  North  Carolina  again  resumed  governmental  functions  over  what  had 
been  the  State  of  Franklin,  it  was  well  understood  that,  at  some  suitable  time 
in  the  near  future,  she  would  cede  to  the  United  States  all  of  her  lands  west 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  That  time  arrived  in  the  session  of  the  General 
Assembly  which  began  in  November,  1789.  On  December  12th  of  that  year 
North  Carolina  passed  the  following  act  of  cession : 

An  Act  for  the  purpose  of  ceding  to  the  United  States  of  America,  certain 
western  lands  therein  described. 

Whereas,  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  have  repeatedly  and 
earnestly  recommended  to  the  respective  States  in  the  Union  claiming  or  owning 
vacant  Western  territory,  to  make  cessions  of  part  of  the  same,  as  the  further 
means,  as  well  of  hastening  the  extinguishment  of  the  debts  as  of  establishing 
the  harmony  of  the  United  States,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  Western  ter- 
ritory being  also  desirous  that  such  cession  should  be  made,  in  order  to  obtain 

144 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  145 

a  more  ample  protection  than  they  have  heretofore  received ;  now,  this  State 
being  ever  desirous  of  doing  ample  justice  to  the  public  creditors,  as  well  as 
of  establishing  the  harmony  of  the  United  States,  and  complying  with  the  rea- 
sonable desires  of  her  citizens : 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  and  it  is  hereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That  the 
Senators  of  this  State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  or  any  one  of  the 
Senators  and  any  two  of  the  Representatives  of  this  State  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  are  hereby  authorized,  empowered  and  required  to  execute  a  deed 
or  deeds  on  the  part  and  behalf  of  this  State,  conveying  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  all  right,  title  and  claim  which  this  State  has  to  the  sovereignty  and 
territory  of  the  lands  situate  within  the  chartered  limits  of  this  State,  west  of 
a  line  beginning  on  the  extreme  height  of  the  Stone  Mountain,  at  the  place 
where  the  Virginia  line  intersects  it,  running  thence  along  the  extreme  height 
of  the  said  mountain,  to  the  place  where  the  Watauga  River  breaks  through  it, 
thence  a  direct  course  to  the  top  of  the  Yellow  Mountain,  where  Bright 's  road 
crosses  the  same,  thence  along  the  ridge  of  said  mountain  between  the  waters  of 
Doe  River  and  the  waters  of  Rock  Creek,  to  the  place  where  the  road  crosses 
the  Iron  Mountain,  from  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  said  mountain  to 
where  Nollichucky  River  runs  through  the  same,  thence  to  the  top  of  the  Ball 
Mountain,  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  said  mountain  to  the  Painted 
Rock,  on  French  Broad  River,  thence  along  the  highest  ridge  of  the  said  moun- 
tain to  the  place  where  it  is  called  the  Great  Iron  or  Smoky  Mountain,  thence 
along  the  extreme  height  of  the  said  mountain  to  the  place  where  it  is  called 
Unicoy  or  Unaka  Mountain,  between  the  Indian  towns  Cowee  and  Old  Chota, 
thence  along  the  main  ridge  of  the  said  mountain,  to  the  southern  boundary 
of  this  State,  upon  the  following  express  conditions,  and  subject  thereto :  That 
is  to  say, 

First.  That  neither  the  lands  nor  inhabitants  westward  of  the  said  mountain 
shall  be  estimated,  after  the  cession  made  by  virtue  of  this  act  shall  be  accepted, 
in  the  ascertaining  the  proportion  of  this  State  with  the  United  States  in  the 
common  expense  occasioned  by  the  late  war. 

Secondly.  That  the  lands  laid  off,  or  directed  to  be  laid  off,  by  any  act  or 
acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State,  for  the  officers  and  soldiers  thereof, 
their  heirs  and  assigns  respectively  shall  be  and  enure  to  the  use  and  benefit 
of  the  said  officers,  their  heirs  and  assigns  respectively ;  and  if  the  bounds  of 
the  said  lands  already  prescribed  for  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  continental 
line  of  this  State,  shall  not  contain  a  sufficient  quantity  of  lands  fit  for  cul- 
tivation ;  to  make  good  the  several  provisions  intended  by  law  that  such  officer 
or  soldier,  or  his  assignee,  who  shall  fall  short  of  his  allotment  or  proportion 
after  all  the  lands  fit  for  cultivation  within  the  said  bounds  are  appropriated, 
be  permitted  to  take  his  quota,  or  such  part  thereof  as  may  be  deficient,  in  any 
other  part  of  the  said  territory  intended  to  be  ceded  by  virtue  of  this  act,  not 
already  appropriated.  And  when  entries  have  been  made  agreeable  to  law  and 
titles  under  them  not  perfected  by  grant  or  otherwise,  then  and  in  that  case, 
the  Governor  for  the  time  being,  shall,  and  he  is  hereby  required  to  perfect, 
from  time  to  time,  such  titles,  in  such  manner  as  if  this  act  had  never  been 
passed ;  and  all  entries  made  by  or  grants  made  to  all  and  every  person  and 
persons  whatsoever,  agreeable  to  law,  and  within  the  limits  hereby  intended  to 
be  ceded  to  the  United  States,  shall  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  if  such 
cession  had  not  been  made,  and  that  all  and  every  right  of  occupancy  and  pre- 
emption and  every  other  right  reserved  by  any  act  or  acts,  to  persons  settled 
on  and  occupying  lands  within  the  limits  of  the  lands  hereby  intended  to  be 
ceded  as  aforesaid,  shall  continue  to  be  in  full  force  in  the  same  manner  as  if 
the  cession  had  not  been  made,  and  as  conditions  upon  which  the  said  lands 
are  ceded  to  the  United  States.  And  further,  it  shall  be  understood  that  if 
any  person  or  persons  shall  have,  by  virtue  of  the  act,  entitled  "An  act  for 
opening  the  land  office,  for  the  redemption  of  specie  and  other  certificates,  and 
discharging  the  arrears  due  to  the  army,"  passed  in  the  year  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  eighty-three,  made  his  or  their  entry  in  the  office  usually  called 


146  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"John  Armstrong's  office,'"  located  the  same  to  any  spot  or  piece  of  ground  on 
which  any  other  person  or  persons  shall  have  previously  located  any  entry  or 
entries,  that  then,  and  in  that  case,  the  person  or  persons  having  made  such 
entries,  or  their  assignee  or  assignees,  shall  have  leave  and  be  at  full  liberty  to 
remove  the  location  of  .such  entry  or  entries  to  any  lands  on  which  no  entry  has 
been  specially  located,  or  any  vacant  lands  included  within  the  limits  of  the 
lands  hereby  intended  to  be  ceded.  Provided,  that  nothing  berein  contained, 
shall  extend  or  be  construed  to  extend  to  the  making  good  any  entry  or  entries, 
or  any  grant  or  grants  heretofore  declared  void  by  any  act  or  acts  of  the 
General  Assembly  of  this  State. 

Thirdly.  That  all  the  lands  intended  to  be  added  by  virtue  of  this  act,  to 
the  United  States  of  America,  and  not  appropriated  as  before  mentioned,  shall 
be  considered  as  a  common  fund  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  North  Carolina  inclusive,  according  to  their  respective  and  usual 
proportion  in  the  general  charge  and  expenditure,  and  shall  be  faithfully  dis- 
posed of  for  that  purpose,  and  for  no  other  use  or  purpose  whatever. 

Fourthly.  That  the  territory  so  ceded,  shall  be  laid  out  and  formed  into  a 
State  or  States,  containing  a  suitable  extent  of  territory,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  shall  enjoy  all  the  privileges,  benefits  and  advantages  set  forth  in  the 
ordinance  of  the  late  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  Western  Territory  of 
the  United  States:  that  is  to  say,  whenever  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
shall  cause  to  be  officially  transmitted  to  the  executive  atithority  of  this  State, 
an  authenticated  copy  of  the  act  to  be  passed  by  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  accepting  of  the  cession  of  territory  made  by  virtue  of  this  act,  under 
the  express  conditions  hereby  specified,  the  said  Congress  shall  at  the  same  time 
assume  the  government  of  the  said  ceded  territory,  which  they  shall  execute 
in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which  they  support  in  the  territory  west  of  the 
Ohio,  shall  protect  the  inhabitants  against  enemies,  and  shall  never  bar  or  de- 
prive them  or  any  of  them,  of  privileges  which  the  people  west  of  the  Ohio 
enjoy,  Provided  always,  that  no  regulations  made  or  to  be  made  by  Congress, 
shall  tend  to  emancipate  slaves. 

Fifthly.  That  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  ceded  territory  shall  be  liable  to 
pay  such  sums  of  money  as  may,  from  taking  their  census,  be  their  just  pro- 
portion of  the  debt  of  the  United  States,  and  the  arrears  of  the  requisitions  of 
Congress  on  this  State. 

Sixthly.  That  all  persons  indebted  to  this  State,  residing  in  the  territory 
intended  to  be  ceded  by  virtue  of  this  act,  shall  be  held  and  deemed  liable  to 
pay  such  debt  or  debts,  in  the  same  manner,  and  under  the  same  penalty  or 
penalties,  as  if  this  act  had  never  been  passed. 

Seventhly.  That  if  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  do  not  accept  the 
cession  hereby  intended  to  be  made,  in  due  form,  and  give  official  notice  thereof 
to  the  executive  of  this  State  within  eighteen  months  from  the  passing  of  this 
act,  then  this  act  shall  be  of  no  force  or  effect  whatsoever. 

Eighthly.  That  the  laws  in  force  and  use  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
at  the  time  of  passing  this  act,  shall  be  and  continue  in  full  force  within  the 
territory  hereby  ceded,  until  the  same  shall  be  repealed,  or  otherwise  altered 
by  the  legislative  authority  of  the  said  territory. 

Ninthly.  That  the  lands  of  non-resident  proprietors,  within  the  said  ceded 
territory,  shall  not  be  taxed  higher  than  lands  of  residents. 

Tenthly.  That  this  act  shall  not  prevent  the  people  now  residing  south  of 
French  Broad,  between  the  rivers  Tennessee  and  Pigeon,  from  entering  their 
pre-emptions  on  that  tract,  should  an  office  be  opened  for  that  purpose  under 
an  act  of  the  present  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the 
sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  of  this  State,  in  and  over  the  territory  aforesaid, 
and  all  and  every  the  inhabitants  thereof,  shall  be  and  remain  the  same  in  all 
respects,  until  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  shall  accept  the  cession  to  be 
made  by  virtue  of  this  act,  as  if  this  act  had  never  passed. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  147 

The  conditions  imposed  by  North  Carolina  in  making  this  cession  are  of 
great  historic  importance.  Out  of  some  of  them  arose  almost  immediately  land 
difficulties  between  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  and  the  United  States,  which, 
although  mitigated  largely  by  an  act  of  Congress,  April  18,  1806,  yet  continued 
vexatious  for  many  years  thereafter. 

The  provision  "that  no  regulations  made  or  to  be  made  by  Congress,  shall 
tend  to  emancipate  slaves"  was  pregnant  with  unforeseen  consequences  many 
years  after.  The  government  of  the  Southwest  Territory  was  made  the  same 
as  that  of  the  Northwest  Territory  (which  was  free  territory)  with  the  excep- 
tions specified  in  the  act  of  cession.  Congress,  by  adopting  the  cession  with 
the  provisions,  was  thereby  precluded  from  intermeddling  with  the  institution 
of  slavery  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  ceded.  Hence,  when  Lincoln,  in 
1862,  wrote  his  Emancipation  Proclamation,  he  did  not  include  Tennessee  among 
the  states  in  which  the  slaves  were  freed ;  and  the  slaves  in  Tennessee  were 
freed  by  the  state  itself  by  vote  of  the  people  on  February  22,  1865.  Whether 
Lincoln's  omission  of  Tennessee  was  because  of  the  contract  made  by  Congress 
in  accepting  the  cession  act  of  North  Carolina  does  not  seem  to  be  definitely 
known. 

On  February  25,  1790,  the  United  States  senators  from  North  Carolina, 
Samuel  Johnston  and  Benjamin  Hawkins,  executed  a  deed  to  the  United  States 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  act,  which,  on  the  second  of  April  of  the 
same  year,  was  accepted  by  Congress  by  act  passed  for  this  special  purpose. 
This  special  act,  including  copy  of  the  deed,  follows : 

ACT  OF  CONGRESS  ACCEPTING  THE  CESSION  OP  CERTAIN  LANDS  PROM  NORTH  CAROLINA 

An  Act  to  accept  a  cession  of  the  claims  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
to  a  certain  district  of  Western  Territory.  A  deed  of  cession  having  been 
executed,  and  in  the  Senate  offered  for  acceptance  to  the  United  States,  of  the 
claims  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  to  a  district  of  territory  therein  described ; 
which  deed  is  in  the  words  following,  viz : 

TO  ALL  WHO  SHALL  SEE  THESE  PRESENTS. 

We,  the  underwritten  Samuel  Johnston  and  Benjamin  Hawkins,  Senators, 
in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America,  duly  and  constitutionally 
chosen  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  send  greeting. 

Whereas,   the   General  Assembly   of  the   State  of  North   Carolina,   on   the 

day  of  December,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred 

and  eighty-nine,  passed  an  act,  entitled,  "An  act  for  the  purpose  of  ceding  to 
the  United  States  of  America,  certain  western  lands  therein  described,"  in  the 
words  following,  to-wit : 

Whereas,  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  have  repeatedly  and 
earnestly  recommended  to  the  respective  States  in  the  Union  claiming  or  owning 
vacant  western  territory,  to  make  cessions  of  part  of  the  same,  as  a  further 
means,  as  well  of  hastening  the  extinguishment  of  the  debts  as  of  establishing 
the  harmony  of  the  United  States,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  western  ter- 
ritory being  also  desirous  that  such  cession  should  be  made,  in  order  to  obtain 
a  more  ample  protection  than  they  have  heretofore  received;  now  this  State 
being  ever  desirous  of  doing  ample  justice  to  the  public  creditors,  as  well  as  of 
establishing  the  harmony  of  the  United  States,  and  complying  with  the  reason- 
able desires  of  her  citizens: 


148  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

(There  follows  a  repetition  of  the  cession  act  of  North  Carolina.) 

Head    three    times,    and    ratified    in    General    Assembly,    the    ■ day    of 

December,  A.  D.,  1789. 

Chas.  Johnson,  Sp.  Sen. 
S.  Cabarrus,  Sp.  H.  C." 

Now  Therefore  Know  Ye,  That  we,  Samuel  Johnston  and  Benjamin  Hawkins, 
Senators  aforesaid,  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  authority  committed  to  us  by 
the  said  act,  and  in  the  name,  and  for  and  on  behalf  of  the  said  State,  do,  by 
this  presents  convey,  assign,  transfer,  and  set  over  unto  the  United  States  of 
America,  for  the  benefit  of  the  said  States,  North  Carolina  inclusive,  all  right, 
title  and  claim  which  the  said  State  hath  to  the  sovereignty  and  territory  of 
the  lands  situated  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the  said  State,  as  bounded  and 
described  in  the  above  recited  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  and  for  the  uses 
and  purposes  and  on  the  conditions  mentioned  in  the  said  act. 

In  witness  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names  and  affixed  our 
seals  in  the  Senate  chamber,  at  New  York,  this  twenty-fifth  day  of  February, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety,  and  in  the 
fourteenth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

Sam.  Johnston,  (L.  S.) 
Benjamin  Hawkins,     (L.  S.) 
Signed,  sealed  and  delivered  in  the  presence  of  Sam.  A.  Otis. 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  said  deed  be,  and  the  same 
is  hereby  accepted. 

Frederick  Augustus  Mulenberg, 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
John  Adams,  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
and  President  of  the  Senate. 
Approved,  April  2d,  1790. 

George  Washington, 

President  of  the  United  States. 

organization  of  the  southwest  territory 

On  May  26,  1790,  the  ordinance  of  the  government  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory adopted  by  Congress  on  July  13,  1787,  was  made  applicable  to  "the  Terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  South  of  the  River  Ohio,"  with  the  exception  of  the 
provisions  incorporated  in  the  act  of  cession. 

Under  this  ordinance  President  Washington,  on  June  8,  1790,  appointed 
William  Blount,1  governor  and  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs;  Daniel  Smith, 
secretary  of  the  territory ;  David  Campbell,  Joseph  Anderson,  and  John  Mc- 
Nairy,2  judges ;  John  Sevier,  brigadier-general  for  Washington  District ;  and 
James  Robertson,  brigadier-general  for  Mero  District.  The  governor  was  au- 
thorized to  appoint  all  officers  below  the  grade  of  brigadier  general. 

On  September  20,  1790,  Governor  Blount  took  the  oath  of  office  before  James 


i  Of  Wm.  Blount;  Eoosevelt  says  in  "The  Winning  of  the  West,"  Vol.  V.  p.  114: 
"Blount  was  the  first  man  of  leadership  in  the  West  who  was  of  Cavalier  ancestry;  for  though 
so  much  is  said  of  the  Cavalier  type  in  the  southern  slates  it  was  everywhere  insignificant  in 
numbers,  and  comparatively  few  of  the  southern  men  of  mark  have  belonged  to  it.  Blount 
was  really  of  Cavalier  blood.  He  was  descended  from  a  Boyalist  baronet,  who  was  roughly 
handled  by  the  Cromwellians,  and  whose  three  sons  came  to  America.  One  of  them  settled 
in  North  Carolina,  near  Albemarle  Sound,  and  from  him  came  the  new  governor  of  the  south- 
west, territory.  Blount  was  a  good-looking,  well-bred  man,  with  cultivated  tastes;  but  he 
was  also  a  man  of  force  and  energy,  who  knew  well  how  to  get  on  with  the  backswoodsmen, 
so  that  he  soon  became  popular  among  them. ' ' 

-  Omitted  by  some  historians. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  149 

Iredell,  an  associate  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.3  His  first  official  act  as  gov- 
ernor was  in  the  laying  off  and  organizing  on  October  22nd,  of  "Washington 
County  in  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  of  America  south  of  the  River 
Ohio."  In  rapid  succession  he  organized  Sullivan,  Greene,  Hawkins,  Davidson, 
Sumner,  and  Tennessee  counties. 

In  each  county  he  established  courts  and  military  organizations  and  ap- 
pointed the  county  officers — justices  of  the  peace,  sheriffs,  deputy  sheriffs,  con- 
stables, registers,  coroners,  clerks  of  courts,  county  attorneys,  militia  officers,  etc. 
He  also  issued  licenses  to  practice  law.  Among  the  county  officers  appointed 
were,  James  Winchester,  Landon  Carter,  James  Allison,  David  Allison,  John 
Rhea,  Charles  Robertson,4  Edward  Tate,  James  White,  Stockly  Donelson,  Jo- 
seph McMinn,  F.  A.  Ramsey,  John  Rains,  Andrew  Ewing,  Isaac  Bledsoe,  Kas- 
per  Mansker,  Ezekiel  Polk,  Luke  Lea,  Charles  McClung,  Nicholas,  Howell  Tatum 
and  others  who  then  and  afterwards  were  makers  of  the  history  of  Tennessee. 

At  first  the  two  judicial  districts  previously  in  existence,  Washington  and 
Mero,  were  continued,  and  in  each  of  the  counties  justice  was  administered  by 
the  "Inferior  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,"  composed  of  the  justices 
of  the  peace,  similar  to  our  present  county  court  except  that  it  possessed  more 
extensive  powers.  The  court  in  each  of  the  judicial  districts  was  called  the 
"Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity." 

Other  important  appointments  made  by  Blount  were  the  following:  Hugh 
Lawson  White,  Willie  Blount,  and  Richard  Mitchell,  his  secretaries;  Francis 
Alexander  Ramsey  (father  of  the  historian  Ramsey),  clerk  of  the  Superior  Court 
for  the  District  of  Washington,  and  Andrew  Russell,  clerk  and  master  in  equity 
for  the  same  district ;  Thomas  King,  lieutenant  colonel ;  Francis  A.  Ramsey,  first 
major;  George  Farragut  (father  of  Admiral  Farragut),  second  major  in  the 
cavalry  of  the  District  of  Washington.  The  following  were  appointed  "to  prac- 
tice as  attorneys  in  the  several  courts  of  law  and  equity  in  the  territory :  Archi- 
bald Roan,  Joseph  Hamilton,  Waightstill  Avery,  James  Rees,  John  Rhea,  Jo- 
siah  Love,  John  Overton,  Andrew  Jackson,  David  Allison,  Howell  Tatum,  James 
Cole  Mountflorence  and  James  White ;  Robert  Hays,  lieutenant  colonel,  Edwin 
Hickman,  first  major  and  George  Winchester,  second  major  of  the  cavalry  of 
Mero  District;  David  Allison,  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Law  for  Mero  Dis- 
trict ;  Joseph  Sitgreaves,  clerk  and  master  in  equity ;  Wm.  Cocke,  attorney  gen- 
eral for  the  District  of  Washington ;  Andrew  Jackson,  attorney  general  for  the 
District  of  Mero.5 

On  September  10,  1792,  Andrew  Jackson  received  his  first  military  appoint- 
ment, "judge  advocate  for  the  Davidson  Regiment." 

blount's  conduct  and  popularity 

When  Governor  Blount  first  arrived  he  made  his  residence  with  William 
Cobb,  a  wealthy  farmer,  who  lived  near  Washington  Courthouse,  between  the 


3  Governor  Blount  kept  a  journal  as  executive  of  the  Southwest  Territory,  which  journal 
constituted  his  report  made  to  the  U.  S.  Department  of  State.  A  copy  of  this  journal,  authen- 
ticated by  the  signature  of  Daniel  Smith,  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  is  preserved  in  the 
Archives  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society.  This  journal  was  published  in  the  American 
Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  213-277.  It  is  in  two  parts:  the  one  extending  from  the 
organization  of  the  territory  to  March  1,  1794;  the  other  from  this  date  to  March  1,  1796, 
when  Tennessee  had  virtually  entered  statehood.  This  journal  is  a  very  important  and  in- 
structive historical  document,  being  an  epitome  of  the  entire  territorial  government. 

*  He  spelled  his  name  Roberson. 

5  Blount's  Journal  in   American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  234-247. 


150  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Holston  and  the  French  Broad.  He  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  his  duties 
with  earnestness  and  tireless  energy.  He  looked  upon  his  position,  autocratic 
though  it  was,  as  merely  that  of  one  who  was  to  prepare  the  people  for  state- 
hood :  who  was  an  exemplar  and  an  instrument  for  carrying  out  the  popular 
will.  This  attitude  is  confirmed  by  his  statement  in  his  journal  relative  to  the 
appointments  he  made:  "These  and  all  other  commissions  issued  by  the  gov- 
ernor, were  to  continue  during  good  behavior  or  the  existence  of  the  temporary 
government  of  the  United  States  of  America  south  of  the  River  Ohio." 

During  Blount's  incumbency  of  nearly  six  years  as  territorial  governor  he 
encountered  many  perplexities  which  he  handled,  in  general,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  people.  Prominent  among  his  difficulties  were  the  relations  with  the  In- 
dians, in  dealing  with  whom  he  was  greatly  handicapped  by  the  attitude  of  the 
National  Government. 

Early  in  Washington's  first  term  as  President  unsuccessful  efforts  had  been 
made  to  effect  a  treaty  with  the  southern  Indians.  But  in  1790  Alexander  Mc- 
Gillivray,  the  Creek  chief,  was  persuaded  to  go  to  New  York  City,  then  the 
national  capital,  to  discuss  with  "the  great  white  father"  the  matter  of  a  treaty. 
McGillivray  took  with  him  twenty-eight  of  the  principal  chiefs  who  were  flat- 
tered and  entertained,  especially  by  the  Tammany  Society,  then  recently  formed, 
the  result  of  the  visit  being  a  treaty,  unsatisfactory  both  to  the  Creeks  and  to 
the  people  of  the  Southwest  Territory.6 

Blount  thereupon  invited  the  Cherokees,  also,  to  make  a  treaty.  In  his  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Indians,  Blount  was  hampered  by  the  policy  of  the  general 
government,  ' ' a  course  of  forbearance  and  conciliation " ;  "to  act  only  on  the 
defensive  toward  the  Indians,  for  fear  of  offending  the  Spaniards  who  had 
unjustifiably  taken  them  under  their  protection."  Blount  found  the  Chicka- 
saws  and  the  Choctaws  tractable  and  held  a  friendly  conference  with  them  at 
Nashville.  He  sought  to  have  one,  also,  with  the  Cherokees,  but  hostile  chiefs 
and  treacherous  traders  thwarted  his  purpose.  In  this  exigency  he  sought  the 
best  man  available  for  conciliating  the  Indians  and  bringing  them  to  a  meeting. 
Naturally,  he  selected  James  Robertson,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  gone 
to  the  Cherokees  on  a  similar  mission  in  July,  1777.  So,  again,  in  1791  he 
visited  the  Cherokee  nation  and  was  welcomed  by  them  as  a  brave,  friendly  and 
honest  man.  They  trusted  him  and  agreed  to  attend  a  meeting  at  Knoxville, 
and  did  attend  it  numerously.  The  result  was  the  Treaty  of  Holston,  signed 
on  July  2,  1791,  and  confirmed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  on  Novem- 
ber 11,  1791. 

But  notwithstanding  the  Treaty  of  New  York,  the  Creeks  became  more  and 
more  hostile,  their  aggressions  being  directed  principally  against  the  Cumber- 
land settlers,  the  thieves  and  murderers  coming  mainly  from  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Chickamauga  towns,  where  Creeks  and  Cherokees  had  intermarried.  Nat- 
urally the  settlers  desired  to  carry  on  war  against  the  miscreants  who  stole  their 
horses  and  killed  their  relatives.  Blount,  however,  under  instructions  from 
the  United  States  Government  could  give  them  no  permission  to  invade  the  lands 
of  the  Indians  and  merely  to  repulse  attacks.  Yet  these  attacks  were  made  so 
secretly,  so  slyly  that  defense  or  even  pursuit  was  well-nigh  impossible. 

The  situation  in  Tennessee  was  aggravated  in  1791  by  the  action  of  the  State 
of  Georgia  in  disposing  of  a  tract  of  land  aggregating  3,500,000  acres,  lying 
at  the  great  bend  of  the  Tennessee  River  to  the  Tennessee  Company,  consisting 


«  See  Putnam,  pp.  342-343. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  151 

of  Zachariah  Cox  and  his  associates.  The  proposed  settlement  irritated  the 
Indians  and  was  prohibited  by  the  United  States  Government.  Nevertheless. 
Cox  and  his  party  proceeded  and  erected  a  blockhouse  and  other  defenses  on  an 
island  at  Muscle  Shoals  and  proceeded  industriously  to  interest  settlers  to  locate, 
until  their  enterprise  was  stopped ;  until  the  Indians,  under  The  Glass,  threat- 
ened to  put  them  to  death,  when  the  interlopers  withdrew. 

The  entire  six  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States 
south  of  the  River  Ohio  (commonly  called  the  Southwest  Territory)  was  a 
period  of  constant  struggle  with  the  Indians.  During  this  period  the  Indians 
committed  almost  innumerable  individual  murders  and  thefts.  The  occurrences 
of  most  magnitude  were  the  following: 

On  June  26,  1792,  the  Creeks  attacked  and  captured  Zeigler's  Station,7  a 
fort  near  Cairo,  in  Sumner  County,  only  one  month  after  the  friendly  confer- 
ence with  the  Indians  at  Coyatee ; 

On  September  30,  1792,  a  force  of  Creeks,  Cherokees,  Chickamaugas  and 
Shawnees,  under  John  "Watts,  one  of  Governor  Blount's  "champions  of  peace," 
.  attacked  Buchanan 's  Station  and  were  gallantly  defeated  and  driven  off  by  a 
remarkable  defense ; 

In  November,  1793,  Capt.  Samuel  Handly,  with  sixty  mounted  men,  was 
defeated  near  Crab  Orchard  by  Cherokees,  Creeks  and  Shawnees,  under  Middle 
Striker,  and  Captain  Handly  was  wounded  and  captured ;  8 

On  September  25,  1793,  Cherokees  and  Creeks  destroyed  Cavett's  Station 
and  murdered  the  family  of  thirteen,  except  one  boy.  So  great  was  the  wrath 
aroused  by  this  act  that  Daniel  Smith,  acting  governor  in  the  absence  of  Blount, 
authorized  General  Sevier  to  invade  the  territory  of  the  Cherokees  and  Creeks. 
He  did  so  with  his  accustomed  celerity,  ability  and  success,  defeating  them  and 
burning  their  towns,  and,  on  October  17,  1793,  defeated  an  Indian  force  under 
King  Fisher  (killed  by  Hugh  Lawson  White)  at  Etowah9  (now  Rome,  GaJ. 
This  victory  virtually  ended  the  Indian  hostilities  in  Washington  District; 

On  April  21,  1794,  two  Bledsoe  boys  were  murdered  by  the  Indians  on 
Drake's  Creek,  in  Sumner  County,  near  Rock  Castle,1"  the  famous  home  of 
Gen.  Daniel  Smith ; 

On  September  15,  1794,  Major  Ore,  acting  under  orders  given  him  by  Gen- 
eral Robertson,  attacked  and  destroyed  the  Indian  towns  of  Nickajack  and  Run- 
ning Water,  towns  of  the  Chickamaugas,  the  home  and  rendezvous  of  the  worst 
elements  among  the  Indians,  including  some  renegade  half-breeds  and  whites. 
Joseph  Brown,  who  had  been  captured  by  these  Indians,  was  one  of  the  guides 
of  the  invading  force.11  General  Robertson  was  severely  censured  by  Governor 
Blount  and  by  the  Federal  authorities  for  giving  the  order  for  this  expedition 
and,  in  consequence,  resigned  his  commission  as  brigadier  general.     But   the 


7  Putnam,  p.  :!78. 

8  See  Captain  Handly 's  narrative  in  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  86-90; 
also  Eamsey,  pp.  571-572. 

9  Pronounced  Hightower. 

i°  Michaux  in  his  "  Travels  West  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,"  which  were  made  in  1802, 
says  on  page  253 :  "On  the  road  we  stopped  with  different  friends  of  Mr.  Fisk ;  among 
others  with  General  Smith,  one  of  the  oldest  inhabitants  of  this  country  where  he  has 
resided  16  or  17  yrs.     America  is  indebted  to  him  for  the  best  map  of  the  State  We 

also,  on  our  journey,  visited  General  Winchester,  who  was  engaged  in  finishing  a  stone  house, 
very  elegant   for  the  country. ' ' 

11  For  more  detailed  accounts  of  Joseph  Brown  and  of  this  battle,  see  chapters  on  Indian 
Wars  and  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places.  Also,  see  Ramsey,  pp.  616,  618  and  Putnam,  pp. 
484,  485. 


152  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

people  approved  his  course  enthusiastically;  and  this  severe  retaliation  together 
with  Sevier's  punishment  of  the  Indians  but  a  short  time  before  put  an  end 
to  the  Indian  wars. 

THE  TERRITORIAL  LEGISLATURE 

The  ordinance  adopted  for  the  government  of  the  Southwest  Territory  pro- 
vided that  as  soon  as  proof  should  be  made  to  the  governor  that  there  were 
5.000  free  male  inhabitants  of  full  age  in  the  territory,  there  should  be  an 
flection  of  representatives  from  the  counties  or  townships  in  the  General  As- 
sembly. Proof  of  this  fact  having  been  given  to  the  governor  he  issued  the 
following  proclamation : 

Proclamation  by  William  Blount 

governor  in  and  over  the  territory  op  the  united  states  of  america, 
south  of  the  river  ohio. 

Aii  Ordinance,  giving  authority  for  the  election  of  representatives  to  repre- 
sent the  people  in  General  Assembly. 

Proof  having  been  made  to  me,  that  there  are  five  thousand  and  upwards 
of  free  male  inhabitants,  of  full  age,  in  the  said  Territory :  I  DO  give  authority 
for  the  election  of  representatives  to  represent  the  people  in  General  Assembly; 
and  do  ordain,  that  an  election  shall  be  held  by  ballot,  for  thirteen  representa- 
tives, to  represent  the  people  for  two  years  in  General  Assembly,  on  the  third 
Friday  and  Saturday  in  December  next ;  qualified  as  provided  and  required  by 
the  ordinance  of  Congress,  of  July  13th,  1787,  for  the  government  of  the  ter- 
ritory north  of  the  Ohio,  and  by  free  male  inhabitants,  of  full  age  qualified  as 
electors ;  as  also  provided  and  required  by  the  said  ordinance,  of  whom  the 
electors  of  the  counties  of  Washington,  Hawkins,  Jefferson,  and  Knox,  shall 
elect  two  each  for  said  counties ;  and  the  electors  for  the  counties  of  Sullivan, 
Greene,  Tennessee,  Davidson  and  Sumner,  shall  elect  one  for  each  of  those 
counties. 

And  Be  It  Ordained,  That  the  said  election  for  the  representatives  to  repre- 
sent the  people  in  general  assembly,  shall  be  held  at  the  Court  houses  in  each 
county  by  the  Sheriff  thereof ;  and  in  case  of  his  absence  or  inability,  his  deputy, 
or  the  coroner  thereof,  with  the  advice  and  the  assistance  of  inspectors  of  the 
polls,  in  the  manner  and  form  as  prescribed  and  directed  by  the  laws  of  North 
Carolina,  respecting  the  holding  of  election  in  that  State.  And  the  said  Sheriff 
or  other  officer  holding  the  said  election,  is  directed  and  required  to  report  to 
the  Secretary's  office  at  Knoxville,  as  early  as  may  be  the  name  or  names  of 
persons  duly  elected,  to  represent  the  respective  counties. 

Done  at  Knoxville,  in  the  Territory  aforesaid,  this  the  19th  day  of  October, 
1793. 

Wm.  Blount. 

The  election  was  duly  held  and  the  Territorial  Legislature  assembled  at 
Knoxville,  February  24,  1794.12 

The  Legislature  consisted  of  thirteen  members,  as  follows :  David  Wilson, 
of  Sumner  County;  Leroy  Taylor  and  John  Tipton,  of  Washington  County; 
George  Rutherford,  of  Sullivan ;  Joseph  Hardin,  of  Greene ;  William  Cocke  and 
Joseph  McMinn,  of  Hawkins ;  Alexander  Kelly  and  John  Beard,  of  Knox ;  Sam- 
uel Wear  and  George  Doherty,  of  Jefferson;  James  White,  of  Davidson,  and 
James  Ford,  of  Tennessee. 


i-  American   Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  257-262. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  153 

David  Wilson  was  chosen  as  speaker  and  Hopkins  Lacy  as  clerk. 

The  Legislature  nominated  the  following  from  whom  live  were  to  be  selected 
by  President  Washington  to  compose  the  Council  of  Territory :  James  Win- 
chester, William  Fort,  Stockly  Donelson,  Richard  Gammon,  David  Russell,  John 
Sevier,  Adam  Meek,  John  Adair,  Griffith  Rutherford,  and  Parmenas  Taylor. 
President  Washington  selected  and  commissioned:  Griffith  Rutherford,  John 
Sevier,  James  Winchester,  Stockly  Donelson  and  Parmenas  Taylor. 

Griffith  Rutherford  was  elected  president  of  the  Council;  George  Roulstone, 
clerk;  Christopher  Shoat,  doorkeeper. 

The  House  of  Representatives  followed  the  rule  of  the  House  of  Commons 
of  England  in  permitting  members  to  sit  with  hats  on  when  the  House  was  in 
session. 

Rule  VIII  of  the  "Rules  of  Decorum"  provided  that:  "He  that  digresseth 
from  the  subject  to  fall  upon  the  person  of  any  member  shall  be  suppressed 
by  the  Speaker." 

KNOXVILLE,  THE  TERRITORIAL  CAPITAL 

Gen.  James  White  established,  in  1786,  the  first  habitation  in  what  is  now 
Knoxville.  He  built  a  strong  fort  there  which,  for  some  years,  was  called 
"White's  Port."  In  1792  Governor  Blount  organized  Knox  County,  which  he 
named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Henry  Knox,  at  that  time  secretary  of  war,  and  White's 
Fort  was  changed  to  Knoxville,  which  was  made  the  capital  in  place  of  Rogers- 
ville,  which  had  been  the  first  seat  of  the  territorial  government.  Governor 
Blount  established  his  residence  in  Knoxville  in  March,  1792,  and  occupied  a 
cabin  between  the  present  site  of  the  University  of  Tennessee  and  the  river. 
Later,  probably  in  1793,  he  built  what  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  frame  resi- 
dence west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  at  the  corner  of  State  Street  and  Hill 
Avenue. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  Treaty  of  Holston,13  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant acts  of  Governor  Blount's  administration.  A  marker,  commemorating  the 
making  of  this  treaty,  was  placed  by  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution  on 
the  site  of  the  home  of  Governor  Blount,  on  July  2,  1908.  The  following  is  the 
inscription : 

"Commemorating  the  Treaty  of  Holston,  signed  by  Gov.  Wm.  Blount  and 
41  chiefs  and  warriors  on  the  site  of  the  home  of  Governor  Blount,  corner  Hill 
Avenue  and  State  Street,  Knoxville,  July  12,  1791.  Erected  by  the  Sons  of 
the  American  Revolution,  July  2,  1908."  14 

A  marker  has  also  been  placed  by  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion on  the  site  of  the  first  block-house,  erected  in  1792.  This  marker  was  placed 
with  appropriate  exercises  on  February  5,  1902.  Admiral  Schley  and  Governor 
Benton  McMillin  were  the  speakers. 

PROGRESS   OF   THE   TERRITORY 

During  the  existence  of  the  territorial  government  the  following  new  coun- 
ties were  established:     Jefferson  and  Knox,  in  1792,  by  ordinance  of  the  gov- 


is  For    an    excellent    account    of    the    meeting    resulting    in    this    treaty,    see    Heiskell's 
"Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  65-66. 
1*  Ibid.,  p.  66. 


lf>4  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ernor;  Sevier,  in  1794,  and  Blount,15  in  1795,  by  act  of  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture. The  Hamilton  District,  comprising  the  counties  of  Knox  and  Jefferson, 
was  established  by  ordinance  of  the  governor,  on  March  13,  1793. 

The  interest  in  education  shown  by  these  people  of  the  primitive  regions 
west  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains,  during  the  territorial  government  was  most 
remarkable  and  the  actions  the  Legislature  took  in  the  promotion  of  educa- 
tional institutions  was  an  indubitable  precursor  and  index  of  the  commanding 
leadership  in  scholastic  matters  in  the  Southwest  which  was  later  to  characterize 
the  State  of  Tennessee.  In  that  early  day  the  Legislature  incorporated  three 
colleges  which  are  still  in  existence :  Greeneville  College,  in  Greene  County ; 
Blount  College,  now  the  University  of  Tennessee,  in  Knox  County;  and  Wash- 
ington College,  in  Washington.16 

PREPARATIONS  FOR  STATEHOOD 

By  the  spring  of  1795  the  widespread  desire  among  the  people  for  state- 
hood, which  had  for  so  long  been  crystallizing,  seemed  about  to  be  realized.  State- 
hood was  wished,  not  only  as  the  consummation  of  a  higher  political  plane,  of 
an  attainment  of  real,  independent  self-government,  but,  also,  and  particularly, 
as  a  means  of  protecting  themselves  against  the  attacks  of  the  Indians  from 
whom  they  had  suffered  so  much. 

The  matter  of  creating  a  new  state  out  of  the  territory  had  been  left  by 
Congress  to  a  vote  of  the  people.  The  excellent  financial  condition  of  the  terri- 
tory, as  shown  by  the  report  of  the  joint  committee  of  the  Legislature  and  the 
great  increase  in  the  population  were  predisposing  reasons  in  the  minds  of  both 
people  and  governor  that  the  time  was  come  when  the  territory  should  be 
erected  into  a  state. 

Even  at  the  first  session  of  the  Territorial  Assembly,  which  met  on  August 
25,  1794,  preparations  for  statehood  were  begun.  First  Governor  Blount  was 
asked  to  have  a  census  taken.  Another  resolution  was  passed  to  the  effect  that 
inquiry  be  made  as  to  the  disposition  of  the  people  of  the  territory  relative 
to  creating  a  state  government  in  place  of  the  territorial  government. 

Governor  Blount,  while  earnestly  in  favor  of  the  admission  of  the  territory 
as  a  state,  did  not  take  action  at  that  time  on  the  resolutions.  As  no  territory 
of  the  United  States  had  yet  been  given  statehood,  it  seemed  to  him  wise,  in  the 
absence  of  an  expression  of  Congress  on  this  point,  to  ascertain  in  advance 
what  steps  that  body  would  require  to  be  taken.  For  this  purpose  Dr.  James 
White,  the  territorial  delegate  in  Congress  made  diligent  inquiry  of  the  mem- 
bers and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Congress  would  not  act  in  any  way  prior 
to  an  application  made  by  the  territory.  He  (White)  thought  that  the  proper 
action  would  be  for  a  convention  to  be  called  to  adopt  a  constitution  to  take 
effect  as  soon  as  Congress  should  pass  an  act  of  admission. 

Thereupon  Governor  Blount  issued  a  call  for  an  extraordinary  session  of 
the  Assembly,  which  met  at  Knoxville,  June  29,  1795.  It  was  in  session  only 
thirteen  days  and,  on  its  last  day,  passed  an  act  for  the  enumeration  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  territory,  in  which  act  provision  was  made  that  "if  it  shall 


!5  This  county  was  named  in  honor  of  Governor  Blount,  and  the  county  seat,  Maryville, 
in  honor  of  his  wife,  Mary  Grainger  Blount.  Following  this  precedent,  Elizabethton  was 
named  in  honor  of  Elizabeth  Carter,  wife  of  Landon  Carter,  after  whom  the  county  was 
named. 

i<!  See  chapter  on   Education   in   Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  155 

appear  that  there  are  60,000  inhabitants  therein  *  *  *  the  governor  be  au- 
thorized and  requested  to  recommend  to  the  people  of  the  respective  counties, 
to  elect  five  persons  of  each  county  to  represent  them  in  convention,  to  meet  at 
Knoxville  at  such  time  as  he  shall  judge  proper,  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  constitution  or  form  of  government,  for  the  permanent  government  of  the 
people  who  are  or  shall  become  residents  upon  the  lands  by  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  ceded  to  the  United  States." 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act  a  census  was  taken  which  showed 
a  population  of  77,262,  of  whom  66,649  were  free  inhabitants  and  10,613  slaves. 
On  November  28th,  Governor  Blount  announced  that  there  were  6,504  votes 
cast  for  organizing  a  state,  and  2,562  against  so  doing.17  This  strong  minority 
was  due  largely  to  the  great  popularity  of  William  Blount  and  satisfaction  with 
his  government.  Strangely  enough  the  opposition  to  statehood  was  strongest 
in  Mero  District,  where  only  ninety-six  votes  were  cast  in  favor  of  it  in  David- 
son County  and  fifty-eight  in  Tennessee  County.  On  the  same  date,  November 
28,  1795,  Governor  Blount  issued  a  proclamation  recommending  to  the  people 
of  the  respective  counties  to  elect  five  persons  for  each  county,  on  the  18th  and 
19th  days  of  December  next,  to  represent  them  in  a  convention  to  meet  at  Knox- 
ville on  the  eleventh  day  of  January  next,  "for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  con- 
stitution or  permanent  form  of  government. "  He  closed  his  proclamation  by 
saying  "that  this  recommendation  is  not  intended  to  have,  nor  ought  to  have, 
any  effect  whatever  upon  the  present  temporary  form  of  government ;  and  that 
the  present  temporary  form  will  continue  to  be  exercised  in  the  same  manner  as 
if  it  had  never  been  issued,  until  the  convention  shall  have  formed  and  pub- 
lished a  constitution  or  permanent  form  of  government." 

Blount  and  the  people  generally  believed  that,  in  accordance  with  the  agree- 
ment between  Nortb  Carolina  and  the  Federal  Government  embodied  in  the 
cession  act,  which  was  accepted  by  the  United  States,  the  territory  was  entitled 
to  statehood  as  soon  as  it  possessed  the  requisite  population.  When  the  matter 
subsequently  came  up  in  Congress,  this  view  finally  prevailed. 

THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION   OP  1796 

In  accordance  with  Governor  Blount's  proclamation  the  elections  for  five 
delegates  to  the  convention  were  held  in  the  eleven  counties  then  organized  in 
the  territory,  and  they  assembled  on  the  day  appointed,  January  11,  1796.  The 
personnel  of  the  members  of  the  convention  was  as  follows : 

From  Blount  County — David  Craig,  James  Greenaway,  Joseph  Black,  Sam- 
uel Glass,  James  Houston. 

From  Davidson  County — John  McNairy,  Andrew  Jackson,  James  Robert- 
son, Thomas  Hardeman,  Joel  Lewis. 

From  Greene  County — Samuel  Frazier,  Stephen  Brooks,  William  Rankin, 
John  Galbreath,  Elisha  Baker. 

From  Hawkins  County — James  Berry,  Thomas  Henderson,  Joseph  McMinn, 
William  Cocke,  Richard  Mitchell. 

From  Jefferson  County — Alexander  Outlaw,  Joseph  Anderson,  George 
Doherty,  James  Roddye,  Archibald  Roane. 

From  Knox  County — William  Blount,  James  White,  Charles  McClung,  John 
Adair,  John  Crawford. 


i"  Eamsey,  p.  648. 


156  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

From  Sevier  County — Peter  Bryan,  Samuel  Wear,  Spencer  Clack,  John 
Clack,  Thomas  Buckenhem. 

From  Sullivan  County — George  Rutledge,  "William  C.  C.  Claiborne,  John 
Shelby,  Jr.,  John  Rhea,  Richard  Gammon. 

From  Sumner  County — D.  Shelby,  Isaac  Walton,  W.  Douglas,  Edward 
Douglas,  David  Smith. 

From  Tennessee  County — Thomas  Johnston,  James  Ford,  William  Fort, 
Robert  Prince,  William  Prince. 

From  Washington  County — Landon  Carter,  John  Tipton,  Leroy  Taylor, 
James  Stuart,  Samuel  Handley. 

The  convention  was  held  in  the  office  of  David  Handley,  agent  of  the  war 
department.  In  common  with  the  other  members  of  the  Legislative  Council, 
John  Sevier  was  not  a  member  of  the  convention. 

William  Blount  was  elected  president  of  the  convention ;  William  Maclin, 
secretary;  John  Sevier,  Jr.,  reading  and  engrossing  clerk;  John  Rhea,  door- 
keeper. 

Two  members  from  each  county  were  elected  to  draft  a  constitution.  These 
were: 

Craig  and  Black  from  Blount. 

McNairy  and  Jackson  from  Davidson. 

Frazier  and  Rankin  from  Greene. 

Cocke  and  Henderson  from  Hawkins. 

Anderson  and  Roddye  from  Jefferson. 

Blount  and  McClung  from  Knox. 

Wear  and  John  Clack  from  Sevier. 

Claiborne  and  Rhea  from  Sullivan. 

Shelby  and  Smith  from  Sumner. 

Johnston  and  Fort  from  Tennessee. 

Tipton  and  Stuart  from  Washington. 

Daniel  Smith  was  made  chairman  of  this  committee. 

That  the  people  were  determined  upon  statehood  in  any  event  is  shown  by 
a  significant  action  recorded  as  follows : 

"It  was  then  moved  by  Mr.  Outlaw  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Anderson,  whether 
it  is  the  sense  of  this  house  that  we  should  not  be  admitted  by  Congress,  as 
member  States  of  the  general  government,  that  we  should  continue  to  exist  as 
an  independent  State.  Mr.  Cocke  moved,  and  was  seconded  by  Mr.  David 
Shelby,  that  the  above  question  be  postponed,  which  was  objected  to;  the 
question  was  then  put,  and  carried  in  the  affirmative."18 

It  is  a  tradition  that  at  the  suggestion  of  Andrew  Jackson  the  name  of 
Tennessee  was  adopted  for  the  new  state. 

The  constitution  reported  by  the  committee  and  unanimously  adopted  by 
the  convention  was  not  submitted  to  the  people  for  ratification.  Like  that  of 
Franklin  it  was  based  largely  upon  the  constitution  of  North  Carolina.  It  was 
pronounced  by  Thomas  Jefferson  to  be  "the  least  imperfect  and  most  repub- 
lican" of  the  systems  of  government  adopted  by  the  American  states. 

After  adopting  this  constitution  the  convention  adjourned  on  February  6, 
1796,  having  been  in  session  only  twenty-seven  days. 

The  full  text  of  the  constitution  will  be  found  in  the  appendix. 


18  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1796. 


CHAPTER  XI 
INDIAN  WARS  AND  WARRIORS  OP  TENNESSEE 

The  early  history  of  Tennessee  is  largely  made  up  of  encounters  with  the 
Indians.  It  has,  therefore,  been  thought  proper,  if  not  indeed  incumbent,  to 
devote  a  special  section  of  this  history  to  a  consecutive  account  of  these  wars 
with  the  Indians,  in  which  Tennesseans  had  a  part,  extending  from  1730  to 
1807.  The  war  with  the  Creek  Indians,  1813-1814,  is  necessarily  treated  sep- 
arately. 

The  chapter  on  "Indian  Wars  and  Warriors  of  Tennessee"  is  a  collection 
and  an  abridgment  of  A.  V.  Goodpasture's  series  of  articles  entitled  "Indian 
Wars  and  Warriors  of  the  Old  Southwest,  1730-1807,"  which  was  printed  in 
the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  in  1918  (Vol.  4,  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4).  It  consti- 
tutes a  most  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  old  Southwest. 

REASONS  FOR  THE  DEADLY   ANIMOSITY   OP   THE   INDIAN 

Preparatory  to  a  discussion  of  Indian  wars  and  atrocities,  it  may  be  well 
for  the  student  of  history  to  arrange  clearly  in  his  mind  the  underlying  causes 
for  the  barbarous  treatment  of  the  whites  by  the  red  men. 

First.  The  Indian  from  the  beginning  hated  the  white  man  and  his  civiliza- 
tion on  general  principles. 

Second.  Every  charter  given  any  man  or  set  of  men  who  came  to  live  in 
America,  the  home  of  the  Indian,  contained  a  proviso  that  the  Indian  should  be 
civilized  and  Christianized.  The  missionary  was  sent  in  advance  and  the  sword 
followed.  ' '  The  settler  had  a  Bible  in  one  hand  and  a  rifle  in  the  other. ' '  Both 
met  with  resistance,  but  the  sword  prevailed. 

Third.  The  Indians  knew  that  they  had  been  subjected  to  every  form  of 
evil  which  the  whites  could  possibly  inflict  on  them.  They  complained  "that 
white  men  broke  into  the  stores  of  their  traders  and  carried  off  their  goods." 
Restitution  was  promised,  but  never  carried  out. 

Fourth.  The  whites  were  "land  hungry"  and  constantly  encroaching  upon 
the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Indians. 

Section  I 

OCONOSTOTA    AND    ATTAKULLAKULLA 

The  Cherokee  Indians  first  became  known  to  the  white  man  in  1540,  when 
the  daring  Spanish  adventurer,  Fernando  De  Soto,  entered  their  country  in 
his  fruitless  search  for  gold.  They  were  the  mountaineers  of  the  South,  and 
held  all  the  Alleghany  region  from  Southwest  Virginia  to  Northern  Georgia, 
their  principal  towns  being  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Savannah,  Hiwassee,  and 
Tuckasegee,  and  upon  the  whole  course  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  grouped 
in  three  main  settlements,  known  as  the  Lower  towns,  the  Middle  or  Valley 

157 

Vol.  I— 1 1 


158  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

towns,  and  the  Overhill  towns.  Their  hunting  ground,  whose  boundaries  were 
vague  and  shadowy,  and  in  many  places  contested,  may  be  said,  in  a  general  way, 
to  have  embraced  all  the  extensive  domain  encircled  by  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee 
rivers,  including  the  blue  grass  regions  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  which  the 
Indians  called  the  "dark  and  bloody  ground."1 

Their  men  were  large,  tall,  and  robust;  in  complexion  somewhat  lighter 
than  the  men  of  the  neighboring  tribes ;  while  some  of  their  young  women  were 
nearly  as  fair  and  blooming  as  European  maidens.  Their  dispositions  and  man- 
ners were  grave  and  steady ;  their  deportment  dignified  and  circumspect.  In 
conversation  they  were  rather  slow  and  reserved,  yet  frank  and  cheerful;  in 
council,  secret,  deliberate,  and  determined.  Like  all  true  mountaineers,  they 
stood  ready  to  sacrifice  every  pleasure  and  gratification,  even  life  itself,  to  the 
defense  of  their  homes  and  hunting  grounds.2 

To  check  the  growing  influence  of  the  French,  Governor  Nicholson,  of  South 
Carolina,  held  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce  with  the  Cherokees  in  1721. 
Afterwards  the  Royal  government  took  the  matter  up  with  a  view  of  drawing 
them  into  a  closer  alliance.  For  this  purpose  Sir  Alexander  Cumming  was  sent 
to  the  Cherokee  Nation  in  the  spring  of  1730,  and  met  the  chiefs  of  all  their 
towns  in  the  council  house  at  Nequassee,  on  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  near  the 
present  Town  of  Franklin,  N.  C.  He  so  impressed  them  by  his  bold  bearing  and 
haughty  address  that  they  readily  consented  to  all  his  wishes,  acknowledging 
themselves,  on  bended  knee,  to  be  the  dutiful  subjects  of  King  George.  He 
nominated  Moytoy,  of  Tellico,  to  be  their  emperor,  a  piece  of  trumpery  invented 
by  Governor  Nicholson  nine  years  before,  which  was  wholly  without  effect,  as 
the  Cherokee  Nation  made  no  pretense  to  a  regular  government  until  nearly 
one  hundred  years  later.3  However,  it  was  agreed  to,  and  they  repaired  to  their 
capital,  Tennessee,  a  few  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  on  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee River,  where  a  symbol,  made  of  five  eagle  tails  and  four  scalps  of  their 
enemies,  which  Sir  Alexander  called  the  crown  of  the  nation,  was  brought  forth, 
and  he  was  requested  to  lay  it  at  the  feet  of  his  sovereign  on  his  return.4 

The  mention  by  Sir  Alexander  Cumming  of  "Tennessee"  as  the  ancient 
capital  of  the  Cherokees,  is  the  first  time  the  name  occurs  in  history ;  from  it, 
and  not  from  any  fancied  resemblance  to  a  "big  spoon,"  the  Tennessee  River 
and  the  State  of  Tennessee  derive  their  name.5 

Seven  chiefs  accompanied  Sir  Alexander  on  his  return  to  England,  and 
there  again  entered  into  a  formal  treaty  of  friendship,  alliance,  and  commerce 
with  the  English.  Among  these  chiefs  were  two  young  men  who  deserve  to 
rank  among  the  greatest  leaders  of  their  race;  they  were  Attakullakidla,0  known 
to  the  whites  as  Little  Carpenter,  and  Oconostota,  whom  the  whites  called  the 
Great  Warrior.  The  brilliancy,  wealth,  and  power  of  the  English  Court  made 
a  powerful  impression  upon  them.  Attakullakulla  perceived  with  appalling 
force  the  defenselessness  of  his  own  people  as  against  such  an  adversary.  It 
became  the  ruling  purpose  of  his  life,  chimerical  as  it  was,  to  keep  his  nation 


i ' '  Myths  of  the  Cherokees, ' '  by  James  Mooney,  p.  14. 

2  "Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  East  and  West  Florida,  the 
Cherokee  Country,  the  Extensive  Territories  of  the  Muscogulgees  or  Creek  Confederacy,  and 
the  Country  of  the  Choctaws, "  by  William  Bartram,  pp.  482-3. 

s  Opinions  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee.  The  State  vs.  James  Fore- 
man, Nashville,  1835,  pp.  34-5. 

4Kamsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  46-7;  Drake's  "Indians  of  North  America," 
15th  edition,  pp.  366-7. 

5  Bamsey,  p.  47,  note. 

sHewat's  "Historical  Account  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,"  Vol.  II,  p.  221. 


OLD  BLOCK  HOUSE,  KNOXVILLE 


[HE  MBRMW 

Of  1HE 

UNIVERSI1Y  OP  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  161 

at  peace  with  the  English.  Profiting  by  his  friendly  disposition,  the  authorities 
of  South  Carolina  took  up  Attakullakulla,  and  magnified  his  authority,  in  order 
to  break  the  power  and  influence  of  Oconostota.7  For  fifty  years  he  stood  out 
between  the  contending  races,  a  sublime  and,  often,  a  solitary  figure,  ever  plead- 
ing, conciliating,  pacifying.  He  was  the  grandest  and  most  amiable  leader  de- 
veloped by  his  race;  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  noble  character,  of  any  race, 
could  have  been  found  on  the  border. 

Though  he  came  of  a  race  of  large  men,  Attakullakulla  was  remarkably  small, 
and  slender  and  delicate  of  frame ;  but  he  was  endowed  with  superior  abilities.8 
He  did  little  to  distinguish  himself  in  war,  but  his  policy  and  address  were  such 
as  to  win  for  him  the  confidence  and  admiration  of  his  people.  He  was  the 
leading  diplomat  of  his  nation,  and  conducted  some  of  the  most  delicate  missions 
with  singular  tact  and  sagacity. 

Oconostota,  on  the  contrary,  was  a  daring  and  resourceful  general,  whose 
achievements  won  for  him  the  title  of  the  "Great  Warrior."  It  is  said  that  in 
all  his  expeditions  his  measures  were  so  prudently  taken  that  he  never  lost  a 
man.9  Under  his  leadership  the  Cherokees  reached  their  highest  martial  glory. 
Less  diplomatic  than  Attakullakulla,  he  was  more  bold  and  aggressive,  and,  at 
first,  hoped  by  forcible  resistance  to  stay  the  flood  of  immigration  that  was 
threatening  to  overwhelm  his  country.  I  know  not  which  course  was  the  wiser; 
neither  could  do  more  than  retard  the  progress  of  the  white.  The  inexorable 
decree  had  gone  forth  that  the  Indian  should  perish,  as  the  mound  builder  before 
him  had  perished. 

The  Overhill  towns,  scattered  along  the  grassy  valleys  and  sunny  slopes  that 
skirt  the  southern  bank  of  the  Little  Tennessee,  were  the  remotest  and  most 
important  of  the  Cherokee  settlements.  Lieutenant  Henry  Timberlake,  a  young 
Virginia  soldier,  who  spent  the  winter  of  1761-2  with  the  Overhill  Indians10  has 
left  an  account  of  his  residence  among  them,  with  a  map  of  their  country,  in 
which  he  gives  the  name  and  location  of  each  of  their  towns  with  the  number  of 
warriors  it  was  able  to  send  out.  Beginning  on  the  west  and  proceeding  up  the 
south  bank  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  we  find  Mialaquo,  24  warriors,  at  the 
Great  Island,  just  below  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  and  Tuskegee,  55  warriors,  under 
the  very  wall  of  Fort  Loudon ;  these  were  the  towns  of  Attakullakulla.  Tomot- 
ley,  91  warriors,  under  Outacite  (Judge  Friend)  and  Toquo,  82  warriors,  under 
Willinawaw,  appear  at  short  intervals  up  the  river.  Then  comes  Tennessee,  21 
warriors,  and  Chota,  175  warriors,  under  Oconostota,  described  as  king  and 
governor.  Still  higher  up  were  Citico,  in  the  shadow  of  Chilhowee  Mountain, 
204  warriors,  under  Cheulah ;  then  Chilhowee,  opposite  the  mouth  of  Abraham 's 
Creek,  110  warriors,  and  Tallasee,  in  the  extreme  east,  with  47  warriors,  whose 
chiefs  we  are  now  unable  to  identify. 

Attakullakulla,  in  his  negotiations  with  Governor  Glen,  had  not  dreamed  of 
a  fort  that  would  Command  their  beloved  town  of  Chota,  the  capital  and  pride 
of  the  nation,  their  only  city  of  refuge.  When  he  perceived  the  strength  and 
permanent  character  of  the  fortress,  the  great  council  at  Chota,  under  his  lead- 


i  Adair 's  ' '  American  Indians, ' '  p.  81. 

8"Bartram's  Travels,"  p.  482. 

s  "  Timberlake 's  Memoirs,"  p.   72. 

10  "The  Memoirs  of  Lieut.  Henry  Timberlake"  (who  accompanied  the  three  Cherokee 
Indians  to  England  in  the  year  1762),  containing  whatever  he  observed  remarkable  or  worthy 
of  public  notice,  during  his  travels  to  and  from  that  nation ;  wherein  the  country,  government, 
genius  and  customs  of  the  inhabitants  are  authentically  described.  Also  the  principal  occur- 
rences during  their  residence  in  London.  Illustrated  with  an  accurate  map  of  their  Overhill 
settlements,  etc.,  London.     MDCCLXV. 


162  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ership,  ordered  the  work  to  stop,  and  the  garrison,  then  on  its  way,  to  turn  back. 
But  it  was  too  late.  The  fort  was  completed,  and  garrisoned  by  two  hundred 
British  regulars,  with  twelve  pieces  of  artillery.  It  was  named  for  the  Earl  of 
Loudon,  and  apart  from  its  melancholy  history,  is  remarkable  as  being  the  first 
Anglo-American  structure  erected  in  Tennessee. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  war  Attakullakulla  asked  the  governor  of  South 
Carolina  to  appoint  his  friend,  Captain  Stuart,  to  reside  among  the  Indians; 
assuring  him  that,  if  he  should  be  appointed,  the  province  wovdd  suffer  no 
further  molestation  from  them.  The  assembly  likewise  tendered  Captain  Stuart 
a  vote  of  thanks,  together  with  a  reward  of  £1,500,  for  his  heroic  defense  of  Port 
Loudon,  and  recommended  him  to  the  governor  as  a  man  worthy  of  preference  in 
the  service  of  the  province.  When,  therefore,  the  Royal  government  found  it 
expedient  that  the  southern  district  should  have  a  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs,  with  powers  similar  to  those  exercised  by  Sir  William  Johnson,  in  the 
northern  district,  the  appointment  was  given  to  Capt.  John  Stuart,1  who  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  the  office  with  distinguished  ability  and  fidelity  until  the 
beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  wrar. 

Colonel  William  Byrd  in  1761,  marched  from  Virginia  against  the  Overhill 
towns.  He  left  the  regiment  at  Stalnaker's,  and  the  command  devolved  upon 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Stephen,  who  advanced  as  far  as  the  Long  Island  of  Holston. 
Here  he  halted  and  began  the  erection  of  a  fort.  While  he  was  still  engaged  in 
this  work,  about  the  middle  of  November,  1761,  Oconostota,  accompanied  by  four 
hundred  of  his  people,  came  in  to  ask  for  terms  of  peace,  which  were  concluded 
on  the  19th  of  November,  1761. 

From  the  execution  of  this  treaty  the  colonies  were  at  peace  with  the  whole 
of  the  Cherokee  nation,  but  in  the  meantime  Fort  Loudon  had  been  permanently 
abandoned,  and  the  settlement  of  Tennessee  delayed  for  ten  years. 

Little  more  remains  to  be  told  of  the  two  famous  old  chiefs  who  were  the 
central  figures  in  this  war ;  the  one  as  a  warrior,  and  the  other  as  a  peacemaker. 
For  the  next  fifteen  years  their  talks  were  white,  and  their  people  kept  the  path 
straight.  They  prevented  Cameron  from  removing  the  Watauga  settlers  in 
1772 ;  and  when  the  British  persuaded  their  young  warriors  to  dig  up  the  hatchet 
in  1776,  they  still  counseled  peace.  Both  signed  the  treaty  of  Holston  in  1777, 
and  from  that  time  held  the  Americans  firmly  by  the  hand.  They,  with  Willina- 
waw,  were  appointed  by  the  nation  to  wait  upon  the  governor  of  North  Carolina, 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  him  to  open  trade  with  the  Cherokees,  and  thereby 
counteract  the  influence  of  Cameron,  who  refused  to  trade  with  them  as  long 
as  they  were  at  peace  with  the  Americans.2  Attakullakulla  must  have  died  soon 
afterwards,  as  this  is  the  last  time  his  name  is  mentioned  in  the  records. 

Oconostota  lived  a  few  more  stormy  years.  Chota,  which  had  been  spared  by 
Christian  in  1776,  was  destroyed  by  Campbell  and  Sevier  during  the  last  days 
of  1780,  and  Oconostota  was  compelled  to  flee  to  the  mountains,  where  he  estab- 
lished a  temporary  residence,3  though  he  afterwards  returned  to  his  beloved 
town.  In  the  fall  of  1781,  the  British  agent  in  Georgia  nominated  The  Raven 
as  principal  chief  in  opposition  to  Oconostota,  and  gave  him  a  medal  as  a  token 
of  his  authority.4     After  this  revolt  of  the  war  party,  Oconostota  undertook  to 


i  Hewat,  Vol.  2,  p.  276. 

2  James  Eobertson  to  Governor  Caswell,  October  17,  1777.     State  Records  of  North  Caro- 
lina, Vol.  II,  p.  654. 

3  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  602. 

*  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  pp.  446-7. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  163 

resign  his  position  in  favor  of  his  son,  Tuekasee,  a  friendly  chief,  and  asked 
Colonel  Martin  to  assist  at  the  ceremony  of  his  installation,  in  the  name  of  Vir- 
ginia.5 Although  Oconostota  claimed  the  consent  of  the  whole  nation,  Tuekasee 
was  never  received  as  its  principal  chief,  that  honor  having  fallen  to  another 
friendly  chief,  called  The  Tassel. 

Oconostota  died  in  the  spring  of  1785,  and  his  influence  was  greatly  missed 
by  the  American  agent. G  His  death  as  well  as  the  death  of  Attakullakulla,  was 
spoken  of  at  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  in  1785,  as  an  event  well  known  to  the 
whites  as  well  as  the  Indians.7 

CHEROKEE   INVASION   OP   HOLSTON 

The  close  of  the  Cherokee  war  in  1761  was  followed  in  1763  by  the  Treaty  of 
Paris,  by  which  France  ceded  the  whole  of  the  western  country  to  England.  The 
French,  entertaining  little  desire  for  the  lands  of  the  Indians,  had  aroused  their 
jealousy  by  pointing  out  the  encroachments  of  the  English,  who  they  asserted, 
intended  to  dispossess  them  of  the  whole  country.  To  allay  this  feeling,  King 
George  III  issued  his  famous  proclamation  of  October  1,  1763.  This  was  an 
epochmaking  document,  and  may  be  fairly  called  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  North 
American  Indians.  It  was  the  first  instrument  to  assign  them  territorial  limits, 
and  to  guarantee  their  right  to  the  hunting  grounds  set  apart  to  them.  It 
defines  the  Indian  boundary  to  be  the  watershed  dividing  the  waters  of  the 
Atlantic  from  those  flowing  to  the  westward ;  and  makes  the  first  distinct  general 
prohibition  against  British  subjects  purchasing  lands  from  the  Indians,  or 
settling  within  their  hunting  grounds.1 

To  enforce  obedience  to  this  proclamation,  and  preserve  friendly  relations 
with  the  Indians  of  the  South,  Capt.  John  Stuart,  as  we  have  seen,  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  Southern  district.  Born  in  Scotland 
about  the  year  1700,  he  emigrated  to  America  in  1733,  received  a  subordinate 
command  in  the  British  service,  and  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Fort 
Loudon.  Upright  and  faithful  dealings  with  the  Cherokees  made  him  a  general 
favorite  with  them,  and  gave  him  an  unbounded  influence  as  superintendent  of 
Indian  affairs.2 

The  year  1772  found  a  handful  of  adventurous  pioneers  located  on  the  his- 
toric banks  of  the  Watauga  River,  in  East  Tennessee.  They  had  settled  there 
under  the  belief  that  they  were  within  the  territorial  limits  of  Virginia,  whose 
back  country  had  been  opened  to  settlement  under  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix, 
in  1768.  But  a  survey  made  at  this  time  by  Colonel  Anthony  Bledsoe  disclosed 
the  fact  that  they  were  on  the  Cherokee  hunting  ground,  beyond  the  jurisdiction 
of  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  When  this  became  apparent,  Alexander 
Cameron,  Indian  agent  resident  among  the  Cherokees,  ordered  them  to  move  off. 
This  was  a  supreme  crisis  in  the  affairs  of  the  settlement.  It  was  finally  solved 
by  the  friendly  Cherokee  chiefs  expressing  the  wish  that  they  might  be  permitted 


s  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  p.  234. 

6  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  4,  p.  54.  The  story  that  he  was  still  alive  in 
1809,  a  victim  of  strong  drink,  as  repeated  in  Thwaites  and  Kellogg 's  "Dunmore's  War," 
pp.  38-9,  is,  of  course,  apocryphal,  as  he  had  then  been  dead  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

i  American   State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  42. 

i  The  State  vs.  James  Foreman,  Nashville,  1836,  pp.  23-4.  Opinion  by  Chief  Justice 
Catron.  See  also  the  Laws  of  the  United  States,  Resolutions  of  Congress  under  the  Confedera- 
tion, Treaties,  Proclamations,  and  other  Documents  Having  Operation  and  Respect  to  the 
Public  Lands,  etc.,  Washington,  1817,  p.  28,  where  the  proclamation  may  be  found  in  full. 

2  Mooney  's  ' '  Myths  of  the  Cherokees, ' '  p.  203. 


164  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

to  remain,  on  condition  that  they  would  not  encroach  beyond  the  land  they  then 
had.  The  Watauga  settlers  being  prohibited  by  the  King's  proclamation  from 
purchasing  their  lands  from  the  Indians,  availed  themselves  of  the  friendly 
disposition  of  their  chiefs,  and  leased  them  for  a  term  of  ten  years.  Three  years 
later,  when  Henderson  and  Company  made  their  famous  Transylvania  purchase 
at  Sycamore  Shoals,  the  Watauga  and  Nollichucky  settlers  followed  Iheir  ex- 
ample, and  bought  their  lands  in  fee  simple.3  Their  deeds  were  signed  by 
Oconostota,  Attakullaknlla,  Tennesy  Warrior,  and  Willinawaw. 

When  the  Revolutionary  war  came,  the  British  government  determined  to 
employ  the  Indians  against  the  southern  and  western  frontiers.  The  organiza- 
tion of  the  southern  tribes  was  intrusted  to  Superintendent  Stuart.  Their  gen- 
eral plan,  which  was  only  partially  successful,  was  to  land  an  army  in  West 
Florida,  march  them  through  the  country  of  the  Creeks  and  Chickasaws,  who 
were  each  to  furnish  five  hundred  warriors ;  and  thence  to  Chota,  the  capital  of 
the  Cherokee  nation.  Being  reinforced  by  the  Cherokees  they  were  to  invade  the 
whole  of  the  southern  frontier,  while  the  attention  of  the  colonies  was  diverted 
by  formidable  naval  and  military  demonstrations  on  the  sea  coast.  Circular 
letters  outlining  the  plan,  intended  for  the  information  of  the  Tories  who  were 
expected  to  repair  to  the  royal  standards,  were  issued  May  9,  and  reached  the 
Watauga  settlement  May  18,  1776.4 

The  Cherokees,  when  the  plan  was  first  submitted  to  them,  were  not  prepared 
to  take  sides  in  the  contest. 

The  campaign  was  planned  with  the  utmost  secrecy.  It  was  agreed  that 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  should  be  attacked  simultaneously : 
the  Overhill  towns  were  to  fall  upon  the  back  settlements  of  North  Carolina  and 
Virginia ;  the  Middle  towns  were  to  invade  the  outlying  districts  of  South 
Carolina ;  and  the  Lower  towns  were  to  strike  the  frontiers  of  Georgia.  We  are 
concerned  only  with  the  movements  of  the  Overhill  towns,  which  mustered  about 
seven  hundred  warriors.  They  were  to  move  in  three  divisions ;  one  was  to 
march  against  the  Holston  settlement,  another  was  to  strike  Watauga,  and  the 
third  was  to  scour  Carter's  Valley.  The  first  division  fell  to  the  command  of 
Dragging  Canoe  (Cheucunsene),  of  Mialaquo,5  who  has  been  called  a  savage 
Napoleon,6  the  second  was  entrusted  to  Abraham  (Ooskuah),  of  Chilhowee,  a 
half-breed  chief  who  had  fought  with  Washington  on  the  frontiers  of  Virginia  ;7 
and  the  third  was  under  The  Raven  (Savanukeh),  of  Chota,  who  had  served  in 
the  same  campaign,  but  with  little  credit,  having  been  detected  in  undertaking 
to  palm  off  two  white  scalps  brought  from  his  own  country,  for  trophies  of  an 
unsuccessful  scout  against  the  French.8 

At  this  time  there  lived  in  Chota  a  famous  Indian  woman  named  Nancy 
Ward.  She  held  the  office  of  Beloved  Woman,  which  not  only  gave  her  the  right 
to  speak  in  council,  but  conferred  such  great  power  that  she  might,  by  the  wave 
of  a  swan's  wing,  deliver  a  prisoner  condemned  by  the  council,  though  already 
tied  to  the  stake.9  She  was  of  queenly  and  commanding  presence  and  manners, 
and  her  house  was  furnished  in  a  style  suitable  to  her  high  dignity.  Her  father 
is  said  to  have  been  a  British  officer,  and  her  mother  a  sister  of  Attakullakulla.10 


s  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  34-6. 

4  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  147-8,  161. 

5  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  435. 
a  Phelan  's  ' '  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  43. 

i  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  IV,  p.  342. 
s  Sparks'  "Writings  of  Washington,"  Vol.  II,  p.  284. 
s  "  Timberlake 's   Memoirs,"   p.    71. 
10Mooney's  "Myths  of  the  Cherokees,"  pp.  203-4. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  165 

Her  daughter,  Betsy,  was  the  Indian  wife  of  General  Joseph  Martin.  She  had 
a  son,  Little  Fellow,  and  a  brother,  Long  Fellow  (Tuskegetchee),  who  were  influ- 
ential chiefs.11  The  latter  boasted  that  he  commanded  seven  towns,  while  thir- 
teen others  listened  to  his  talks ;  and  though  he  had  once  loved  war  and  lived  at 
Chickamauga,  at  the  request  of  his  nephew,  General  Martin,  he  had  moved  to 
Chestua,  midway  between  Chota  and  Chickamauga,  where  he  stood  like  a  wall 
between  bad  people  and  his  brothers,  the  Virginians.12  Like  her  distinguished 
uncle,  Nancy  Ward  was  a  consistent  advocate  of  peace,  and  constant  in  her  good 
offices  to  both  races.  She  gave  timely  warning  and  assistance  to  the  traders 
when  the  young  warriors  dug  up  the  hatchet  in  1781  ;13  and  delivered  condemned 
prisoners  from  the  stake,  as  we  shall  see.  When  Campbell 's  army  was  straitened 
for  provisions,  she  had  cattle  driven  in  and  furnished  them  with  beef.14  She 
was  a  successful  cattle  raiser,  and  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  introduce  that 
industry  among  the  Cherokees,15  who,  though  they  had  numerous  breeds  of 
horses  and  hogs,  were  entirely  without  cattle  and  sheep,  as  late  as  1762. 1(i  After- 
wards she  interceded  with  the  victorious  Americans  for  her  unhappy  people.17 
She  intervened  with  conspicuous  success  in  private  disputes  between  the 
frontiersmen  and  the  Indians.18  Haywood  has  justly  called  her  another 
Pocahontas. 

When  Nancy  Ward  found  that  her  people  had  fallen  in  with  the  plans  of 
Stuart  and  Cameron,  she  communicated  the  intelligence  to  a  trader  named  Isaac 
Thomas,  and  provided  him  with  the  means  of  setting  out  as  an  express  to  warn 
the  back  settlers  of  their  danger.  Thomas  was  a  man  of  character  and  a  true 
American,  who  has  left  distinguished  descendants  in  the  state  of  Louisiana. 
Accompanied  by  a  man  named  William  Faulen,  he  lost  no  time  in  conveying  the 
alarming  intelligence  to  the  people  on  the  Watauga  and  Holston.  His  services 
were  afterwards  recognized  and  rewarded  by  the  State  of  Virginia. 

The  information  conveyed  by  Thomas  produced  great  consternation  on  the 
border.  Couriers  were  despatched  in  every  direction.  They  had  not  had  an 
Indian  war  since  the  settlement  was  begun,  some  seven  years  before.  There  was 
not  a  fort  or  blockhouse  from  Wolf  Hills  westward.  But  preparations  for 
defense  now  became  nervously  active ;  the  people  rushed  together  in  every  neigh- 
borhood and  hurriedly  constructed  forts  and  stockades.  For  our  purpose  it  is 
necessary  to  mention  only  Eaton's  Station  and  Fort  Watauga. 

Eaton's  Station  was  six  miles  from  the  Long  Island  of  Holston,  on  the  road 
leading  to  Wolf  Hills.  It  had  been  built  in  advance  of  the  settlement,  and  was 
garrisoned  by  a  small  body  of  men,  who  fortified  it  on  the  alarm  of  the  approach- 
ing Indians.  Here  five  small  companies,  aggregating  one  hundred  and  seventy 
men,  raised  in  the  Holston  settlements,  and  commanded  by  their  senior  captain, 
James  Thompson,  collected  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  Dragging  Canoe,  who 
was  understood  to  be  advancing  with  his  detachment  of  the  Indian  forces. 

July  19,  1776,  Captain  Thompson's  scouts  came  in  and  reported  a  great 
number  of  Indians  making  for  the  settlements.  A  council  of  war  determined 
that  it  would  be  best  to  move  forward  and  meet  them,  engaging  them  wherever 

11  "Gen.  Joseph  Martin  and  the  War  of  the  Revolution  in  the  West,"  by  Prof.  Stephen 
B.  Weeks,  p.  423 ;  Publications  of  the  Southern  History  Association,  Vol.  IV,  p.  458. 

12  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  IV,  p.  307. 

13  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  458. 
i4  Weeks'  "Gen.  Joseph  Martin,"  p.  431. 

"Mooney's  "Myths  of  the  Cherokees,"  p.  213,  citing  "Nuttall's  Travels,"  p.  130. 

is  ' '  Timberlake  's  Memoirs, ' '  p.  47. 

17  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  435. 

is  Eamsey,  p.  273. 


166  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

found,  as  they  migrht  otherwise  pass  the  fort,  break  into  small  parties,  and 
massacre  the  women  and  children  in  its  rear.  On  the  20th  they  marched  about 
six  miles  to  the  low,  marshy  ground,  called  the  Flats,  that  lay  along  the  north 
bank  of  the  Holston,  opposite  the  Long  Island.  There  the  scouts  encountered 
and  repulsed  a  small  party  of  Indians.  The  ground  being  unfavorable  for  pur- 
suit, a  council  of  officers  determined  that  it  would  be  best  to  retire  to  the  fort; 
but  before  they  had  gone  more  than  a  mile,  they  were  attacked  in  the  rear  by  a 
force  not  inferior  to  their  own.  The  Indians  engaged  them  in  the  open,  and 
fought  with  great  fury,  making  vigorous  but  ineffectual  efforts  to  surround  them. 
The  battle  lasted  only  a  few  minutes,  when  the  Indians  retired,  leaving  thirteen 
dead  on  the  field,  besides  the  dead  and  wounded  they  were  able  to  carry  off. 
None  of  the  whites  was  killed,  and  only  four  of  them  were  seriously  wounded.19 

The  next  day,  July  21,  at  sunrise  the  Indians  under  Abraham  assaulted  Fort 
Watauga,  on  the  Watauga  River.  This  fort  was  defended  by  Captain  James 
Robertson  and  Lieutenant  John  Sevier,  with  a  garrison  of  forty  men.  The 
Indians  were  repulsed  with  considerable  loss,  which  could  not  be  definitely  ascer- 
tained. It  was  here  that  Lieutenant  Sevier  received  to  his  arms,  as  she  fled  from 
the  Indians,  Miss  Catherine  Sherrill,  who  subsequently  became  his  wife,  and  is 
affectionately  known  as  Bonny  Kate.20  The  investment  continued  with  more  or 
less  rigor  for  twenty  days,  when  the  Indians  finally  withdrew.21 

The  party  led  by  The  Raven  struck  across  the  country  to  Carter's  Valley, 
but  finding  the  inhabitants  shut  up  in  forts,  and  being  intimidated  by  news  of 
the  defeat  of  Dragging  Canoe,  and  the  repulse  of  Abraham,  abandoned  the  enter- 
prise and  returned  to  their  towns.22 

A  fourth  division,  or  more  probably,  the  first  division,  after  its  defeat  at 
Long  Island  Flats,  divided  into  small  parties  and  swept  up  the  valley  of  the 
Clinch  from  the  remotest  settlement  to  the  Seven  Mile  Ford,  in  Virginia.  One 
of  these  parties  made  a  sudden  descent  on  the  Wolf  Hills  settlement,  and  attacked 
the  Reverend  Charles  Cummings,  a  militant  Presbyterian  preacher,  noted  for 
his  habit  of  riding  to  his  appointments  with  his  rifle  on  his  shoulder,  which  he 
deposited  on  the  pulpit  before  commencing  the  services  of  the  day.  He  had  four 
companions  with  him  at  the  time,  and  was  on  the  way  to  his  field.  At  the  first 
fire  William  Ci-eswell,  one  of  the  heroes  of  Long  Island  Flats,  was  killed,  and 
two  others  were  wounded.  But  with  his  remaining  companion,  and  the  trusty 
rifle,  which  he  carried  to  the  field  as  well  as  to  the  pulpit,  he  held  his  own  with 
the  Indians  until  relieved  by  the  men  from  the  fort.23 

Upon  the  whole,  the  Indian  invasion  was  a  failure,  owing  to  the  timely  warn- 
ing of  Nancy  Ward,  and  the  concentration  of  the  inhabitants  in  forts  built  in 
consequence  of  the  information  she  conveyed.  If  the  well-guarded  secret  of  the 
Indian  campaign  had  not  been  disclosed,  and  they  had  been  permitted  to  steal 
upon  the  defenseless  backwoodsmen,  who,  in  fancied  security,  had  remained 
scattered  over  the  extensive  frontiers,  every  soul  of  them  would  probably  have 
been  swept  from  the  borders  of  Tennessee.  As  it  was,  only  slight  injury  was 
inflicted  on  the  whites ;  two  or  three  were  killed,  a  few  more  wounded,  and  two 


is  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  62;  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  154, 
where  the  official  report  of  the  battle  may  be  found;  Phelan's  "History  of  Tennessee," 
p.  43. 

20  Putnam's  "History  of  Middle   Tennessee,"  p.  52. 

2i  Eamsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  156-7. 

22  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  159. 

23  Eamsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  160. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  167 

were  taken  prisoners.  On  the  other  hand,  its  consequences  were  fatal  to  the 
Indians.  The  whites  having  felt  their  strength  no  longer  feared  them ;  and  the 
Overhill  towns,  which  had  never  yet  been  invaded  were  soon  to  feel  their 
avenging  arm. 

The  two  prisoners  mentioned  who  were  taken  during  the  siege  of  Fort 
Watauga  were  Mrs.  William  Bean,  mother  of  the  first  white  child  horn  in  Ten- 
nessee, and  a  boy  named  Samuel  Moore.  They  were  carried  to  one  of  the  Over- 
hill  towns,  called  Tuskegee,  situated  just  above  the  mouth  of  Tellico,  on  the 
Little  Tennessee  River,  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County,  Tennessee.  Here  they 
were  condemned  to  be  burned  at  the  stake.  Mrs.  Bean  was  bound,  taken  to  the 
top  of  a  mound,  and  was  about  to  be  burned,  when  Nancy  Ward  interposed  and 
pronounced  her  pardon.24  Moore  was  not  so  fortunate ;  he  was  actually  tortured 
to  death  by  burning.25  The  Tassel  afterwards  asserted,  no  doubt  truthfully,  that 
he  was  the  only  white  person  ever  burned  by  the  Indians  in  Tennessee.26 

i  \ 

RISE   OF   THE   CHICKAMAUGAS 

The  Cherokee  invasion  of  1776  aroused  the  neighboring  states  to  extraordi- 
nary exertions.  They  determined  to  strike  the  Indians  such  a  blow  as  would 
deter  them  from  again  listening  to  the  talks  of  the  British.  By  a  concerted 
movement,  four  expeditions  were  speedily  organized  to  enter  their  country  simul- 
taneously, from  as  many  different  directions.  North  Carolina  sent  twenty-four 
hundred  men  under  General  Griffith  Rutherford,  who  laid  waste  their  country 
upon  the  Oconaluftee  and  Tuckasegee,  and  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee and  Hiwassee ;  the  South  Carolina  men,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty  strong, 
carried  frightful  destruction  to  their  towns  and  settlements  on  the  Savannah; 
while  two  hundred  Georgians,  under  Colonel  Samuel  Jack,  devastated  their  towns 
on  the  head  of  the  Chattahoochee  and  Tugaloo. 

The  Virginia  forces,  including  those  from  the  Tennessee  settlements,  num- 
bered about  two  thousand  men,  and  were  commanded  by  Colonel  William  Chris- 
tian, an  officer  of  great  humanity,  as  well  as  courage  and  address.  They  marched 
against  the  Overhill  towns,  which  they  took  without  resistance,  the  Indians  being 
daunted  by  their  overwhelming  numbers.  Pursuing  the  same  policy  followed  by 
the  other  commanders,  Colonel  Christian  destroyed  many  of  their  towns,  but 
with  diplomatic  discrimination,  he  spared  those  like  Chota,  which  had  been  dis- 
posed to  peace,  his  purpose  being  to  convince  the  Indians  that  he  warred  only 
with  enemies. 

The  Cherokee  country  was  desolated  from  the  Virginia  line  to  the  Chatta- 
hoochee. Their  loss  of  life  and  property  was  appalling.  More  than  fifty  of  their 
towns  had  been  burned,  their  orchards  cut  down,  their  fields  wasted,  their  cattle 
and  horses  killed  or  driven  off,  and  their  personal  property  plundered.  Hun- 
dreds of  their  people  had  been  killed,  or  died  of  hunger  and  exposure.  Those 
who  escaped  were  fugitives  in  the  mountains,  living  on  nuts  and  wild  game,  or 
were  refugees  with  Superintendent  Stuart,  who  had  fled  to  Florida.1 

Under  these  circumstances  the  Cherokees  were  compelled  to  sue  for  peace. 
Two  separate  treaties  were  made.  The  first  was  concluded  with  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  at  Dewitt's  Corner,  May  20,  1777,  and  ceded  all  their  lands  in  South 


--•  Ramsey  's  ' '  Annals  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  157. 

-5  Eamsey 's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  158. 

28  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  IV,  p.  306. 

iMooney's  "Myths  of  the  Cherokees,"  p.  51. 


168  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Carolina  and  eastward  of  the  Unaka  Mountains.2  After  Colonel  Christian  had 
destroyed  the  Overhill  towns,  he  invited  their  chiefs  to  come  in  and  treat  for 
peace.  Six  or  seven  of  them  appeared.  The  terms  imposed  upon  them  were  the 
surrender  of  all  prisoners,  and  the  cession  of  the  disputed  territory  occupied  by 
the  Tennessee  settlements,  as  soon  as  representatives  of  the  whole  tribe  could  be 
assembled  in  the  spring.3  In  accordance  with  this  agreement  the  treaty  with 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina  was  held  at  Long  Island  of  Holston,  July  20,  1777, 
and  was  signed  by  twenty  of  their  principal  chiefs.4 

The  Chickamauga  towns  prospered.  A  general  tribal  movement  to  the  west, 
made  necessary  by  the  encroachments  of  the  white  settlements  east  of  the  moun- 
tains, had  already  set  in.  Refugees  from  the  Savannah  towns  were  building  new 
homes  upon  the  Coosa.  Many  of  those  driven  out  from  the  headwaters  of  the 
Little  Tennessee  and  Hiwassee  joined  themselves  to  the  Chickamaugas.  They 
held  fast  to  the  talks  of  the  English  and  continued  in  open  hostility  to  the 
Americans.  Chickamauga  became  the  rallying  point  for  the  British  interest  in 
the  Southwest.  Colonel  Brown,  the  successor  of  Superintendent  Stuart  and  his 
deputy,  John  McDonald,  were  regularly  quartered  there.5  They  had  also  gotten 
in  communication  with  the  British  Governor,  Henry  Hamilton,  at  Detroit,  and 
promised  a  contingent  of  warriors  to  assist  him  in  the  reduction  of  the  north- 
western frontiers. 

Before  the  spring  had  arrived,  however,  Colonel  Clark,  after  one  of  the  most 
arduous  and  difficult  marches  on  record,  retook  Port  Vincennes,  February  25, 
1779,  and  sent  Governor  Hamilton  a  prisoner  to  Virginia.  The  spring  campaign 
in  the  northwest  having  now  failed,  the  Chickamaugas  determined  to  invade  the 
frontiers  on  Holston.  Warning  of  their  purpose  was  conveyed  to  the  settlements 
by  Captain  James  Robertson  from  the  friendly  town  of  Chota,  where  he  was 
stationed  as  the  first  American  agent  to  the  Cherokees,  and  the  border  counties 
of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  at  once  raised  a  force  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
volunteers  under  Colonel  Evan  Shelby,  of  King's  Meadows.  They  were  joined 
by  a  regiment  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  twelve-months  men  under  Colonel  John 
Montgomery,  which  had  just  been  enlisted  for  the  reinforcement  of  Colonel 
Clark,  and  embarked  on  the  Holston  River,  April  10,  1779.  They  descended 
the  river  in  pirogues  and  canoes  built  for  the  occasion,  and  took  the  Indians  so 
completely  by  surprise  that  the  few  warriors  not  out  on  the  war  path,  fled  to  the 
mountains  without  making  the  slightest  resistance. 

Colonel  Shelby,  following  the  now  well  established  and  most  approved  method 
of  Indian  warfare,  burned  the  town  of  Chickamauga  and  ten  villages  around  it, 
destroyed  twenty  thousand  bushels  of  corn,  which  had  probably  been  collected 
there  to  forward  the  expeditions  which  were  to  have  been  launched  at  the  council 
they  were  to  hold  with  Governor  Hamilton  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee,  and 
other  provisions,  and  carried  off  their  cattle,  horses  and  peltries,  together  with 
the  British  stores,  which  sold  for  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dollars.6 
Their  warriors,  on  learning  through  runners  of  the  destruction  of  their  towns, 


2  "The  Cherokee  Nation 'of  Indians,"  by  Charles  C.  Koyce.  Fifth  Annual  Keport  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  150. 

a  < '  Myths  of  the  Cherokees, ' '  p.  51. 

*  The  whole  treaty,  and  a  report  of  the  proceedings  during  the  negotiations,  may  be  found 
in  the  appendix  to  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee"  (2nd  Ed.),  pp. 
501-14. 

s  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  p.  271 ;  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Af- 
fairs, Vol.  I,  327,  532. 

0  Jefferson's  Correspondence,  Vol.  I,  p.  163. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  169 

abandoned  their  campaign  against  the  frontiers,  and  returned  to  their  desolated 
homes.7 

The  temporary  tranquillity  that  followed  the  destruction  of  the  Chickamauga 
towns  gave  the  patriots  of  Watauga  and  Holston  an  opportunity  to  win  glory 
for  their  country  and  laurels  for  themselves  by  their  unprecedented  victory  over 
the  British  at  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain.  But  their  temporary  absence  from 
the  border  likewise  afforded  the  Chickamaugas  an  opportunity  to  form  a  coali- 
tion with  the  Overhill  towns  for  a  second  general  invasion  of  the  frontier  settle- 
ments.8 This  was  frustrated  by  the  promptness  with  which  the  border  militia 
took  the  field  and  carried  the  war  into  the  Indian  country.  Colonel  John  Sevier, 
without  a  day's  rest  after  his  return  from  King's  Mountain,  was  the  first  in  the 
field,  with  about  three  hundred  men  from  Washington  County,  N.  C.  On  the 
sixteenth  of  December,  1780,  he  fell  in  with  a  large  party  of  Indians,  and  won 
the  brilliant  victory  of  Boyd's  Creek — the  battle  in  which  Gilmore  erroneously 
supposes  that  Dragging  Canoe  was  killed.  He  was  probably  not  present,  as  the 
Indians  engaged  were  mostly  from  Chota.  Colonel  Sevier  then  retired  to  the 
Big  Island  of  French  Broad,  to  await  reinforcements. 

On  the  22d  he  was  joined  by  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,  of  Washington 
County,  Va.,  and  Major  Joseph  Martin,  of  Sullivan  County,  N.  C,  with  some 
four  hundred  men.  The  united  forces  marched,  first  against  the  Overhill  towns, 
and  then  to  those  on  the  Hiwassee,  where  many  of  the  Chickamaugas  had  taken 
refuge  after  the  destruction  of  their  towns  by  Colonels  Shelby  and  Montgomery, 
but  they  nowhere  encountered  any  further  resistance.  They  did  not  penetrate 
as  far  south  as  Chickamauga.  After  destroying  the  Indian  towns  and  property 
in  the  usual  fashion,  they  began  their  homeward  march  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1781.9 

In  the  summer  of  1781  a  treaty  of  peace  was  concluded  with  the  Overhill 
towns,  but  the  Chickamaugas  were  still  inflexible,  and  instead  of  suing  for  peace, 
were  winning  over  to  the  war  party  new  allies  in  the  Cherokee  towns  on  the  Coosa, 
and  among  the  neighboring  Creeks.10  They  were  a  constant  menace  to  the  peace 
and  safety  of  the  frontiers,  and  in  September,  1782,  Colonel  Sevier  again  invaded 
their  country.  Passing  by  the  friendly  towns  on  the  Little  Tennessee,  he  devas- 
tated the  Indian  settlements  from  the  Hiwassee  to  the  Coosa  River,  without  meet- 
ing a  foe  in  the  field.11  This  was  the  third  time  in  three  years  that  their  coun- 
try had  been  overrun. 

These  annual  incursions  which  laid  waste  their  country,  and  destroyed  the 
meager  stores  provided  for  their  subsistence,  became  intolerable  to  the  Chicka- 
maugas. They  could  not  have  lived — they  would  have  died  of  starvation,  if  such 
conditions  had  continued.  The  whites  hoped  it  would  result  in  a  general  peace, 
but  the  genius  of  the  indomitable  Dragging  Canoe  found  another  solution  of 
their  difficulties. 

The  passage  of  the  Tennessee  River  through  the  Cumberland  Mountain  range 
at  Chattanooga  is  one  of  the  most  unique  achievements  of  nature.  In  its  rapid 
descent  it  has  cut  deep  through  the  solid  stone,  leaving  towering  cliffs  and 
precipices  on  either  shore,  in  some  places  scarcely  leaving  room  for  a  path  be- 


~  Ramsey,  pp.  186-8;  Mooney,  p.  55. 
s  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  271. 

9  Arthur  Campbell 's  Eeport,  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  pp.  135-7 ;   Ram- 
sey, pp.  261-8;  James  Sevier,  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  41-2. 
io  Ramsey,  p.  271. 
«  Ramsey,  pp.  272-3;  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  p.  43. 


170  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

twt't'ii  them  and  the  impetuous  current  of  the  river.  The  prospect  from  Lookout 
Mountain  is  almost  incredible,  reaching,  it  is  said,  the  territory  of  seven  states. 
The  favorite  view  is  called  the  point,  a  projecting  angle  of  the  cliff,  almost 
directly  above  the  river,  which  affords  a  commanding  "lookout"  from  which  the 
mountain  received  its  name.  Confined  within  its  narrow  banks,  the  rapidly 
descending  stream  rushes  with  fretful  turbulence  over  immense  boulders  and 
masses  of  rock,  creating  a  succession  of  cataracts  and  vortices,  making  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  of  navigation.  Along  its  wild  and  romantic  shores  are  coves 
and  gorges  running  back  into  the  mountains,  forming  inaccessible  retreats.  At  a 
point  about  thirty-six  miles  below  Chattanooga,  Nickajack  Cave,  an  immense 
cavern,  some  thirty  yards  wide,  with  a  maximum  height  of  fifteen  feet,  opens 
its  main  entrance  on  the  river.12 

Among  these  impregnable  fastnesses  Dragging  Canoe  found  an  asylum  for 
his  people;  here  he  built  the  five  Lower  towns  of  the  Chickamaugas — Running 
Water,  Nickajack,  and  Long  Island  towns,  in  Tennessee,  and  Crow  and  Lookout 
Mountain  towns,  in  Alabama  and  Georgia,  respectively.  In  addition  to  the 
security  offered  by  their  positions,  it  gave  them  the  advantage  of  being  near 
the  Indian  path,  where  the  hunting  and  war  parties  of  the  Creeks  of  the  south, 
and  the  Shawnees  of  the  north,  crossed  the  Tennessee  River.  Their  strength  was 
augmented  from  the  Creeks,  Shawnees,  and  white  Tories,  until  they  numbered  a 
thousand  warriors,  and  became  the  most  formidable  part  of  their  nation.  It 
has  been  said  that  they  abandoned  Chickamauga  Creek  on  account  of  witches,13 
but  I  agree  with  Colonel  Arthur  Campbell,14  that  the  real  cause  was  the  raids  of 
the  Watauga  and  Holston  militia. 

CHICKASAW  INVASION  OF  CUMBERLAND 

The  magnificent  country  that  Henderson  and  Company  bought  from  the 
Cherokee  Indians  in  1775,  and  which  they  called  Transylvania,  included  within 
its  boundaries  the  beautiful  valley  of  the  Cumberland  in  Tennessee.  The 
pioneers  of  Cumberland,  being  widely  separated  from  the  nearest  station  then 
being  planted  by  Henderson  and  Company  in  Kentucky,  and  still  more  distinctly 
removed  from  their  parent  settlements  on  the  Watauga  and  Nollichucky,  had  a 
career  unconnected  with  either  of  them,  and  made  a  history  distinct  from  them 
both.  At  the  treaty  of  Sycamore  Shoals,  Dragging  Canoe,  afterwards  the  founder 
and  head  chief  of  the  Chickamauga  towns,  warned  Colonel  Henderson  that  the 
land  he  was  getting  was  bloody  ground,  and  would  be  dark  and  difficult  to  settle. 
This  prophecy  was  mercilessly  fulfilled,  both  in  Kentucky  and  on  the  Cumber- 
land ;  and  the  principal  agent  in  working  its  fulfillment  in  the  latter  district  was 
Dragging  Canoe  himself,  though  the  settlement  was  surrounded  by  hostile 
Indians  on  every  side. 

The  emigrants  settled  in  numerous  stations  scattered  along  the  valley  of  the 
Cumberland.  The  central  and  most  important  of  these  was  the  Bluff,  at  Nash- 
ville; then  came  Eaton's  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  near  Lock  A;  Freeland's, 
in  north  Nashville;  Mansker's,  at  Goodlettsville ;  Asher's,  near  Gallatin;  Donel- 
son's,  at  Clover  Bottom,  on  Stone's  River;  Union,  about  six  miles  above  Nash- 
ville; and  Renf roe's,  which  has  already  been  mentioned.  There  were  probably 
not  above  one  hundred  men  in  all  the  settlement  at  this  time ;  there  were  less 


12  Ramsey,  pp.   183,  184. 

is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  431. 

i*  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  271. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  171 

than  two  hundred  in  the  year  1783.  Colonel  Donelson's  experience  proved  that 
they  were  threatened  by  hostile  bands  of  Indians  on  at  least  two  sides:  The 
Chickamaugas,  on  the  east,  who  wished  to  exterminate  the  whites;  and  the 
marauding  Cherokees  and  Creeks  of  the  Muscle  Shoals,  on  the  south,  who  desired 
to  plunder  them.  They  had  already  been  disturbed  by  the  Delawares,  of  the 
north,  a  party  of  whom  camped  on  a  branch  of  Mill  Creek,  since  called  Indian 
Creek,  in  January,  1780  ;  and  in  July  or  August  of  that  year  killed  poor  Jonathan 
Jennings.1  But  they  came  in  contact  with  the  settlers  by  accident,  and  did  them 
comparatively  small  damage. 

To  complete  the  circle  of  their  enemies,  an  event  happened  this  year  that 
brought  upon  the  young  colony  a  dangerous  invasion  from  the  Indians  of  the 
west.  The  Chickasaws,  who  lived  upon  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  about 
the  present  city  of  Memphis,  were  the  undisputed  proprietors  of  all  the  lands 
lying  between  the  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  Rivers.  As  early  as  June,  1778, 
Governor  Jefferson  had  instructed  Colonel  George  Rogers  Clark  to  establish  a 
military  post  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  Just  at  that  time,  however,  he  was 
engaged  in  his  marvelous  campaign  in  the  Northwest,  which  resulted  in  the  cap- 
ture of  Governor  Hamilton  at  Vincennes,  February  25,  1779.  In  March  Colonel 
Clark  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  only  method  of  maintaining  American 
authority  in  the  Illinois,  was  to  evacuate  their  present  posts,  and  center  their 
whole  force  at,  or  near,  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio ;  which  would  still  be  ineffective 
unless  a  considerable  number  of  families  could  be  settled  around  the  fort,  for 
the  purpose  of  drawing  reinforcements  and  victualing  the  garrison.2  Soon  after- 
wards he  took  two  hundred  men  from  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  and  proceeding 
down  the  river,  built  Fort  Jefferson,  and  established  a  settlement  at  the  Iron 
Banks,  about  five  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  and  within  the  hunting 
grounds  of  the  Chickasaw  Indians.3  As  soon  as  the  Chickasaws  learned  that  this 
fort  had  been  erected,  and  a  number  of  families  settled  about  it,  without  consent, 
they  took  up  arms  to  defend  their  hunting  ground.4  They  not  only  laid  siege 
to  Fort  Jefferson,  and  destroyed  the  settlement  around  it,  but  they  invaded  the 
frontiers  of  Kentucky,  and  even  penetrated  as  far  as  the  infant  settlements  on 
the  Cumberland. 

Renf roe 's  Station,  as  we  have  seen,  was  the  most  western  station  on  the  Cum- 
berland, being  some  forty  miles  northwest  of  the  Bluff.  In  June  or  July,  1780, 
a  party  of  Chickasaws  killed  Nathan  Turpin  and  another  man  at  Renf  roe's, 
which  so  alarmed  the  stationers  that  they  resolved  to  abandon  the  settlement,  and 
take  refuge  at  Freeland's;  and,  that  they  might  not  be  impeded  in  their  flight, 
they  concealed  some  of  the  least  portable  of  their  property  about  the  station 
before  they  departed.  Isaac  Renfroe  left  some  iron,  which  afterwards  became  the 
subject  of  litigation  before  the  Committee  of  Cumberland,  and  enough  of  it  was 
awarded  to  David  Rounsevall  to  satisfy  his  debt  of  £31,12s.,  and  costs.5  This  is 
mentioned  to  show  how  much  they  valued  the  few  supplies  they  were  able  to 
bring  with  them  to  the  settlement.  Having  traveled  as  far  as  they  could  through 
the  forests  and  canebrakes,  over  a  very  broken  country,  they  halted  for  the  night. 
Most  of  the  party  continued  their  journey  the  next  day,  and  reached  their 
destination  in  safety ;  the  others,  finding  they  had  been  thus  far  unmolested, 


i  Haywood,  p.  125. 

-  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  pp.  338-9. 

s  Collin's  "History  of  Kentucky,"  p.  39. 

*  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  p.  284. 

s  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VII,  p.  135. 


172  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

reproached  themselves  for  having  left  their  property  in  their  hasty  flight,  and, 
upon  consultation,  determined  to  return  to  the  abandoned  station  for  it.  They 
immediately  retraced  their  steps,  cautiously  approached  their  deserted  cabins 
and  by  daybreak  had  collected  up  their  property  and  resumed  their  march.  On 
the  way  they  picked  up  their  families,  and  at  night  all  camped  together  about 
two  miles  north  of  Sycamore  Creek,  beside  a  branch  since  called  Battle  Creek. 
Next  morning  Joseph  Renfroe  went  to  the  spring  for  water.  While  he  was  stoop- 
ing to  drink  the  Indians  fired  upon  him  from  ambush,  killing  him  instantly. 
They  then  rushed  upon  the  camp  and  massacred  the  whole  party — eleven  or 
twelve  persons — with  the  exception  of  Mrs.  Jones,  who  made  her  escape.  By 
following  the  trail  of  the  first  party  this  lone  and  frightened  woman  made  her 
way  to  Eaton's  Station.  Her  clothing  was  torn  into  shreds  as  she  hurried 
through  the  bushes  and  cane  for  a  distance  of  nearly  twenty  miles.  The  sta- 
tioners [settlers]  promptly  visited  the  scene  of  slaughter,  and  buried  the  dead; 
but  the  Indians  had  made  off  with  the  horses  and  such  other  property  as  they 
cared  for,  and  destroyed  what  they  did  not  take.  The  ground  was  white  with 
feathers  of  the  beds  they  had  ripped  up  to  get  the  ticks.6 

After  this  massacre  by  the  Chickasaws,  and  similar  ravages  by  the  Chieka- 
maugas,  presently  to  be  noticed,  all  the  stations  on  the  Cumberland  were 
abandoned  except  the  Bluff,  Eaton's  and  Freeland's.  At  this  juncture  Colonel 
Robertson  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  journey  to  Kentucky  for  the  threefold 
purpose  of  concerting  measures  for  the  defense  of  the  Cumberland;  finding 
means  to  conciliate  the  Chickasaws,  and  procuring  a  supply  of  ammunition  for 
the  stationers  [settlers].  He  returned  to  the  Bluff  on  the  11th  day  of  January, 
1781.7 

The  same  day  a  small  party  of  Indians  had  appeared  in  the  neighborhood. 
While  David  Hood  was  passing  from  Freeland's  to  the  Bluff,  they  fired  upon 
him  from  ambush  near  the  Sulphur  Spring.  He  was  pierced  by  three  balls,  and 
seeing  no  means  of  escape,  fell  upon  his  face  and  simulated  death.  The  Indians 
rushed  on  him,  and  one  of  them,  twisting  his  fingers  in  his  hair,  began  to  scalp 
him.  His  knife  being  very  dull  the  scalp  did  not  yield  rapidly ;  he  took  a  new 
hold,  and  sawed  away  until  he  could  pull  it  off.  Hood  stood  this  painful  opera- 
tion without  a  groan  or  other  sign  of  life.  After  scalping  him,  he  stamped  upon 
him  to  dislocate  his  neck,  and  left  him  for  dead.  He  lay  perfectly  quiet  until 
the  Indians  disappeared,  when  he  cautiously  peeped  out  and  found  himself  quite 
alone.  He  then  arose,  weak  and  bloody  from  his  many  wounds,  and  slowly 
wended  his  way  towards  the  Bluff.  When  he  reached  the  top  of  the  bank  he 
was  amazed  to  find  the  whole  party  of  Indians  in  front  of  him,  grinning  and 
laughing  at  his  bloody  figure  and  bewildering  predicament.  He  turned  and 
trotted  back  as  fast  as  his  waning  strength  would  carry  him,  when  they  again 
fired  upon  him,  wounding  him  slightly  in  two  places.  They  did  not  pursue  him, 
but  his  strength  failed,  and  he  crept  into  the  brushwood,  and  fainted  from  the 
loss  of  blood.  He  lay  in  this  condition  until  the  men  from  the  fort  who  had 
heard  the  firing,  found  him,  brought  him  in,  and  laid  him  in  an  outhouse,  think- 
ing him  dead  or  in  a  dying  condition.8     That  night  the  Chickasaws  assaulted 


6  Putnam '9  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  pp.  109-110;  Haywood's  "History  of 
Tennessee,"  p.  127;   Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  448-9. 

i  Dr.  Felix  Robertson,  Nashville  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  Vol.  VIII  (1855), 
quoted  in  Eve's  Remarkable  Surgical  Cases;  give  this  date  as  January  15th,  but  Doctor 
Robertson,  who  associated  the  date  with  that  of  his  own  birth,  is  more  probably  correct. 

8  Dt.  Felix  Eobertson,  Nashville  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  Vol.  8  (1855);  John 
Bains,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  2,  p.  266;  Putnam's  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee," 
pp.  156-8;   Haywood,  pp.   13.'i-4;  Ramsey,  pp.  455-6. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  173 

Freeland's  Station,  the  old  swivel  at  the  Bluff  sounded  the  tocsin  of  alarm,  its 
men  marched  to  the  relief  of  their  friends,  and  poor  Hood  was,  for  the  time,  for- 
gotten in  his  outhouse. 

Colonel  Robertson  had  reached  the  Bluff  in  the  evening,  and  learning  that 
his  family  was  at  Freeland's,  he  proceeded  to  that  station,  where  he  joined  them 
late  in  the  night.  His  wife  had  that  day  borne  him  a  son,  the  first  male  child 
born  in  the  city  of  Nashville.  That  child  was  the  eminent  Dr.  Felix  Robertson, 
long  an  intelligent  and  influential  citizen  of  Tennessee.  After  Colonel  Robert- 
son had  exchanged  greetings  with  his  family,  and  satisfied  the  eager  questions 
of  his  friends,  all  retired  for  the  night.  About  the  hour  of  midnight  the  alert 
ear  of  Colonel  Robertson  heard  a  movement  at  the  gate  that  aroused  his  suspi- 
cion.   He  raised  himself  up,  seized  his  rifle,  and  gave  the  alarm,  "Indians!" 

A  large  party  of  Chickasaws,  having  found  means  to  unfasten  the  gate,  were 
now  entering  the  stockade.  In  an  instant  every  man  in  the  fort — eleven  in  num- 
ber— was  in  motion.  Major  Robert  Lucas,  who  occupied  a  house  that  was  un- 
tenable because  the  cracks  between  the  logs  had  not  yet  been  chinked  and  daubed, 
rushed  out  into  the  open,  and  was  shot  down,  mortally  wounded.  A  negro  man 
of  Colonel  Robertson's,  who  was  in  the  house  with  Major  Lucas,  was  also  killed. 
These  were  the  only  fatalities,  though  the  death  of  Major  Lucas  alone  was  a 
serious  loss  to  the  colony.  He  had  been  a  leading  pioneer  on  the  Watauga,  as 
he  was  on  the  Cumberland.  He  was  a  party  to  the  treaty  of  Sycamore  Shoals, 
and  in  connection  with  Colonel  John  Carter,  had  received  from  the  Cherokees 
a  deed  to  a  part  of  Carter's  Valley.  On  his  removal  to  Cumberland,  he  was 
elected  major  in  the  first  military  organization  of  the  district. 

Hundreds  of  shots  had  been  fired  into  the  house ;  and  so  great  was  the  uproar 
from  the  firing,  and  the  whooping  and  yelling  of  the  Indians,  that  the  stationers 
[settlers]  at  Eaton's  and  the  Bluff  were  aroused,  and  the  sound  of  the  small 
cannon  at  the  latter  place  gave  notice  that  relief  was  at  hand.  The  Indians  then 
withdrew.  They  had  lost  one  killed,  whose  body  was  found,  and  the  traces  of 
blood  indicated  that  others  had  been  wounded.9 

Early  next  morning  Colonel  Robertson  returned  to  the  Bluff,  and  with  his 
fatherly  oversight  of  his  people,  went  out  to  see  Hood,  who  was  still  in  the  out- 
house. Finding  him  alive,  he  inquired  how  he  was.  ' '  Not  dead  yet, ' '  he  replied, 
"and  I  believe  I  would  get  well  if  I  had  half  a  chance."  Colonel  Robertson  told 
him  he  should  have  a  whole  chance ;  and  proceeded  himself  to  dress  his  wounds. 
His  treatment  of  the  scalp  wound  was  curious.  On  the  Holston  he  had  seen  many 
persons  who  had  been  scalped,  and  there  learned  from  a  traveling  French  sur- 
geon how  to  treat  them.  He  took  a  pegging  awl  and  perforated  thickly  the 
whole  naked  space.  This  was  done  that  granulation  might  spring  up  through 
the  awl  holes,  and  gradually  spreading,  unite  and  form  a  covering  to  the  denuded 
skull  before  it  should  die  and  exfoliate,  and  thus  expose  the  brain.  This  opera- 
tion became  so  common  that  there  were  persons  in  every  station  who  could  per- 
form it.10  In  1796  there  were  some  twenty  persons  still  living  on  the  Cumber- 
land who  had  lost  their  scalps.11    Hood  recovered  and  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age. 

The  assault  on  Freeland's  Station  was  the  last  engagement  the  settlers  had 
with  the  Chickasaws,  though  the  latter,  before  they  retired,  united  with  a  party 
of  Cherokees  and  did  much  damage  to  the  stock  and  plantations  on  the  Cumber- 


9  Putnam 's    "History    of    Middle    Tennessee,"    pp.    223-4;    Haywood,    p.    131;    Ramsey, 
p.   451. 

io  Dr.  Felix  Robertson,  Nashville  Journal  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  Vol.  8   (1855). 
n  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  2,  p.  26. 


174  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

land.  Our  historians  say  that  Colonel  Rohertson  made  peace  with  them  in  1782, 
but  I  do  not  find  any  evidence  of  such  a  treaty.  Peace  was  restored  by  the 
removal  of  the  original  cause  of  irritation. 

About  the  last  of  August,  1782,  Simon  Burney  and  two  Chickasaw  warriors, 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  delivered  to  Colonel  Logan  of  Lincoln  County,  Kentucky, 
a  talk  signed  by  Poymace  Tankaw,  Mingo  Hornaw,  Tuskon  Patapo,  and  Piomingo, 
in  which  they  expressed  their  desire  for  peace.  They  admitted  they  had  done 
mischief  in  Kentucky,  as  well  as  on  the  Cumberland,  but  alleged  that  the  build- 
ing of  Fort  Jefferson  on  their  hunting  ground,  without  their  consent,  made  it 
necessary  to  take  up  arms  to  defend  what  they  deemed  their  natural  right ;  but 
that  the  cause  being  then  in  some  measure  removed,  they  desired  to  be  again 
at  peace  with  the  American  States.  On  the  receipt  of  this  talk,  Colonel  John 
Donelson,  who  had  gone  to  Kentucky  after  the  breaking  up  of  his  station  on  the 
Cumberland,  wrote  the  Governor  of  Virginia,  urging  the  appointment  of  com- 
missioners to  negotiate  a  treaty  with  them,  and  suggesting  the  French  Lick,  on 
the  Cumberland  River,  as  the  place  most  agreeable  to  the  Chickasaws  for  a 
meeting.12 

Acting  upon  this  information  and  advice,  Governor  Harrison  appointed 
Colonels  John  Donelson,  Joseph  Martin,  and  Isaac  Shelby  commissioners  to  treat 
with  the  Southern  Indians.  The  intermediary  between  the  governor,  the  com- 
missioners and  the  Chickasaws  was  Major  John  Reid.  Major  Reid  visited  the 
governor  at  Richmond;  delivered  Donelson 's  commission  to  him  at  New  London; 
carried  additional  instructions  to  Martin  at  the  Great  Island  of  Holston ;  called 
upon  Shelby  in  Kentucky,  and  arrived  at  the  French  Lick  on  Cumberland,  on 
his  way  to  the  Chickasaws,  May  2,  1783.  Colonel  Robertson  opposed  the  as- 
sembling of  the  Chickasaws  in  the  Cumberland  settlements,  and  refused  to  allow 
Major  Reid  to  proceed  further  until  he  had  called  a  meeting  of  the  committee.13 
The  committee  at  first  agreed  with  Colonel  Robertson,  but  upon  Major  Reid's 
pressing  the  necessity  of  the  matter,  they  reached  the  conclusion  set  forth  in 
their  minutes,  as  follows: 

June  3,  1783.  Major  John  Reid  moved  the  Committee  of  Cumberland  relative 
to  the  assembling  of  the  southern  tribes  of  Indians  at  the  French  Lick  on  Cum- 
berland, for  holding  a  treaty  with  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  State  of 
Virginia ;  when  the  Committee,  considering  how  difficult  it  will  be  for  the  hand- 
ful of  people,  reduced  to  poverty  and  distress  by  a  continued  scene  of  Indian 
barbarity,  to  furnish  any  large  body  of  Indians  with  provisions;  and  how  pre- 
judicial it  may  be  to  our  infant  settlement,  should  they  not  be  furnished  with 
provisions,  or  otherwise  dissatisfied  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty ;  on  which  con- 
sideration the  Committee  refer  it  to  the  unanimous  suffrages  of  the  people  of 
this  settlement,  whether  the  treaty  shall  be  held  here  with  their  consent  or  no, 
and  that  the  suffrages  of  the  several  stations  be  delivered  to  the  Clerk  of  Com- 
mittee on  Thursday  evening,  the  fifth  instant. 

Result : 

Freeland's  Station,  no  treaty  here,  32. 

Heatonburg,  no  treaty  here,  1 ;  treaty  here,  54. 

Nashborough,  no  treaty  here,  26 ;  treaty  here,  30. 

French  Lick,  no  treaty  here,  59 ;  treaty  here,  84. 


12  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  pp.  282,  284. 
is  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  pp.  131-2. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  175 

The  other  stations  of  Gasper  Mansker's  and  Maulding's  failing  to  return 
their  votes.14 

It  being  agreed  that  the  treaty  should  be  held  at  the  French  Lick  on  Cumber- 
land, it  was  arranged  that  the  conferences  should  take  place  at  the  large  Sulphur 
Spring,  on  the  Charlotte  Eoad,  where  General  Robertson  afterwards  resided.  The 
time  named  by  the  Chickasaws  was  the  full  moon  in  October.  The  Indians  arrived 
on  time,  and  were  ten  days  in  advance  of  Commissioners  Donelson  and  Martin. 
Shelby  did  not  attend,  on  account  of  one  of  his  brothers  having  recently  been 
killed  by  the  Indians  in  Kentucky.15  The  treaty  was  finally  concluded  November 
12,  1783. 1G  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  the  Chickasaws  ceded  a  large  body  of 
land  on  the  south  side  of  Cumberland  River,  which  they  afterwards  confirmed 
at  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  in  1785. 

In  addition  to  the  cession  of  land,  which  was  important,  the  Cumberland 
settlers  won  the  warm  friendship  of  the  Chickasaws,  which  was  never  afterwards 
interrupted,  and  which  proved  of  the  greatest  value  to  the  settlement.  No  other 
man  ever  had  their  confidence  quite  so  completely  as  General  Robertson.  His 
last  public  service  was  in  their  nation,  where  he  died,  September  1,  1814. 

THE   CHICKAMAUGAS    HARASS   CUMBERLAND 

During  the  Chickasaw  invasion  of  the  Cumberland  extending  from  the  sum- 
mer of  1780  until  the  beginning  of  the  year  1781,  the  Chickamaugas  were  not 
idle.  Fortunately  for  the  Cumberland,  their  first  organized  movement  was 
against  the  Holston ;  had  it  been  against  them  it  would  have  proven  disastrous 
to  their  infant  settlement.  As  it  was,  they  were  greatly  harassed  and  weakened 
by  a  constant  and  destructive  guerrilla  warfare.  Between  thirty  and  forty  of 
their  small  company  were  killed  by  the  Indians — Chickamaugas,  Creeks,  Chicka- 
saws, and  Delawares — during  the  year  1780.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  every 
outlying  station  in  the  district  was  abandoned,  the  Bluff,  Eaton's  and  Freeland's 
alone  holding  out. 

In  the  spring  John  Millikin  was  killed  on  Richland  Creek,  and  Joseph  Hay 
in  Sulphur  Bottom.  These  were  the  first  men  killed  on  the  Cumberland.  From 
that  time  the  settlers  were  picked  off  here  and  there,  their  horses  stolen,  and  their 
cattle  killed  or  mutilated,  by  skulking  bands  of  Indians,  who  escaped  without 
difficulty  through  the  thick  canebrakes  and  tangled  undergrowth  that  sur- 
rounded their  small  clearings.  Larger  parties  were  less  difficult  to  punish.  In 
the  summer  Colonel  Robertson,  with  a  company  of  nineteen  men,  pursued  a 
considerable  party  of  Cherokees  who  had  been  depredating  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Freeland's  Station,  and  overtook  them  on  Duck  River  about  forty  miles  south 
of  the  Bluff.  Robertson's  men  charged  and  fired  upon  the  Indians,  several  of 
whom  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  the  remainder  fled,  abandoning  their  stolen 
property  to  the  whites,  who  returned  in  triumph  without  the  loss  of  a  man.  This 
was  the  first  pursuit  made  by  the  settlers. 

Among  the  pioneers  who  settled  a  plantation  and  planted  a  crop  in  the  spring 
of  1780  was  Col.  John  Donelson,  the  distinguished  commander  of  the  flotilla 
that  had  just  successfully  completed  the  extraordinary  voyage  from  Fort  Patrick 
Henry  to  the  French  Salt  Lick.  He  selected  a  splendid  tract  of  land  on  the 
west  bank  of  Stone's  River,  not  far  from  the  Hermitage.     It  contained  a  broad 


i*  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  pp.  282-284. 

is  Ibid,  Vol.  3,  pp.  502,  564. 

io  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.   7,  pp.  131,  132. 


176  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and  beautiful  river  bottom,  to  wnich  the  rich  upland  gently  descended.  Both 
bottom  and  upland  were  covered  with  cane  and  timber,  except  a  few  open  spots 
in  the  bottom,  which  were  carpeted  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  white  clover. 
The  place  has  since  been  known  as  Clover  Bottom,  and  was  once  awarded  a 
premium  as  the  best  farm  in  Tennessee.  Here  Colonel  Donelson  erected  a  half- 
faced  camp  for  his  family  and  servants,  known  as  Stone's  River,  or  Donelson 's 
Station.  Having  planted  his  corn  in  the  bottom  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  he 
planted  a  small  patch  of  cotton  on  the  east  side,  where  the  situation  and  soil 
seemed  better  adapted  to  its  growth. 

Colonel  Donelson  knew  the  Indians  had  killed  a  number  of  settlers  lower  down 
the  Cumberland;  that  they  had  broken  up  Renf roe's  Station;  but  as  they  had 
not  yet  appeared  in  his  neighborhood  he  hoped  to  escape  their  depredations. 
Soon  after  the  Renf  roe  massacre,  however,  Colonel  Henderson's  negro,  Jim,  and 
a  young  man  who  had  been  left  in  charge  of  Henderson's  half-faced  camp  near 
Clover  Bottom  were  killed.  Being  unprepared  to  defend  his  position  against  an 
attack  from  the  Indians  which  now  appeared  imminent,  Donelson  abandoned  his 
station  and  retired  with  his  family  to  Mansker's  Station.  His  crop,  in  the  mean- 
time, came  to  maturity  without  serious  injury,  either  from  the  floods,  the  Indians, 
or  the  wild  beasts. 

In  November,  1780,  he  prepared  to  gather  his  crop.  It  was  recognized  as  a 
dangerous  enterprise,  on  account  of  the  increasing  number  of  Indian  depreda- 
tions committed  in  the  settlement.  In  addition  to  his  own  force,  therefore,  he 
engaged  a  company  from  the  Bluff  to  assist  him,  on  shares.  They  were  to  take 
their  boat  at  the  Bluff  and  ascend  the  Cumberland  to  the  mouth  of  Stone's 
River,  where  they  would  meet  the  Donelson  party,  who  were  to  drop  down  the 
Cumberland  from  the  mouth  of  Mansker's  Creek.  Colonel  Donelson 's  boat  was 
in  charge  of  his  son,  Capt.  John  Donelson,  and  contained  a  horse,  intended  for 
use  in  hauling  corn  to  the  boat,  and  also  in  towing  the  boat  up  the  river  when 
loaded.  The  boat  from  the  Bluff  was  commanded  by  Capt.  Abel  Gower,  who 
was  a  leader  in  the  famous  voyage  to  the  Cumberland,  and  father  of  the  heroic 
girl,  Nancy  Gower,  who  was  wounded  by  the  Indians  at  Lookout  Mountain.  His 
crew  consisted  of  seven  or  eight  men,  black  and  white.  The  two  parties  having 
reached  Clover  Bottom,  as  agreed,  they  fastened  their  boats  to  the  bank  near 
the  present  turnpike  bridge  and  commenced  pulling  corn,  which  they  conveyed 
to  the  boats  in  bags  and  baskets,  and  also  on  a  one-horse  "slide,"  which  was 
the  only  carriage  then  known  on  the  Cumberland. 

They  were  thus  engaged  for  several  days,  and  it  was  observed  that  on  each 
night,  and  especially  on  the  last  night,  their  dogs  kept  up  a  furious  barking, 
which  suggested  Indians  to  them,  but  they  tried  to  explain  the  excitement  of 
the  dogs  on  other  grounds,  and  manifested  their  anxiety  only  by  hastening  the 
completion  of  their  work.  Early  on  the  last  morning  Captain  Donelson  pushed 
his  boat  across  to  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and  commenced  gathering  cotton. 
This,  he  thought,  would  cause  but  a  short  delay,  and  he  expected  the  other 
boat  to  join  in  the  picking  and  share  the  cotton  with  him  also.  But  when  Cap- 
tain Gower 's  party  had  finished  their  breakfast  they  launched  their  boat  out 
into  the  stream  and  began  its  descent.  Donelson  hailed  them  from  the  bank 
and  desired  them  to  come  over  and  help  him.  Gower  replied  that  it  was  get- 
ting late  and  as  he  wished  to  reach  the  Bluff  before  night  they  would  have  to 
move  on.  Donelson  remonstrated,  but  determined  to  finish  gathering  his  cotton 
before  he  returned. 


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TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  179 

While  they  were  yet  parleying  Captain  Gower's  boat  reached  the  narrow 
channel  between  a  small  island  and  the  west  bank.  In  the  meantime  a  large 
party  of  Chickamaugas  had  concealed  themselves  on  the  west  bank  opposite 
this  island,  and  as  Captain  Gower  's  boat  passed  them,  they  poured  a  destructive 
fire  down  upon  him.  Four  or  five  of  his  party  were  killed  at  the  first  fire ;  the 
others  jumped  overboard  into  the  shallow  water.  A  white  man  and  a  negro 
escaped  into  the  woods,  and  ultimately  found  their  way  back  to  the  Bluff.  Jack 
Civil,  a  free  negro,  being  slightly  wounded,  surrendered  and  was  carried  to  the 
Chickamauga  towns,  where  he  was  so  well  satisfied  that  he  remained  with  them 
and  adopted  their  life.  Among  the  killed  were  Capt.  Abel  Gower  and  his  son, 
Abel  Gower,  Jr.,  and  James  Randolph  Robertson,  the  eldest  son  of  Col.  James 
Robertson,  a  youth  of  much  promise.  Their  boat  drifted  safely  down  the  river, 
and  was  recovered  with  the  dead  still  on  board,  and  undisturbed  except  by  the 
hungry  dogs  that  had  escaped  the  Indian  fusillade. 

Captain  Donelson  witnessed  the  attack  from  the  opposite  shore,  ran  down 
to  his  boat  and  secured  his  rifle,  fired  across  the  river  at  the  Indians,  then 
hastened  to  join  his  own  party.  They  had  fled  into  the  cane  when  the  firing 
and  yelling  of  the  Indians  began,  and  were  collected  together  with  some  diffi- 
culty. It  being  necessary  for  the  party  to  separate  to  prevent  leaving  a  trail 
that  the  Indians  might  follow,  they  hastily  agreed  upon  the  direction  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  meet  the  next  day  upon  the  banks  of  the  Cumberland,  some 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  Stone's  River.  Robert  Cartwright,  an  elderly  gentle- 
man who  had  come  to  the  Cumberland  with  Colonel  Donelson,  was  given  the 
horse  to  ride,  without  which  it  would  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  make  his 
escape. 

At  sunset  they  collected  under  a  large  hickory  tree  that  had  fallen  to  the 
ground,  and  spent  the  night  concealed  in  its  thick  foliage,  but  were  too  cold  to 
sleep,  as  they  dared  not  make  a  fire.  Next  morning,  after  a  number  of  fruitless 
efforts  to  construct  a  raft  on  which  they  might  cross  the  river  so  as  to  reach 
Mansker's  Station,  which  was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Cumberland,  Somerset, 
Colonel  Donelson 's  body  servant,  volunteered  to  swim  the  river,  with  the  aid 
of  the  horse,  and  ride  to  the  station  for  assistance.  He  reached  the  settlement 
without  accident,  and  soon  returned  bringing  relief  to  the  distressed  harvesters.1 

This  attack  by  a  considerable  party  of  Chickamaugas  caused  consternation 
among  the  settlers.  A  short  time  before,  Mansker's  Station  had  been  alarmed 
by  the  depredations  of  a  small  band  of  Creeks.  William  Neely,  an  early  hunter 
and  companion  of  Mansker's,  had  undertaken  the  manufacture  of  salt  at 
Neely 's  Lick,  and  was  assisted  by  several  of  the  stationers  [settlers]  from  Man- 
sker's. His  daughter  went  with  him  to  care  for  the  domestic  affairs  of  the 
camp.  One  day,  after  a  successful  hunt,  Neely  brought  in  a  deer,  and,  being 
tired,  laid  down  to  rest.  His  daughter  was  busy  preparing  supper  for  her 
father  and  the  men  who  would  be  in  soon  from  the  Lick.  Suddenly  she  heard 
the  crack  of  a  rifle  near  the  camp,  her  father  raised  himself  up,  groaned  and 
fell  back  dead.  The  Indians  then  seized  her  and  carried  her  captive  to  the 
distant  Creek  Nation.  She  remained  in  captivity  several  years,  but  was  finally 
exchanged,  and  married  reputably  in  Kentucky. 

When  the  men  returned  from  the  Lick  to  the  camp  and  found  the  father 
dead  and  the  daughter  missing,  they  fled  to  Mansker's  Station,  under  the  cover 


i  Putnam's   "History  of   Middle   Tennessee,"   pp.   624-8;    119-20;   Haywood's  "History 
of  Tennessee,"  p.  128;  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  450. 


180  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  night,  and  caused  great  excitement,  and  distress  by  their  sad  tidings.2  It 
seemed  that  death  was  lurking  everywhere,  and  was  ready  to  embrace  the  whole 
settlement.3  Under  these  circumstances  Mansker's,  the  last  of  the  outlying  sta- 
tions, was  abandoned.  Colonel  Donelson  withdrew  with  his  family  to  Davis's 
Station,  in  Kentucky.  Colonel  Mansker  reluctantly  moved  to  one  of  the  stronger 
central  stations,  probably  Eaton's.  After  everyone  else  had  left  the  station, 
David  Gowen  and  Patrick  Quigley,  two  young  men  who,  evidently,  thought  they 
could  take  care  of  themselves,  remained  another  night.  Before  morning  they 
were  killed  in  their  beds,  being  shot  through  the  port  holes. 

The  Chickasaw  invasion  that  culminated  in  the  attack  on  Preeland's  Station, 
January  11,  1781,  was  followed  some  three  months  later  by  a  much  more  dan- 
gerous invasion  by  the  Chickamaugas.  While  the  pioneers  of  Holston  were 
fighting,  the  British  agents  among  them  had  organized  a  general  Cherokee  in- 
vasion of  the  Holston  settlements.  By  prompt  and  energetic  action,  Colonel 
Sevier,  Campbell,  and  Martin  drove  them  back,  and  punished  them  by  the  de- 
struction of  the  Overhill  towns,  on  the  Little  Tennessee,  and  also  the  Valley 
towns,  on  the  Hiwassee  River,  where  it  was  supposed  most  of  the  Chickamaugas 
had  taken  refuge  after  the  destruction  of  their  towns  by  Colonels  Shelby  and 
Montgomery.  They  seemed  to  have  considered  the  Chickamauga  towns  as 
abandoned  or  of  little  consequence,  and  did  not  visit  them.  They  completed 
their  work  of  destruction  January  1,  1781.  The  Overhill  and  Valley  towns 
sued  for  peace.  Chickamauga,  the  hotbed  of  British  influence,  and  the  implaca- 
ble enemy  of  the  Americans,  turned  its  arms  against  only  the  weaker  settle- 
ments on  the  Cumberland. 

It  was  against  the  Bluff  that  the  Chickamauga  campaign  of  1781  was  di- 
rected. 

The  invading  army  set  out  for  the  Cumberland  with  the  first  advent 
of  spring,  and  arrived  at  the  Bluff  April  1,  1781.  That  night  they  disposed  their 
warriors  for  the  morrow's  engagement,  without  the  garrison  having  discovered 
or  suspected  the  presence  of  so  formidable  an  enemy.  The  Bluff  had  been  in 
a  state  of  semi-siege  by  guerrillas  and  spies,  since  the  assault  on  Freeland's  Sta- 
tion. The  stationers  [settlers]  dared  leave  the  stockade  only  at  the  peril  of 
their  lives.  One  day  Mrs.  Dunham,  a  refugee  from  her  husband's  abandoned 
station  at  Belle  Meade,  sent  her  little  daughter  three  or  four  hundred  yards  from 
the  enclosure  for  an  armful  of  chips ;  hearing  her  cries,  the  mother  ran  to  her 
assistance,  and  was  shot  down.  Before  the  men  from  the  fort  could  reach  the 
scene,  the  Indians  had  scalped  the  little  girl,  and  disappeared.  Both  mother  and 
daughter  recovered.  About  the  last  of  March,  Col.  Samuel  Barton  rode  down 
to  Wilson's  Spring  Branch  in  search  of  cattle;  he  was  fired  upon  and  wounded 
in  the  left  wrist.  He  made  his  escape,  but  was  unable  to  take  part  in  the  ap- 
proaching battle.  On  the  very  night  their  army  arrived,  James  Menifee,  the 
sentinel,  discovered  and  fired  at  an  Indian  prowling  about  the  palisade.  Such 
galling  atrocities  by  an  illusive  foe  irritated  the  garrison  to  the  verge  of  madness. 


2  Putnam's  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  pp.  117-118. 

s  The  pioneers  became  so  accustomed  to  such  tragedies  that  the  violent  death  seemed 
the  natural  death.  About  1791  a  very  stout  athletic  emigrant  went  down  the  river  in  a 
keelboat,  and  after  a  tedious  trip,  returned  very  low  with  what  was  called  a  slow  fever,  and 
in  a  few  days  after  reaching  home,  died.  Doctor  Eobertson  was  then  a  boy  of  ten  or  eleven 
years  of  age.  He  had  never  seen  nor  heard  of  a  stout,  powerful-looking  man  dying  without 
having  received  any  bodily  violence,  and  a  dozen  butcheries  by  the  Indians  would  not  have 
shucked  him  like  the  death  of  this  man  did.  Dr.  Felix  Robertson,  Southern  Medical  Journal, 
Vol.   1,  pp.   153-4    (May,   1853). 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  181 

On  the  morning  of  April  2,  1781,  three  warriors  approached  the  stockade 
at  the  Bluff,  fired  and  retreated  out  of  range.  As  they  reloaded  their  guns, 
they  waved  defiance  to  the  men  in  the  fort.  The  garrison  gladly  accepted  their 
challenge.  A  party  of  about  twenty  men,  probably  led  by  Colonel  Robertson, 
mounted  their  horses,  and  riding  out  of  the  stockade  gate,  dashed  down  after 
the  foe,  who  retreated  in  a  southwestern  direction.  When  they  reached  Wil- 
son's Spring  Branch  they  encountered  a  body  of  Indians  who  made  a  stand. 
The  wings  of  the  Indian  line,  concealed  in  the  bed  of  the  branch  and  among 
the  thick  bushes  on  its  banks,  fired  upon  the  horsemen  as  they  dismounted  to 
give  battle.  Their  fire  was  returned  with  alacrity,  and  the  battle  was  on  in 
earnest.  As  it  proceeded  the  firing  and  yelling  stampeded  the  horses,  which 
fled  up  the  hill  in  the  direction  of  the  fort. 

In  the  meantime  a  large  detachment  of  the  Indiau  forces,  concealed  on  the 
hillside  to  the  westward,  emerged  from  their  covert  and  intervened  between  the 
sallying  party  and  the  fort.  Having  thus  cut  off  the  retreat  of  its  defenders, 
they  expected  to  assault  and  enter  the  defenseless  fortress.  But  at  this  moment 
the  panic-stricken  horses  dashed  through  their  lines,  and  their  discipline  was 
not  strong  enough  to  resist  their  inordinate  desire  for  horses.  A  gap  was 
opened  in  their  ranks  as  the  nearest  warriors  rushed  heedlessly  after  the  flying 
horses.  The  confusion  and  excitement  of  the  chase  was  observed  from  the  fort, 
when  Mrs.  Robertson,  it  is  said,  observing  the  fury  of  the  dogs,  which  had 
imbibed  all  the  fierce  hatred  their  masters  entertained  for  the  Indians,  opened 
the  gate  and  turned  the  pack  loose  on  the  already  broken  and  confused  ranks 
of  the  enemy.  They  made  straight  for  the  Indians,  and  attacked  them  with 
great  ferocity  and  courage.  The  fierce  onset  of  the  dogs  increased  the  confusion 
in  the  order  of  the  enemy,  as  they  were  forced  to  turn  in  their  own  defense. 

While  this  tragi-comedy  was  in  progress  on  the  upland,  the  sortie  was  be- 
ing repulsed  by  overwhelming  numbers  in  the  bottom.  Already  Peter  Gill, 
Alexander  Buchanan,  George  Kennedy,  Zachariah  White,  and  James  Leiper 
lay  dead  on  the  field,  and  James  Menifee  and  Joseph  Moonshaw  were  disabled 
by  wounds.  Seeing  a  chance  to  pass  through  the  breach  made  by  the  horses 
and  dogs  in  the  Indian  line  that  intervened  between  them  and  the  fort,  the 
whites  determined  to  retreat ;  and  taking  their  wounded  with  them,  started  on 
a  run,  hotly  pursued  by  the  enemy.  After  they  had  passed  the  Indian  line 
and  approached  the  fort,  Isaac  Lucas  was  shot  and  fell  with  a  broken  thigh, 
but  his  comrades  could  not  stop  to  assist  him.  He  hastily  primed  his  gun 
which  he  had  charged  as  he  ran,  and  shot  dead  the  foremost  of  his  pursuers. 
A  daring  Indian  overtook  Edward  Swanson  within  twenty  yards  of  the  gate, 
and  struck  him  on  the  shoulder,  causing  him  to  drop  his  gun.  Swanson  turned 
and  seized  the  gun  of  his  antagonist,  but  the  Indian  wrenched  it  from  him,  and 
knocked  him  to  his  knees.  Before  he  could  pursue  his  advantage  further,  the 
elder  John  Buchanan  reached  the  fort,  and  seeing  Swanson 's  danger  fired,  and 
killed  his  antagonist.  The  Indians,  seeing  that  the  whites  had  reached  the  stock- 
ade, and  were  maintaining  a  brisk  fire  from  its  gate,  halted  before  they  reached 
Lucas,  who  had  crept  within  range  of  their  guns.  He  and  Swanson  were  both 
brought  into  the  fort.  The  Indians  then  withdrew.  They  reappeared  at  night, 
but  a  single  discharge  from  the  old  swivel,  loaded  with  broken  stone  and  scraps 
of  iron,  and  an  answering  boom  from  the  small  piece  at  Eaton's  dispersed  them, 


182  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and  they  abandoned  the  conflict;  though  the  garrison,  reinforced  by  a  relief 
party  from  Eaton's,  kept  watch  until  daylight  next  morning.4 

The  Battle  of  the  Bluff  ended  the  most  formidable  invasion  ever  undertaken 
against  the  Cumberland.  The  settlers  were  so  distressed  and  disheartened  from 
the  fall  of  1780  to  the  beginning  of  the  year  1783,  that  many  of  them  moved 
away,  and  there  was  constant  talk  of  a  general  exodus  from  the  country;  and 
it  was  largely  due  to  the  courage  and  firmness  of  Colonel  Robertson  that  the 
Cumberland  was  not  abandoned.  But  these  troubles  gradually  disappeared  as 
the  events  of  the  years  1782  and  1783  unfolded  themselves.  In  the  fall  of  1782 
General  Sevier  invaded  and  destroyed  the  Chickamauga  towns,  and  Dragging 
Canoe  and  his  followers  abandoned  their  old  settlement  on  Chickamauga  Creek, 
and  moved  some  forty  or  fifty  miles  lower  down  the  Tennessee  River,  where  they 
built  the  Five  Lower  Towns.  This  migration  was  sufficient  to  occupy  their  im- 
mediate attention.  In  the  meantime  the  preliminary  treaty  of  peace  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  was  signed  at  Paris,  November  30,  1782, 
and  caused  the  British  agents  to  withdraw  their  active  support  from  the  In- 
dians. Moreover,  the  acknowledgment  of  American  independence  reestablished 
confidence  in  the  settlement,  and  many  of  the  original  immigrants  returned, 
while  new  adventurers  daily  added  to  their  strength.  The  settlers  were  greatly 
delighted  that  Florida,  the  depot  from  which  Great  Britain  had  supplied  the 
munitions  of  war  to  their  Indian  enemies,  was  transferred  to  Spain,  the  ally 
of  France,  and  therefore,  in  a  sense  their  ally,  whose  policy  they  hoped,  would 
be  friendly  to  the  United  States.  In  October,  1783,  the  State  of  Virginia  met  the 
Chickasaws  and  Chickamaugas  on  the  treaty  ground  at  the  French  Lick  on 
Cumberland.  The  Creeks  did  not  attend.  In  addition  to  the  Chickasaw  treaty, 
already  referred  to,  some  sort  of  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  Chickamaugas,5 
and  the  settlers  on  Cumberland  felt  that  for  once  they  were  at  peace  with  their 
Indian  neighbors. 

THE    COLDWATER    SETTLEMENT 

When  Colonel  Donelson  and  his  company  drifted  down  the  Tennessee  River 
in  1780,  they  encountered  hostile  Indians  at  both  ends  of  the  Muscle  Shoals, 
and  at  the  lower  end  five  of  their  party  were  wounded.  The  Indian  villages 
were  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and  contained  only  a  few  rude  huts,  inhabited 
by  refractory  people  who  refused  to  be  governed  by  the  laws  and  customs  of 
their  nation.1  They  were  first  attracted  to  this  locality  by  the  prospect  of 
plundering  the  hapless  emigrants  who  might  be  stranded  in  descending  the 
dangerous  rapids  of  the  shoals ;  and  while  they  constituted  a  menace  to  the 
navigation  of  the  Tennessee  River,  they  were  too  far  removed,  and  too  in- 
significant in  numbers  to  cause  the  slightest  uneasiness  on  the  Cumberland. 
For  some  years  the  pioneers  did  not  give  them  a  thought ;  and  it  was  only  by 
accident  that  they  discovered  in  them  a  dangerous  enemy. 

The  year  1783  witnessed  a  rapid  growth  in  the  Cumberland  settlements, 
and  in  the  same  year  they  were  recognized  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
and  erected  into  the  County  of  Davidson,  of  which  the  Bluff,  under  the  name 


*  Putnam's  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  pp.  129-132;  Haywood's  "History  of 
Tennessee."  p.  131;    Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  452-454. 

5  Colonel  Donelson  to  Governor  Harrison,  and  Colonels  Donelson  and  Martin  to  Governor 
Harrison,  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  3,  p.  548. 

1  Robertson  Correspondence,  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  1,  p.  83. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  183 

of  Nashville,  became  the  capital.  At  the  same  time  a  trade  was  opened  with 
the  Muscle  Shoals  Indians  by  a  party  of  French  adventurers  from  the  Wabash, 
and  their  settlement  also  began  to  assume  an  unwonted  importance.  They  es- 
tablished a  new  town  of  considerable  consequence,  called  Coldwater,  some  miles 
lower  down  the  river,  at  the  mouth  of  Coldwater  Creek,  that  takes  its  rise  in 
the  bold  stream  that  gushed  from  beneath  a  bluff  of  limestone,  at  the  present 
Town  of  Tuscumbia,  Ala.  So  well  did  they  guard  the  secret  of  its  existence 
that  Coldwater  was  not  discovered  until  1787,  though  it  mustered  a  force  of 
fifty-four  men,  made  up  of  thirty-five  Cherokees,  ten  Creeks,  and  nine  French- 
men. 

As  long  as  Monsieur  Veiz  conducted  the  trade,  the  Indians  did  not  molest 
the  Cumberland  settlers,  but  in  1784  or  1785  the  business  fell  into  other  hands, 
who  encouraged  the  Indians  to  make  war  on  the  whites,  and  furnished  them 
with  means  of  doing  so.  They  also  supplied  goods  and  ammunition  to  the  In- 
dians at  Chickamauga,  and  even  as  high  up  as  Citico.2  They  induced  the  Creeks 
to  settle  at  Coldwater,  by  furnishing  them  arms  and  ammunition  to  make  war 
on  the  Cumberland.3  They  wrote  the  Cherokee  towns  that  the  English,  French, 
and  Spanish  had  actually  joined  to  make  war  on  America;  that  the  Americans 
had  stopped  their  trade  with  Detroit  by  seizing  several  of  their  boats  on  the 
Mississippi ;  and  while  they  would  not,  in  future,  be  able  to  furnish  them  with 
anything  but  guns,  knives,  tomahawks,  and  ammunition,  these  they  should  have 
in  plenty.4  Thus  encouraged,  the  Coldwater  Indians  became  extremely  trouble- 
some to  the  pioneers,  not  only  stealing  their  horses,  but  killing  their  men,  women, 
and  children.5 

Being  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the  Coldwater  town,  Colonel  Robertson 
attributed  the  sufferings  of  his  people  to  the  depredations  of  the  Chickamaugas, 
and  raised  a  body  of  men  and  marched  nearly  to  their'  towns,  but  wishing  to 
avoid  open  war  with  them,  he  contented  himself  with  this  demonstration,  and 
returned.  He  left  them,  however,  an  offer  of  peace,  in  consequence  of  which 
they  sent  a  commission,  composed  of  the  Little  Owl  and  some  other  chiefs,  to 
Nashville,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  hold  a  conference  with  him.  In  the  mean- 
time hostilities  continued  as  before.  Several  men  were  killed  near  Nashville 
while  the  conference  was  in  session ;  one  at  Colonel  Robertson 's  house,  in  the 
presence  of  the  commissioners.6  Colonel  Robertson  thought  the  Chickamaugas 
were  the  guilty  parties ;  the  Chickamaugas  charged  the  mischief  to  the  Creeks ; 
really  it  was  the  work  of  the  Coldwater  warriors,  as  we  shall  presently  see.  A 
number  of  people  were  also  killed  about  the  same  time  in  Sumner  County. 

Sumner,  the  second  county  established  in  Middle  Tennessee,  was  erected  in 
1786.  Among  its  first  magistrates  was  Maj.  William  Hall,  a  man  of  high  char- 
acter and  wide  influence,  who  immigrated  to  Cumberland  in  1785,  and  settled 
at  Bledsoe's  Lick.  He  was  at  once  accorded  a  leading  part  in  the  affairs  of  his 
community.  When,  therefore,  the  Chickamauga  conference  met,  Colonel  Robert- 
son summoned  Major  Hall  to  Nashville  to  take  part  in  its  deliberations. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  conference  a  party  of  Indians  had  stolen  some  horses 
from  Morgan's  Station,  and  were  pursued  and  overtaken  by  the  whites,  who 
killed  one  of  their  number,  and  recovered  all  the  stolen  horses.    As  the  Indians 


2  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  4,  p.  177. 

3  Ramsey 's  ' '  Annals  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  342. 

•»  Ramsey  's  ' '  Annals  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  360. 

r>  Robertson 's   Correspondence,  American   Historical  Magazine,   Vol.    1,   p.    7i>. 

0  Robertson 's  Report,  Ramsay 's  ' '  Annals  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  470. 


184  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

had  stolen  all  of  Major  Hall's  horses,  twelve  or  fifteen  in  number  the  preced- 
ing year,  it  is  probable  that  he  took  a  lively  interest  in  this  affair.  But  however 
that  may  be,  on  the  third  day  of  June,  1787,  while  he  was  absent  attending  the 
conference  at  Nashville,  a  party  of  fifteen  Indians  formed  an  ambuscade  be- 
tween his  house  and  that  of  his  neighbor,  Gibson,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  dis- 
tant. Ten  of  them  hid  behind  some  logs  on  the  roadside,  and  five  in  a  tree  top 
at  the  entrance  of  the  pasture,  some  fifty  yards  beyond. 

While  they  were  thus  secreted,  Major  Hall's  two  little  boys,  William  and 
James,  went  up  to  the  pasture  for  their  horses.  They  passed  the  ten  Indians 
unmolested.  William  was  in  advance,  and  as  he  turned  to  speak  to  his  brother, 
he  saw  the  Indians  rise  up  behind  them,  with  guns  and  tomahawks  in  their 
hands,  and  commence  hemming  them  in.  Their  situation  looked  so  hopeless  to 
William  that  he  thought  only  of  surrender.  But  at  this  moment  his  brother 
James,  who  was  in  the  rear,  turned  around  facing  the  enemy,  when  two  war- 
riors sank  their  tomahawks  into  his  brain.  Seeing  the  fate  that  awaited  him 
should  he  surrender,  William  instantly  determined  to  make  a  race  for  his  life. 
In  dodging  the  ten  Indians  who  were  surrounding  him,  he  ran  upon  the  five 
who  were  concealed  in  the  tree  top.  He  passed  so  close  to  them  that  some  of 
them  raised  their  tomahawks  to '  strike  him  down.  Escaping  these,  he  dashed 
into  the  canebrake,  closely  pursued  by  two  of  their  number. 

He  was  an  athletic  backwoods  boy  of  thirteen,  and  being  unencumbered,  was 
able  to  make  better  time  through  the  dense  cane  than  his  pursuers,  burdened 
as  they  were  with  their  guns  and  tomahawks.  Presently  a  grape  vine  caught 
him  under  the  chin  and  threw  him  backwards  to  the  ground ;  but  quickly  re- 
covering himself  he  dashed  onward  at  the  limit  of  his  speed.  He  now  approached 
the  point  of  a  ridge  near  his  father's  house,  where  he  would  have  to  leave  the 
canebrake.  One  of  his  pursuers  was  encircling  the  hillside,  where  the  cane  was 
thinnest,  making  for  the  same  point.  Fortunately  for  the  boy  a  large  tree  had 
fallen  across  the  Indian's  way,  crushing  and  tangling  the  cane  until  it  became 
impenetrable.  To  this  impediment  William  probably  owed  his  life.  Before  his 
pursuers  could  circle  the  top  of  the  fallen  tree,  he  was  safely  in  the  lead,  though 
they  chased  him  to  within  100  yards  of  his  father's  house. 

Half  a  dozen  young  men,  with  their  sweethearts,  had  just  arrived  at  Major 
Hall's  when  William  returned.  Being  armed,  they  at  once  jumped  off  their 
horses,  and  ran  with  him  to  the  scene  of  the  tragedy.  They  found  James'  body 
and  brought  it  to  the  house ;  the  Indians  had  scalped  him,  and  fled.  Word  was 
immediately  carried  to  Bledsoe's  Station,  and  Maj.  James  Lynn,  with  five  men, 
started  in  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  Instead  of  following  their  trail,  which  might 
have  led  him  into  an  ambuscade,  Major  Lynn  took  a  parallel  trace  that  inter- 
sected their  path  at  Goose  Creek,  at  which  point  he  discovered  and  fired  upon 
the  Indians,  wounding  two  of  their  number,  when  they  beat  a  precipitate  re- 
treat, leaving  their  knapsacks  and  tomahawks  behind.  James  Hall's  scalp  was 
found  tied  to  a  pack,  and  one  of  the  tomahawks  was  still  red  with  his  blood.7 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  on  the  Cumberland,  a  couple  of  young 
Chickasaw  warriors  were  out  hunting  on  the  Tennessee.  In  their  peregrinations 
they  unexpectedly  came  upon  the  Town  of  Coldwater,  where  they  were  re- 
ceived in  a  friendly  manner,  and  spent  the  night.  While  there  they  learned 
that  the  Coldwater  Indians,  encouraged  by  the  French  traders,  who  supplied 
them  with  arms  and  ammunition,  were  stealing  horses  and  killing  white  peo- 


'  Narrative  of  General  William  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  1,  pp.  232,  233. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  185 

pie  on  the  Cumberland  at  every  opportunity.  When  they  returned  to  the 
Chickasaw  Bluffs,  they  informed  Piomingo  of  their  discoveries,  and  that  friendly 
chief  immediately  despatched  them  to  Colonel  Robertson  at  Nashville,  and  ad- 
vised him  to  break  up  the  Town  of  Coldwater  without  delay.8  Colonel  Robert- 
son was  particularly  incensed  at  the  unfriendly  conduct  of  the  French  traders, 
and  on  June  12,  1787,  he  and  Colonel  Bledsoe  jointly  wrote  Governor  Caswell, 
of  North  Carolina,  expressing  the  wish  that  they  might  be  removed  from  the 
Tennessee,  and  asking  his  advice  in  the  matter.9 

On  the  next  day,  the  Indians  killed  Mark  Robertson,  the  younger  brother 
of  Colonel  Robertson,  near  the  latter 's  home.  This  brought  on  the  crisis.  With- 
out waiting  for  Governor  Caswell's  reply,  after  taking  the  advice  of  the  civil 
and  military  officers  of  the  county,  he  determined  to  pursue  the  enemy  to  their 
own  country  and  destroy  their  town.  For  this  purpose  he  raised  a  force  of 
130  men,  under  Cols.  Robert  Hays  and  James  Ford,  and  assuming  the  chief 
command,  immediately  took  the  trail  of  the  Indians  who  had  killed  Mark  Robert- 
son. At  the  same  time  he  sent  fifty  men,  under  command  of  Capt.  David  Hay, 
around  by  water  to  the  mouth  of  Duck  River,10  in  order  to  prevent  the  French 
traders,  who  had  instigated  the  Indian  hostilities,  from  escaping  down  the 
river.11 

As  there  was  no  one  of  the  settlers  who  had  ever  penetrated  through  the 
forest  as  far  south  as  the  Tennessee  River,  Colonel  Robertson  employed  the  two 
Chickasaw  messengers  as  guides.  They  followed  a  circuitous  route,  by  the  mouth 
of  Harpeth,  up  Turnbull  Creek  to  its  head,  down  Lick  Creek,  and  on  to  Duck 
River  at  the  Chickasaw  trace.  From  Duck  River  they  ascended  Swan  Creek 
to  its  head,  and  thence  to  Blue  Water  Creek,  that  empties  into  the  Tennessee 
River  about  a  mile  and  a  half  above  the  lower  end  of  the  Muscle  Shoals.  Leav- 
ing Blue  Water  Creek  to  their  left,  they  hurried  on  until  they  could  hear  the 
roaring  of  the  falls,  when  they  halted  and  sent  forward  spies.  About  midnight 
the  spies  returned,  reporting  that  the  river  was  still  ten  miles  away.  In  the 
morning  the  whole  force  moved  forward,  and  reached  the  lower  end  of  the  shoals 
at  12  o'clock. 

Though  they  concealed  themselves  in  the  woods  until  night,  some  Indians  dis- 
covered and  fired  upon  their  back  pickets,  and  alarmed  a  small  Cherokee  town 
across  the  river,  which  was  immediately  evacuated.  Scouts  were  now  sent  down 
to  the  river  to  reconnoitre.  Hid  in  the  cane  where  they  could  observe  the  op- 
posite shore,  they  saw  some  Indians  cautiously  approach  the  river,  stooping  and 
dodging  from  tree  to  tree,  apparently  looking  for  Colonel  Robertson's  troops. 
They  then  waded  out  to  an  island  near  the  south  bank,  took  an  old  canoe  and 
paddled  out  to  the  middle  of  the  stream.  Seeing  nothing  suspicious,  they  ap- 
peared to  be  reassured,  stopped  their  canoe,  and  leaping  into  the  river,  swam 
and  disported  themselves  in  the  water;  after  which  they  took  their  canoe  again, 
and  returned  as  they  had  come.  In  the  meantime  Captain  Rains  was  dispatched, 
with  fifteen  men,  on  a  well  beaten  path  up  the  river,  with  orders  to  take  an  In- 
dian alive  if  possible.  About  sunset  he  was  recalled  by  Colonel  Robertson,  with- 
out having  discovered  any  sign  of  Indian  life. 

The  whole  force  was  now  assembled  on  the  river  bank,  under  orders  to  cross 
the  stream  before  morning.    The  scouts  who  had  watched  in  the  cane  during  the 

s  Letter  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  2,  p.   198. 

9  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  465. 

10  Robertson's  Report,  Ramsey's   "Annals   of  Tennessee,"  p.  470. 
ii  Letter  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  2,  p.  198. 


186  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

afternoon,  now  swam  the  river,  and  after  inspecting  the  Indian  huts,  which  they 
found  still  deserted,  they  crossed  over  to  the  island  where  the  Indians  had  left 
their  canoe,  and  unfastening  it  rowed  back  to  the  north  bank.  Forty  men  now 
boarded  the  canoe  and  started  across,  but  being  old  and  leaky,  it  began  to  sink, 
and  swimmers  had  to  carry  it  back  to  the  shore.  By  the  use  of  lin  bark  they 
finally  rendered  her  seaworthy,  and  made  the  crossing  successfully.  As  soon 
as  the  canoe  was  landed,  the  remainder  of  the  troops  plunged  into  the  river  with 
their  horses,  and  swam  over;  but  the  obstacles  they  had  encountered  delayed 
their  passage  until  daylight. 

After  a  short  time  spent  in  the  Indian  huts,  they  took  a  plain  path  leading 
in  a  western  direction,  and  following  it  briskly  for  eighteen  miles  reached  Cold- 
water  Creek.  The  town  was  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  about  three  hundred 
yards  from  the  river.  The  Indians  were  expecting  the  invasion,  and  after  three 
days  counseling  had  unanimously  agreed  to  fight  Colonel  Robertson  if  he  crossed 
the  Tennessee,  but  for  some  reason  their  spies  had  failed  to  discover  his  ap- 
proach.12 Although  the  path  up  the  west  bank  of  the  creek  was  only  wide 
enough  to  admit  a  single  horseman,  the  troops  crossed  it  at  a  charge.  A  de- 
tachment under  Captain  Rains  had  been  sent  down  the  east  bank  of  the  creek 
to  cut  off  the  enemy's  retreat.  When  the  troops  appeared  on  the  west  bank 
of  the  creek,  the  Indians,  taken  completely  by  surprise,  made  a  dash  for  their 
boats  in  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  To  avoid  their  pursuers  on  the 
west,  some  of  the  Indians  crossed  over  to  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  where  they 
received  a  deadly  fire  from  Captain  Rains'  scouts.  Many  Indians  were  killed 
in  their  boats,  and  three  Frenchmen  and  a  Frenchwoman  who  gained  the  boats 
along  with  them,  and  refused  to  surrender,  suffered  the  same  fate.  In  all  about 
twenty  Indians  were  killed,  and  several  others  were  wounded.  Among  the 
killed  were  six  Creeks,  one  of  them  a  chief  of  some  consequence.13  The  whites 
did  not  lose  a  man. 

Colonel  Robertson  took  the  goods  of  the  French  traders,  consisting  of  tafia, 
sugar,  coffee,  cloths,  blankets,  handkerchiefs,  beads,  paints,  knives,  tomahawks, 
tobacco,  powder,  and  lead,  and  such  like  articles,  and  had  them  packed  in  three 
or  four  captured  boats,  which  were  put  in  charge  of  Jonathan  Denton,  Ben- 
jamin Drake,  and  John  and  Moses  Eskridge.  He  then  burned  the  town,  and 
bivouacked  on  the  east  side  of  the  creek.  Next  morning,  after  burying  the  white 
people  who  had  been  killed  in  the  action,  he  gave  each  of  the  Chickasaw  guides 
a  horse  and  gun,  and  as  many  blankets  and  clothes  as  they  could  carry,  and  dis- 
missed them,  well  pleased  with  their  treatment.  The  prisoners,  consisting  of 
six  Frenchmen,  a  child,  and  an  Indian  squaw,  were  put  aboard  the  boats  in 
which  the  goods  were  stored.  The  boats  were  now  directed  to  proceed  down  the 
river  to  a  suitable  crossing  place,  and  there  await  the  troops.  The  next  day 
the  troops  found  a  satisfactory  crossing  place,  afterwards  widely  known  as 
Colbert's  Ferry.  With  the  assistance  of  the  boats,  they  crossed  the  river  with- 
out accident.  Here  the  prisoners,  after  having  their  trunks  and  wearing  ap- 
parel restored  to  them,  and  being  furnished  with  a  canoe,  and  given  a  portion 
of  the  sugar  and  coffee,  were  released,  and  took  their  departure  up  the  river. 
The  horsemen  then  moved  northward  until  they  reached  the  Chickasaw  Trace, 
which  they  followed  to  Duck  River.  From  that  point  they  returned  to  Nash- 
ville by  the  same  route  by  which  they  had  gone  out,  the  expedition  having  con- 
sumed nineteen  days. 


!2  Robertson's  Report,  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  470. 
13  McGillivray,  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  246. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  187 

The  boats  proceeded  down  the  river,  and  after  a  few  days  met  five  French- 
men with  two  trading  boats  laden  with  goods.  The  French  traders,  supposing 
they  were  meeting  their  returning  countrymen,  fired  their  guns  in  salutation. 
Before  they  could  reload  the  Cumberland  boatmen,  having  their  guns  charged 
and  ready  for  action,  pulled  alongside  them  and  captured  boats  and  crews. 
After  carrying  their  prisoners  up  the  Cumberland  River  nearly  to  Nashville, 
they  gave  them  their  choice,  either  to  continue  on  to  the  settlement  and  stand 
trial  for  what  they  had  done,  or  to  go  home  at  once  without  their  goods.  They 
chose  the  latter,  and  taking  a  canoe  returned  down  the  river,  leaving  their  boats 
and  cargoes  behind.  The  goods  captured  in  the  expedition  were  brought  to 
Eaton's  Station  and  sold,  and  the  proceeds  divided  among  the  troops. 

The  detachment  of  fifty  men  sent  around  by  the  river  did  not  fare  so  well. 
They  proceeded  without  interruption  to  the  mouth  of  Duck  River,  but  their 
movements  were  observed  by  the  Indians,  who  arranged  a  cunningly  devised 
ambuscade,  into  which  they  were  unfortunately  drawn.  When  they  reached 
the  mouth  of  Duck  River,  they  found  a  canoe  fastened  to  its  bank.  Capt.  Moses 
Shelby,  commanding  one  of  the  boats,  steered  in  to  the  shore  to  examine  the 
canoe,  when  a  large  party  of  Indians  arose  from  the  thicket  on  the  bank,  and 
poured  a  destructive  fire  into  his  boat,  killing  Josiah  Renfroe,  and  wounding 
John  Topp,  Hugh  Rogan,  Edward  Hogan,  and  five  others.  This  sudden  and 
deadly  fusillade  threw  the  crew  into  confusion,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  they 
succeeded  in  putting  out  into  the  Tennessee  River  before  the  Indians  could  re- 
load. After  this  serious  disaster  they  returned  to  Nashville,  in  order  that  their 
wounded  might  receive  proper  medical  and  surgical  attention.14 

INTRIGUES   OF   THE   SPANISH 

The  firm  conviction  that  began  to  fasten  itself  upon  the  people  of  Cumber- 
land about  the  time  of  the  Coldwater  expedition,  that  the  Spaniards  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  bitter  hostility  of  the  Creeks,  needs  some  explanation.  That 
tribe  never  owned  nor  claimed  any  land  on  Cumberland ;  and  its  people  had 
never  invaded  their  towns  nor  done  them  injury,  except  in  purely  defensive 
warfare.  Spain,  who  had  succeeded  in  monopolizing  the  trade  of  the  southern 
Indians,  used  her  influence  over  them  to  intimidate,  if  not  to  destroy,  the  Cum- 
berland settlement,  to  which  she  asserted  some  sort  of  shadowy  claim.1 

In  December,  1787,  the  representatives  from  Davidson  and  Sumner  coun- 
ties, in  a  memorial  to  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  openly  charged 
that  the  Indians  were  rendered  more  hostile  through  the  influence  of  Spain ; 
and  from  that  time  it  was  not  doubted  that  the  Spaniards  were  the  authors  of 
the  Creek  violence  against  the  Cumberland  settlements.2 

After  the  Coldwater  expedition  Cumberland  enjoyed  a  short  respite  from 
Indian  hostilities.  The  Cherokees,  whose  Lower  towns  were  not  more  distant 
than  Coldwater  from  the  Cumberland  settlements,  and  whose  Upper  towns  were 
separated  only  by  the  width  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River  from  the  advancing 
frontiers  of  Franklin,  were  awed  into  temporary  tranquillity.     Moreover,  they 


"Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  230-235;  Eamsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee," 
pp.  465-473;  Putnam's  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  pp.  257-267;  Letter  of  John  Carr, 
Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  2,  pp.  198-199;  Eobertson 's  Correspondence,  American  Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  1,  pp.  79-80. 

'Ramsey's  "Annals  of   Tennessee,"  p.  523. 

2  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  241-243. 


188  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

soon  became  involved  in  war  with  the  people  of  Franklin,  which  diverted  their 
attention  for  the  time  from  the  people  of  Cumherland.  But  the  Creeks  were 
too  far  removed  from  the  settlements  to  fear  an  invasion  from  the  whites;  and 
as  the  complete  success  of  Robertson's  bold  irruption  into  the  Indian  country 
had  piqued  their  pride,  they  soon  collected  a  number  of  small  scalping  parties 
and  commenced  a  series  of  bloody  guerrilla  campaigns  against  his  country. 

In  December,  1786,  Colonel  Robertson,  then  a  member  of  the  North  Caro- 
lina Legislature,  procured  the  passage  of  an  act  authorizing  the  enlistment 
of  a  battalion  of  300  men,  to  be  stationed  in  Davidson  County  for  the  protec- 
tion of  its  inhabitants,  and  for  cutting  a  road  from  the  Clinch  River  to  Nash- 
ville. This  battalion  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Maj.  Nathaniel  Evans, 
and  reached  the  Cumberland  in  successive  detachments  during  the  following 
year.  They  were  divided  into  small  squads  and  stationed  at  such  points  on  the 
frontiers  as  the  emergencies  seemed  to  require,  stronger  guards  being  furnished 
to  the  more  exposed  places. 

The  arrival  of  Major  Evans'  battalion  enabled  Colonel  Robertson  to  employ 
the  local  militia  as  spies  and  scouts;  and  with  these  he  made  the  most  brilliant 
and  effective  defense  of  the  settlement  that  had  yet  been  witnessed  on  the 
Cumberland.  At  that  time  the  cane  and  weeds  grew  so  luxuriantly  in  all  parts 
of  the  country  as  to  afford  the  Indians  perfect  cover,  under  which  they  might 
steal  upon  the  field  or  cabin  of  the  pioneer  and  take  him  off  with  comparative 
safety ;  yet  no  considerable  party  of  Indians  could  pass  through  their  tangled 
mazes  so  lightly  that  they  would  not  leave  a  trace  which  an  experienced  scout, 
like  Rains,  Castleman,  or  Shannon,  could  follow  without  difficulty  or  doubt. 
Colonel  Robertson  ordered  his  scouts  to  range  the  woods  in  the  direction  of  the 
Tennessee  River,  looking  for  Indian  signs,  and  wherever  a  scalping  party  ap- 
peared in  the  settlement  to  follow  them  until  they  were  overtaken  and  dispersed. 

The  first  party  discovered  was  led  by  a  brave  and  powerful  warrior  called 
Big  Foot.  Captain  Shannon,  with  a  small  company,  at  once  gave  pursuit,  and 
overtook  the  Indians  on  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee  River.  Part  of  the  Indians 
were  in  camp  eating,  while  Big  Foot  and.  the  others  were  some  distance  away 
preparing  to  cross  the  river.  When  the  scouts  discovered  the  Indians  in  camp 
they  fired  upon  them,  then  charged  and  engaged  them  in  a  hand-to-hand  con- 
flict. Big  Foot  and  his  companions  rushed  to  the  support  of  their  comrades. 
The  struggle  was  fierce  and  doubtful.  Castleman  succeeded  in  killing  his  an- 
tagonist, but  Big  Foot,  proving  more  than  a  match  for  Luke  Anderson,  wrenched 
his  gun  from  his  hands,  but  at  that  moment  a  shot  from  William  Pillow's  gun 
laid  Big  Foot  low,  and  saved  Anderson's  life.  Victory  now  declared  in  favor 
of  the  whites;  Big  Foot  and  five  of  his  warriors  having  been  killed,  the  others 
raised  the  yell  and  disappeared  in  the  bushes.3 

In  September,  1787,  Captains  Rains  and  Shannon  were  ordered  to  range  the 
country  in  the  direction  of  Duck  and  Elk  rivers.  Captain  Shannon's  company, 
being  in  advance,  passed  near  a  recently  abandoned  Indian  camp  without  dis- 
covering it ;  but  when  Captain  Rains  came  up  he  saw  a  large  number  of  buzzards 
flying  around,  and  from  trained  habits  of  observation  he  surmised  that  they 
must  have  been  attracted  by  some  carcass  left  by  an  Indian  hunting  party. 
He  encamped  near  by  and  found,  as  he  had  suspected,  the  remains  of  a  deer 
recently  killed.     Next  morning  he  struck  the  Indians'  trail,  and  before  night 


3  Haywood's    "History    of    Tennessee,"    p.    237;    Putnam's    "History    of    Middle    Ten- 
nessee," pp.   269-270. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  189 

one  of  the  spies  discovered  and  fired  upon  one  of  the  warriors.  The  scouts 
dashed  forward  at  the  report  of  the  gun.  Rains  saw  and  pursued  an  Indian 
who  was  running  up  a  ridge.  When  he  got  in  range  he  ordered  him  to  stop. 
The  Indian  turned  for  an  instant,  then  renewed  his  flight,  when  Rains  fired, 
wounding  him  in  the  hand.  Reuben  Parks  and  Beverly  Ridley  now  joined  in  the 
chase.  The  Indian  fired  at  Ridley,  but  the  ball  passed  over  his  head;  they  then 
closed  in  on  him,  knocked  him  down,  and  Ridley  finally  dispatched  him  with  his 
knife.  John  Rains,  Jr.,  and  Robert  Evans  outran  and  captured  an  Indian  boy 
about  nineteen  years  of  age,  who  was,  a  year  or  two  later,  released  and  permitted 
to  return  to  his  nation.4 

Many  such  scouting  companies  were  sent  out  from  time  to  time,  to  range 
the  woods  in  all  directions  where  Indians  were  likely  to  pass,  and  although  they 
did  not  always  overtake  or  intercept  a  scalping  party,  the  Creeks  soon  became 
aware  that  the  paths  they  traveled  to  Nashville  were  constantly  traversed  by 
armed  bodies  of  brave  and  experienced  Indian  fighters,  and  that  their  irrup- 
tions could  be  made  only  at  the  imminent  risk  of  death  or  captivity.  This 
feeling  greatly  reduced  both  the  number  and  importance  of  the  Indian  depre- 
dations in  Davidson  County. 

But  the  Indians  could  not  be  wholly  repressed.  During  the  years  1787, 
1788  and  1789  they  killed  many  settlers  in  Davidson  County,  among  them  a  son 
of  Colonel  Robertson,  and  took  a  number  of  prisoners  to  the  Creek  nation.  In 
the  latter  part  of  June,  1789,  they  came  to  Colonel  Robertson's  station  in  the 
daytime,  and  attacked  him  and  his  hands  while  working  in  the  field.  The 
laborers  retreated,  and  Colonel  Robertson  was  shot  through  the  foot  as  he  ran 
towards  the  station.  Capt.  Sampson  Williams  was  ordered  to  raise  a  com- 
pany and  pursue  the  enemy.  He  assembled  his  men  at  Colonel  Robertson's 
and,  getting  on  the  track  of  the  party,  followed  them  to  Duck  River  Ridge,  when 
he  found  they  were  outtraveling  him.  He  now  dismounted  twenty  men  and, 
putting  himself  at  their  head,  made  forced  marches,  following  the  Indians'  trail. 
Among  these  twenty  men  was  Andrew  Jackson,  afterwards  President  of  the 
United  States,  who,  about  twenty-four  years  later,  in  a  single  campaign,  settled 
all  scores,  new  and  old,  with  the  Creek  nation. 

About  night  the  party  came  in  view  of  the  Indian  camp,  which  was  situated 
on  the  opposite  side  of  Duck  River.  Making  a  detour  of  a  mile  and  a  half  up 
the  river,  they  crossed  it  in  the  night,  and  marched  cautiously  back,  down  tin1 
south  side ;  but  finding  the  cane  so  dense  they  could  not  discern  the  Indian 
camp,  they  lay  on  their  arms  all  night.  In  the  morning,  after  advancing  fifty 
yards,  Captain  Williams  discovered  the  enemy  about  one  hundred  yards  in 
front  of  him.  He  immediately  ordered  a  charge  and,  firing  at  a  distance  of 
sixty  yards,  killed  one  and  wounded  five  or  six.  The  others  escaped  across  the 
river,  carrying  their  wounded  with  them,  but  leaving  sixteen  guns,  nineteen 
shot  pouches,  and  all  their  baggage,  which  fell  into  the  hands  of  Captain  Wil- 
liams.    The  Indians  did  not  fire  a  shot.5 

The  new  County  of  Sumner,  being  less  populous  and  more  exposed  than 
Davidson,  suffered  greater  loss  from  the  excursions  of  the  Creeks.  Among  the 
first  victims  was  Maj.  William  Hall,  the  tragic  death  of  whose  son,  James,  has 
already  been  mentioned.     After  the  Coldwater  expedition,  Major  Hall  and  his 


*  Haywood's  "Historv   of  Tennessee,"  p.   240.     Narrative   of  John   Rains,   Southwestern 
Monthly,  Vol.  2,  pp.  265,  266. 

5  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  256-7. 

Vol.  1  —  13 


190  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

neighbors,  Gibson  and  Harrison,  took  counsel  whether  they  should  venture  to 
spend  the  summer  on  their  farms  or  remove  their  families  to  Bledsoe's  Station 
for  protection.  As  a  result  they  agreed  to  remain,  and  hired  two  young  men 
to  guard  their  premises  and  give  them  timely  warning  of  the  approach  of  the 
enemy.  For  two  months  all  was  quiet;  but  on  the  second  day  of  August,  1787, 
the  spies  came  in  and  notified  Major  Hall  that  a  party  of  at  least  thirty  Indians 
was  in  the  neighborhood,  and  advised  him  to  pack  up  and  move  to  the  station 
at  once. 

The  morning  had  not  far  advanced  when  they  started  with  the  first  load.  The 
vehicle  used,  still  the  only  kind  known  on  the  Cumberland,  was  a  sled,  drawn 
by  two  horses,  and  in  charge  of  William  Hall,  Jr.,  who  had  so  marvelously 
escaped  from  the  Indians  two  months  before.  A  sister,  going  forward  to  arrange 
the  things  as  they  were  delivered,  accompauied  the  sled,  on  horseback,  and  the 
caravan  was  guarded  by  an  elder  brother,  Richard,  and  a  young  man  named 
Hickerson.  At  Defeated  Creek,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  house,  William's 
horses  suddenly  became  frightened,  he  thought,  from  scenting  Indians.  But 
Richard  insisted  on  going  forward,  which  they  did,  making  four  trips  during 
the  day.  The  last  load,  with  which  they  took  the  remaining  members  of  the 
family,  white  and  black,  got  on  the  road  late  in  the  afternoon.  William  was 
still  driving,  with  his  little  brother,  John,  behind  him  on  one  of  the  horses,  and 
his  little  sister,  Prudence,  in  the  sled.  Mrs.  Hall,  mounted  on  a  fiery  steed,  kept 
close  to  her  little  ones.  Richard  Hall  and  Hickerson  went  in  advance,  and 
Major  Hall,  his  son-indaw,  Charles  Morgan,  Hugh  Rogan,  and  two  other  men 
brought  up  the  rear. 

Presently,  as  the  little  cavalcade  moved  forward,  Richard's  dog  became 
violently  alarmed  on  approaching  the  top  of  a  large  ash  tree  that  had  fallen 
in  the  road.  They  halted  for  a  moment,  and  Richard  stepped  toward  the  tree 
top,  when  a  volley  was  fired  at  him  from  among  the  leaves.  He  wheeled  and, 
running  back  into  the  woods,  fell  dead.  The  Indians,  finding  themselves  dis- 
covered, now  rose  and,  yelling  like  demons,  charged  upon  the  party.  Hicker- 
son, with  more  courage  than  discretion,  took  his  stand  in  the  open  road,  and 
his  gun  missing  fire,  he  attempted  to  use  AVilliam  Hall's  gun,  but  before  he 
could  discharge  it  he  received  six  or  seven  Indian  bullets  and,  staggering  back 
a  short  distance,  expired. 

In  the  meantime  William  jumped  off  his  horse  and,  taking  John  and  Pru- 
dence, carried  them  back  to  the  rear  of  the  men,  who  were  advancing  on  the 
Indians.  Mrs.  Hall's  large  and  spirited  horse  became  quite  ungovernable  and, 
dashing  through  the  entire  line  of  Indians,  while  she  held  on  by  the  mane,  car- 
ried her  in  safety  to  the  fort,  about  a  mile  distant.  Major  Hall  and  Morgan 
undertook  to  hold  the  Indians  in  check  until  the  other  members  of  the  party 
could  scatter  through  the  woods.  Morgan  was  shot  through  the  body,  but  suc- 
ceeded in  making  his  escape.  Major  Hall,  still  holding  his  ground,  fired  his 
heavy  rifle,  after  which  he  turned  and  ran  about  fifty  yards,  when  he  fell,  pierced 
with  thirteen  balls.  The  Indians  scalped  him  and  fled,  not  stopping  to  take  any- 
thing but  his  gun  and  shot  pouch,  though  the  sled  had  been  dashed  against  a 
tree  and  overturned  at  the  first  alarm,  and  its  contents  were  scattered  on  the 
ground. 

William  had  directed  his  little  brother  and  sister  to  run  back  to  the  house, 
while  he,  secreting  himself  behind  a  tree  on  the  hillside,  waited  the  result  of 
the  fight.     When  he  heard  the  discharge  of  his  father's  heavy  rifle,  followed 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  191 

by  the  savage  yells  of  the  Indians,  he  knew  all  was  lost,  and  started  for  the  fort. 
When  John  and  Prudence  reached  the  house  the  barking  of  the  excited  dogs 
caused  them  to  turn  and  run  back  to  the  scene  of  the  battle.  Here  John  found 
Rogan's  hat,  which  he  picked  up  and',  coming  to  the  overturned  sled,  Prudence 
took  up  a  small  pail  of  butter,  and  the  two  walked  heedlessly  on  the  road  towards 
the  fort,  and  were  soon  met  by  the  men  sent  out  to  Major  Hall's  relief.0 

The  commanding  officers  of  Davidson  and  Sumner  counties  at  this  time  were 
Col.  James  Robertson  and  Anthony  Bledsoe.  These  two  distinguished  pioneers 
were  made  the  especial  objects  of  Creek  vengeance.  They  were  both  attacked 
almost  simultaneously  at  their  widely-separated  homes.  I  have  already  men- 
tioned the  wounding  of  Colonel  Robertson.  Colonel  Bledsoe  had  settled  Green- 
field Station,  but  the  danger  from  Indians  became  so  great  that  he  moved  to 
the  stronger  fort  at  Bledsoe's  Station,  which  was  the  home  of  his  brother,  Col. 
Isaac  Bledsoe. 

Bledsoe's  Station  was  rectangular  in  form,  enclosing  a  number  of  cabins 
which  were  connected  by  strong  palisades,  the  cabins  themselves  forming  part 
of  the  enclosure.  On  its  front  line  there  was  a  double  log  cabin,  with  a  hall  be- 
tween, a  type  quite  common  in  pioneer  days.  The  only  opening  to  the  station 
was  through  this  hallway.  The  rooms  on  one  side  of  the  hall  were  occupied 
by  Col.  Isaac  Bledsoe,  and  those  on  the  opposite  side  constituted  the  temporary 
residence  of  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe.  The  Indians  had  attacked  this  station  in 
1788,  and  wounded  George  Hamilton,  the  schoolmaster,  but  the  courage  of  Hugh 
Rogan,  who  fired  an  old  musket  among  them  through  the  breach  they  had  made 
in  the  window,  and  the  quick  wit  of  Donahoe,  in  another  part  of  the  stockade, 
who  extinguished  his  fire  with  a  bucket  of  water,  after  the  Indians  had  fired 
in  amongst  his  children  as  they  lay  upon  the  floor,  caused  them  to  abandon  the 
attack,  deeming  the  place  too  strong  to  be  taken  by  assault. 

A  little  more  than  a  year  later,  on  the  twentieth  of  July,  1789,  they  again 
visited  Bledsoe's  Station.  The  Nashville  Road  ran  along  the  front  of  the  dou- 
ble log  cabin  in  which  the  two  Bledsoes  lived,  and  a  lane  came  down  at  right 
angles  to  it,  the  mouth  of  the  lane  being  about  thirty  yards  from  the  house. 
In  the  corners  of  the  fence  at  the  mouth  of  the  lane  a  party  of  Indians  con- 
cealed themselves  and  watched,  in  the  bright  moonlight,  the  entrance  to  the 
fort.  About  midnight  a  party  of  their  confederates  mounted  their  horses  and 
galloped  down  the  Nashville  Road  passing  the  fort,  without  opening  their  mouths 
or  checking  their  speed.  Hearing  the  startling  clatter  of  their  horses'  feet,  Col. 
Anthony  Bledsoe  and  Campbell,  his  servant,  jumped  out  of  bed  and  stepped 
into  the  passage  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  when  the  Indians  concealed  in  the 
fence  corners  shot  them  both  down.  Colonel  Bledsoe  died  the  next  morning 
and  Campbell  the  day  following.7 

In  September,  1789,  President  Washington  appointed  a  commission  to  treat 
with  the  Creek  nation  and,  upon  the  failure  of  their  mission,  he  sent  a  secret 
emissary  in  the  person  of  Col.  Marinus  Willett  to  the  Creeks  for  the  purpose 
of  inducing  McGillivray  to  bring  a  delegation  of  chiefs  to  New  York  to  treat 
with  the  President.  In  this  he  was  successful,  and  in  August,  1790,  the  Presi- 
dent concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  McGillivray,  which,  while  it  was  intended 
primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  Georgians,  for  a  time  restored  a  measure  of 
peace  to  the  settlers  on  the  Cumberland.8 


6  Narrative  of  General  William  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  1,  pp.  333-4. 
'  Narrative  of  General  William  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  1,  p.  335. 
s  Pickett's  "History  of  Alabama,"  Vol.  2,  pp.  97-111. 


192  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

T.HE    DUMPLIN   SETTLEMENT 

Let  us  return  now  to  the  Holston. 

After  the  treaty  of  1777,  the  Overhill  Cherokees  preserved  the  peace,  under 
great  difficulties,  for  three  years.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  the  British  emissaries  were  constantly  exerting  themselves  to  foment  trou- 
ble. Cameron  refused  to  furnish  the  Indians  with  goods  as  long  as  they  were 
at  peace  with  the  Americans.  The  towns  appointed  a  committee  of  their  old 
chiefs  to  ask  aid  from  the  governor  of  North  Carolina.  James  Robertson,  the 
agent  among  them,  was  of  opinion  that  if  the  state  would  supply  them  with 
goods  nothing  but  peace  would  ensue.1  The  governor,  however,  did  nothing ;  and 
in  the  meantime  the  Chiekamaugas  went  to  the  support  of  the  British,  and  in 
1780  induced  the  Overhill  towns  to  join  them  in  a  second  invasion  of  the  set- 
tlements, while  the  frontier  militia  were  away  fighting  the  British  at  King's 
Mountain.  As  we  have  seen,  by  the  opportune  return  of  Colonel  Sevier,  and 
the  prompt  action  of  the  border  authorities,  the  settlements  were  saved,  the 
Indian  forces  were  defeated,  and  their  towns  destroyed.  They  again  sued  for 
peace,  which  was  concluded  at  a  treaty  held  at  Long  Island  in  the  summer  of 
1781.  This  treaty  was  never  broken  by  open  war,  though  there  were  repeated 
murders  and  depredations  committed  on  both  sides. 

The  tract  of  country  adjoining  the  Overhill  towns  on  the  north,  and  extend- 
ing back  from  the  Little  Tennessee  to  the  French  Broad  River,  is  known  in  our 
public  records  as  the  territory  south-of-the-French-Broad-and-Holston-rivers- 
and-west-of-the-Big-Pigeon-River.  Its  history  would  have  made  a  shorter  name 
famous.  Had  it  been  called  Dumplin,  after  the  creek  on  which  the  treaty  was 
held  which  gave  its  inhabitants  the  first  color  of  title  to  the  lands  on  which 
they  lived,  it  would  have  gone  down  in  song  and  story  along  with  Watauga  and 
Cumberland,  the  other  two  original  independent  governments  in  Tennessee.  It 
was  settled  under  the  most  extraordinary  circumstances,  in  defiance  of  the 
rights  of  the  Indians,  whose  hunting  ground  it  was,  and  in  violation  of  the 
treaties  both  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  and  the  United  States. 

Its  settlers  had  the  sympathy  and  support  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  but 
when  that  government  fell,  and  all  support  was  withdrawn  from  them,  they 
boldly  erected  for  themselves  an  independent  government  in  the  midst  of  the 
Cherokee  reservation.  The  history  of  American  colonization  does  not  exhibit 
a  more  daring,  determined,  heroic,  and  alas !  lawless  struggle  for  the  possession 
of  a  country  than  that  waged  by  the  pioneers  of  Dumplin. 

Could  a  diagram  be  drawn,  accurately  designating  every  spot  signalized  by 
an  Indian  massacre,  surprise  or  depredation,  or  courageous  attack,  defense,  pur- 
suit, or  victory  by  the  whites,  or  station,  or  fort,  or  battlefield,  or  personal  en- 
counter, the  whole  of  that  section  of  country  would  be  studded  over  by  de- 
lineations of  such  incidents.  Every  spring,  every  ford,  every  path,  every  farm, 
every  trail,  every  house,  nearly,  in  its  first  settlement,  was  once  the  scene  of 
danger,  exposure,  attack,  exploit,  achievement,  death.2 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Indians  who  opposed  these  aggressive,  masterful 
backwoodsmen  appeal  not  less  strongly  to  our  sympathy.  Their  Overhill  towns 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River  served  as  a  kind  of  breakwater 
to  retard  the  restless  tide  of  immigration  pouring  into  their  hunting  grounds. 


1  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  11,  p.  654. 
-'Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  370. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  193 

Not  only  their  physical  distress,  which  was  certainly  not  more  tolerable  than 
the  sufferings  of  the  settlers,  but  their  feeling  of  utter  helplessness  in  the  pres- 
ence of  great  wrongs ;  the  impotent  chafing  of  their  proud  spirits  as  they  saw 
their  hunting  grounds  diminish,  and  the  wild  game  grow  scarcer,  rendered  their 
position  pathetic  in  the  extreme. 

On  account  of  his  advanced  age  Oconostota  made  the  Old  Tassel  (Koatohee) 
and  the  Old  Raven  (Savanukeh)  speakers  for  him  in  the  treaty  of  Long  Island 
in  1777.  From  that  time  they  were  looked  upon  as  the  leading  men  of  their 
nation. 

In  1783  the  State  of  North  Carolina  undertook  by  legislative  enactment  to 
open  for  settlement  all  the  Cherokee  hunting  grounds  lying  north  and  west 
of  the  French  Broad  and  Tennessee  rivers.  Notwithstanding  the  opening  of 
this  immense  territory,  the  frontiersmen  continued  to  push  their  settlements 
south  of  the  French  Broad,  into  the  small  district  I  have  denominated  Dumplin, 
which  was  still  reserved  to  the  Indians.  The  Tassel  complains  that  his  young 
men  are  afraid  to  go  out  hunting  on  account  of  the  white  men  ranging  the  woods 
and  marking  trees.3  Colonel  Martin,  writing  in  1784,  says  they  have  actually 
settled,  or  at  least  built  houses  within  two  miles  of  the  beloved  Town  of  Chota.4 

In  the  meantime  the  daring  young  State  of  Franklin  arose  and,  being  wholly 
in  sympathy  with  the  frontiersmen,  there  was  no  longer  any  restraint  put  upon 
their  aggressions.  One  of  its  first  legislative  acts  provided  for  the  holding  of 
a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  at  Dumplin  Creek.  The  treaty  was  held  May  31, 
1785,  though  The  Tassel  and  other  principal  chiefs  of  the  nation  refused  to 
attend.5  Under  this  treaty  the  Indian  line  was  moved  far  down  towards  their 
towns,  and  located  on  the  ridge  dividing  the  waters  of  Little  River  from  those 
of  the  Little  Tennessee.6 

Following  this  treaty  The  Tassel  wrote  the  governor  of  North  Carolina  that 
the  white  people  had  built  houses'  in  sight  of  his  towns.  A  little  later  in  the 
same  year  he  told  the  United  States  commissioners,  at  the  treaty  of  Hopewell : 
"If  Congress  had  not  interposed  I  and  my  people  must  have  moved.  They  have 
even  marked  the  land  on  the  bank  of  the  river  near  the  town  where  I  live. ' ' 7 

In  less  than  a  year  the  frontiers  had  passed  the  line  established  by  the  treaty 
of  Dumplin,  and  the  Franklin  authorities  then  determined  to  have  all  the  In- 
dian lands  lying  north  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River.  This  purpose  they  an- 
nounced to  the  chiefs  of  the  Overhill  towns  in  what  is  called  the  treaty  of  Coy- 
atee.  It  seems  that  two  young  men  had  been  murdered  on  the  twentieth  day  of 
July  by  two  or  three  young  fellows  who  had  been  hired  by  an  old  warrior  from 
Chickamauga  to  take  satisfaction  for  his  two  sons  who  had  been  killed  by  the 
white  people  in  the  spring.8  Thereupon  Cols.  Alexander  Outlaw  and  William 
Cocke,  at  the  head  of  250  militiamen,  marched  to  Chota  Ford,  and  sent  for  the 
head  men  of  the  towns.9  When  The  Tassel  and  Scollacutta  appeared  they 
charged  them  with  breaking  through  all  their  talks  and  murdering  the  young 
men.  The  Tassel  denied  that  it  was  his  people  who  had  spilt  the  blood  and 
spoilt  the  talk.     He  said  the  men  who  did  the  murder  were  bad  men  and  no 


3  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  304. 

4  Weeks '  ' '  General  Joseph  Martin  and  the  War  of  the  Revolution  in  the  West, ' '  p.  444. 
•'Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  319;   Weeks'  Joseph  Martin,  p.  444. 

6  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  299. 

7  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  1,  p.  41. 
s  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  4,  p.  164. 

o  Ramsey's   "Annals   of   Tennessee. "   p.    343. 


194  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

warriors,  who  lived  in  Coyatee,  at  the  mouth  of  Holston,  about  twenty  miles 
below  Chota. 

Upon  this  disclosure,  Colonels  Outlaw  and  Cocke  marched  their  forces  to 
Coyatee,  killed  two  of  the  "very  Indians  that  did  the  murder,"  destroyed  the 
town  house,  burned  the  bad  men's  homes,  and  destroyed  their  proportionate 
part  of  the  village  corn.  They  then  renewed  their  conference  with  The  Tassel 
and  Scollaeutta,  begun  at  Chota  Ford.  After  the  general  charge  of  breaking 
all  the  good  talks  in  "Kentucky,  Cumberland,  and  here  at  home,"  they  charged 
them  specifically,  and  very  unjustly  with  the  murder  of  Colonels  Donelson  10 
and  Christian.11  "My  brother,  William  Christian,"  The  Tassel  replied,  "took 
care  of  everybody,  and  was  a  good  man ;  he  is  dead  and  gone.  It  was  not  me 
nor  my  people  that  killed  him.  They  told  lies  on  me.  He  was  killed  going  the 
other  way,  over  the  river." 

Colonels  Outlaw  and  Cocke  then  delivered  the  following  ultimatum  to  the 
Indians :  ' '  We  now  tell  you  plainly  that  our  great  counsellors  have  sold  us  the 
land  on  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee  (Little  Tennessee)  to  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  and  we  intend  to  settle  and  live  on  it,  and  if  you  kill  any  of  our 
people  for  settling  there,  Ave  shall  destroy  the  town  that  does  the  mischief." 
There  was  no  foundation  in  fact  for  the  claim  that  they  had  bought  the  land ; 
The  Tassel  told  them  he  had  never  heard  of  it,  though  he  had  talked  with  the 
great  men  from  Congress  last  fall  at  the  treaty  of  Hopewell.  But  as  he  was 
powerless  to  prevent  their  taking  possession  of  it,  he  hoped  they  should  live 
friends  together  on  it,  and  keep  their  young  men  at  peace.12  Such  was  the 
treaty  of  Coyatee! 

By  the  following  spring  a  land  office  had  been  opened  for  all  the  land  north 
of  the  Little  Tennessee,  and  the  frontiersmen  were  actually  settling  on  the  banks 
of  that  stream.13  Thus  we  find  the  pioneer  settlers  and  the  Overhill  Cherokees 
lined  up,  face  to  face,  with  nothing  but  the  thread  of  the  Little  Tennessee  River 
as  a  barrier  between  them. 

While  The  Tassel  was  engaged  in  these  peaceable  negotiations,  the  remoter 
towns  of  the  Cherokees  committed  frequent  acts  of  hostility  against  the  fron- 
tiers, for  which  they  were  punished  by  the  settlers.  In  1782  Colonel  Sevier 
marched  against  the  Lower  towns  and  destroyed  everything  from  Bull  Town, 
on  Chickamauga  Creek,  to  Estanaula,  on  the  Coosa  River.  In  1783  Major 
Fine  destroyed  Cowee,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Little  Tennessee.  In  1786 
Governor  Sevier,  of  Franklin,  crossed  the.Unaka  Mountain  and  destroyed  the 
Valley  towns,  on  the  Hiwassee  River.  None  of  these  campaigns,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, was  directed  against  the  Overhill  towns,  nor  were  any  of  the  Indian 
depredations  approved  by  The  Tassel ;  on  the  contrary,  he  tried  to  dissuade  the 
Chickamaugas  from  such  acts  until  he  found  it  was  of  no  use,  when  he  advised 
Agent  Martin  of  the  condition  of  affairs,  and  turned  the  matter  over  to  him. 

In  the  meautime,  after  a  restless,  active  and  stormy  career  of  four  years, 
the  State  of  Franklin  collapsed,  an  order  was  out  for  the  arrest  of  Governor 
Sevier,  and  he  was  a  fugitive  on  the  frontiers,  no  longer  pretending  to  any 
office,  civil  or  military.     He  had  with  him  Maj.  James  Hubbard,  late  an  officer 


10  Col.  John  Donelson   was  killed  on   Barren   River,  in   Kentucky,  in    1785,   but  it   is  not 
known  who  killed  him. 

11  Col.  William  Christian  was  killed  while  pursuing  a  party  of  Indians  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Ohio  River,  in  April,  1786. 

!2  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  344-346. 
13  Ramsey's   "Annals   of  Tennessee,"   pp.  359-360. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  195 

in  the  Franklin  militia,  and  a  small  body  of  mounted  riflemen.     From  Hous- 
ton's Station  he  dispatched  the  following  circular  letter  to  the  border  settlers: 

Major  Houston's  Station,  8th  of  July,  1788. 
To  the  inhabitants  in  general :  Yesterday  we  crossed  the  Tennessee  with 
a  small  party  of  men,  and  destroyed  a  town  called  Toquo.  On  our  return  we 
discovered  large  trails  of  Indians  making  their  way  towards  this  place.  We 
are  of  the  opinion  their  numbers  could  not  be  less  than  500.  We  beg  leave  to 
recommend  that  every  station  will  be  on  their  guard ;  that  also,  every  good 
man  that  can  be  spared  will  voluntarily  turn  out  and  repair  to  this  place,  with 
the  utmost  expedition,  in  order  to  tarry  a  few  days  in  the  neighborhood  and 
repel  the  enemy,  if  possible.  We  intend  waiting  at  this  place  some  days  with 
the  few  men  now  with  us,  as  we  cannot  reconcile  it  to  our  own  feelings,  to  leave 
a  people  who  appear  to  be  in  such  great  distress. 

John  Sevier. 

James  Hubbard. 
N.  B.    It  will  be  necessary  for  those  who  will  be  so  grateful  as  to  come  to  the 
assistance  of  this  place,  to  furnish  themselves  with  a  few  days'  provisions,  as  the 
inhabitants  of  this  fort  are  greatly  distressed  with  Indians. 

J.  S. 

J.  H.14 

Alarmed  by  the  warning  of  Sevier  and  Hubbard,  many  families  in  the  more 
exposed  districts  removed  for  safety  to  the  neighboring  forts.  But  the  frontiers- 
men were  so  inured  to  the  perils  and  dangers  of  border  life  that  they  had  almost 
lost  the  sense  of  fear.  Moreover,  being  such  close  neighbors  to  the  Indians,  they 
had  grown  familiar  with  them  and  knew  many  of  them  by  name,  such,  for  in- 
stance, as  Slim  Tom,  or  Chilhowee,  who  was  known  as  far  north  as  the  settle- 
ment around  Knoxville.  From  these  friendly  Indians  they  apprehended  little 
danger,  though  they  had,  in  a  measure,  been  put  upon  their  guard  as  to  Slim 
Tom.  The  preceding  spring  a  party  of  Indians  had  attacked  the  house  of  Joseph 
Hinds,  killed  and  scalped  his  son,  and  carried  off  a  number  of  horses.  They 
were  pursued  and,  being  surprised  in  their  camp,  fled  into  the  canebrake,  leav- 
ing most  of  their  property  behind.  One  of  the  guns  captured  was  identified 
by  James  Robertson,  whose  watchful  eye  nothing  seems  to  have  escaped,  as  the 
property  of  Slim  Tom's  son,  which  he  had  seen  the  fall  before  in  Chilhowee.15 

So  it  happened  that  some  of  the  families  were  slow  in  availing  themselves 
of  the  protection  of  the  forts.  One  of  these  was  the  family  of  a  man  named 
Kirk,  who  lived  on  Little  River.  His  household  numbered  thirteen  when  all 
were  present.  One  day,  in  the  absence  of  the  father  and  his  son,  John,  Slim  Tom 
came  to  the  house  and  asked  for  something  to  eat.  The  family  knew  him,  allowed 
him  to  come  in,  and  fed  him.  Having  taken  advantage  of  their  hospitality  to 
discover  who  were  present,  and  their  means  of  defense,  he  finished  his  meal  and 
withdrew.  Soon  afterwards  he  returned  from  the  woods  with  a  party  of  In- 
dians, fell  upon  the  defenseless  family,  massacred  the  whole  of  them,  and  left 
their  dead  bodies  in  the  yard.16 

Following  this  massacre  the  wildest  excitement  swept  the  settlement.     The 


14  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  419. 

10  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  428-9. 

15  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  194. 


196  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Tassel  remained  closely  at  home,  while  Abraham,  of  Chilhowee,  declared  pub- 
licly that  if  his  people  went  to  war  he  would  remain  at  his  own  house  and  never 
quit  it.  Sevier  and  Hubbard  assembled  several  hundred  militiamen  at  Hunter's 
Station,  on  Nine  Mile  Creek,  and  clashed  off  to  Hiwassee  River,  where  they  killed 
many  warriors,  took  some  prisoners,  burned  their  towns,  and  returned  to 
Hunter's.  The  next  day  they  swept  up  the  Little  Tennessee,  burned  Tallassee 
and  some  other  towns,  killed  many  Indians  and  returned. 

On  their  return  from  Tallassee  the  troops  marched  down  the  south  bank  of 
the  Little  Tennessee  River.  When  they  had  gotten  opposite  Chilhowee,  on  the 
north  of  the  river,  they  halted.  Governor  Sevier  was  absent,  and  Major  Hub- 
bard was  left  in  command.  He  sent  for  Abraham  and  his  son  to  come  over  the 
river  to  him,  at  the  same  time  raising  a  flag  of  truce,  that  they  might  be  assured 
of  their  safety.  They  came  without  hesitation.  He  then  directed  them  to  bring 
The  Tassel  and  his  son,17  that  he  might  hold  a  talk  with  them.  When  they  came 
he  put  them  all  in  a  house  and  surrounded  it  with  his  men.  He  then  put  a 
tomahawk  in  the  hand  of  John  Kirk,  the  son  of  him  whose  family  had  been 
massacred,  and  led  him  into  the  house.  There,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  between 
four  walls,  while  the  soldiers  on  guard  watched  the  carnage,  his  commanding 
officer  standing  by  his  side,  the  boy  buried  his  tomahawk  in  the  head  of  the 
nearest  Indian,  who  fell  dead  at  his  feet.  The  others,  recognizing  the  fate  in- 
tended for  them,  with  the  stoic  courage  that  enables  the  Indian  warrior  to  face 
even  a  harsher  death  without  quailing,  inclined  their  heads  forward,  cast  their 
eyes  upon  the  ground,  and  one  after  another  received  the  fatal  blow. 

Three  years  later,  in  1791,  Hubbard  led  a  party  of  sixteen  men,  who  con- 
ducted Zachariah  Cox  down  the  Tennessee  River  for  the  purpose  of  taking  pos- 
session of  the  land  granted  to  the  Tennessee  Company  at  Muscle  Shoals.  They 
built  a  blockhouse  and  stockade  on  an  island  at  the  Shoals,  but  The  Glass  came 
down  from  Running  Water  with  sixty  warriors  and  ordered  them  off.  They 
were  therefore  forced  to  abandon  their  works,  which  were  at  once  reduced  to 
ashes.  The  chief,  Richard  Justice,  says  Hubbard  and  his  party  were  then  com- 
pletely in  the  power  of  The  Glass,  who  might  have  killed  them,  but  instead  of 
doing  so,  he  lifted  them  up,  as  it  were,  and  told  them  to  depart  in  peace. 

TRAGEDV    OP    THE    BROWN    FAMILY 

After  the  Chickamaugas  removed  to  their  new  towns,  they  continued  to 
menace  the  frontiers,  particularly  those  of  the  Cumberland  and  Kentucky; 
they  captured  boats  going  down  the  Tennessee  River ;  they  even  terrorized  the 
settlements  east  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains;  in  fact,  most  of  the  Indian 
depredations  committed  were  laid  at  the  door  of  the  Chickamaugas.  Their 
treacherous  seizure  of  James  Brown's  boat,  May  9,  1788,  the  barbarous  mas- 
sacre of  the  eight  men  on  board,  the  separation  of  his  wife  and  her  five  little 
children,  and  their  long  captivity  among  the  Chickamaugas  and  Creeks,  will 
be  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 

James  Brown,  of  Guilford  County,  North  Carolina,  was  somewhat  past  the 
meridian  of  life  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1788.  His  wife,  Jane  Gillespie, 
had  borne  him  sixteen  children,  nine  of  whom  were  still  living.  He  was  in 
moderate  circumstances,  and  had  held  honorable  offices  in  his  county.  Having 
been   a  revolutionarv   soldier   in   the   continental  line   of   North    Carolina,    he 


American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  "Vol.  I,  p.  56. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  197 

received  for  his  services  a  certificate,  payable  in  the  western  lands  of  that  state. 
When  the  land  office  was  opened  at  Hillsboro,  in  1783,  he  resolved  to  make 
adequate  provision  for  his  numerous  children,  by  locating  his  military  warrant 
in  the  rich  settlement  on  the  Cumberland  River,  about  which  glowing  accounts 
had  come  back  to  the  east.  Taking  with  him  two  of  his  older  sons,  William  and 
Daniel  G.,  he  explored  the  Cumberland  Valley,  and  entered  a  large  body  of 
land  beyond  the  settlements,  on  Duck  River,  near  the  present  town  of  Columbia. 
He  secured  a  tract  at  the  mouth  of  White's  Creek,  on  the  Cumberland  River, 
a  few  miles  below  Nashville,  for  his  present  settlement,  and  leaving  William 
and  Daniel  to  build  a  cabin  and  open  a  small  field  for  cultivation,  he  returned 
to  North  Carolina  for  his  family. 

Choosing  the  river  as  the  least  dangerous  and  most  agreeable  route,  espe- 
cially for  the  women  and  children,  in  the  winter  of  1787,  he  built  a  boat,  near 
the  Long  Island  of  Holston,  from  which  point  Colonel  Donelson  had  launched 
his  famous  flotilla ;  and  to  make  it  secure  against  any  possible  attack  from 
the  Indians,  he  protected  it  with  an  armor  of  oak  plank,  two  inches  thick, 
perforated  at  suitable  intervals  with  port  holes,  and  mounted  a  small  cannon 
upon  its  stern.  About  the  first  of  May,  1788,  having  taken  on  board  a  quantity 
of  goods  such  as  would  be  useful  in  his  new  home  on  the  Cumberland,  and 
also  some  suitable  for  traffic  among  the  Indians,  he  loosed  his  boat  from  its 
mooring  and  launched  it  on  its  long  and  dangerous  voyage.  His  party  con- 
sisted of  himself,  his  wife,  his  sons,  James  and  John,  who  were  grown ;  Joseph, 
a  lad  of  fifteen,  and  George,  who  was  only  nine;  his  three  daughters,  Jane, 
aged  ten,  Elizabeth,  seven,  and  Polly  four.  Besides  these  members  of  his 
immediate  family,  there  were  also  five  young  men,  J.  Bays,  John*  Flood,  John 
Gentry,  William  Gentry  and  John  Griffin,  and  a  negro  woman. 

They  passed  Chickamauga  Creek  about  daybreak  on  Friday,  May  9,  1788, 
and  reached  Tuskegee,  a  small  town  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river,  just  below 
Chattanooga,  a  little  after  sunrise.  Here  Coteatoy,  a  chief  of  Tuskegee,  and 
three  other  warriors,  came  aboard.  They  were  treated  kindly  and  appeared 
entirely  friendly,  but  as  soon  as  they  left  the  boat,  they  started  runners  to 
Running  Water  and  Nickajack,  for  the  purpose  of  intercepting  it  before  it 
passed  those  towns. 

John  Vann,  a  half-breed  who  spoke  English,  with  four  canoes,  carrying 
about  forty  warriors,  paddled  out  midstream  and  met  Brown's  boat  just  above 
the  town  of  Nickajack.  They  were  apparently  unarmed,  and  were  flying  a 
white  flag,  but  in  reality  they  had  their  guns  and  tomahawks  covered  with 
blankets  in  the  bottoms  of  their  canoes.  When  they  approached,  Brown  said 
too  many  were  coming  at  one  time,  wheeled  his  boat  to  bring  his  cannon  into 
action,  and  had  a  match  ready  to  touch  it  off.  Vann  pleaded  for  friendship 
in  the  name  of  the  late  treaty  of  Hopewell,  alleging  that  he  only  wanted  to 
find  out  where  they  were  going,  and  to  trade  with  them  if  they  had  anything 
to  trade,  and  Brown,  who  was  loath  to  precipitate  open  hostilities,  which 
would  endanger  the  little  colony  to  which  he  was  bound,  listened  to  his  friendly 
talk  and  suffered  his  canoes  to  approach. 

By  this  stratagem  Vann  succeeded  in  getting  his  party  aboard  Brown's 
boat.  Immediately  seven  or  eight  other  canoes,  hitherto  concealed  among  the 
rank  cane  in  the  submerged  bottoms  of  the  swollen  river,  bore  down  upon 
him.  Vann's  party  appeared  friendly  until  the  other  canoes  came  up,  when 
they  began  taking  goods  from  the  boat  and  transferring  them  to  their  canoes. 


198  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Brown  asked  Vann  J'or  protection,  but  was  told  that  lie  must  await  the  return 
of  The  Breath,  the  head  man  of  Nickajaek,  who  was  away  from  home,  but 
would  return  that  night,  and  would  make  the  marauders  give  up  everything. 
Moreover,  he  promised  to  furnish  him  a  guide  on  the  morrow,  to  pilot  his  boat 
over  the  dangerous  rapids  of  the  Muscle  Shoals.  In  the  meantime  the  boat 
was  completely  gutted,  and  headed  for  the  mouth  of  Nickajaek  Creek. 

While  the  boat  was  being  scuttled,  a  brutal  Indian  seized  Joseph  Brown 
by  the  arm  and  pulled  him  violently  to  one  side.  His  father,  observing  the 
movement,  caught  hold  of  the  Indian  and  forbade  him  to  touch  his  little  boy. 
The  Indian  released  Joseph  and  directed  his  treacherous  eyes  to  his  father. 
As  soon  as  Brown  had  turned  his  back  upon  him,  the  Indian  drew  an  old 
sword  he  had  in  some  way  possessed  himself  of,  and  struck  him  on  the  neck, 
nearly  severing  his  head  from  his  body.  He  immediately  fell,  or  was  thrown, 
overboard,  and  Joseph,  who  had  not  seen  the  fatal  blow,  ran  forward  to  the 
bow  of  the  boat  and  told  his  brothers  their  father  had  been  drowned.  Having 
seized  the  goods  in  the  boat,  the  Indians  now  began  to  appropriate  the  prisoners. 

A  party  of  Creeks,  who  chanced  to  be  in  Nickajaek  at  the  time,  took 
Mrs.  Brown,  her  youngest  son,  George,  and  her  three  little  girls,  into  their 
canoes,  and  while  the  Chickamaugas  were  deliberating  of  the  fate  of  the  men, 
hurriedly  departed  for  their  distant  towns  on  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  rivers. 
Next  morning,  howrever,  the  Chickamaugas,  feeling  that  the  Creeks  had  taken 
more  than  their  just  share  of  the  spoils,  pursued  and  forced  them  to  deliver 
up  Jane  and  Polly,  whom  they  brought  back  to  Nickajaek. 

Before  Brown's  boat  was  landed,  Kiachatalee,  of  Nickajaek,  asked  Joseph 
Brown  to  get  into  his  canoe  and  go  with  him,  but  the  boy,  not  dreaming  that 
he  was  a  prisoner,  refused  to  do  so.  But  after  they  had  come  ashore,  Kiacha- 
talee took  his  stepfather,  Tom  Tunbridge,  to  Joseph.  Tunbridge,  who  could 
speak  English,  asked  the  lad  to  spend  the  night  at  his  house,  about  a  mile 
east  of  town  on  the  Running  Water  road,  and  after  obtaining  the  permission 
of  his  older  brothers,  he  consented  to  do  so. 

Coteatoy,  of  Tuskegee,  the  author  of  the  mischief,  arrived  on  the  scene  in 
time  to  take  the  negro  woman  as  his  part  of  the  booty,  and  putting  her  on  board 
a  canoe,  sent  her  up  the  river  to  his  town. 

The  captives  being  all  carried  away,  the  seven  young  men  only  were  left 
in  the  village.  At  first  they  were  told  of  a  certain  house  up  town  in  which 
they  could  spend  the  night.  Afterwards  they  were  directed  to  a  better  one 
in  the  lower  end  of  the  town,  and  a  young  Indian  was  sent  to  pilot  them  to  it. 
About  two  o  'clock  in  the  afternoon  they  took  a  boat  and  were  dropping  down  the 
creek  to  the  house  assigned  them,  when  a  party  of  Indians,  who  had  concealed 
themselves  among  the  cane  and  stumps  that  still  covered  the  banks  of  the  creek, 
picked  three  of  them  off  with  their  rifles.  The  others  then  abandoned  the 
boat,  but  the  Indians,  armed  with  knives,  tomahawks  and  guns,  pursued  and 
killed  them  all,  one  after  another. 

As  Tom  Tunbridge  hurried  Joseph  Brown  away  from  the  town,  they  could 
hear  the  firing  of  guns  on  the  banks  of  Nickajaek  Creek.  A  few  minutes  after 
they  had  reached  home,  Coteatoy 's  mother,  a  big,  fat,  old  ,quaw,  came  rushing 
up  to  the  house,  the  sweat  pouring  from  her  face,  and  upbraided  Tunbridge 
in  an  angry  manner  for  not  killing  his  prisoner.  She  said  all  the  rest  had 
been  killed;  that  he  was  large  enough  to  see  everything,  would  soon  be  a  man, 
and  would  then  pilot  an  army  there  and  cut  them  off.     She  added,  that  Cotea- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  199 

toy  would  be  on  in  a  few  minutes,  and  she  knew  he  would  kill  him.  Tunbridge 
arose,  and  in  an  uneasy  manner  stood  in  the  door,  looking  down  the  road 
leading  to  Niekajack.  Suddenly  Coteatoy,  who  came  through  the  canebrake, 
and  not  by  the  road,  appeared  at  the  corner  of  the  cabin  and  asked  him  if 
there  was  not  a  white  man  in  the  house.  When  answered  that  there  was  a 
"bit"  of  a  white  boy  there,  he  said  he  knew  how  big  he  was,  and  that  he 
must  be  killed.  Tunbridge  protested  that  it  was  not  right  to  kill  women  and 
children.  Coteatoy  persisting,  Tunbridge  told  him  the  boy  was  Kiachatalee's 
prisoner,  and  must  not  be  killed.  At  this  Coteatoy  became  furious,  and  Tun- 
bridge, finding  further  resistance  both  useless  and  dangerous,  stepped  back 
out  of  the  door  and  said,  "Take  him  along." 

Coteatoy  entered  the  cabin,  his  knife  in  one  hand,  and  his  tomahawk  in 
the  other.  Mrs.  Tunbridge  begged  him  not  to  kill  the  boy  in  her  house. 
Yielding  to  her  supplication,  he  took  hold  of  the  boy  and  jerked  him  out  of 
the  house.  There  young  Brown  discovered  eight  or  ten  of  Coteatoy 's  followers, 
armed  with  guns,  knives  and  tomahawks,  and  carrying  sticks  from  which  were 
suspended  two  scalps,  one  of  which  he  recognized  as  that  of  one  of  his  brothers. 
His  heart  now  failed  him,  and  he  besought  Tunbridge  to  beg  half  an  hour  of 
life  for  him,  that  he  might  try  to  pray,  but  the  old  man  told  him  it  was  not 
worth  while.  As  they  were  stripping  his  clothes  from  him,  in  order  that  they 
might  not  get  bloody,  Mrs.  Tunbridge  again  pleaded  with  them  not  to  kill 
him  there,  nor  on  the  road  to  her  spring.  They  finally  agreed  to  take  him  to 
Running  Water,  about  four  miles  off,  and  there  have  a  frolic  knocking  him 
over. 

After  they  had  started  to  Running  Water,  it  occurred  to  Coteatoy  that 
he  might  be  doing  a  bad  business,  as  he  had  himself  taken  a  valuable  negro 
woman,  whose  life  might  thereby  be  endangered.  At  this  thought  he  halted 
bis  men  and  told  them  it  would  not  do  to  kill  the  boy,  because  if  they  did, 
Kiachatalee  was  a  warrior,  and  all  the  Indians  in  the  nation  could  not  keep 
him  from  putting  his  negro  woman  to  death.  When  this  halt  was  made  the 
unhappy  prisoner,  who  could  not  understand  a  word  the  Indians  said,  fell  on 
his  knees  to  pray,  thinking  they  had  stopped  to  kill  him ;  but  after  he  had  been 
in  the  attitude  of  prayer  five  or  ten  minutes,  he  looked  up,  and  behold!  their 
grim  faces  were  wreathed  in  smiles.  He  arose  and  his  heart  leaped  with  joy 
as  he  realized  the  new  turn  of  affairs.  Then  Coteatoy 's  vindictive  old  mother 
said  she  would  have  a  lock  of  his  hair ;  and  after  she  had  sawed  it  off  with 
her  dull  knife,  she  gave  him  a  vicious  kick  in  the  side,  which  amused  the 
party  very  much.  Coteatoy  then  called  Tunbridge  to  him,  and  told  him  to 
take  Brown  back  to  the  cabin ;  that  he  loved  him,  but  would  not  make  friends 
with  him  then,  but  would  be  back  in  three  moons,  and  if  he  lived  until  that  time, 
he  woidd  make  friends  with  him. 

On  Saturday,  May  10,  Kiachatalee  and  his  mother  went  in  to  see  Breath 
about  their  prisoner,  and  were  directed  to  bring  the  boy  to  see  him  the  next 
day.  On  Sunday,  Mrs.  Tunbridge  took  him  to  see  Breath,  who  shook  hands 
with  him,  and  then  explained  to  him  that,  according  to  their  customs,  no  one 
was  bound  to  protect  an  alien ;  but  that  a  family  would  avenge  the  death  of 
an  adopted  son  as  sacredly  as  if  he  had  been  born  to  them.  He  therefore  ad- 
vised that  he  make  an  Indian  of  himself,  agreed  to  take  bini  into  his  own 
family,  which  was  one  of  the  strongest  in  the  nation,  and  told  Joseph  to  call 
him  uncle  and  Kiachatalee  brother.     Accordinglv,  he  had  his  long  hair  shaved 


200  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

off,  except  a  scalp  lock,  exchanged  his  pantaloons  for  a  breach  clout  and 
leggins,  and  assumed  his  position  as  a  member  of  Tom  Tnnbridge's  family. 

Brown  lived  in  the  Tunbridge  family  for  nearly  a  year,  engaged  in  the 
ordinary  domestic  employments  of  the  Indian,  such  as  carrying  water  and 
wood,  hoeing  corn,  and  looking  after  the  horses.  He  was  kindly  treated  by  his 
captors,  and  was  allowed  the  priceless  privilege  of  occasionally  seeing  his  little 
sisters,  Jane  and  Polly,  of  whose  treatment  he  had  little  reason  to  complain. 
They  were  finally  exchanged,  April  25,  1789,  under  the  following  circum- 
stances: After  Watts  had  taken  Gillespie's  Station,  in  satisfaction  for  the 
death  of  his  uncle,  The  Tassel,  General  Sevier  followed  him  to  the  banks  of 
the  Coosa  River,  taking  twenty-nine  women  and  children  prisoners,  among  them 
a  daughter  of  the  Little  Turkey,  principal  chief  of  the  lower  towns.  The 
Indians  then  proposed  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  and  General  Sevier  demanded, 
not  only  the  prisoners  taken  at  Gillespie's,  but  all  the  white  prisoners  in  their 
towns,  especially  naming  those  taken  in  Brown's  boat.  The  Little  Turkey, 
being  unable  to  move  him  from  his  position,  agreed  to  his  terms,  in  order  to 
recover  possession  of  his  own  daughter. 

Accordingly,  Joseph  and  little  Polly  were  brought  into  Nickajack.  The 
squaw  who  had  Polly  seemed  to  think  as  much  of  her  as  if  she  had  been  her 
own  child,  and  the  little  tot  fully  reciprocated  her  affection.  When  Joseph 
told  her  he  was  going  to  take  her  to  her  own  mother,  she  ran  to  her  Indian 
mother  and  clasped  her  arms  around  her  neck,  and  her  brother  had  to  take 
her  away  by  force  when  he  started  to  Running  Water.  Jane,  who  was  held 
in  another  town  about  thirty  miles  away,  had  not  been  brought  in,  and  when 
they  were  about  to  leave  Running  Water,  Joseph  refused  to  go  without  the 
presence  of  both  his  sisters.  A  young  warrior  was  immediately  started  for 
Jane,  but  returned  two  days  later  with  the  statement  that  her  owner  would 
not  let  her  go  without  pay.  The  Bench  happened  to  be  sitting  by,  his  sword 
hanging  on  the  wall  and  his  horse  hitched  to  a  tree  in  the  yard.  He  arose, 
took  his  sword  and  horse,  and  said,  "I  will  bring  her,  or  his  head."  The  next 
morning  he  brought  her  in,  and  the  party  left  for  Coosawatee,  where  the 
prisoners  were  exchanged,  and  returned  to  the  residence  of  their  uncle,  Joseph 
Brown,  in  Pendleton  County,  South  Carolina. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Mrs.  Brown  and  four  of  her  children  wrere 
hurried  off  by  their  Creek  captors,  as  soon  as  the  boat  was  landed,  and  that 
Jane  and  Polly  were  retaken  by  the  Chickamaugas,  and  returned  to  Nickajack. 
George  and  Elizabeth  continued  on  with  their  mother.  Foot-sore,  weary  and 
almost  heartbroken,  she  was  carried  to  a  Creek  town  on  the  Coosa  River,  while 
her  little  children  were  torn  from  her  arms  and  taken  off  to  other  towns. 
Near  the  town  in  which  Mrs.  Brown  was  confined  lived  Benjamin  Durant  and 
his  beautiful,  dark-eyed  wife,  Sophia,  sister  of  Gen.  Alexander  McGillivray. 
She  was  as  energetic  and  commanding  as  her  distinguished  brother,  and  shared 
with  him  the  most  humane  sentiments.1  Having  her  attention  drawn  to  Mrs. 
Brown,  she  interested  herself  in  her  behalf,  and  not  only  advised  her  to  fly 
to  her  brother  for  protection,  but  furnished  her  the  means  of  reaching  his 
house  at  Little  Tallase.  Accepting  her  generous  offer,  Mrs.  Brown,  with  some 
difficulty,  made  her  way  to  the  home  of  General  McGillivray,  who  gave  her  a 
cordial  and  kindly  welcome ;  and,  later,  ransomed  her  from  her  captor,  and 
kept  her  at  his  house,  as  a  member  of  his  family,  for  more  than  a  year. 


Pickett's  "History  of  Alabama,"  Vol.  II,  pp.   126-7. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  201 

By  her  industry,  intelligence  and  dignity,  Mrs.  Brown  won  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  her  Indian  friends,  and  the  active  interest  of  General  Mc- 
Gillivray.  On  his  first  opportunity  he  ransomed  little  Elizabeth  from  her 
captor  and  restored  her  to  her  mother.  At  the  same  time  he  brought  her 
intelligence  of  her  son  George,  whom  he  would  also  have  ransomed,  but  his 
master  was  not  willing  to  part  with  him  on  any  terms.  In  November,  1789, 
General  McGillivray  went  to  Rock  Landing,  Georgia,  on  public  business.  He 
carried  Mrs.  Brown  and  her  daughter  with  him,  and  delivered  them  to  her 
son,  William,  who  had  gone  there  seeking  information  of  her.  Liberated  after 
a  captivity  of  eighteen  months,  she  spent  a  short  time  with  relatives  in  South 
Carolina,  after  which  she  returned  to  her  old  friends  at  Guilford  Court  House, 
North  Carolina. 

At  Guilford  Court  House  an  affecting  scene  occurred.  General  McGillivray 
was  on  his  way  to  New  York,  where  he  was  to  hold  a  treaty  with  President 
Washington,  and  reached  that  place  in  June,  1790.  When  Mrs.  Brown  heard 
of  his  arrival,  she  rushed  through  the  large  assembly  at  the  courthouse,  and 
with  a  flood  of  tears,  almost  overpowered  him  with  expressions  of  admiration 
for  his  character  and  gratitude  for  his  generous  conduct  to  herself  and  chil- 
dren.2 Her  brother,  Colonel  Gillespie,  offered  to  pay  him  any  sum  he  might 
think  proper  to  name,  as  a  ransom  for  Mrs.  Brown  and  her  daughter,  but  the 
noble  chief,  who  was  always  generous  to  the  distressed,  whom  he  fed,  sheltered 
and  protected  for  humanity's  sake,  refused  any  compensation  whatever,  de- 
claring that  to  receive  pay  would  deprive  him  of  both  the  honor  and  pleasure 
such  manifestations  of  affection  afforded  him.  At  the  same  time  he  assured 
Mrs.  Brown  that  he  would  not  fail  to  use  his  best  efforts  for  the  liberation  of 
her  son.  I* 

It  was  more  than  eight  years  before  George  .Brown  was  restored  to  his 
people.  General  Pickens  received  him  from  Superintendent  Seagrove,  and 
delivered  him  to  his  uncle,  Joseph  Brown,  of  Pendleton  County,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  September,  1796.3  He  was  then  a  fine  boy,  had  learned  to  read,  and 
was  beginning  to  write,  thanks  to  the  care  and  thoughtfulness  of  Mr.  Sea- 
grove,  who  had  kept  him  in  school  while  he  was  under  his  charge.4 

THE   RISE   OF    JOHN    WATTS 

After  the  capture  of  Brown's  boat,  the  massacre  of  its  men  and  the  cap- 
tivity of  its  women  and  children,  by  the  Chickamaugas,  The  Tassel,  head 
chief  of  the  nation,  admitted  his  inability  to  restrain  them,  and  advised  General 
Martin,  the  Cherokee  agent,  to  go  against  their  country  and  burn  their 
towns,  so  they  would  have  to  return  to  the  nation  and  submit  to  control.1 
With  the  consent  of  the  governor  of  North  Carolina,  he  determined  to  make 
the   campaign.      He   raised   a   force   of   about    five   hundred   men,    in   the    four 


2  Pickett's  "History  of  Alabama,"  Vol.  II,  p.   107. 

3  Pickens  to  Robertson,  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  IV,  p.  336. 

4  The  facts  narrated  in  this  chapter  are  taken,  mainly,  from  three  separate  accounts,  all 
on  the  authority  of  Col.  Joseph  Brown.  1 — -A  narrative  by  Col.  Joseph  Brown,  furnished  by 
General  Zollicoffer  to  the  historian,  Ramsey,  and  published  in  his  "History  of  Tennessee," 
pp.  50f)-5ir);  2 — Colonel  Brown's  narrative,  dictated  to  William  Wales,  and  published  in  the 
Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  1,  pp.  11-16,  and  72-78;  3 — A  very  excellent  sketch  of  Jane 
Brown,  written  by  Milton  A.  Haynes,  principally  from  notes  and  memoranda  furnished  by 
Colonel  Brown,  and  published  in  Mrs.  Elizabeth  F.  Ellet's  "Pioneer  Women  of  the  West," 
pp.   79-106.      (Reprint.) 

1  American  State   Papers,  Indian   Affairs,  Vol.   I,   p.  48. 


202  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

counties  of  North  Carolina,  and  rendezvoused  at  White's  Fort,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1788.  Thence  they  made  a  rapid  march  to  the  neighborhood  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  which  they  reached  late  one  afternoon,  and  camped  on 
the  site  of  an  old  Indian  settlement.  General  Martin  sent  forward  a  detach- 
ment of  fifty  men  under  Colonel  Doherty,  to  take  charge  of  the  pass  between 
the  mountain  and  the  river,  and  hold  it  until  morning;  but  the  Indians,  who 
were  on  the  "lookout,"  discovered  his  movements,  fired  upon  his  party,  and 
drove  them  back.  Early  next  morning  his  spies  were  tired  upon  and  one 
of  them  wounded.  The  whole  force  then  moved  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
tied  their  horses,  and  prepared  for  a  general  attack.  From  the  nature  of 
the  ground  they  could  not  inarch  in  regular  order,  but  had  to  zigzag,  mostly 
single  file,  among  the  obstructing  stones.  The  Indians  were  concealed  behind 
rocks  and  trees,  and  when  they  came  in  range,  poured  down  on  them  a 
sudden  and  destructive  fire.  Many  were  killed,  including  Captains  Hardin, 
Fuller  and  Gibson.  Great  confusion  ensued ;  the  men  fled  to  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  and  some  of  them  even  ran  off  to  the  encampment.  General  Martin 
was  unable  to  rally  his  men,  who  declared  it  would  be  another  Blue  Lick 
affair  if  they  went  beyond  the  pass.  After  burying  their  dead  in  an  old 
Indian  council  house,  they  burned  it  over  them  to  conceal  their  graves,  and 
marched  back  to  the  settlements.2 

This  was  the  last  expedition  undertaken  against  the  Chickamaugas  during 
the  life  of  Dragging  Canoe.  He  lived  nearly  four  years  longer,  but  little  is 
known  of  his  personal  movements  during  that  time.  He  has  left  no  talks 
for  he  had  no  intercourse  with  the  Americans,  and  we  get  only  glimpses  of 
him,  now  and  then,  as  he  is  incidentally  mentioned  in  our  public  records. 
He  continued  his  friendly  relations  with  the  English,  and  was  well  known 
at  Detroit.  His  brother,  White  Owl's  Son,  boasted  of  the  valuable  presents 
he  had  received  from  the  British  at  Detroit,  in  the  winter  of  1791-2,  for  him- 
self and  Dragging  Canoe,  namely :  a  pair  of  small  and  a  pair  of  large  arm 
bands  for  each ;  three  gorgets  for  his  brother  and  four  for  himself ;  a  pair  of 
scarlet  boots  and  flaps,  bound  with  ribbon,  for  each ;  four  match  coats,  a 
blanket,  and  two  shirts,  for  each ;  and  powder  and  lead  as  much  as  he 
wanted,  for  himself  and  the  three  Cherokees  who  were  with  him.  He  had 
considerable  intercourse  with  the  Shawnees,  and  sympathized  with  them  in 
their  struggle  against  the  United  States.  His  brother  and  some  of  his  war- 
riors fought  with  them  at  the  bloody  battle  known  as  St.  Clair's  defeat.  On 
the  other  hand,  Piomingo,  or  the  Mountain  Leader,  the  famous  Chickasaw  chief, 
was  the  friend  and  ally  of  the  United  States,  though  he  did  not  reach  General 
St.  Clair  in  time  to  participate  in  that  fatal  engagement. 

After  St.  Clair's  defeat  the  Shawnees  sent  an  urgent  invitation  to  the 
Southern  Indians  to  join  them  in  war  against  the  United  States.  General  Mc- 
Gillivray,  the  great  Creek  chief,  favored  such  a  confederacy,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  the  Mountain  Leader  and  his  party  into  the  measure,  he  caused 
Dragging  Canoe  to  be  despatched  to  the  Chickasaw  nation.3  Immediately  after 
his  return  from  this  mission,  about  the  1st  of  March,  1792,  he  departed  this  life, 
in  his  town  of  Running  Water.4 

At  the  great   Cherokee  council,  held   at  their  beloved  town  of   Estanaula, 


2  Ramsey,  p.   517;   Weeks'  "Joseph  Martin,"  pp.  463-4;   William  Martin,  "Proceedings 
of  the  Southern  History  Association,"  Vol.  IV,  pp.  464-5. 
a  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  264. 
*  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  265. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  203 

June  26-30,  1792,  the  Black  Fox  pronounced  the  following  eulogium  on  Dragging 
Canoe : 

"The  Dragging  Canoe  has  left  the  world.  He  was  a  man  of  consequence 
in  his  country.  He  was  a  friend  both  to  his  own  and  the  white  people.  But 
his  brother  is  still  in  place,  and  I  mention  now  in  public,  that  I  intend  pre- 
senting him  with  his  deceased  brother's  medal;  for  he  promises  fair  to  possess 
sentiments  similar  to  those  of  his  brother,  both  with  regard  to  the  red  and 
white.  It  is  mentioned  here  publicly,  that  both  whites  and  reds  may  know  it, 
and  pay  attention  to  him."5 

John  Watts  (Kunoskeskie)  was  the  son  of  a  white  man  of  the  same  name, 
who  resided  among  the  Cherokees,  and  sometimes  acted  as  interpreter  for  the 
nation ;  notably  at  the  treaty  of  Lochaber  in  1770,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  settlement  of  Tennessee  was  begun.  His  mother  was  a  sister  of  The  Tassel, 
who  was  the  head  of  the  nation  at  the  time  of  his  assassination.  He  was  him- 
self sometimes  called  Corn  Tassel ; 6  and  it  was  he  who,  with  Dragging  Canoe 
and  Judge  Friend,  refused  to  take  part  in  the  treaty  of  Long  Island  in  1777, 
and  abandoned  the  Overhill  towns  rather  than  submit  to  the  Americans.  He 
did  not,  however,  join  himself  to  the  implacable  Chickamaugas ;  and  was  not 
for  some  years  distinguished  as  a  warrior. 

The  first  glimpse  we  have  of  him  is  in  the  capacity  of  a  diplomat.  When 
Campbell  and  Sevier  invaded  the  Indian  country  in  1780,  Watts,  and  a  chief 
called  Noonday,  afterwards  killed  by  rangers  near  Craig's  Station,"  met  them 
at  Tellico  and  proposed  terms  of  peace.  Ramsey  says  it  was  granted  to  Tellico 
and  the  adjacent  villages,8  but  Campbell,  in  his  official  report,  expressly  states 
that  Tellico  was  burned.9  Campbell  probably  refers  to  Watts,  however,  when 
he  speaks  of  a  chief  of  Coyatee  who  seemed  to  him  to  be  the  only  man  of  honor 
among  the  chiefs,  and  in  whose  favor  he  would  willingly  have  discriminated 
had  it  been  in  his  power.  Two  years  later,  when  Sevier  marched  against  the 
Chickamaugas,  he  held  a  conference  with  the  friendly  chiefs,  at  Citico,  and 
engaged  Watts  to  accompany  the  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  effecting,  by 
friendly  negotiations,  an  arrangement  for  peace  with  the  whole  nation.1" 

In  July.  1788,  as  we  have  seen,  The  Tassel  was  treacherously  murdered 
under  a  flag  of  truce.  The  whole  nation  was  shocked  and  maddened  by  that 
horrible  crime.  Their  young  warriors  once  more  dug  up  the  hatchet.  Watts 
had  a  double  incentive  for  putting  himself  at  their  head.  In  the  first  place  he 
was  deeply  affected  by  his  uncle 's  death ;  so  much  so,  that  when  he  spoke  of 
it  three  years  afterwards,  at  the  treaty  of  Holston,  he  was  so  overcome  that 
he  could  not  proceed,  and  had  to  request  the  Bloody  Fellow  to  finish  the 
business.11  Moreover,  the  law  of  his  nation  imposed  upon  every  member  of 
a  family  the  duty  of  taking  satisfaction  for  an  injury  inflicted  upon  another 
member  of  it.12  But  he  was  never  content  to  put  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
small  predatory  band,  like  his  nephew,  The  Bench.  He  had  the  capacity  to 
lead  large  bodies  of  men,  and  in  his  wars  we  always  find  him  at  the  head  of 


5  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  271. 

11  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  48. 

"  American  State   Papers,  Indian   Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.   450. 

s" Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  265. 

!l  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  I,  p.  436. 

10  Ramsey's  "Annals  of   Tennessee,"  p.  272. 

n  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  204. 

12  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  325 


204  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

a  formidable  army.  At  this  crisis  lie  invaded  the  border  at  the  head  of  some 
two  or  three  hundred  warriors. 

In  the  meantime  General  Martin  was  making  earnest  efforts  to  pacify  the 
Indians.  He  followed  Scollacutta  (Hanging  Maw),  who  had  succeeded  The 
Tassel  as  head  of  the  nation,  to  Seneca.  Scollacutta,  a  friend  of  peace,  as 
The  Tassel  had  been,  agreed  to  put  a  stop  to  the  war,  and  for  that  purpose 
sent  runners  to  Watts.13  Before  they  reached  him,  however,  namely,  a  little 
after  sunrise  on  the  15th  of  October,  1788,  he  appeared  before  Gillespie's 
Station,  on  Little  River,  and  demanded  its  surrender.  There  were  only  a  few 
men  in  the  fort,  but  they  refused  to  surrender,  and  made  a  gallant  defense  until 
the  Indians  stormed  the  fort,  rushing  over  the  roofs  of  the  cabins  which  formed 
part  of  the  enclosure,  when  they  were  compelled  to  yield.  It  is  not  known  how 
many  were  killed  in  the  action,  but  there  were  twenty-eight  prisoners  taken; 
none  of  the  prisoners  was  killed  or  mistreated,  but  all  were  soon  afterwards 
exchanged  for  Indian  prisoners  taken  by  General  Sevier.14 

When  Scollacutta 's  runners  reached  Watts,  he  consented  to  withdraw,  con- 
sidering that  he  had  already  sufficiently  avenged  the  death  of  his  uncle.15 
Before  retiring,  however,  Watts,  Bloody  Fellow,  Categiskey  and  The  Glass  had 
left  a  talk  at  Gillespie's,  dated  October  15,  1788,  and  addressed  to  Sevier  and 
Martin,  in  which  they  apologized  for  having  killed  women  and  children  in  the 
battle,  charged  the  whites  with  beginning  the  war  by  beguiling  their  head  man 
(The  Tassel),  who  was  the  friend  of  the  white  man,  and  wanted  to  keep  peace; 
declared  they  were  on  their  own  land,  and  when  the  whites  moved  off  they 
would  make  peace;  and  gave  them  thirty  days  to  march  off.10 

On  the  24th  of  November,  the  head  men  and  warriors  of  the  Cherokee  nation 
held  a  council  at  Estanaula,  which  was  now  their  beloved  town,  and  declared 
for  peace.17  The  main  inducement  for  this  resolution  was  a  proclamation  of 
Congress,  dated  September  1,  1788,  forbidding  intrusions  on  the  Cherokee 
hunting  ground,  and  ordering  all  those  who  had  settled  there — estimated  at 
several  thousand — to  depart  without  loss  of  time.18  While  this  proclamation 
served  to  quiet  the  Indians,  it  failed  to  remove  the  trespassers  from  their  lands ; 
and  finally,  the  Indians  were  prevailed  upon  to  make  an  additional  cession,  at 
the  treaty  of  Holston. 

The  western  counties  of  North  Carolina  had  now  become  the  Southwest 
Territory,  with  William  Blount  as  its  governor. 

After  organizing  the  Territorial  Government  in  the  various  counties  and 
districts,  Governor  Blount  turned  his  attention  to  Indian  affairs.  The  boundary 
line  prescribed  in  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  had  never  given  satisfaction  either  to 
the  Indians  or  the  whites.  Its  violation  by  the  latter  called  forth  the  vigorous 
proclamation  of  Congress  in  1788,  already  mentioned.  When  the  United  States 
took  jurisdiction  of  the  country,  President  Washington  declared  it  his  purpose 
to  carry  into  faithful  execution  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  "unless  it  should  be 
thought  proper  to  attempt  to  arrange  a  new  boundary  with  the  Cherokees, 
embracing  the  settlements,  and  compensating  the  Cherokees  for  the  cession  they 


is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  46-47. 

i+ Ramsey's   "Annals   of   Tennessee,"    p.   518;    American    State   Papers,   Indian   Affairs, 
\  nl.  I,  p.  47;   Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  202. 

15  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  291. 

16  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.   517. 

it  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  45-6. 
lsRoyce's  "Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,"  p.  160. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  205 

snould  make."  10  The  senate  authorized  the  new  treaty,  and  instructions  were 
issued  to  Governor  Blount,  August  11,  1790,  for  that  purpose. 

In  pursuance  of  his  instructions,  Governor  Blount  convened  the  Indians  at 
White's  Fort,  where  Knoxville  was  afterwards  laid  out.  The  treaty  was  held 
at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  that  flows  at  the  foot  of  Main  and  Cumberland  streets, 
and  empties  into  the  river  at  the  end  of  Crozier  (now  Central)  Street,  and  was 
concluded  July  2,  1791.  So  successful  was  Governor  Blount  in  his  negotiations, 
that  his  treaty  was  not  only  ratified  by  the  Senate,  but  the  Secretary  of  War, 
advising  him  of  that  fact,  tendered  him  the  thanks  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  the  able  manner  in  which  he  had  conducted  the  treaty,  and 
for  the  zeal  he  had  uniformly  evinced  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  United 
States,  in  endeavoring  to  fix  peace  on  the  basis  of  justice  and  humanity.2" 

The  treaty  of  Holston  does  not,  however,  appear  to  have  been  quite  as 
satisfactory  to  the  Indians  as  it  was  to  the  Government.  Watts  and  Bloody 
Fellow  had  been  appointed  by  their  nation  to  be  their  principal  speakers  at 
the  treaty,  though,  as  has  been  mentioned,  the  death  of  his  uncle  still  bore 
oppressively  upon  Watts.  The  only  thing  immediately  connected  with  the  nego- 
tiations to  which  it  is  necessary  to  draw  attention,  is  the  fact  that  the  Chicka- 
maugas,  whom  Watts  was  soon  afterwards  called  upon  to  lead,  being  still  hostile 
to  the  United  States,  were  not  represented  in  it,  and  did  not  participate  in  the 
distribution  of  goods  which  the  Government  presented  to  the  Indians  in  liberal 
quantities  at  its  conclusion.  The  annuity  provided  in  this  treaty,  which  was  the 
first  annuity  ever  granted  to  the  Cherokees,  was  $1,000. 

After  discussing  the  matter  among  themselves  the  Indians  became  dissatisfied 
with  the  amount  of  the  annuity,  and  on  the  28th  of  December,  1791,  the 
Government  at  Philadelphia  was  surprised  by  the  visit  of  a  delegation  of 
Cherokee  chiefs  headed  by  Bloody  Fellow,  who  demanded  additional  com- 
pensation for  the  land  they  had  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  Holston ;  and  in  the 
negotiations  that  followed,  the  annuity  was  increased  from  $1,000  to  $1,500. 
In  addition,  the  name  of  Bloody  Fellow  was  changed  from  "Nonetooyah,  or 
Bloody  Fellow,"  to  "Eskaqua,  or  Clear  Sky,"  and  he  was  given  the  title  of 
General;21  the  first,  and  perhaps  the  only  member  of  his  tribe  who  bore  so 
exalted  a  military  title  prior  to  the  Civil  war. 

THE   SHAWNEES   WARRIOR 

It  has  been  noted  that  the  Chickamaugas  did  not  join  the  Creeks  in  their  in- 
cursions of  1787-1789 ;  the  reason  is  apparent  from  what  has  already  been 
related.  Their  attention  at  that  time  was  wholly  absorbed  in  another  direction. 
Early  in  the  summer  of  1788,  Gen.  Joseph  Martin  had  marched  a  formidable 
party  from  Holston  against  the  Chickamauga  towns ;  primarily,  to  punish  them 
for  the  murder  of  the  Brown  family,  as  their  rich  laden  boat  passed  the  Town 
of  Nickajack,  on  its  way  down  the  Tennessee  to  Cumberland;  and  though  he 
was  disastrously  defeated,  his  army  was  not  destroyed.  While  the  Chicka- 
maugas were  still  uncertain  what  his  next  move  might  be,  the  Old  Tassel,  head 
chief  of  the  nation,  was  treacherously  murdered,  and  a  cry  of  vengeance  arose 
from  every  wigwam  from  the  Tennessee  to  the  Coosa.  Many  of  their  young 
warriors  rushed  to  the  relief  of  their  spirit-broken  brothers  of  the  Upper  towns. 

loRoyce's  "Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,"  p.  161. 

2"  "William  Blount  and  the  Old  Southwest  Territory,"  by  A.  V.  Goodpasture,  American 
Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.   1-7. 

2i  American   State  Papers,   Indian  Affairs,  Vol.   I,  p.  268. 


206  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

This  was  no  time,  therefore,  to  court  an  invasion  from  the  daring  men  of  Cum- 
berland, who  had  once  already  crossed  the  Big  River  and  destroyed  a  hostile 
town. 

Soon,  however,  the  Cherokee  council  at  Estanaula  declared  for  peace,  and 
the  treaty  of  Holston  was  concluded.  The  Chickamaugas  did  not  subscribe  to 
the  treaty  of  Holston,  but  from  other  considerations  refrained  from  making 
war  on  the  Cumberland  until  the  summer  of  1792.  Dragging  Canoe,  as  we  have 
seen,  had  his  eyes  turned  to  the  northwest,  where  Little  Turtle  was  engaged 
in  a  momentous  struggle  with  General  St.  Clair.  His  brother  was  with  the  In- 
dians when  they  destroyed  the  American  army,  November  4,  1791.  St.  Clair's 
defeat  enthused  the  hostile  Chickamaugas  and  inspired  them  with  ambitious 
hopes.  Dragging  Canoe  promoted  with  all  his  energy  the  formation  of  a  con- 
federacy of  southern  Indians  to  cooperate  with  the  Indians  of  the  northwest 
in  driving  back  the  entire  western  frontiers  of  the  United  States.  He  went  to 
the  Chickasaw  Bluffs  on  a  fruitless  effort  to  engage  Piomingo  in  the  enterprise. 
But  Dragging  Canoe  died  and  John  Watts,  a  friendly  chief,  was  chosen  to  suc- 
ceed him,  and  he  induced  his  people  to  take  the  United  States  by  the  hand  in 
peace  and  friendship.  But  there  were  still  a  few  bad  young  men,  as  the  old 
chiefs  called  them,  who  rejected  every  overture  of  peace;  notable  among  these 
was  the  Shawnees  Warrior,  chief  of  a  band  of  about  thirty  Shawnees  who  had 
settled  at  Running  Water.  In  the  summer  of  1792,  the  Shawnees  Warrior,  the 
Little  Owl,  and  such  restless  young  warriors  as  they  had  gathered  around  them, 
turned  their  arms  against  the  settlers  on  the  Cumberland.  In  the  meantime, 
McGillivray's  treaty  with  President  Washington  in  1790,  proved  immensely  un- 
popular with  the  Creek  nation.  The  ambitious  adventurer,  William  Augustus 
Bowles,  denounced  McGillivray  as  a  traitor  for  selling  the  hunting  ground  of 
his  people,  and  for  a  time,  drove  him  into  retirement.  He  declared  that  neither 
the  Americans  nor  the  Spaniards  had  any  right  to  control  the  Indians,  and 
held  out  the  hope  that,  through  the  English,  their  lands  might  be  restored  to 
the  original  boundaries  described  in  the  proclamation  of  King  George  in  1763. 
Under  his  influence  they  repudiated  the  treaty  of  1790,  and  the  first  days  of 
1791  saw  Creek  scalping  parties  again  on  the  path  to  Cumberland. 

The  Bloody  Fellow,  being  once  asked  whether  he  was  present  on  a  certain 
occasion,  dipped  his  finger  in  the  stream  by  which  he  stood,  and  withdrawing 
it,  asked  what  tale  the  water  told.  The  impression  had  disappeared,  and  no 
ripple  remained  to  mark  the  place  of  the  disturbance.  So  it  was  with  the  scalp- 
ing parties  who  skulked  through  Mero  District,  as  the  Cumberland  settlements 
were  then  called,  during  the  years  1791  and  1792.  They  fell  upon  their  victims 
suddenly,  dispatched  them  hastily,  and  made  off  precipitately ;  if  pursued  they 
generally  dispersed,  so  their  trail  could  not  be  followed,  their  identity  was  lost, 
and  their  crimes  were  charged  generally  to  the  Indians.  Such  tragedies,  while 
they  were  impending  over  the  settlements,  were  appalling,  and  when  they  oc- 
curred were  terrible,  but  they  were  marked  with  too  much  similarity  of  detail 
to  make  their  recital  desirable.  Sometimes,  however,  after  killing  the  defenders 
of  the  family,  they  carried  the  surviving  women  and  children  into  captivity; 
and  in  such  instances  we  may  follow  the  invaders  to  their  towns,  and  get  a 
glimpse  of  the  disposition  and  conduct  of  the  captors,  as  well  as  the  suffering 
and  distress  of  the  captives.  Such  a  case  was  that  of  Miss  Alice  Thompson,  and 
Mrs.  Caffery  and  her  son : 

James  Thompson,  an  old  man  of  ample  means  and  good  repute,  with  his 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  207 

wife  and  two  charming  daughters  just  blooming  into  womanhood,  lived  in  a 
chinked  and  daubed  log  cabin,  about  four  miles  south  of  Nashville.  There  also 
lived  with  him,  perhaps  for  protection  against  the  Indians,  Peter  Caffrey,  with 
his  wife  and  only  child,  a  little  boy  about  two  years  of  age.  It  was  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  February,  1792,  the  weather  was  cold  and  the  ground  was  covered  with 
snow.  As  evening  approached,  Caffrey  sallied  forth  to  feed  and  care  for  the 
stock ;  and  Thompson  went  to  the  woodpile  to  chop  and  bring  in  firewood  for 
the  night.  A  bright,  glowing  wood  fire  was  the  one  luxury  every  pioneer  could 
afford,  and  they  indulged  it  without  stint.  So  Thompson  chopped  his  firewood, 
and  carried  it  by  great  armfuls  and  threw  it  over  the  yard  fence  near  the  door. 

While  he  was  thus  engaged  a  party  of  Creek  Indians,  who  were  awaiting 
this  opportunity,  tired  upon  him  from  ambush.  Though  severely  wounded,  he 
succeeded  in  getting  into  the  house  and  barring  the  door.  The  Indians  then 
pulled  out  the  chinking  and  shot  between  the  logs  at  the  defenseless  family. 
Poor  Caffrey  was  powerless  to  relieve  them.  After  they  had  killed  Thompson 
and  his  wife,  and  wounded  his  younger  daughter,  they  broke  down  the  door 
and  took  the  two  Misses  Thompson,  Mrs.  Caffrey  and  her  little  boy,  captive. 
The  younger  Miss  Thompson  was  so  badly  hurt  that  she  could  not  keep  up  with 
the  party,  and  after  they  had  gone  some  distance,  they  scalped  her  and  left 
her  on  the  wayside.  Though  she  lay  all  night  in  the  snow,  she  was  still  alive 
when  the  neighbors  found  her  next  morning,  and  survived,  though  unconscious, 
until  carried  to  a  house,  when  the  poor  girl  expired.1 

The  Indians  made  straight  for  the  Creek  nation  with  Miss  Alice  Thompson, 
Mrs.  Caffrey  and  her  little  boy.  A  few  days  later  some  gentlemen  met  with  them 
on  the  path  that  leads  from  the  Cherokees  to  the  Creeks.  They  dared  not  ask 
the  women  their  names,  nor  offer  them  a  horse  to  relieve  their  fatigue,  which 
they  would  gladly  have  done,  lest  they  should  offend  their  captors  and  render 
their  unhappy  condition  still  more  precarious.  One  of  the  women  complained 
that  she  was  tired  of  walking,  to  which  her  captor  replied  that  he  wotdd  get 
briars  and  scratch  her  thighs,  and  that  would  make  her  walk  fast.2 

The  captives  were  carried  to  Kialigee,  a  Creek  town  on  the  Tallapoosa  River. 
Here  John  Riley,  a  good  natured  Irish  trader,  offered  to  ransom  them  at  the 
price  of  a  negro  each,  but  the  Indians  indignantly  refused,  saying  they  did  not 
bring  them  there  to  let  them  go  back  to  the  Virginians ;  that  they  brought  them 
to  punish  by  making  them  work.  They  put  the  two  women  in  the  field ;  but 
Miss  Alice  Thompson  cried,  and  even  the  obdurate  heart  of  a  savage  was  not 
proof  against  the  tears  of  a  handsome  young  woman,  so  they  put  her  back  in 
the  house  again  to  pound  meal.  The  little  boy  was  taken  from  his  mother  and 
carried  to  another  town,  where  he  was  committed  to  the  care  of  Mrs.  Williams, 
who  had  for  some  years  been  a  prisoner  with  the  Creeks.3 

Miss  Thompson's  tears  seem  also  to  have  touched  the  heart  of  the  generous 
Riley,  for  she  did  not  remain  long  at  Kialigee  before  he  struck  a  separate  bar- 
gain for  her  freedom,  paying  a  ransom  of  800  weight  of  dressed  deer  skins, 
valued  at  $266.  From  that  time  she  was  shown  every  consideration,  and  made 
as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would  permit.  Mrs.  Caffrey,  on  the  contrary, 
remained  a  slave  to  her  captors,  hoeing  corn  and  pounding  meal  for  them;  and 


1  Haywood 's  ' '  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  343 ;  American  State 
Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  263;  Narrative  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly, 
Vol.  I,  p.  212. 

2  Blount  to  McGillivray,  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  269-270. 
s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  274. 


208  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

was  frequently  punished  by  having  her  back  and  limbs  scratched  with  gar 
teeth,  the  marks  of  which  she  still  bore  when  delivered  up.4 

Mrs.  Caffrey  and  Miss  Thompson  were  brought  in  to  the  American  agency 
at  Rock  Landing  early  in  May,  1794,  after  a  captivity  of  more  than  two  years, 
but  did  not  reach  the  seat  of  government  at  Knoxville  until  about  the  first  of 
the  following  October.  Even  then  they  were  under  the  painful  necessity  of 
leaving  Mrs.  Caffrey 's  little  boy  still  in  the  hands  of  the  Creeks.5  In  the  mean- 
time the  little  fellow  became  quite  an  Indian  in  his  feelings,  and,  after  he  had 
been  in  the  nation  five  years,  it  was  with  difficulty  that  old  Abram  Mordecai 
could  separate  him  from  his  Indian  playmates,  to  carry  him  to  Superintendent 
Seagrove.  That  gentleman  sent  him  to  Governor  Blount,  and  he  finally  reached 
his  mother's  arms.6 

After  their  return  from  captivitjr,  Miss  Alice  Thompson  married  Edward 
Collinsworth,  and  became  the  mother  of  an  influential  family.  Her  oldest  son, 
James  Collinsworth,  was  distinguished  at  the  bar  of  Tennessee  and  also  Texas, 
in  which  latter  state  he  died.7 

The  Creeks  had  been  harrowing  the  Cumberland  settlements  since  the  begin- 
ning of  1791.  In  the  summer  of  1792,  they  were  joined  by  a  small  band  of 
Chickamaugas,  from  the  Running  "Water  Town,  led  by  the  Shawnees  Warrior, 
an  implacable  young  Shawnee  chief,  who,  with  about  thirty  followers  from  his 
own  tribe,  had  some  years  before  taken  his  residence  at  Running  Water;  and 
by  the  Cherokee  chief,  Little  Owl,  possibly  the  same  called  the  White  Owl's 
Son ;  if  so,  he  was  a  brother  of  Dragging  Canoe.  This  party  was  known  to  be 
hostile  to  the  Americans.  After  the  conference  at  Coyatee,  they  mobbed  and 
injured  Captain  Charley,  one  of  their  chiefs,  on  account  of  his  friendship  to 
the  United  States ;  and  because  of  their  hostility  Governor  Blount  found  it 
necessary  to  have  a  guard  of  friendly  Indians  to  escort,  through  Running  Water, 
the  boats  conveying  goods  for  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  conference  at  Nash- 
ville.8 

June  26,  1792,  the  Shawnees  Warrior  and  the  Little  Owl,  with  their  fol- 
lowers, including  a  small  party  of  Creeks,  appeared  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Zeigler's  Station,  about  two  miles  from  Bledsoe's  Lick,  in  Sumner  County. 
Zeigler's  Station  had  been  settled  in  1790  or  1791  by  Jacob  Zeigler,  and  was  at 
this  time  occupied  by  his  own  family,  and  also  by  the  family  of  Joseph  Wilson, 
a  brother-in-law  of  Col.  James  White,  the  founder  of  Knoxville.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  this  fatal  day,  Michael  Sevier,  while  working  in  the  field  near  the  station, 
was  fired  upon  and  killed  by  the  Indians.  The  alarm  was  given,  and  the  neigh- 
bors formed  a  party  to  recover  the  body  and  bring  it  into  the  fort.  The  In- 
dians, lying  patiently  in  ambush,  surprised  the  rescuing  party  with  a  volley 
that  wounded  Gabriel  Black,  Thomas  Keefe,  and  Joel  Eccles,  and  drove  them 
back  to  the  protection  of  the  palisades.  After  firing  a  few  shots  at  the  fort 
the  Indians  retired,  and  towards  night  the  garrison  went  out  and  brought  in 
Sevier's  body,  without  molestation.  Fancying  that  the  enemy  had  now  aban- 
doned the  contest,  and  that  the  fort  was  free  from  further  assault,  the  neighbors, 


*  This  probably  was  not  intended  as  punishment.  Col.  Joseph  Brown,  who  was  for  nearly 
a  year  prisoner  among  the  Chickamaugas,  says  they  performed  this  operation  twice  a  year, 
both  on  themselves  and  on  their  prisoners.  They  called  it  "Scratching  to  keep  them  healthy." 
Colonel  Brown's  Narrative,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  p.   72. 

s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  634. 

"Pickett's  "History  of  Alabama,"  Vol.  II,  p.  134. 

7  Abram  Mason,  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  90. 

8  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  291. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  209 

except  young  Archie  Wilson,  who  volunteered  to  spend  the  night  at  the  station, 
returned  to  their  homes. 

About  bedtime  the  Indians  returned  and  made  a  furious  assault,  while  the 
feeble  garrison  successfully  resisted,  until  the  enemy  succeeded  in  setting  tin- 
to  the  fort.  Then  all  knew  that  the  end  had  come.  Mrs.  Wilson  begged  her  hus- 
band to  take  their  son,  a  boy  of  twelve,  and  run  the  gauntlet  for  their  lives ;  she 
hoped  herself  and  daughters  might  be  spared.  He  did  so,  and  although  wounded, 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  dark  woods,  under  whose  cover  he  made  his  escape. 
Archie  Wilson,  forced  from  the  burning  building  faced  the  enemy  in  the  open, 
and  fought  with  desperate  courage  until  a  stroke  from  the  breech  of  an  Indian 
gun  brought  him  to  the  earth.  Mrs.  Zeigler,  with  her  baby  in  her  arms,  fled 
out  into  the  darkness  of  the  night,  stifling  the  cries  of  her  child  by  thrusting 
her  handkerchief  into  its  mouth ;  and  so  saved  herself  and  child  from  the  perils 
of  captivity.  The  Indians  now  entered  the  fort  and  pillaged  it  of  everything" 
they  could  carry  away.  Jacob  Zeigler  was  killed  in  his  house,  and  his  body  was 
consumed  by  the  flames  that  enveloped  it.    Two  negroes  were  also  killed. 

Mrs.  Wilson  and  her  six  children,  the  three  daughters  of  Jacob  Zeigler,  Mol- 
lie  Jones,  and  a  negro,  were  taken  prisoners.  The  three  Zeigler  girls  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Shawnees  Warrior,  Zacheus  Wilson  was  taken  by  the  Little 
Owl,  and  the  other  prisoners,  except  Sarah  Wilson,  were  all  carried  to  Running 
Water,  but  their  particular  captors  have  not  been  identified.  Through  the  in- 
fluence of  Colonel  White,  the  prisoners  at  Running  Water  were  soon  afterwards 
ransomed  by  their  parents  and  friends  for  the  sum  of  fifty-eight  dollars  each. 
Sarah  Wilson  was  captured  by  the  Creeks,  and  carried  to  their  nation,  where  she 
remained  so  many  years  that  she  had  almost  forgotten  the  habits  of  civilized 
society  when  she  was  finally  liberated.9 

After  burning  and  sacking  Zeigler 's  Station,  the  Indians  crossed  the  Cumber- 
land River,  passed  up  Barton's  Creek,  and  established  a  depot  two  or  three  miles 
below  the  present  town  of  Lebanon.  Here  they  left  twenty-one  bundles  of 
plunder,  carefully  packed  and  hung  in  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and  covered 
with  bark  to  protect  them  from  the  weather.  They  were  short  of  horses,  and 
established  this  depot  until  a  party  could  return  to  the  settlement  and  take  a 
sufficient  number  to  transport  their  booty.  In  the  meantime,  however,  it  was 
retaken  by  the  whites,  and  when  the  recruiting  party  returned  empty  handed 
to  their  comrades,  who  were  awaiting  them  on  Duck  River,  their  loss  was  made 
the  occasion  of  a  fierce  quarrel,  in  which  knives  and  tomahawks  were  flourished. 

The  scarcity  of  horses  also  made  it  necessary  for  the  prisoners  to  follow  their 
captors  on  foot ;  and  incidentally  revealed  a  touching  act  of  kindness  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians.  Until  they  passed  the  vicinity  of  Lebanon,  the  whites  could  see 
the  tracks  of  eight  little  barefoot  children  at  every  muddy  place  on  their  path. 
Then  they  found  numerous  scraps  of  dressed  deer  skin,  scattered  around  the 
ashes  of  a  deserted  camp  fire.  The  grim  warriors  had  kindled  a  fire  to  light 
their  pipes,  and  under  the  soothing  spell  of  the  circling  smoke,  had  busied  them- 
selves in  making  eight  pairs  of  little  moccasins.  At  the  next  muddy  place  the 
whites  were  rejoiced  to  find  the  prints  of  the  little  moccasins  that  protected  the 
feet  of  the  captive  children.10 

Though  the  United  States  was  nominally  at  peace  with  both  the  Creeks  and 


9  Narrative  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  p.  76;   American  State  Papers. 
Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  276,  330. 

i"  Narrative  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  77. 


210  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Cherokees,  these  Ereebooting  parties  had  grown  to  such  formidable  proportions 
as  to  endanger  every  exposed  settlement  in  the  district.  The  people  were  thor- 
oughly amused  to  their  danger.  Those  who  could,  moved  to  the  stations  for 
protection.  No  man  went  into  his  field,  without  another,  his  1  rusty  rifle  at  port, 
standing  sentinel  while  he  worked;  and  if  he  went  to  the  spring  for  water, 
another  guarded  him  while  he  drank. 

Governor  Blount  arrived  in  Nashville  about  the  middle  of  July,  to  attend  the 
Chickasaw  conference,  and  immediately  called  out  a  force  of  three  hundred 
militiamen,  under  the  command  of  Major  Anthony  Sharp,  of  Sumner  County, 
for  the  protection  of  the  frontiers.  They  were  divided  into  squads,  and  sta- 
tioned in  forts  and  blockhouses,  from  which  they  ranged  the  woods  as  occasion 
required. 

Some  months  after  the  fall  of  Zeigler's  Station,  Ensign  William  Snoddy,  the. 
commander  of  one  of  these  posts,  was  ordered  to  range  up  Caney  Fork  River, 
where,  it  was  understood,  Shawnees  Warrior  and  his  party  had  again  made  their 
appearance.  Snoddy 's  force  consisted  of  thirty-four  mounted  men,  among  whom 
was  James  Gwin,  General  Jackson's  chief  chaplain  at  New  Orleans,  and  father 
of  United  States  Senator  William  M.  Gwin,  of  California.  Near  the  Horseshoe 
Bend  of  Caney  Fork  they  discovered  and  took  possession  of  a  large  Indian 
encampment.  From  the  plunder,  ammunition,  implements  of  war,  and  other 
evidences  furnished  by  the  camp.  Ensign  Snoddy  estimated  the  Indian  party  to 
consist  of  fifty  or  sixty  warriors. 

Having  discovered  an  armed  Indian  warrior  sauntering  near  the  camp,  who 
made  off  into  the  canebrake  on  their  approach,  Ensign  Snoddy  foresaw  that  there 
woidd  be  fighting  before  he  left  the  neighborhood.  It  being  then  near  sunset, 
he  determined  to  go  into  camp  for  the  night,  and  crossing  the  river,  selected  a 
high  bluff,  among  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  stone  wall.  The  encampment  was 
arranged  in  the  form  of  a  semi-circle,  the  points  resting  against  the  bluff,  and 
enclosed  the  baggage  and  horses  of  the  company.  The  night  proved  to  be  dark 
and  rainy.  Sentinels  were  posted,  and  the  men  lay  lown  on  their  arms,  but  they 
were  not  permitted  to  sleep.  It  was  not  long  before  the  Indians  could  be  heard 
collecting  their  forces.  The  howl  of  the  wolf  on  the  bluff  was  answered  back 
from  the  canebrake  by  the  scream  of  the  panther;  and  the  barking  of  the  fox 
on  the  river  bank  called  forth  the  hooting  of  the  owl  from  the  black  forest.  Such 
weird  and  ominous  signals,  as  the  Indians  collected  their  warriors  in  the  dark- 
ness, and  reconnoitercd  the  position  of  the  whites,  continued  throughout  the 
night. 

A  little  before  day  a  terrible  yell,  supposed  to  have  been  uttered  by  the 
Shawnees  Warrior,  was  the  final  signal  of  the  enemy.  This  was  followed  by  a 
dismal  silence,  even  more  frightful  than  the  uncanny  howling  of  the  angry 
savages.  The  men  had  their  nerves  wrought  to  the  highest  pitch ;  three  or  four 
of  them  bolted.  The  Indians  now  crept  up  to  within  forty  steps  of  the  line,  and 
were  first  discovered  by  the  snapping  of  their  guns  and  the  yell  of  the  war  whoop 
that  encircled  the  camp.  The  priming  of  their  guns  had  become  damp,  and 
little  damage  resulted.  The  whites,  on  the  contrary,  had  carefully  protected 
their  priming,  and  now  yelling  in  their  turn,  discharged  a  shower  of  rifle  balls 
among  the  Indians.  Daylight  now  appeared,  and  the  Indians,  advancing  to 
within  twenty-five  steps  of  the  line,  concentrated  their  attack  upon  the  center, 
where  a  desperate  contest  ensued. 

Latimer  and  Scoby,  two  fine  fellows,  were  killed  on  the  field,  and  William 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  211 

Reid  and  Andrew  Steele  fell  dangerously  wounded.  James  Madell,  a  cool  and 
skillful  marksman,  protected  by  a  tree  behind  which  he  had  taken  cover,  still 
held  his  post.  Presently  he  discovered  a  chief  lying  on  the  ground  loading  his 
gun ;  he  rammed  two  balls  in  his  own  gun,  and  reserved  his  fire  until  the  chief 
should  rise.  "When  the  chief  raised  his  head  above  the  grass,  he  received  two 
balls  from  Madell 's  rifle,  and  dropped  dead  upon  his  arms.  The  warwhoop  then 
ceased,  and  the  Indians  undertaking  to  remove  their  dead  from  the  field,  a  fierce 
struggle  raged  over  the  body  of  the  fallen  chief.  It  was  ended  by  H.  Shodder, 
a  Dutchman,  armed  with  a  large  British  rifle,  which  he  charged  with  seven  rifle 
balls  and  fired  in  the  midst  of  the  enemy,  who  abandoned  the  body  of  their  chief 
and  fled,  carrying  off  their  other  dead.  They  lost  thirteen  dead  or  mortally 
wounded,  while  the  loss  of  the  whites  was  two  dead  and  three  wounded.11 

COLONEL    JOHN   WATTS 

The  Dragging  Canoe  died  in  the  midst  of  his  effort  to  induce  the  Southern 
tribes  to  unite  with  the  Shawnees  in  a  general  war  upon  the  American  frontiers. 
Immediately  after  his  death  the  Chickamaugas  despatched  runners  to  Chota, 
for  the  purpose  of  inducing  John  Watts,  then  reckoned  a  reliable  friend  of  the 
United  States,  to  come  to  Running  Water  and  take  Dragging  Canoe's  place  as 
their  principal  chief.  After  some  hesitation  on  account  of  their  hostility  to  the 
United  States,  he  accepted  the  invitation,  and  set  out  for  the  Chickamauga  towns 
on  the  13th  of  March,  1792  ;:  a  circumstance  which  gave  great  satisfaction  to 
Governor  Blount,  as  Watts  had  recently  spent  several  days  with  him  at  Knox- 
ville,  had  been  the  recipient  of  several  valuable  presents,  and  expressed  the 
strongest  friendship  for  the  United  States,  as  well  as  great  personal  attachment 
for  the  Governor.2  He  believed,  therefore,  that  Watts'  influence  would  soften, 
if  not  altogether  change  the  conduct  of  the  Chickamauga  towns.3  Nor  was  he 
mistaken  in  this  opinion.  Before  two  moons  had  passed  the  Chickamaugas,  for 
the  first  time  in  their  history,  agreed  to  take  the  United  States  by  the  hand,  and 
promised  to  meet  Governor  Blount  at  Coyatee  on  the  21st  of  May,  when  the  first 
annual  distribution  of  goods  was  to  be  made  under  the  treaty  of  Holston. 

Watts  determined  to  make  the  Coyatee  conference  a  memorable  event  in  the 
Cherokee  annals.  He  prepared  a  house  for  the  reception  of  Governor  Blount, 
and  high  above  it  hoisted  the  flag  of  the  United  States.  The  Breath,  of  Nicka- 
jack;  Richard  Justice,  of  Lookout  Mountain;  Charley,  of  Running  Water,  and 
the  other  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Chickamauga  towns  reached  Coyatee  on 
Saturday,  the  19th ;  they  marched  in,  painted  black  and  sprinkled  over  with  flour, 
to  denote  that  they  had  been  at  war,  but  were  now  for  peace.4  They  were  con- 
ducted to  the  standard  of  the  United  States  by  General  Eskaqua,  who  had  just 
lately  returned  from  Philadelphia  and  whom  I  shall  hereafter  call  by  his  old 
name  of  Bloody  Fellow,  John  Watts,  Kittageska,  and  other  chiefs;  Capt.  John 
Chisholm  and  Leonard  Shaw  walked  side  by  side  with  Bloody  Fellow  and  Watts, 


11  James  Gwin,  McFerrin's  "History  of  Methodism  in  Tennessee,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  430-436; 
Narrative  of  John  Carr,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  2,  p.  78. 
i  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  265. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.   291. 

3  American   State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,   p.   290. 

*  American    Historical    Magazine,    Vol.    II,    pp.    63-2;    American    State     Papers,    Indian 
Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  269. 


212  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

to  the  great  delight  of  all.  Volleys  were  fired  by  the  Chickamaugas  in  honor  of 
the  flag,  and  were  returned  by  the  warriors  of  the  Upper  towns."1 

Governor  Blount  was  to  arrive  on  Sunday.  At  the  request  of  the  Indians  he 
notified  them  of  his  approach,  and  when  he  had  come  within  half  a  mile  of  the 
grounds,  he  was  met  by  a  well  dressed  young  warrior  on  horseback,  who  re- 
quested him  to  halt  until  he  should  be  notified  of  their  readiness  to  receive  him. 
In  a  short  time  he  was  invited  to  proceed.  The  Indians,  some  two  thousand  in 
number,  were  arranged  in  two  lines,  about  three  hundred  yards  in  length.  When 
the  governor  entered  between  the  lines,  they  commenced  firing  a  salute  in  the 
manner  of  a  feu  de  joie,  and  kept  it  up  until  he  was  received  by  Watts,  Bloody 
Fellow,  and  other  chiefs,  under  the  national  flag,  amid  shouts  of  gladness  from 
the  whole  assemblage.6 

Monday  should  have  been  devoted  to  business,  but  on  that  day  there  was  a 
great  ball  play,  which  was  the  national  sport  of  the  Cherokees.  The  game  is 
played  with  a  small  ball  of  dressed  deerskin,  stuffed  with  punk,  hair,  moss,  or 
soft  dry  roots,  and  two  rackets,  similar  to  those  used  in  tennis.  Two  goals  are  set 
up  at  a  distance  of  several  hundred  yards  from  each  other,  and  the  object  of 
the  players  is  to  drive  the  ball  through  the  goal  of  their  opponents  by  means  of 
the  rackets  without  touching  it  with  the  hand.7 

The  distribution  of  the  goods  was  made  by  the  Indians  themselves.  The 
Chickamaugas  received  the  greater  part,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  not  shared 
in  those  distributed  at  the  treaty  of  Holston,  which  they  did  not  attend.  Hang- 
ing Maw  gave  notice  that  the  national  council  would  meet  at  Estanaula  on  June 
23rd,  to  hear  the  report  of  Bloody  Fellow,  and  would  then  give  an  answer  to 
Governor  Blount's  talk.  The  great  council  met  at  Estanaula  June  23rd-30th. 
but  neither  Bloody  Fellow  nor  Watts  attended ;  the  former  claimed  the  sickness 
of  some  distant  relative  as  an  excuse,  while  the  latter  pleaded  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  Pensaeola  8 

Governor  Blount,  as  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  for  the  South,  had  his 
agents  in  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  received  prompt  information  of  hostile 
demonstrations  by  the  Chickamaugas.  By  September  12th  he  knew  that  the 
Chickamauga  towns  had  declared  war  against  the  United  States,  and  were  about 
to  march  against  the  frontiers ;  he  thereupon  ordered  General  Robertson,  the 
ranking  officer  on  the  Cumberland,  to  put  his  brigade  in  condition  to  repel  the 
invasion,  should  it  be  intended  against  the  district  of  Mero.9  Moreover,  he 
despatched  Captain  Samuel  Handly,  of  Blount  County,  a  brave  and  experienced 
officer,  with  forty-two  men  of  his  company,  across  the  mountain  into  Mero  Dis- 
trict, for  the  defense  of  the  frontiers  of  Cumberland. 

Watts  anticipated  these  measures  on  the  part  of  Governor  Blount,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  wild  and  chaotic  character  of  the  Indian  council,  opposed  them 
with  a  well-matured  plan  of  campaign,  as  successful  as  it  was  cunning.  He  in- 
duced Bloody  Fellow  and  The  Glass,  chiefs  who  opposed  the  war,  to  write  Gov- 
ernor Blount  such  letters  as  were  calculated  to  throw  him  off  his  guard.  They 
alleged  that  General  Robertson  had  said  to  Coteatoy,  during  the  conference  with 
the  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws,  at  Nashville,  that  the  first  blood  that  should  be 
spilt  in  his  settlement,  he  would  come  and  sweep  it  clean  with  their  blood.     This, 


s  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.   62. 

6  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  267-8. 

""Hand  Book  of  American  Indians,"  Vol.  I,  p.  127. 

8  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  288-9. 

»  American   Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.   71-2. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  213 

they  said,  had  caused  their  young  warriors  to  assemble  together,  and  resolve  to 
meet  him,  or  go  to  the  settlement  and  do  mischief,  but  that,  with  the  aid  of  Watts 
and  some  other  head  men,  they  had  sent  them  to  their  different  homes  and  to 
mind  their  hunting.10 

Having  forwarded  these  letters,  which  they  hoped  would  prevent  Governor 
Blount  from  sending  any  troops  to  the  relief  of  the  Cumberland,  the  Indians 
hastened  to  take  possession  of  the  main  roads  leading  to  Mero  District,  for  the 
purpose  of  intercepting  any  force  that  might,  nevertheless,  be  ordered  across 
the  mountain.  Watts'  counsin,  Talotiskee,  was  despatched  with  a  considerable 
party,  to  waylay  the  Kentucky  and  Cumberland  Roads,  and  the  Middle  Striker, 
of  Willstown,  with  fifty-six  warriors,  was  sent  to  watch  the  Walton  Road. 
Talotiskee 's  party  accomplished  nothing  of  importance.  After  having  inter- 
cepted a  party  of  travelers  on  the  Kentucky  Road  and  killing  one  of  their 
number,  he  crossed  over  to  the  Cumberland  Road,  where  he  learned,  with  bitter 
tears  of  disappointment  and  rage,  the  result  of  Watts'  assault  on  Buchanan's 
Station.11 

The  expedition  under  Middle  Striker,  on  the  other  hand,  achieved  a  mo:  1 
important  victory.  He  marched  rapidly  northward  along  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  until  he  reached  the  Walton  Road,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Crab 
Orchard,  where  he  concealed  his  party  in  a  favorable  position  to  command  the 
road.  In  the  meantime  Captain  Handly  and  his  troops  had  entered  the  Wilder- 
ness at  Southwest  Point,  and  following  the  Walton  Road  west,  reached  Crab 
Orchard  November  23,  1792,  seven  days  before  the  assault  on  Buchanan's  Sta- 
tion. As  they  marched  carelessly  along  the  ivy  bordered  way  near  the  foot  of 
Spencer's  Hill,  they  were  startled  by  an  unexpected  volley  from  Middle  Striker's 
warriors,  who  were  concealed  in  the  bushes  by  the  roadside.  A  panic  seized  them, 
and  they  fled  without  striking  a  blow.  Colonel  Joseph  Brown  excuses  them  on 
the  ground  that  it  had  been  raining,  and  their  guns  would  not  fire.  Not  one  of 
them  reached  Mero  District.  Three  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  and  the  re- 
mainder, except  their  captain,  found  their  way  back  to  Southwest  Point.  Cap- 
tain Handly  made  a  heroic  but  futile  effort  to  rally  his  men.  In  the  confusion 
Leiper  was  unhorsed  a  short  distance  from  the  enemy.  Captain  Handly,  seeing 
his  perilous  situation,  attempted  to  rescue  him.  In  doing  so,  his  own  horse  was 
shot  from  under  him,  and  being  quickly  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  warriors,  lie 
fought  them  hand  to  hand  with  his  sword.  Finally,  he  jumped  behind  a  tree, 
and  there  encountered  Archer  Goody,  a  half-breed  who  had  acted  as  interpreter 
and  could  speak  English,  to  whom  he  surrendered.  Goody  protected  him  with 
the  greatest  difficulty ;  he  received  numerous  strokes  from  the  side  of  the  toma- 
hawk, escaped  a  dangerous  thrust  from  his  own  sword  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy, 
and  was  barely  saved  from  the  shot  of  an  Indian  gun,  before  he  could  be  brought 
to  the  presence  of  Middle  Striker.  He  afterwards  gave  Cood.y  credit  for  having 
saved  his  life.12 

Captain  Handly  was  carried  in  rigid  captivity  to  Willstown,  where  he  was 
made  to  run  the  gauntlet,  and  was  otherwise  roughly  treated  until  the  sixth  day 
of  December.  In  the  meantime  a  council  was  assembled  to  determine  his  fate, 
which  hung  in  the  balance  for  three  days,  but  on  the  third  day  of  its  sitting  the 
council  determined  that  his  life  should  be  spared,  after  which  he  ceased  to  be 


10  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  69-71,  78. 
u  American   State  Papers,   Indian  Affairs,   Vol.   I,   p.   329. 
'-Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  p.   76. 


214  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

treated  as  a  prisoner  and  received  the  consideration  of  a  brother.  This  happy 
conclusion  was  probably  the  result  of  Colonel  Watts'  desire  for  peace,  as  he  at 
once  employed  Captain  Handly  to  write  for  him  a  peace  talk  to  Governor  Blount. 
On  the  24th  of  January  he  was  escorted  back  to  Knoxville  with  great  ceremony 
by  Middle  Striker,  Coody,  and  ten  other  warriors,  and  delivered  up  without 
price.13 

Governor  Blount  received  the  letters  of  Bloody  Fellow  and  The  Glass  on 
September  13th.  He  was  completely  deceived,  and  on  the  14th  again  wrote 
General  Robertson,  declaring  he  had  suffered  dreadful  apprehension  for  him ; 
congratulating  him  on  the  happy  change  of  affairs;  and  ordering  him  to  dis- 
charge his  brigade.14 

But  the  crafty  talks  of  Bloody  Fellow  and  The  Glass  did  not  deceive  General 
Robertson ;  the  pretended  spies,  Findleston  and  Deratte,  had  already  informed 
him  that  such  letters  were  to  be  written,  for  the  double  purpose  of  enabling 
Watts  to  surprise  the  Cumberland  settlements,  and  at  the  same  time  insure  the 
tranquillity  of  his  country  during  his  absence.  He  advised  Governor  Blount  of 
the  information  he  had  received,  and  decided  to  keep  his  troops  in  service,  ready 
to  march  at  a  moment's  warning,  until  the  2d  of  October.15  He  sent  out 
spies  to  range  the  head  waters  of  Stone's  and  Harpeth  rivers,  and  concentrated 
his  troops  within  the  settlements.  On  the  25th  his  spies  returned  without  having 
made  any  important  discoveries.  Then  other  spies  were  despatched ;  Clayton  and 
Gee  being  ordered  to  reconnoitre  the  country  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present 
town  of  Murfreesboro. 

Watts  also  sent  out  his  spies.  In  this  service  he  employed  John  Walker  and 
George  Fields,  two  young  half-breeds  who  had  been  reared  among  the  white 
people,  and  spoke  the  English  language.  They  had  been  present  at  the  treaty  of 
Holston ;  everybody  knew  them  and  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  them.  Walker 
was  quite  a  stripling,  and  apparently  the  most  innocent  and  good  natured  fellow 
in  the  world.10  Fields  afterwards  served  with  Jackson  in  the  Creek  war,  and 
was  desperately  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Talladega.17  The  spies  of  the  two 
belligerents  met  in  some  fallen  timber  at  Taylor's  Trace,  on  the  ridge  between 
Duck  River  and  Mill  Creek,  when  the  Indians  decoyed  Clayton  and  Gee  into  a 
trap,  killed  and  scalped  them. 

A  little  after  dark  on  the  evening  of  September  30th,  the  Indian  army 
approached  Buchanan's  Station.  It  now  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  eighty 
warriors — one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  Cherokees  and  eighty-three  Creeks.18 
The  Shawnees,  who  lived  at  Running  Water,  were  numbered  with  the  Cherokees. 
The  whole  was  under  the  command  of  Colonel  John  Watts;  the  Creek  division 
was  commanded  by  Talotiskee,  of  the  Broken  Arrow,  the  great  friend  of 
Bowles.19  He  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Talotiskee,  the  cousin  of  Watts,  who 
was  not  with  the  invading  army.  The  Shawnees  contingent  was  led  by  the 
Shawnees  Warrior ;  and  the  cavalry  was  in  charge  of  John  Taylor. 


is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  434;  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Ten- 
nessee, ' '  pp.  571-3.  There  is  a  romantic  account  of  Captain  Handly  in  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Society,  said  to  have  been  written  by  General  Rodgers,  and  published  in  the  American  His- 
torical Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  86-90,  but  it  is  too  inaccurate  to  be  of  much  historical  value. 

i*  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  76-7 

15  American   Historical   Magazine,  Vol.   II,   pp.   77-8. 

>«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  331. 

17  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  141. 

18  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.  80. 

19  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  329. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  215 

When  the  Indians  had  reached  a  point  from  which  they  could  hear  the  lowing 
of  the  cows  at  Buchanan's  Station,  they  halted  for  consultation.  A  warm  alter- 
cation followed,  between  Colonel  Watts  and  the  Creek  chief,  Talotiskee,  as  to 
the  point  of  attack.  Watts  desired  to  fall  at  once  upon  Nashville,  the  most  im- 
portant point  in  the  settlement ;  but  Talotiskee  insisted  on  destroying  Buchanan's 
Station,  four  miles  south  of  Nashville,  on  their  way.  They  lost  much  time  in  this 
controversy.  Such  division  of  counsel  is  a  rock  on  which  large  parties  of  Indians 
have  generally  split,  especially  when  consisting  of  more  than  one  nation.2'1  Still 
I  cannot  help  believing  that,  while  Watts  had  the  address  to  raise  an  army,  he 
lacked  the  force  of  character  necessary  to  command  obedience  at  the  crucial 
moment.  He  showed  the  same  weakness  in  his  campaign  against  Knoxville,  in 
1793.  Finally,  near  midnight,  Colonel  Watts  consented  to  make  the  attack  on 
Buchanan's  Station. 

This  fort  contained  sundry  families  who  had  gone  there  for  protection,  and  was 
defended  by  fifteen  gun-men.  The  approach  of  the  Indians  was  disclosed  by  the 
running  of  the  cattle,  and  they  were  discovered  and  fired  upon  by  John  MeRory, 
when  within  ten  yards  of  the  gate.  They  returned  the  fire,  and  kept  up  a  con- 
stant and  heavy  discharge  for  an  hour.  Thirty  balls  passed  through  a  single 
porthole  of  the  "overjutting, "  and  lodged  in  the  roof,  within  the  circumference 
of  a  hat.  The  women  in  the  fort,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Sally  Buchanan, 
rendered  valuable  aid  to  its  defenders;  they  moulded  bullets,  distributed  ammu- 
nition, loaded  guns,  and  on  pressing  occasions,  fired  them  upon  the  enemy. 

The  Indians  were  never  more  than  ten  yards  from  the  blockhouse  and  large 
numbers  gathered  around  the  lower  walls  in  an  attempt  to  fire  it.  Finally, 
Kiachatalee,  of  Nickajaek,  a  daring  young  chief  whose  talents  and  courage  were 
much  admired  by  Colonel  Joseph  Brown,  who  was  once  a  captive  in  his  town, 
ascended  the  roof  with  a  torch,  but  was  shot  down ;  falling  to  the  ground  he 
attempted  to  fire  the  bottom  logs;  literally  blowing  the  flames  with  his  last 
breath.21  The  Creek  chief  Talotiskee,  of  the  Broken  Arrow,  and  the  redoubtable 
Shawnees  Warrior,  of  Running  Water,  were  also  killed;  Colonel  Watts  fell, 
pierced  through  both  thighs  with  a  rifle  ball,  and  was  carried  off  on  a  horse- 
stretcher.  Unacata,  or  the  White-Man  Killer,  was  dangerously,  and  Dragging 
Canoe's  brother,  called  the  White  Owl's  Son,  mortally  wounded.  Besides  these, 
four  other  warriors  were  wounded,  two  or  three  of  whom  afterwards  died.22 
Towards  morning  the  report  of  the  swivel  at  Nashville,  signaled  that  General 
Robertson  was  starting  for  the  relief  of  the  distressed  garrison,  and  the  Indians 
withdrew.     There  were  no  casualties  on  the  side  of  the  besieged. 

CREEKS  CONTINUE  THE  WAR 

After  Watts'  disastrous  defeat  at  Buchanan's  Station,  there  was  a  temporary 
lull  in  hostilities  on  the  Cumberland.  The  chief  restraining  influence  on  the 
Indians  was  the  fear  that  General  Sevier  would  sweep  down  through  their  coun- 
try and  destroy  their  towns  and  property.  But  peace  negotiations  with  the 
Cherokees  having  been  opened,  and  making  satisfactory  progress,  Governor 
Blount  dismissed  the  whole  of  General  Sevier's  brigade,  except  a  company  of 
infantry  and  a  small  troop  of  cavalry,  which  were  stationed  at  Southwest  Point. 


'-"  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  294. 
■^1  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  294. 
-'-American  State   Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  331. 


216  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  effect  of  this  order  was  immediately  felt  upon  the  Cumberland.  From  the 
middle  of  January  till  the  first  of  April  there  was  hardly  a  week  passed  that  was 
not  signalized  by  the  murder  of  some  one  of  its  inhabitants. 

March  28,  1793,  Governor  Blount,  having  received  information  that  the 
Upper  Creeks  and  Chickamaugas  would  invade  Mero  District  on  the  full  moon, 
which  would  be  about  the  25th  of  April,  authorized  General  Robertson  to  order 
into  service  for  thirty  days  a  full  company  of  eighty  mounted  infantry,  to  ex- 
plore the  woods  within  the  limits  of  fifty  miles  from  the  settlements ;  and,  if  the 
continuance  of  danger  made  their  further  service  necessary,  to  retain  them  not 
exceeding  two  months,  with  authority  to  pursue  the  enemy  as  far  as  the  Ten- 
nessee River.1  At  the  same  time  he  promised  to  order  out  a  company  from  Hamil- 
ton District,  that  should  pass  Southwest  Point  on  April  18th,  and  scour  the 
country  from  the  head  waters  of  Caney  Fork  to  Nashville.  This  latter  company, 
consisting  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  officers  and  men,  was  accordingly 
embodied  and  put  under  the  command  of  Major  Hugh  Beard,  of  Knox  County, 
but  did  not  march  from  Southwest  Point  until  April  29th.  They  were  instructed 
to  consider  all  Indians  found  on  the  waters  of  Cumberland  River  as  Creeks  and 
enemies,  and  to  treat  them  as  such,  unless  the  contrary  appeared. - 

These  defensive  measures,  while  indispensable  to  the  settlements,  were  not 
sufficient  to  prevent  the  large  numbers  of  Creeks  who  were  daily  taking  the  war 
path  to  the  Cumberland,  from  the  perpetration  of  much  mischief  upon  its  in- 
habitants. Two  of  these  war  parties,  one  numbering  about  thirty  and  the  other 
about  forty-five  warriors,3  made  the  Bledsoe  settlement  in  Sumner  County,  a 
section  that  had  already  suffered  much  at  the  hands  of  the  Creeks,  the  especial 
object  of  their  attack.  On  the  9th  of  April,  1793,  the  smaller  party  killed  and 
scalped  Colonel  Isaac  Bledsoe,  one  of  the  earliest  explorers  and  settlers  upon  the 
Cumberland,  in  a  field  near  his  own  station,  where  his  brother,  Colonel  Anthony 
Bledsoe,  had  been  killed  some  five  years  previously.  An  imposing  granite  monu- 
ment now  marks  the  spot  where  these  brave  pioneers  sleep,  side  by  side,  near  the 
ruins  of  the  old  fort  where  they  fell.4 

The  larger  of  the  two  parties  mentioned  (possibly  both  of  them  combined) 
made  an  attack  on  Greenfield  Station,  April  28,  1793.  Greenfield  was  about  two 
and  a  half  miles  north  of  Bledsoe's  Station,  and  was  settled  by  Colonel  Anthony 
Bledsoe,  but  at  this  time  was  in  possession  of  Nathaniel  Parker,  who  had  married 
his  widow.  The  engagement  has  been  graphically  described  by  Governor  Wil- 
liam Hall.  He  had  been  acting  as  a  spy,  but  his  term  of  service  having  expired, 
he  went  over  to  strengthen  the  garrison  at  Greenfield  Station,  which  was  not 
well  manned.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  27th  he  walked  out  to  the  field  where 
Abraham,  Prince,  and  another  negro  were  plowing  corn,  under  the  protection  of 
a  sentry  named  John  Jarvis.  On  one  side  of  the  field  was  a  dark  canebrake, 
whose  green  cane  reached  a  height  of  fifteen  feet ;  and  not  far  off,  on  the  side  of 
a  wheat  field,  was  a  nursery  of  young  fruit  trees,  close  set  and  in  full  leaf, 
making  a  dense  thicket.  He  found  Jarvis,  surrounded  by  a  pack  of  dogs,  lean- 
ing against  the  fence  next  the  canebrake.  As  he  followed  the  plows  across  the 
field,  talking  with  Abraham,  a  brave,  active,  and  intelligent  mulatto,  he  observed 
The  dogs  leap  the  fence  in  great  excitement,  and  soon  afterwards  return,  their 


i  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.   II,  pp.  355-7. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  456. 

s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  454. 

*  This  monument  was  erected  by  the  descendants  of  the  two  Colonels  Bledsoe,  through 
the  patriotic  endeavor  of  Major  J.  G.  Cisco,  in  whose  excellent  book,  entitled  "Historic 
Sumner  County,  Tennessee,"  may  be  found  a  full  account  of  the  Bledsoes. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  217 

hair  erect,  barking  and  growling  in  the  most  angry  manner.  He  at  once  stopped 
the  plows,  and  telling  Jarvis  that  Indians  were  lurking  near,  ordered  the  men 
to  the  fort. 

The  night  passed  off  without  further  disturbance.  Next  morning  a  herd  of 
half-wild  cattle  came  charging  up  to  the  fort,  nearly  running  over  the  women 
who  were  milking.  Mrs.  Clendening,  a  daughter  of  Colonel  Bledsoe,  called 
Jarvis  back,  and  told  him  the  cattle  were  alarmed  by  Indians.  But  Jarvis,  a 
brave  and  impulsive  Irishman,  laughed  at  her  fears,  complained  of  having  been 
stopped  from  work  the  evening  before,  and  declared  he  was  going  on,  come  what 
might.  Mrs.  Clendening  then  ran  into  the  house  and  told  her  mother,  Mrs. 
Parker,  of  the  danger  the  men  were  in,  and  the  two  women  aimased  the  men  in 
the  fort. 

In  the  meantime,  Jarvis  and  the  negroes  had  reached  the  field,  but  before 
they  had  harnessed  their  horses  to  the  plows  Abraham  discoverd  that  the  fence 
by  the  eanebrake  was  lined  with  Indians  just  in  the  act  of  rising.  Giving  the 
alarm,  they  all  sprang  to  their  horses,  and  dashed  across  the  field  towards  the 
lane  leading  to  the  fort.  The  Indians  fired  a  tremendous  volley  at  them  as  they 
retreated,  and  followed  in  hot  pursuit. 

The  little  garrison  heard  the  firing  before  they  could  get  out  of  the  fort. 
William  Hall  and  William  Wilson  were  the  first  on  the  scene.  They  were  at 
once  attacked  by  a  second  party  of  Indians  who  were  trying  to  cut  Jarvis  off 
from  the  fort,  and  determined  to  drive  them  back.  While  they  made  the  fence 
between  them  and  the  Indians,  the  latter  reached  another  fence  about  eighty 
yards  distant,  across  a  small  meadow.  As  Hall  and  Wilson  took  cover  in  the 
corners  of  the  primitive  worm  fence,  a  volley  from  the  Indian  rifles  whistled 
past  their  heads,  scattering  splinters  in  all  directions.  Reserving  their  fire, 
they  jumped  over  the  fence  and  charged  upon  the  enemy,  whose  guns  were  now 
empty,  and  the  latter  retreated  up  the  hill  towards  the  nursery.  Turning  the 
corner  of  the  wheat  field  in  which  the  Indians  were,  they  followed  on,  the  fence 
still  between  them,  until  they  reached  the  nursery.  At  this  point  a  third  party 
of  Indians  lay  in  ambush.  When  they  rose  up  Hall  and  Wilson  instantly  deter- 
mined that  the  only  chance  for  their  lives  lay  in  a  bold  charge,  and  as  they  made 
it  the  Indian  bullets  rattled  around  them  in  great  numbers,  but  as  they  still 
reserved  their  fire,  the  Indians  fled  as  the  others  had  done. 

William  Neely,  who,  like  Hall,  had  lost  a  father  and  brother  by  the  Indians, 
and  James  Hays,  now  left  the  fort  and  ran  down  to  the  assistance  of  Hall  and 
Wilson.  Three  Indians,  detached  from  the  other  parties,  undertook  to  cut  them 
off,  and  having  their  whole  attention  absorbed  in  that  direction,  did  not  see  Hall 
and  Wilson  until  they  had  almost  reached  the  fence  by  which  they  stood,  when 
they  dropped  to  the  ground  in  the  wheat,  which  was  then  about  knee  high.  Hall 
brought  his  rifle  to  bear  on  one  of  them,  who,  seeing  his  danger,  sprang  to  his 
feet  and  ran.  At  about  ten  steps  Hall  fired  and  the  Indian  fell.  Wilson  shot 
another,  and  the  third  escaped. 

All  this  time  the  first  party  of  Indians  were  pursuing' Jarvis  and  the  negroes, 
who,  having  reached  the  mouth  of  the  lane,  abandoned  their  horses  and  stopped 
to  exchange  shots  with  the  enemy.  Jarvis  fell  at  the  first  fire,  but  Abraham,  more 
fortunate,  killed  his  man  and  ran  for  the  stockade.  A  big  Indian  chased  him 
almost  to  the  fort,  when  he  fired  at  him,  then  stopped  and  deliberately  reloaded 
his  gun.  The  rescuing  party  now  returned  to  the  lane,  and  Neely  snapped  his 
gun  two  or  three  times  at  the  big  Indian,  but  the  flint  being  turned  it  did  not 


218  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

fire.  The  second  party  of  Indians  now  returned,  and  the  big  Indian  joining 
them,  recklessly  mounted  the  fence  to  take  a  survey  of  the  field.  Neely  again 
drew  a  bead  on  him,  and  this  time  shot  him  through  the  arm  pits,  and  he  fell 
dead  from  the  fence. 

While  a  large  number  of  Indians  were  gathered  around  the  body  of  Jarvis, 
scalping  and  hacking  it,  Hall  proposed  to  his  friends  that  they  fire  a  platoon  into 
the  crowd.  Before  they  could  place  their  guns  in  position  a  party  of  Indians 
fired  upon  them  from  the  rear.  This  was  followed  by  a  second  volley,  which 
took  a  lock  of  hair  from  Hall's  head.  The  whites  then  dashed  past  this  party, 
who  were  trying  to  get  between  them  and  the  fort,  and  as  they  ran  down  the  lane 
they  found  the  body  of  Prince,  who  had  been  killed  while  trying  to  reach  the 
station.  Hall  stopped  and  turned  him  over  to  see  who  it  was,  and,  renewing  his 
flight,  all  reached  the  fort  in  safety,  amid  a  shower  of  shot.  They  had  killed 
four  Indians,  and  had  lost  Jarvis  and  Prince;  and  all  the  horses  had  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  the  Indians.5 

The  firing  was  heard  for  miles  around,  and  during  the  day  a  number  of 
parties  came  to  the  relief  of  the  fort.  A  few  of  them,  Joseph  Desha,  afterwards 
Governor  of  Kentucky,  and  William  Hall,  being  among  the  number,  insisted  on 
giving  immediate  pursuit,  but  they  were  wisely  overruled  by  Major  George 
Winchester ;  for  it  was  afterwards  discovered  that  the  Indians  lay  in  ambush 
all  day  in  order  to  surprise  their  pursuers.  Having  failed  in  this  stratagem,  the 
Indians  abandoned  the  settlement.  Major  Beard's  company,  on  their  way  to 
Cumberland,  encountered  them  as  they  were  returning  from  their  expedition, 
and  killed  one  of  their  warriors  and  wounded  another.6 

While  Major  Beard  was  marching  through  the  Cumberland,  and  until  the 
local  horse  had  been  discharged  from  the  service,  about  the  middle  of  June,  the 
settlers  enjoyed  a  measure  of  peace ;  but  after  the  latter  date  depredations  from 
small  bands  of  Creeks  became  distressingly  frequent.7 

Captain  Hays,  and,  afterwards,  young  McEwen,  having  been  killed  at  Hays' 
Station,  on  Stone's  River,  Ensign  John  Davis  and  a  squad  of  men  were  sent  out 
to  protect  the  fort.  On  the  last  day  of  June,  1793,  Ensign  Davis  and  four  of  his 
men  went  down  to  the  lick  to  gather  strawberries.  While  so  engaged  two  of  the 
men  heard  some  one  whistle.  The  ensign  suggested  that  it  might  have  been  a 
bird,  but  they  affirmed  that  it  was  a  human  whistle.  More  from  prudence  than 
alarm  they  mounted  their  horses  and,  with  trailed  arms,  rode  back  to  the  fort, 
meeting  no  interruption  on  the  way. 

That  night,  as  the  men  were  grazing  their  horses  near  the  fort,  the  dogs  gave 
an  alarm,  and  they  hastily  returned  to  the  stockade.  Just  before  day  next  morn- 
ing the  cattle  in  the  yard  outside  the  palisades  stampeded  and  ran  off  into  the 
forest.  When  it  became  light  enough  to  see,  the  guard  went  out  and  found  fresh 
signs  where  the  Indians  had  crossed  the  spring  branch  close  to  the  fort. 

It  had  been  the  habit  of  Ensign  Davis  to  furnish  a  guard  for  the  stationers 
[settlers]  while  in  the  field  cutting  oats  for  their  horses;  but  on  this  morning,  in 
view  of  the  unusual  hazard,  he  refused  their  application,  and  urged  them  not 
to  go  out.  But  notwithstanding  his  advice,  and  the  many  evidences  of  danger 
which  he  pointed  out,  four  or  five  of  the  Castlemans,  over  whom  he  had  no  con- 
trol, persisted  in  going.     Near  the  corner  of  the  oat  patch,  about  two  hundred 


5  Narrative   of  General  William  Hall,   Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  pp.   11-14. 

8  Daniel  Smith,   American  Historical   Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.   92. 

7  James  Bobertson,  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  465. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  219 

yards  from  the  fort,  they  were  fired  upon  by  a  party  of  about  a  dozen  Indians, 
judging  from  the  reports  of  their  guns.  Jacob  was  killed,  Joseph  was  mortally 
wounded,  while  a  bullet  in  the  breast  brought  their  father,  Hans,  to  the  earth. 
Joseph,  pale  and  bleeding,  made  his  way  back  to  the  fort,  and  the  others  de- 
fended the  old  man  from  the  Indians  until  the  guard  from  the  fort  came  to  his 
rescue.  Joseph  Castleman  died  about  sunset  the  same  day,  and  the  two  brothers 
were  buried  outside  the  fort,  alongside  the  still  fresh  graves  of  Hays  and 
McEwen.8 

Abraham  Castleman,  a  kinsman  of  the  unfortunate  family  just  mentioned, 
was  a  soldier,  but  of  that  turbulent,  insubordinate  class  often  found  on  the 
frontiers.  The  Indians  called  him  "The  Fool  Warrior,"  and  General  Robert- 
son described  him  as  a  "disorderly  person."  About  the  last  day  of  August, 
1793,  Abraham  Castleman  raised  a  party  of  fourteen  volunteers  to  take  satis- 
faction for  the  death  of  his  kinsmen.  They  took  the  Indian  path  leading  to  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  followed  it  to  the  Creek  Crossing  Place,  a  little  below 
Nickajack,  but  found  no  Indians  on  the  north  side  of  the  river.  Scouting  parties 
being  strictly  forbidden  by  the  government  to  pursue  the  enemy  across  the  Ten- 
nessee River,  all  of  his  followers  turned  back  at  the  Creek  Crossing  Place  except 
Zachariah  Maclin,  John  Camp,  Eli  Hammond,  Ezekiel  Caruthers,  and  Frederick 
Stull.  Castleman  and  his  five  companions  now  dressed  and  painted  themselves 
in  tb*  Indian  fashion,  crossed  the  river,  and  took  the  path  leading  to  Willstown. 
The  road  was  plain,  and  numerous  trees  along  it  were  marked  with  the  figures 
of  scalps  and  such  warlike  signs.  On  the  15th  of  August,  1793,  after  they  had 
traveled  about  ten  miles,  they  discovered  a  party  of  forty  or  more  Creek  warriors, 
evidently  on  their  way  to  Cumberland.  They  wore  their  war  paint,  and  were 
without  squaws  or  horses.  They  were  sitting  at  breakfast  when  the  whites  ap- 
peared, and,  mistaking  them  for  friends,  displayed  no  alarm  at  their  approach. 
They  continued  eating  until  the  whites,  advancing  to  within  about  thirty  yards 
of  them,  suddenly  raised  their  guns  and  fired.  Six  Indians,  including  a  son  and 
three  other  kinsmen  of  the  White  Lieutenant,  one  of  the  first  chiefs  of  the  Creek 
Nation,  fell  dead  upon  the  spot."  As  soon  as  they  had  discharged  their  pieces 
the  whites  fled,  separating  into  two  parties.  The  shock  was  sudden  and  unex- 
pected, and  produced  the  greatest  excitement  and  confusion  among  the  Indians, 
which  enabled  the  whites  to  make  their  escape,  though  one  of  them  was  slightly 
wounded,  and  another  had  four  bullet  holes  through  his  shirt.  They  all  returned 
safely  to  Nashville,  August  21,  1793.10 

While  Castleman  was  turning  back  the  Creek  party,  headed  by  the  White 
Lieutenant's  son,  Captain  Isaacs,  chief  of  the  Coosawdas,  with  a  small  party,  was 
distressing  the  county  below  Clarksville,  in  Tennessee  County.  On  the  day  of 
Castleman 's  return  he  killed  the  widow  Baker  and  most  of  her  numerous  family. 


s  Narrative  of  John  Davis,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  pp.  213-214.  It  is  uncertain 
which,  and  how  many,  of  the  Castlemans  were  present.  Mr.  Davis,  speaking  many  years 
afterwards,  mentions  John,  Sr.,  Joseph,  and  David.  General  Robertson,  in  reporting  the 
affair,  says  Jacob,  William,  and  Joseph  were  killed  and  Hans  wounded.  (American  State 
Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  466.)  David  Wilson,  in  a  contemporary  letter,  says  Jacob 
was  killed  and  Joseph  wounded.  (American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  p.  94.)  Mrs. 
Sallie  Smith,  in  a  letter  to  her  husband,  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  says  two  of  the  young  Castlemans 
were   killed    and    old    Honnis   wounded.      (American    Historical    Magazine,    Vol.    V,    p.    293.) 

s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  472;  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political 
History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  387. 

i»  James  Robertson,  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  467;  Haywood's 
"Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  384. 


220  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Two  of  her  children  are  said  to  have  escaped.11  One,  Miss  Elizabeth  Baker,  was 
taken  prisoner  and  carried  into  captivity.  As  soon  as  she  arrived  at  Coosawda. 
Captain  Isaacs  and  his  party  hung  the  scalps  of  her  dear  ones  on  the  council 
house,  and  danced  the  scalp  dance  around  them  with  shouts  of  exultation  and 
delight.  But  she  did  not  long  have  to  witness  such  scenes  of  humiliation  and 
sorrow;  she  found  a  friend  in  Charles  Weatherford,  who  lived  across  the  river. 
He  ransomed  her,  and  placed  her  in  charge  of  his  wife,  Sehoy,  the  half  sister  of 
General  McGillivray,  and  the  mother  of  the  celebrated  William  Weatherford. 
the  leader  of  the  Indians  in  the  Creek  war  of  1813-14.  Here  she  was  well  treated, 
and  finally  reached  her  friends  in  the  settlement.12 

COLONEL    WATTS'   LAST    CAMPAIGN 

Governor  Blount  wrote  General  Robertson,  October  17,  1792,  "Buchanan's 
Station  has  made  a  glorious  beginning  to  the  war";  but  as  the  event  proved  it 
had  put  a  sudden  end  to  the  open  and  avowed  war.  There  were  some  fiery 
spirits  among  the  Chickamaugas  as  well  as  the  Creeks,  who,  burning  for  revenge, 
still  haunted  the  Cumberland,  but  their  principal  chiefs  disavowed  their  acts, 
and  expressed  their  unwillingness  to  renew  the  struggle.  As  for  Watts,  the 
bland  and  playful  view  he  took  of  the  matter  was  absolutely  childlike.  He  was 
calm  and  good-natured  as  usual ;  talked  jocularly  of  his  campaign,  and  his 
wound ;  told  how  the  people  of  Nickajack  had  sent  a  runner  to  him,  to  know 
whether  his  wound  did  not  still  hurt  him ;  and  when  answered  in  the  negative, 
replied  tauntingly  that  they  did  not  expect  it  would  be  well  so  soon.1 

When  Governor  Blount's  dispatches  reached  Philadelphia  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment at  once  took  steps  to  restore  peace.  On  February  8,  1793,  the  secre- 
tary of  war  wrote  him  that  the  President  was  highly  desirous  that  John  Watts, 
the  Little  Turkey,  and  as  many  others  of  the  real  chiefs  of  the  Cherokees  as 
he  might  deem  proper  to  form  a  true  representation  of  the  tribe,  should  visit 
Philadelphia,  promising  them  abundant  supplies  of  such  articles  as  they  might 
desire,  both  for  themselves  and  for  their  nation.2 

On  the  same  day  this  order  was  issued,  but,  of  course,  before  its  receipt, 
Governor  Blount  despatched  John  McKee,  a  particular  friend  of  Watts,  to  the 
Chickamauga  towns,  in  order  that  he  might  be  with  Watts,  and  exert  his  in- 
fluence in  the  interest  of  peace.3  When  he  arrived  at  Chattooga,  about  twenty 
miles  from  Willstown,  he  halted,  under  the  advice  of  friends,  and  sent  for 
Watts.  Watts  met  him  with  manifestations  of  the  warmest  friendship,  inquired 
about  the  welfare  of  Governor  Blount,  and  spoke  pleasantly  of  the  war,  and 
the  unsuccessful  efforts  that  had  been  made  to  induce  him  to  renew  it.4  McKee 
had  provided  himself  with  a  few  gallons  of  rum,  and  plied  him  with  it,  hoping 
by  that  means  to  acquire  information  from  him,  but  all  he  got  for  his  pains 
was  the  conviction  that  neither  war  nor  the  solicitations  of  his  enemies  had  less- 
ened Watts'  friendship  for  him.  On  leaving  he  accepted  McKee 's  invitation 
to  meet  him  at  Spring  Hill  on  March  8th. 

Watts  did  not  appear  at  the  time  appointed,  nor  did  he  ever  appear,  though 


11  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  468. 

12  Pickett's  "History  of  Alabama,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  134-5. 
i  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  445. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  429. 

3  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  435. 

*  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  445-6. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  221 

McKee  waited  until  the  16th,  and  then  sent  a  messenger  to  him.  He  told  the 
messenger  that  he  could  not  come  on  account  of  a  great  ball  play,  though  McKee 
was  afterwards  informed  that  the  ball  play  was  not  to  have  taken  place  before 
the  26th.  Some  days  later  John  Walker,  the  innocent  looking  spy  of  the 
Buchanan's  Station  expedition,  informed  him  that  it  was  not  the  ball  play  that 
detained  Watts,  but  a  quarrel  between  him  and  Talotiskee  on  account  of  Watts' 
visit  to  him  at  Chattooga.  Watts  was  so  insulted  that  he  determined  to  leave 
Willstown,  and  actually  packed  up  and  had  gone  fourteen  miles,  when  the 
young  warriors  sent  and  persuaded  him  back.5 

Though  McKee  got  nothing  definite  or  satisfactory  from  his  mission,  he 
had  hardly  returned  when  Watts  himself  appeared  on  the  border,  and  sent 
word  to  Governor  Blount  that  he  was  at  the  Hanging  Maw's,  and  wished  to 
visit  him  at  Knoxville,  if  he  could  do  so  with  safety;  but  if  he  could  not,  he 
would  be  glad  to  meet  him  elsewhere.  Governor  Blount  met  Watts,  the  Hanging 
Maw,  Doublehead,  and  other  chiefs,6  at  Henry's  Station,  on  April  5th,  and  spent 
the  day  in  eating,  drinking  and  jocular  conversation,  of  which  Watts  was  very 
fond.  He  was  friendly  and  good-natured,  and  impressed  the  governor  as  "un- 
questionably the  most  leading  character  of  his  nation. ' '  7 

The  next  day  Governor  Blount  made  known  to  Watts  the  wish  of  the 
President  that  he  and  the  other  chiefs  visit  Philadelphia.  He  replied  that  in 
twenty-one  nights  (April  27th)  they  would  have  a  full  council  at  Running 
Water,  and  would  then  let  him  know  what  conclusion  they  had  reached.8 

The  council  did  not  meet  at  Running  Water  as  expected  but  on  the  24th 
of  May,  Bob  McLemore,  a  warrior  of  Watts'  party,  arrived  at  the  Hanging 
Maw's  with  a  message  from  Watts,  that  the  council  at  Willstown,  with  the 
Shawnee  ambassadors,  had  broken  up,  and  that  all  was  straight ;  he  would  be 
up  in  five  nights,  with  Talotiskee,  Bloody  Fellow,  and  other  chiefs,  and  would 
give  the  particulars.  He  neither  wrote  nor  sent  the  particulars  of  the  pro- 
ceedings at  Willstown,  for  fear  of  some  mistake.9 

June  3rd  following,  McKee  informed  Governor  Blount  that  Doublehead,  the 
Otter  Lifter,  and  ten  or  twelve  other  chiefs  from  the  Chickamauga  towns  had 
arrived  at  the  Hanging  Maw's,  and  that  Watts  was  expected  that  day.  They 
had  come  at  the  request  of  Governor  Blount,  and,  having  expressed  the  most 
pacific  disposition,  were  expected  to  proceed  to  Philadelphia  in  company  with 
McKee,  whom  Governor  Blount  had  employed  for  that  purpose,  and  authorized 
to  provide  for  their  wants  by  the  way.10 

Having  everything  arranged  to  his  satisfaction,  Governor  Blount  himself 
departed  for  Philadelphia  June  7th,  leaving  Secretary  Daniel  Smith  in  charge 
as  acting  governor  of  the  Territory. 

Hanging  Maw,  or  Scollacutta,  the  head  chief  of  the  Cherokee  Nation,  at 
whose  house  the  envoys  from  the  Chickamauga  towns  were  assembling,  was 
one  of  their  old  chiefs ;  he  was  already  a  great  man  when  John  Watts  was  a 
child; J1  he  knew  Washington  when  they  were  both  young  men  and  warriors; 12 


s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  452. 
«  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  452. 
7  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  443. 
s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  447. 
9  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  455. 

!°  American    State   Papers,   Indian   Affairs,    Vol.   I,   pp.    457-459;    Calendar    of   Virginia 
State  Papers,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  409,  410,  418. 

n  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  IV,  p.   367. 

12  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  459, 

Vol.  1—15 


222  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and  got  to  be  known  as  the  Great  Warrior  of  his  nation.13  But  he  had  long 
been  a  friend  of  peace.  As  far  back  as  1780,  when  his  towns  joined  the  Chicka- 
maugas  in  an  invasion  of  the  frontiers,  he  threatened  to  leave  them  and  take 
up  his  residence  with  the  whites;  14  and  in  turn,  the  victorious  Americans  pro- 
tected his  house  and  property  from  plunder,  even  when  Chota,  the  white  city, 
was  not  spared.  When  the  Old  Tassel  became  principal  chief  of  the  Cherokees, 
Hanging  Maw  was  his  associate,  and  assisted  him  to  preserve  peace  during  the 
stormy  days  of  the  Franklin  government.  When  The  Tassel  fell  the  Hanging 
Mawr  became  his  successor.  At  one  time  the  Creeks  fomented  so  much  trouble 
on  the  frontiers  that  he  removed  to  Willstown,  but  there  they  called  him  Vir- 
ginian, and  stole  his  horse,  so  he  returned  to  Chota,  determined  to  stand  his 
ground.15  Governor  Blount  declares,  at  this  time,  that  "If  there  is  a  friendly 
Indian  in  the  Cherokee  Nation,  to  the  United  States,  it  is  The  Maw,  and  he  is 
a  very  great,  beloved  man. ' ' 16 

During  the  month  of  May  there  were  several  small  parties  of  Indians  com- 
mitting depredations  in  the  settlements  around  Knoxville.  On  the  25th  one 
of  these  parties  killed  Thomas  Gillum  and  his  son  James,  in  the  Raccoon  Val- 
ley, near  Clinch  River.  Governor  Blount  ordered  Capt.  John  Beard,  with 
fifty  mounted  infantry,  to  give  immediate  pursuit,  his  purpose  being  to  punish 
the  offenders  to  deter  like  parties  of  Indians  in  the  settlement  from  committing 
depredations,  and  to  pacify  the  white  people  on  the  frontiers.17  Excitement 
in  the  neighborhood  was  at  such  a  tension  that  only  a  favorable  opportunity 
was  necessary  to  cause  it  to  burst  out  in  the  most  terrible  retaliation  against 
the  Indians.    This  opportunity  was  found  in  the  order  given  to  Captain  Beard. 

In  following  the  party  of  Indians  who  had  killed  the  Gillums  Captain 
Beard  claimed  that  the  trail  led  to  the  town  of  Hanging  Maw,  where  the 
envoys  from  the  Chickamauga  towns  were  gathered,  at  the  invitation  of  Gov- 
ernor Blount.  Though  he  had  been  ordered  not  to  cross  the  Tennessee  River, 
about  daylight  on  the  morning  of  June  12th,  1793,  he  crossed  over  to  the 
south  bank  of  that  stream,  and  made  an  assault  on  Hanging  Maw's  town.  He 
killed  Scantee,  Fool  Charley,  or  Captain  Charley  and  eight  or  ten  others, 
among  whom  was  William  Rosebury,  a  wdiite  man  who  had  an  Indian  wife  and 
a  small  family,  and  Betty,  the  daughter  of  Kittigeskee.  Among  the  wounded 
were  Hanging  Maw,  his  wife  and  daughter,  and  Betty,  the  daughter  of  Nancy 
Ward,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  Indian  wife  of  Gen.  Joseph  Martin. 

Maj.  Robert  King,  an  agent  of  the  government,  who  had  formed  a  connec- 
tion with  Hanging  Maw's  daughter,  was  in  the  house  when  it  was  attacked,  and 
only  saved  his  life  by  jumping  out  of  the  window ;  an  incident  that  shows  some 
degree  of  advancement  in  their  dwelling  houses.  James  Orr  and  Daniel  Car- 
michael,  also  government  agents,  were  fired  upon  as  they  made  their  escape. 

By  hard  pleading  the  white  men  induced  Captain  Beard  to  spare  the  rest 
of  Hanging  Maw's  family,  and  not  to  burn  his  house.18  It  was  reported  at  the 
time  that  Doublehead  and  Hanging  Maw's  wife  were  both  killed,  the  latter 
while  pleading  for  forbearance  and  professing  her  invariable  friendship  for  the 
white  people.     But  it  turned  out  that  neither  of  them  was  killed;  Hanging 


is  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  IV,  p.  250. 
i+ Weeks'  "Gen.  Joseph  Martin,"  p.  432. 
is  American  Historical   Magazine,  Vol.   IV,   p.   93. 
is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  436. 
it  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  455. 

is  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  409-10;   Eamsey's  "Annals  of  Ten- 
nessee," p.  577. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  223 

Maw's  wife  received  a  wound  from  which  she  recovered;  and  four  years  after- 
ward, her  husband  having  died  in  the  meantime,  she  applied  to  the  government 
for  a  pension  as  his  widow,  alleging  this  affair  as  a  ground  for  her  claim.19 

It  was  felt  that  this  shocking  assault  would  inevitably  bring  on  a  general 
war,  and  Secretary  Smith  immediately  wrote  to  Hanging  Maw,  Doublehead, 
and  Watts,  pleading  with  them  not  to  be  rash,  but  to  go  on  and  see  their  great 
father,  the  President,  as  he  had  requested,  and  assuring  them  that  he  would 
give  them  satisfaction  if  they  forbore  to  take  it  themselves. 

The  Indians  demanded  that  they  be  given  immediate  satisfaction  by  the 
arrest  and  punishment  of  Captain  Beard's  party.  Doublehead  was  furious. 
"I  am  still  among  my  people,  living  in  gores  of  blood,"  he  wrote.  "We  have 
lost  nine  of  our  people  that  we  must  have  satisfaction  for.  This  is  the  third 
time  we  have  been  served  so.  I  shall  not  go  from  this  place  until  I  get  a  full 
answer  from  you."  Hanging  Maw  answered  sarcastically  that,  while  Governor 
Blount  was  in  place  nothing  happened.  "Surely  they  are  making  fun  of 
you."  "If  you  are  left  in  the  place  of  the  governor,  you  ought  to  take  satis- 
faction yourself."  "I  think  you  are  afraid  of  these  bad  men."  And  to 
President  Washington  he  wrote  that  he  need  not  look  for  them  to  go  to  Phila- 
delphia at  that  time.20     John  Watts  answered  not  a  word. 

Secretary  Smith  caused  Captain  Beard  to  be  arrested  and  tried  before  a 
court  martial,  but  public  sentiment  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and  he  was 
acquitted;  and  Secretary  Smith  confessed,  to  his  great  pain,  that  he  found  it 
out  of  the  question  to  punish  Beard  by  law  at  that  time. 

Finding  the  authorities  thus  powerless  to  punish  the  offenders,  the  patience 
of  the  Cherokees  gave  way,  and  the  latter  part  of  August  brought  unmistakable 
evidence  of  Indian  hostility.  The  settlements  were  put  in  a  posture  of  defense. 
General  Sevier  was  posted  at  Ish's  Station,  across  the  river  from  Knoxville, 
with  400  mounted  infantry.  There  were  forty  men  at  Knoxville,  and  a 
respectable  force  at  Campbell's  Station,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Knoxville, 
which  was  one  of  the  strongest  forts  on  the  border. 

On  the  evening  of  September  24,  1793,  John  Watts,  at  the  head  of  a  large 
body  of  Indians,  estimated  at  a  thousand  warriors  or  more,  composed  of  Chero- 
kees and  Creeks,  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  below  the  mouth  of  Holston,  and 
marched  all  night  in  the  direction  of  Knoxville.  They  avoided  Campbell's  Sta- 
tion, passed  within  three  miles  of  Ish's,  and  daylight  found  them  in  sight  of 
Cavett's  Station,  eight  miles  west  of  Knoxville. 

When  intelligence  of  the  approaching  Indians  reached  Knoxville,  its  men, 
under  the  leadership  of  Col.  James  White,  determined  to  meet  them  on  the 
ridge,  a  mile  and  a  quarter  west  of  the  town,  rather  than  await  them  in  the 
blockhouse.  Among  the  brave  men  who  shouldered  their  rifles  and  marched 
out  to  meet  the  enemy  was  the  Rev.  Samuel  Carrick,  whose  wife  lay  dead  in 
his  house,  and  her  body  was  left  to  be  committed  to  the  grave  by  female 
hands.21  Colonel  White  skilfully  planned  his  defense,  carefully  placed  his 
men  in  ambush,  and  patiently  awaited  the  enemy,  but  they  never  came. 

Colonel  Watts  had  with  him  some  of  the  most  intractable  chiefs  of  the 
nation,  particularly  Doublehead.  I  have  already  mentioned  the  difficulty  of 
controlling  large  bodies  of  Indians,  and  expressed  the  opinion  that  Watts  did 


1!)  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  621. 
-()  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  460. 
K'Sprague's  "Annals  of  the  American  Pulpit,"  Vol.   Ill,  p.  434. 


224  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

not  have  the  force  of  character  to  compel  obedience  to  his  will.  On  this  occa- 
sion the  chiefs  disputed  the  question,  whether  they  should  press  on  to  Knox- 
ville  at  once,  or  stop  and  destroy  every  cabin  on  their  way.  Doublehead 
favored  the  latter.  Then  the  question  arose  whether  they  should  massacre  all 
the  inhabitants  of  Knoxville,  or  only  the  men.  Doublehead  insisted  on  the 
former.  The  altercation  between  Doublehead  and  Vann  was  long  and  heated. 
Vann  had  a  little  boy,  a  captive,  riding  behind  him.  Doublehead  became  so 
infuriated  that  he  killed  Vann's  little  boy.  The  result  was  that,  after  a  march, 
which  for  celerity  and  silence  was  quite  remarkable,  they  found  themselves 
eight  miles  from  Knoxville  at  daylight,  the  hour  at  which  their  attack  on  that 
town  was  to  have  been  made. 

But  they  were  in  sight  of  Cavett  's  Station,  a  blockhouse  in  which  Alexander 
Cavett  and  his  family  of  thirteen  people  resided,  only  three  of  whom  were  gun- 
men. They  abandoned  Knoxville  and  assaulted  Cavett 's.  The  three  men  made 
a  brave  resistance.  Alexander  Cavett,  the  father,  died  with  bullets  in  his 
mouth,  which  he  had  placed  there  to  facilitate  loading.  Five  Indians  fell,  dead 
or  wounded,  before  their  rifles.  This  checked  the  assailants  and  brought  on  a 
parley.  The  Bench,  Watts'  nephew,  who  spoke  English,  agreed  with  the  be- 
sieged that  if  they  would  surrender,  their  lives  should  be  spared,  and  that  they 
should  be  exchanged  for  a  like  number  of  Indian  prisoners.  These  terms  were 
accepted  and  the  little  garrison  surrendered.  As  soon  as  they  left  the  block- 
house Doublehead  and  his  party  fell  upon  them  and  put  them  all  to  death  in 
the  most  barbarous  manner,  except  Alexander  Cavett,  Jr.,  who  was  saved  by  the 
interposition  of  Colonel  Watts,  though  he  was  afterwards  killed  in  the  Creek 
towns.  It  is  but  just  to  add  that  The  Bench,  who  arranged  the  terms  of  capitu- 
lation, pleaded,  though  in  vain,  for  the  lives  of  the  captives. 

The  house  was  then  plundered  and  burned,  and  the  Indians  disappeared.22 
General  Sevier,  who  then  lay  at  Ish's  with  400  men,  was  ordered  out  by  Secre- 
tary Smith,  to  pursue  the  Indians.  Being  reinforced  until  his  whole  army 
numbered  about  seven  hundred  men,  General  Sevier  took  the  field  and  marched 
rapidly  southward  until  October  14,  1793,  when  he  reached  the  beloved  town 
of  Estanaula.  The  town  was  deserted,  but  as  it  contained  abundant  provi- 
sions, General  Sevier  halted  here  and  rested  his  men.  The  Indians  undertook 
to  surprise  his  camp  at  night,  but  their  attack  was  unsuccessful.  From  some 
Cherokee  prisoners  taken  at  Estanaula  it  was  learned  that  the  main  body  of 
the  enemy,  composed  of  Cherokees  and  Creeks,  had  passed  that  place  a  few 
days  previously,  and  were  making  for  a  town  at  the  mouth  of  the  Etowah 
River.  After  refreshing  his  troops,  General  Sevier  followed  the  enemy,  reach- 
ing the  confluence  of  the  Oostanaula  and  Etowah  rivers  on  the  evening  of  the 
17th. 

The  Creeks  and  a  number  of  the  Cherokees  had  entrenched  themselves  on 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  Etowah,  to  obstruct  its  passage.  A  happy  mistake 
on  the  part  of  the  guides,  Carey  and  Findleston,  saved  the  day  for  the  whites. 
They  carried  Colonel  Kelly's  forces  half  a  mile  below  the  ford,  where  he 
and  a  few  others  immediately  swam  the  river.  The  Indians,  discovering  this 
movement,  abandoned  their  entrenchments  and  rushed  down  the  river  to  op- 
pose Colonel  Kelly.  Captain  Evans,  discovering  the  error,  wheeled,  and,  turning 
his  horsemen  back  to  the  ford,   dashed  into  the   river.     The   Indians   at  the 


22  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  pp.  330-332;   Bamsey's   "Annals   of   Tennessee,"   pp. 
580-581. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  225 

ford,  who  were  under  the  command  of  the  King  Fisher,  a  Cherokee  chief  of 
the  first  consequence,  saw  their  mistake,  and  returning  received  Captain  Evans' 
company  furiously  at  the  rising  of  the  bank.  The  engagement  was  hot  and 
spirited.  The  King  Fisher  made  a  daring  sally  within  a  few  yards  of  Hugh 
Lawson  White,  afterwards  the  distinguished  jurist  and  statesman.  He  and 
some  of  his  comrades  discharged  their  rifles,  the  King  Fisher  fell,  and  his  war- 
riors abandoned  the  field.     The  whites  lost  three  men  in  this  engagement.23 

This  campaign  ended  the  war,  and  closed  the  military  careers  of  both 
Colonel  Watts  and  General  Sevier. 

THE  BENCH  AND  OTHER  MINOR  CHIEFS 

In  the  preceding  narrative  relating  to  the  Holston  settlements  we  have  con- 
sidered mainly  the  greater  leaders  and  larger  movements  of  the  Cherokees; 
but  the  most  intolerable  solicitude  and  suffering  of  the  pioneers  was  caused  by 
the  sudden  forays  of  small  parties  of  Indians,  who  prowled  the  woods  with 
stealthy  step,  appearing  and  vanishing  like  frightful  phantoms.  They  skulked 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  lone  cabin,  and  ambushed  the  men  going  to  and 
from  their  work ;  or,  waiting  patiently  until  they  were  out  of  earshot,  fell  upon 
their  defenseless  women  and  children.  The  first  legislative  assembly  of  the 
Southwest  Territory,  which  assembled  at  Knoxville  in  February,  1794,  in  a 
memorial  to  Congress,  declared  that,  since  the  treaty  of  Holston  in  1791,  the 
Indians  had  killed,  in  the  most  barbarous  manner,  more  than  two  hundred 
citizens  of  the  Territory,  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  and  carried  others  into 
captivity  and  slavery ;  robbed  them  of  their  stores ;  destroyed  their  cattle  and 
hogs ;  burned  their  houses  and  grain ;  and  laid  waste  their  plantations.1  This 
enumeration,  of  course,  included  the  depredations  committed  on  the  Cumber- 
land, which,  on  account  of  its  proximity  to  the  Chickamaugas  and  Creeks,  was  at 
this  period  the  chief  sufferer. 

There  were  no  depredations  committed  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Holston  set- 
tlement from  the  treaty  of  1791  until  the  fall  of  1792.2  At  that  time,  it  will 
be  remembered,  the  Spanish  incited  the  Chickamaugas  and  Creeks  to  declare 
war  against  the  United  States,  which  was  followed  by  the  invasion  of  Cum- 
berland and  the  unsuccessful  attack  on  Buchanan's  Station.  The  Upper  towns, 
as  the  Overhills  were  now  called,  still  held  the  United  States  by  the  hand,  and 
were  recognized  by  Governor  Blount  as  a  friendly  tribe.  Some  offenses,  how- 
ever, were  committed  by  what  the  old  chiefs  called  "their  bad  young  men," 
whom  they  had  no  power  to  restrain,  often  in  retaliation  for  like  offenses  com- 
mitted by  lawless  white  men,  hardly  less  amenable  to  control.  Hanging  Maw's 
friendship  for  the  United  States  was  not  questioned,  yet  in  the  spring  of 
1793  his  next  door  neighbor,  with  a  few  fellows  from  the  surrounding  towns, 
killed  two  unarmed  young  men  named  Clements,  as  they  left  their  father's 
house  in  search  of  cattle. 

These  Indians  claimed  to  be  taking  satisfaction  for  the  death  of  the  Black 
Fish  and  the  Forked-Horn  Buck,3  who  had  been  killed  on  the  12th  of  the 
preceding  November,  while  attempting  the  perpetration  of  a  horrible  crime. 

23  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  584-589;  American  State  Papers,  Indian 
Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  469. 

1  Haywood 's  ' '  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  314. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  325-6. 

3  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  436,  437,  440. 


226  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  Black  Fish,  of  Chota,  who  had  long  lived  in  habits  of  intimate  friendship 
with  the  whites,  and  the  Forked-Horn  Buck,  of  Citico,  with  a  small  party  of 
warriors,  mostly  from  the  Chickamauga  towns,  attacked  the  house  of  Ebenezer 
Byron,  in  the  Grassy  Valley,  near  Knoxville,  in  which  were  two  men  and  their 
families.  The  Indians  surrounded  the  house  before  they  were  discovered  and, 
forcing  open  a  window,  pointed  their  guns  through  it,  when  a  well-directed 
fire  from  the  two  white  men  killed  the  Black  Fish  and  the  Buck.  The  others 
fled  without  firing  a  gun.4 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  their  bad  young  men  sometimes  joined  such 
marauding  parties,  the  Upper  towns  were  for  peace,  and  refused  to  take  up 
the  hatchet  even  after  Captain  Beard's  attack  on  the  Hanging  Maw's  town  in 
June,  1793.  But  it  was  not  so  with  the  Chickamaugas  and  Creeks;  after  "Watts' 
visit  to  Governor  O'Neal  in  1792,  they  dug  up  the  hatchet  with  great  ceremony, 
and  cannot  be  said  to  have  buried  it  again  until  after  General  "Wayne's  de- 
cisive victory  over  the  northwestern  Indians  in  1794.  While  Watts  was  march- 
ing his  formidable  army  against  the  Cumberland,  Lesley,  a  young  half-breed 
Creek,  whose  father  was  a  Scotchman,  with  a  few  other  young  fellows  from  his 
nation,  opened  up  the  war  on  the  Holston.  On  September  12th  they  attacked 
the  house  of  Mr.  Gillespie,  who  lived  on  the  border,  killed  one  of  his  sons,  and 
carried  another  prisoner  into  the  nation.  The  latter  was  afterwards  purchased 
by  James  Carey,  an  agent  of  Governor  Blount's,  with  the  assistance  of  Chune- 
lah  and  other  chiefs  of  the  Upper  Cherokees,  for  250  pounds  of  leather  and  a 
horse,  equal  to  $98.30,  and  returned  to  his  family.3 

November  5th  Lesley's  party  stole  eight  horses  on  Little  River.  They 
were  traced  towards  Chilhowee,  and  the  neighboring  people,  thinking  the  mis- 
chief proceeded  from  that  town,  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  both 
Chilhowee  and  Tallassee,  an  adjoining  town,  when  they  were  stopped  by  General 
Sevier.6 

In  April,  1793,  Lesley  and  his  party  burned  the  house  of  James  Gallaher, 
on  the  south  side  of  Holston.  As  they  returned  from  the  frontiers,  they  called 
on  the  Hanging  Maw  and  asked  for  provisions,  which  he  refused,  whereupon 
they  shot  his  dog  and  departed.  They  were  pursued  by  a  detachment  of 
mounted  infantry,  who  followed  their  trail  across  the  Tennessee  River.  The 
waters  having  risen  suddenly,  the  scouts  had  to  swim  the  river  on  their  return, 
and  in  doing  so  John  McCullough  was  drowned.  A  few  days  later  Lieutenant 
Tedford's  rangers  took  up  the  pursuit  of  Lesley,  and  in  the  dusk  of  the  eve- 
ning fell  in  with  two  Indians  on  horseback,  on  whom  they  fired,  killing  one,  who 
proved  to  be  John  Watts'  old  friend,  Noonday,  of  Tocquo.7 

Governor  Blount  apologized  to  Hanging  Maw  and  "Watts  for  the  death  of 
Noonday,  who,  he  said,  was  killed  by  mistake  for  a  Creek.  Watts'  reply  illus- 
trated the  Indian  idea  of  satisfaction:  "I  sent  your  people  word  of  the 
Creeks  being  at  the  Hanging  Maw's,  and  as  they  returned  from  the  pursuit 
of  them,  one  of  the  men  got  drowned.  I  suppose  that  was  the  reason  of  Noon- 
day 's  being  killed ;  and  as  I  wish  peace,  let  both  go  together — Noonday  for  the 
man  that  was  drowned. ' '  8 

These  raids  of  the  Creeks  so  imperiled  the  Upper  Cherokees  by  drawing  the 


*  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  279,  280. 

s  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  277. 

6  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  326. 

"  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  294-5. 

8  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  450. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  227 

white  people  upon  them,  that  the  Hanging  Maw  abandoned  his  town  for  a 
time,  but  when  they  mistreated  him  at  Willstown,  he  returned,  and  joined 
the  white  people  in  the  pursuit  and  punishment  of  the  Creek  marauders.  July 
24,  1794,  a  party  of  Creeks  killed  and  scalped  John  Ish,  while  plowing  in  his 
field,  a  short  distance  from  his  blockhouse.  Hanging  Maw  sent  his  son,  Willioe, 
John  Boggs,  and  nine  other  Cherokees  to  join  Major  King  and  Lieutenant  Cun- 
ningham in  the  pursuit  of  the  murderers.  They  struck  the  trail  in  the  path 
leading  from  Coyatee  to  Hiwassee,  and  followed  on  through  Hiwassee  to  Woco- 
cee,  without  overtaking  the  offenders,  when  a  runner  from  Hiwassee  informed 
them  that  Obongpohego,  of  Toocaucaugee,  on  Oakfusgee,  one  of  the  party,  had 
stopped  at  a  little  village  two  miles  from  Hiwassee.  Upon  receipt  of  this 
information  they  returned  to  the  house  where  Obongpohego  was  stopping. 
After  some  consultation  as  to  who  should  take  him,  the  honor  fell  to  Willioe 
and  three  of  his  companions,  who  seized  and  tied  him,  and  delivered  him  in 
bonds  to  the  United  States  agent,  John  McKee,  at  Tellico  Blockhouse,  on  the 
evening  of  July  28th. 

The  governor  at  once  issued  a  commission  of  oyer  and  terminer  for  the 
trial  of  Obongpohego.  Judge  Joseph  Anderson  opened  the  court,  and  an  in- 
dictment was  found  against  him  by  the  grand  jury.  He  confessed  the  fact,  and 
pleaded  in  justification  that  his  people  had  thrown  away  the  peace  talks  of  the 
United  States,  and  taken  up  the  hatchet.  Afterwards  the  court  permitted 
him  to  withdraw  this  plea,  and  a  plea  of  not  guilty  was  entered.  Upon  the 
trial  the  jury  found  him  guilty  as  charged  in  the  indictment.  Being  asked 
what  he  had  to  say  why  the  sentence  of  the  law  should  not  be  pronounced 
against  him,  he  replied  that  he  had  nothing  to  say ;  he  had  come  out  with  the 
intention  of  killing  and  stealing,  or  being  killed;  he  had  killed  John  Ish,  and 
it  had  been  his  misfortune  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  whites;  he  should  have 
escaped  from  them  had  it  not  been  for  the  Cherokees ;  and  should  he  now  be 
killed,  there  was  enough  of  his  nation  remaining  to  avenge  his  death.  He  was 
sentenced  and  executed  on  the  4th  of  August.9 

The  Creeks  demanded  satisfaction  of  the  Cherokees  for  the  death  of  Obong- 
pohego, but  their  support  by  the  whites  enabled  them  successfully  to  defend 
themselves.  At  the  conference  at  Tellico  Blockhouse,  November  7-8,  1794,  Gov- 
ernor Blount  declared  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Chickamaugas  to  serve  the  Creeks 
as  the  Upper  Cherokees  had ;  but  John  "Watts,  who  was  always  ready  with  an 
intelligent  answer,  replied:  "The  Upper  Cherokees  were  right  in  seizing  one 
last  summer  and  delivering  him  up  to  you,  and  in  killing  two  others.  They 
live  far  from  the  Creek  country,  and  have  the  white  people  to  support  them, 
but  the  Lower  towns  are  but  few,  live  near  the  Creeks,  and  too  distant  from 
the  white  people  to  be  supported  by  them."  10 

Though  the  Upper  Cherokees  and  Creeks  did  some  mischief  on  the  frontiers 
of  Holston,  the  Chickamaugas  were  responsible  for  much  the  greater  part  of  it. 
They  had  never  buried  the  hatchet  from  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  till  the 
death  of  Dragging  Canoe.  The  peace  Watts  then  concluded  did  not  last  six 
months.  Some  of  their  chiefs,  however,  like  The  Breath,  of  Nickajack ;  The 
Glass  and  Captain  Charley,  of  Running  Water,  and  Dick  Justice,  of  Lookout 
Mountain,  did  not  join  in  Watts'  war  of  1792, n  but  they  were  wholly  unable 


9  Haywood's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  222-3. 

111  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  271-2. 

ii  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.   I,  p.  278. 


228  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

to  control  the  young  men,  even  of  their  own  families.  A  nephew  of  The  Breath, 
called  the  Little  Nephew,  Towaka,  and  four  or  five  other  young  fellows  from 
Niekajack,12  made  repeated  raids  on  the  Holston  settlements.  December  22, 
1792,  they  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Richardson,  in  Jefferson  County,  lay  in 
ambush  many  hours  on  a  hill  overlooking  his  door,  until  he  left  the  house; 
and  in  his  absence  of  half  an  hour  massacred  his  family,  consisting  of  Mrs. 
Richardson,  Mrs.  Foster,  Miss  Schull,  and  two  children.  They  robbed  the 
house  and  went  off,  leaving  a  war  club,  to  signify  that  their  nation  had  again 
taken  up  the  hatchet.  A  few  days  later  they  drove  eighteen  horses  from  the 
Big  Pigeon,  and  wantonly  killed  several  cattle  and  hogs.13  The  following 
spring  they  returned  to  the  same  neighborhood.  On  the  9th  of  March  they 
formed  an  ambuscade  on  a  path  near  Mr.  Nelson's  house,  on  the  Little  Pigeon 
River,  and  when  his  sons,  James  and  Thomas,  came  out,  they  shot  and  scalped 
them  both.  This  time  they  got  fourteen  horses  from  the  Flat  Creek  settle- 
ment.14 

The  most  daring  and  crafty  of  these  Chickamauga  bushwhackers  was  Bob 
Benge,  the  son  of  an  Indian  trader  named  John  Benge,  who  married  a  niece 
of  the  Old  Tassel,  and  spent  his  life  in  the  nation.  The  Tassel  complained  to 
the  commissioners  at  the  treaty  of  Hopewell,  in  1785,  that,  in  passing  through 
Georgia,  Benge  had  been  robbed  of  leather  to  the  value  of  £150  sterling.  John 
MeKee  saw  him,  and  was  befriended  by  him,  near  Chattanooga,  as  late  as 
1793. 15  His  Indian  wife  had  two  sons,  Bob  Benge  and  The  Tail.  Only  the 
former  of  these  bore  his  name ;  and,  through  the  inaccuracy  of  the  pioneer  ear, 
that  had  been  almost  lost,  as  he  appears  generally  in  our  Tennessee  histories 
and  public  documents  under  the  more  dignified  name  of  The  Bench,  by  which 
I  shall  still  call  him,  though  he  is  celebrated  in  Virginia  tradition  as  Captain 
Benge. 

His  first  enterprise  in  this  quarter  was  undertaken  in  the  summer  of  1791. 
Notwithstanding  the  treaty  of  July  2nd,  on  August  23rd  he  startled  the  set- 
tlements in  the  neighborhood  of  Moccasin  Gap,  or  Clinch  Mountain,  by  a  sudden 
and  unexepected  assault  on  the  house  of  the  McDowells  and  Pendletons.  Mrs. 
William  McDowell  and  Frances  Pendleton,  the  seventeen-year-old  daughter  of 
Benjamin  Pendleton,  were  killed  and  scalped ;  Reuben  Pendleton  was  wounded, 
and  Mrs.  Pendleton  and  a  boy  of  eight  years  of  age  were  carried  into  captivity. 
Three  days  later,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  his  party  appeared  at  the  house 
of  Elisha  Farris,  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  killed  and  scalped  his 
wife,  and  Mrs.  Livingston  and  her  three-year-old  child,  and  mortally  wounded 
Mr.  Farris.  His  daughter,  Nancy  Farris,  a  girl  about  nineteen  years  of  age, 
they  carried  off  a  prisoner.16  After  this  bloody  raid  they  made  good  their 
escape,  without  discovery  and  without  punishment. 

In  the  spring  of  1792  The  Bench  again  visited  the  settlements  on  the  upper 
Holston.  April  6th  he  surprised  the  house  of  Harper  Ratcliff,  in  Stanley  Val- 
ley, about  twelve  miles  from  Hawkins  courthouse,  and  not  far  from  the  scene 
of  his  massacres  of  the  preceding  year,  killed  Mrs.  Ratcliff  and  her  three  chil- 
dren, and  then  made  off  to  the  mountains.    He  left  behind  him  three  war  clubs, 


12  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  438. 

13  Haywood 's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  281. 
11  Haywood 's  ' '  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  293. 
is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  444. 

is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  331;  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political 
History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  270. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  229 

a  bow,  and  a  sheaf  of  arrows,  as  a  proclamation  of  war.  Capt.  James  Cooper's 
company  had  been  ordered  out  for  service  in  Mero  District,  but  when  the 
murder  of  the  Ratcliff  family  became  known  they  were  directed  to  range  on 
the  borders  of  Hawkins  County ;  and  while  they  never  came  up  with  The  Bench, 
they  forced  him  to  retire  from  that  quarter,17  and  his  subsequent  movements 
were  comparatively  harmless,  though  he  was  reported  to  have  been  in  many 
parts  of  East  Tennessee. 

In  September  The  Bench  and  his  brother,  The  Tail,  who  lived  at  Wills- 
town,  passed  through  Hiwassee,  declaring  that  they  were  going  to  kill  John 
Sevier.18  October  2nd,  about  an  hour  and  a  half  in  the  night,  they  surprised 
and  attacked  Black's  blockhouse,  at  the  head  of  Crooked  Creek,  a  branch  of 
Little  River,  at  which  a  sergeant's  command  from  Captain  Crawford's  company 
was  stationed.  Part  of  the  garrison  were  sitting  out  of  doors  by  a  fire,  all  un- 
conscious of  danger,  when  they  were  fired  upon,  two  of  their  number,  George 
Moss  and  Robert  Sharpe,  being  killed  and  John  Shankland  wounded.  James 
Paul  was  killed  in  the  house.  The  Indians  also  killed  three  horses  and  carried 
away  seven.19  After  this  feat  they  seem  to  have  abandoned  the  idea  of  killing 
General  Sevier,  and  returned  to  their  towns. 

The  Bench  entered  upon  his  next  campaign  in  the  very  beginning  of  1793. 
His  point  of  destination  was  his  old  stamping  grounds  in  Southwestern  Vir- 
ginia, but  this  time  he  reached  it  by  way  of  Kentucky,  proceeding  so  far  with 
Doublehead,  beyond  question  the  most  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  Indian  in  the 
Cherokee  nation.  January  22nd  they  fell  in  with  a  party  of  traders,  at  Drip- 
ping Spring,  on  the  trace  from  Cumberland  to  Kentucky,  killed  Capt.  William 
Overall  and  Mr.  Burnett,  took  nine  horses  loaded  with  goods  and  whisky,  and 
made  their  escape,  though  pursued  as  far  as  the  Cumberland  River.  It  was 
reported  that  they  cut  and  carried  off  the  flesh  from  Captain  Overall's  bones20 
— a  cruel  lesson  Doublehead  imparted  to  all  too  apt  a  pupil. 

After  the  affair  at  Dripping  Spring  The  Bench  took  his  leave  of  Double- 
head  and  turned  up  next  on  Powell's  Mountain,  March  31,  1793,  where,  if  we 
may  credit  the  Virginia  writers,  he  fell  in  with  an  old  acquaintance.  Moses 
Cockrell  was  a  border  ranger  on  the  frontiers  of  Holston,  in  Virginia.  Famous 
for  his  size,  activity  and  handsome  person,  he  was  proud  of  his  manhood,  and 
was  ambitious  to  meet  the  famous  Captain  Benge,  as  he  called  him,  in  single 
combat.  Perhaps  he  boastfully  predicted  the  result  of  such  a  contest  so  loudly 
that  it  reached  the  ear  of  The  Bench.  At  any  rate,  they  met  this  early  spring 
day  on  top  of  Powell's  Mountain,  in  what  is  now  Lee  County,  Virginia.  Cockrell 
and  two  companions  were  wending  their  way  to  the  settlements,  with  a  num- 
ber of  pack  horses  loaded  with  merchandise.  The  Bench  discovered  their 
approach  and  awaited  them  in  ambush.  He  instructed  his  followers  not  to 
kill  Cockrell,  as  he  desired  to  prove  his  personal  prowess  by  taking  him  captive. 
At  the  first  crack  of  the  Indian  rifles  the  two  companions  of  Cockrell  fell,  seeing 
which  their  leader  dashed  down  the  mountainside,  like  a  deer,  with  The  Bench 
in  close  pursuit. 

Two  miles  away,  in  the  valley  of  AVallen's  Creek,  was  the  cabin  of  a 
pioneer,  in  reaching  which  Cockrell  felt  lay  his  only  chance  of  escape.     To  this 


"Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  274. 

is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  293. 

is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  294. 

20  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  436,  438. 


230  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

cabin  he  made  at  the  utmost  limit  of  his  speed.  He  was  handicapped  by  the 
weight  of  $200,  specie,  in  his  belt,  but  by  a  desperate  effort  he  reached 
the  clearing  and  leaped  the  fence  surrounding  the  cabin ;  but  before  he 
had  touched  the  ground  The  Bench's  tomahawk  was  buried  in  the  top  rail 
of  the  fence.  Seeing  that  Cockrell  had  reached  the  cabin,  and  not  knowing 
how  it  might  be  guarded,  The  Bench  disappeared  and  rejoined  his  companions 
on  the  mountain.21 

He  remained  in  the  settlement  most  of  the  summer,  making  reconnoisances 
with  the  especial  view  of  discovering  where  negroes  might  be  had ;  a  species  of 
property  of  which  he  was  uncommonly  fond.  On  the  17th  of  July  he  traversed 
the  north  fork  of  Holston  for  about  twenty  miles,  fired  on  a  man  named  Wil- 
liams, and  captured  a  negro  woman,  the  property  of  Paul  Livingston.  The 
latter  made  her  escape  after  two  days'  captivity,  and  returned  to  her  home.22 

In  the  spring  of  1794,  The  Bench  made  his  last  expedition  to  the  frontiers 
of  Virginia.  At  that  time  Peter  Livingston  lived  near  the  present  town  of 
Mendota,  in  Washington  County.  His  aged  mother,  the  widow  of  William  Todd 
Livingston ;  his  brother,  Henry,  and  his  wife,  Susanna,  were  living  with  him. 
His  own  family  consisted  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  and  their  five  children ;  be- 
sides, they  had  a  negro  woman,  with  a  young  child,  and  a  negro  boy  about 
eight  years  of  age. 

On  the  morning  of  April  6th,  the  family  were  about  their  usual  occupa- 
tions, not  having  a  suspicion  that  there  was  an  Indian  on  the  frontiers ;  Peter 
and  Henry  had  gone  to  a  barn  some  distance  in  the  field;  the  old  grandmother 
was  in  the  garden  busying  herself  about  planting  the  spring  vegetables ;  Su- 
sanna-Sukey,  they  called  her — with  two  of  the  children  was  in  an  outhouse  on 
some  errand  or  other;  and  Elizabeth,  with  her  nursing  infant,  a  child  of  two, 
and  one  of  ten  years  of  age,  was  in  the  house  engaged  with  her  usual  cares. 
Presently  she  was  alarmed  by  the  furious  barking  of  the  dogs.  Looking  out 
she  saw  seven  Indians,  armed  and  frightfully  painted,  approaching  the  house. 
Slam !  the  door  is  closed  and  barred.  The  Indians  rush  furiously  up,  try  to 
burst  the  door,  and  failing,  demand  to  be  admitted.  They  discharge  two  guns, 
one  ball  piercing  the  door,  but  doing  no  damage.  Mrs.  Livingston  gets  down 
her  husband's  rifle,  puzzles  with  its  double  triggers,  and  finally  returns  a 
ball  crashing  through  the  door.  The  Indians  retire,  surprised  at  the  un- 
expected defense. 

But  what  is  the  frightful  odor  that  now  reaches  the  brave  mother  ?  Smoke ! 
It  fills  the  room;  becomes  suffocating.  The  Indians  have  fired  the  house.  She 
throws  open  the  door,  preferring  the  tomahawk  to  the  flames.  But  she  was 
spared  the  horrors  of  a  savage  massacre.  The  Indians  took  her  and  her  three 
little  children  and  added  them  to  a  group  of  prisoners,  which  she  found,  to  her 
inexpressible  delight,  contained  her  other  two  children  and  their  aunt  Sukey, 
the  negro  woman  and  her  child,  the  negro  boy,  and  a  negro  man  belonging 
to  Edward  Callihan.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Livingston,  in  her  statement,  makes  no 
further  mention  of  her  husband's  mother;  but  Haywood  intimates23  and 
Benjamin   Sharpe,24    a    neighbor,   expressly   states  that   she  was   killed.      The 


2i  Calendar    of   Virginia    State    Papers,   Vol.    VII,    p.    108;    Summer's    "Southwest   Vir- 
ginia," pp.  433-4,  quoting  Coale 's  "Wilburn  Waters." 

22  Calendar  of  Virginia  State  Papers,  Vol.  VII,  p.  108. 

23  ' '  Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  327. 
2-1  ' '  American   Pioneer, ' '   Vol.   II,   p.   466. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  231 

Indians  were  afraid  to  plunder  the  house,  fearing  it  had  been  a  man  who  dis- 
charged the  rifle,  and  the  whole  of  its  contents  was  consumed  by  the  flames. 

Now  there  was  a  hurried  retirement  to  a  more  secluded  spot;  a  division  of 
spoils;  and  a  packing  of  bundles  by  the  Indians.  This  gave  time  for  a  most 
pathetic  scene.  The  captives  were  some  distance  in  the  rear,  in  charge  of  two 
Indians.  The  quick  instinct  of  the  mother  discovered  that  their  captors  were 
rather  careless  about  the  security  of  the  children.  She  calls  in  a  soft  voice  to 
her  oldest  daughter — the  little  girl  of  ten — gives  her  the  baby,  and  whispers  to 
her  to  take  them  all  and  run  to  their  neighbor,  John  Russell's.  They  leave  her 
with  reluctance,  the  five  little  tots ;  they  look  back  over  their  shoulders ;  they  halt, 
how  can  they  tear  themselves  from  their  mother !  She  frantically  beckons  them 
to  go  on,  though  it  almost  breaks  her  heart  to  see  them  leave  her,  in  their  perilous, 
helpless  condition.     The  Indians  wink  at  their  escape,  and  they  disappear. 

That  evening  they  passed  the  Clinch  Mountain,  and  bivouacked  at  Cooper 
Creek.  The  next  day  they  crossed  Clinch  River  at  McLean's  fish  dam,  steered 
northwardly,  and  camped  on  the  head  of  Stoney  Creek.  They  did  not  put  out 
spies  or  sentries,  considering  themselves  out  of  danger.  The  next  day  they 
broke  camp  late,  traveled  slowly,  and  halted  at  the  foot  of  Powell's  Mountain. 
The  Bench  now  felt  easy ;  his  manner  softened,  and  his  tongue  loosened.  He 
communicated  freely  with  his  prisoners.  He  was  carrying  them  to  the  Chicka- 
mauga  towns.  His  brother,  The  Tail,  was  hunting  in  the  Wilderness  on  the  way. 
He  had  white  prisoners  there,  with  horses  and  saddles,  taken  in  Kentucky.  He 
was  coming  back  next  summer  and  pay  old  General  Shelby  a  visit,  and  take  his 
negroes;  in  fact,  he  was  going  to  take  all  the  negroes  off  the  north  branch  of 
Holston.  He  sent  two  hunters  ahead  to  kill  game  for  their  sustenance  by  the 
way.     This  was  April  the  8th. 

In  the  meantime  news  of  the  disaster  to  the  Livingstons  swept  across  the 
frontiers.  "When  it  reached  Lee  Courthouse,  court  being  in  session,  immediately 
adjourned.  Lieutenant  Vincent  Hobbs  called  upon  the  bystanders  for  volunteers 
to  make  instant  pursuit.  Thirteen  men  responded.  Do  they  find  the  trail  and 
trust  to  the  speed  of  their  horses  to  overtake  the  marauders?  Not  Lieutenant 
Vincent  Hobbs!  He  is  a  backwoodsman  as  well  as  a  soldier.  He  knows  every 
pass  in  the  mountains.  With  the  unerring  judgment  of  a  hunter  he  dashes  for- 
ward to  Stone's  Gap,  where  the  Indians  will  cross  Cumberland  Mountain.  He 
reaches  the  Gap.  The  Indians  have  already  passed.  He  takes  the  fresh  trail, 
comes  upon  two  hunters — the  two  sent  out  by  The  Bench  on  the  8th — and  kills 
them.  The  main  party  has  not  yet  passed.  Back  to  the  Gap.  Fortunately  they 
are  in  time.    They  secrete  themselves  in  ambush,  and  wait. 

The  Bench  broke  camp  on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  crossed  Powell's  Moun- 
tain, and  is  at  this  very  moment  approaching  Stone's  Gap.  He  comes  within  the 
ambuscade.  Bang !  Bang !  At  the  first  fire  The  Bench  and  three  of  his  warriors 
fall  dead.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Livingston  and  her  guard  are  some  distance  in  the 
rear.  He  orders  her  to  run,  which  she  performs  slowly.  He  attempts  to  kill  her; 
she  breaks  the  force  of  the  blow  with  her  arm,  and,  seeing  her  friends  approach- 
ing, grapples  him.  He  throws  her  back  over  a  log,  at  the  same  time  aiming  a  blow 
at  her  head,  which  renders  her  senseless ;  in  which  condition  she  lies  for  an  hour, 
but  finally  recovers.25 

Lieut.  Vincent  Hobbs  sent  The  Bench's  scalp  to  the  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  the  Legislature  voted  him  a  silver-mounted  rifle  for  his  gallantry. 


2">  Calendar   of   Virginia   State   Papers,   Vol.    VII,   pp.   Ill,    112;    Summer's   "Southwest 
Virginia,"  pp.  441-443. 


232  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

DOUBLEHEAD 

The  operations  of  Doublehead,  though  simultaneous  with  the  Chickamauga 
incursions  of  1792-3,  had  no  organic  connection  with  them.  Self-willed  and  ob- 
stinate, he  could  not  bear  the  restraint  even  of  a  concert  of  action  with  the  head 
men  of  his  tribe.  Strong  and  athletic  in  person,  he  was  famous  for  his  feats  of 
personal  prowess.  He  was  a  stranger  to  all  the  softer  and  more  gentle  passions. 
If  he  had  ever  heard  a  love  song  in  his  nation  he  was  unable  to  repeat  it.1  But 
by  his  proud  and  haughty  bearing,  his  bold,  fearless  and  masterful  spirit,  and 
his  ready  and  terrible  vengeance,  he  forced  himself  to  the  front  rank  among  the 
councilors  of  his  nation,  though  he  lived  in  an  outlying  town,  and  in  a  country 
to  which  the  Cherokees  had  no  just  claim. 

We  first  meet  with  him  in  July,  1791,  at  the  treaty  of  Holston,  which,  it  will 
be  remembered,  the  Chickamaugas  refused  to  attend.  After  he  had  signed  the 
treaty,  he  begged  and  obtained  the  written  permission  of  Governor  Blount  to 
bunt  on  the  waters  of  Cumberland.2  He  seems,  however,  to  have  had  little  use 
for  this  permit,  as  we  find  him  making  his  fall  hunt  low  down  on  the  Tennessee. 
He  had  settled  with  a  party  of  some  forty  Cherokees,  Northwards,  and  Creeks, 
on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  River,  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  about  the  year 
1790.  Colonel  Meigs  thought  this  settlement  was  projected  by  the  Cherokees 
in  order  to  try  their  title  to  that  portion  of  the  Chickasaw  hunting  ground,3 
but  Doublehead 's  son-in-law,  Col.  George  Colbert,  the  Chickasaw  chief,  assured 
General  Robertson  that  he  settled  at  the  Muscle  Shoals  by  his  permission.4 
At  the  Chickasaw  conference  in  June,  1792,  Governor  Blount  drew  their  atten- 
tion to  Doublehead 's  settlement  on  their  land,  and  asked  them  to  drive  him  off, 
or  to  authorize  the  United  States  to  destroy  his  town.5  But  immediately  after 
the  Chickasaw  conference,  Watts  formally  declared  war  against  the  United 
States,  invaded  Cumberland  with  a  formidable  force,  and  made  his  unsuccessful 
attack  on  Buchanan's  Station,  and  for  the  time,  Doublehead  was  entirely  for- 
gotten. 

Doublehead 's  hunting  party  in  the  fall  of  1791,  consisted  of  twenty-eight  men, 
besides  women  and  children.  While  on  this  expedition,  without  any  known 
cause,  and  in  open  violation  of  the  treaty  of  Holston,  which  he  had  signed  only 
six  months  previously,  he  took  seven  men  of  his  party  and  made  a  memorable 
scalping  excursion  up  the  Cumberland.6  Near  the  mouth  of  the  river  he  fell  in 
with  Conrad's  salt  boat,  which  he  took  after  killing  one  man.  He  then  proceeded 
up  the  river  as  far  as  Clarksville.  It  so  happened  that  while  he  was  skulking 
in  the  neighborhood,  January  17,  1792,  General  Robertson  called  for  Volunteers 
to  act  as  spies  and  rangers,  and  John  Rice,  notable  as  the  grantee  and  original 
proprietor  of  the  tract  of  land  on  which  the  City  of  Memphis  now  stands,  Rob- 
ert, William  and  Valentine  Sevier,  the  only  grown  sons  of  Col.  Valentine  Sevier, 
and  nephews  of  Gen.  John  Sevier,  John  Curtis,  and  two  or  three  other  young 
men  from  Clarksville  and  Sevier's  Station,  set  out  to  join  him  at  Nashville. 

There  being  a  scarcity  of  horses  in  the  settlement  they  determined  to  go  up 
the  Cumberland  in  a  canoe.  Doublehead,  who  was  watching  for  just  such  an 
opportunity,  discovered  their  movement,  and  hastily  crossing  one  of  the  numer- 


i  "Transactions  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,"  Vol.  I   (1820),  p.  317. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  257. 

s  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V,  p.  73. 

*  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V,  p.  81. 

s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  285. 

6  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  274-5. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  233 

ous  horeshoe  bends  in  the  Cumberland,  secreted  his  party  on  the  bank,  at  a  place 
now  known  as  Seven  Mile  Ferry.  When  the  boat  came  round  to  where  they  were 
concealed,  they  fired  a  volley  into  it,  killing  the  three  Seviers,  Curtis  and  Rice. 
Before  the  Indians  could  reload,  the  other  members  of  the  party  pushed  their 
canoe  across  the  river,  and  commenced  its  descent  back  towards  Clarksville, 
hugging  the  opposite  shore.  Doublehead  then  recrossed  the  isthmus,  intending 
to  intercept  them  on  their  return,  but  this  movement  being  anticipated,  the 
canoe  was  hastily  abandoned  and  turned  adrift.  The  Indians  found  and  boarded 
the  derelict,  scalped  the  five  young  men,  and  carried  away  their  goods  and  pro- 
visions, even  to  their  clothing;  the  hat,  coat,  and  boots  of  Curtis  being  subse- 
quently identified  by  a  trader.7  A  week  later  three  of  his  warriors  killed  a  man 
named  Boyd  in  Clarksville,  after  which  he  returned  to  his  camp,  and  was  in  the 
neighborhood  of  New  Madrid,  March  11,  1792. 

On  the  very  day  that  Doublehead  killed  the  young  men  on  the  Cumberland, 
a  delegation  of  Cherokee  chiefs  headed  by  Bloody  Fellow,  concluded  a  treaty 
with  Secretary  Knox,  at  Philadelphia,  by  which  their  annuity  under  the  treaty 
of  Holston  was  increased  from  $1,000  to  $1,500.8  In  May  the  first  annual  dis- 
tribution of  goods  under  these  treaties  was  made  at  Coyatee.  The  principal 
chiefs  of  the  Chickamauga  town  were  present,  and  for  the  first  time  in  their 
history,  unanimously  declared  for  peace.  Doublehead  was  absent,  and  his  town 
was  not  mentioned ;  but  in  the  following  August  Governor  Blount  expressed  the 
belief  that  he  was  the  only  chief  of  his  nation  that  still  held  out  for  war.0  How 
much  mischief  he  did  during  this  period  is  not  known,  for  it  is  rarely  possible 
to  identify  the  leader  of  a  scalping  party  on  the  frontiers;  but  he  is  probably 
responsible  for  many  atrocities  charged  in  a  general  way  to  Indians.  Haywood 
says  he  shed  with  his  own  hands  as  much  blood  as  any  man  of  his  age  in 
America.10  He  was  with  the  party  that  killed  Capt.  William  Overall,  at 
Dripping  Springs,  dishonored  his  body  by  cutting  flesh  from  his  bones,  and  car- 
ried his  scalp  and  that  of  his  companion  to  the  nation,  and  had  war  dances  over 
them  at  Lookout  Mountain,  Willstown,  and  Turnip  Mountain,  his  party  having 
been  enlisted  from  all  of  these  settlements.11 

Doublehead  was  ambitious,  and  though  he  was  not  then  considered  one  of  the 
principal  chiefs  of  the  nation,  he  attended  the  conference  at  Henry's  Station, 
February  6,  1793;  and  when  informed  by  Governor  Blount  that  the  President 
desired  a  representative  delegation  of  the  real  chiefs  of  the  Cherokees  to  visit 
him  at  Philadelphia,  he  repaired  with  others  to  the  Hanging  Maw's,  and  was 
present  when  Captain  Beard  made  his  dastardly  assault  upon  the  Hanging 
Maw's  Town.  This  event  gave  Doublehead  an  opportunity  to  assert  his  leader- 
ship. He  had  been  reported  killed,  but  he  wrote  Secretary  Smith  that  he  was 
still  among  his  people,  "living  in  gores  of  blood."  Nine  of  his  people,  some  of 
them  first  and  principal  head  men,  had  been  killed.  He  demanded  immediate 
satisfaction  for  them,  without  waiting  to  hear  from  the  President.  "This,"  he 
said,  "is  the  third  time  we  have  been  served  so  when  we  were  talking  peace,  that 
they  fell  on  us  and  killed  us."  12 


7  Putnam's    "History    of    Middle    Tennessee,"    p.    372;    Haywood's    "History    of    Ten- 
nessee," p.  341. 

s  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  203. 
o  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  276. 
io  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  318. 

ii  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  438. 
12  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  460. 


234  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

In  the  war  that  followed  he  disputed  the  leadership  with  Col.  John  Watts. 
When  Cavett's  Station  capitulated,  it  was  he  and  his  party  who,  in  violation  of 
the  terms  of  surrender,  massacred  the  prisoners,  men,  women,  and  children. 
Only  one  escaped ;  Colonel  Watts  made  Alexander  Cavett,  Jr.,  his  prisoner,  and 
to  save  him  from  the  fury  of  Doublehead's  young  fellows,  gave  him  to  the  Creeks, 
only  to  be  tomahawked  and  killed  by  one  of  their  chiefs  three  days  after  his 
arrival  in  the  nation.13  In  this  campaign,  as  we  have  seen,  Chief  John  Vann 
had  a  captive  boy  riding  behind  him.  Doublehead,  picking  a  quarrel  with  him, 
stabbed  and  killed  his  little  boy.  For  this  Vann  dubbed  him  "Kill-baby,"  and 
subsequently  so  taunted  him  with  it  that  Doublehead  would  have  killed  him  had 
he  not  saved  himself  by  flight.14 

After  Colonel  Watts'  forces  had  been  dispersed  by  General  Sevier,  and  the 
Upper  towns  of  the  Cherokees  had  declared  themselves  for  peace,  Doublehead 
recruited  a  party  of  about  one  hundred  warriors  and  again  moved  to  his  favorite 
field  on  the  frontiers  of  Cumberland  and  Kentucky,  and  was  responsible  for  all 
the  mischief  done  in  those  quarters  during  the  spring  of  1794. 15  On  the  12th 
of  March  he  formed  an  ambuscade  near  Middleton's  Station,  on  the  road  from 
Kentucky  to  Hawkins'  Courthouse,  and  firing  upon  the  post  rider  and  twelve 
travelers  who  were  in  his  company,  killed  four  men,  two  of  them — Elders  Hag- 
gard and  Shelton — being  Baptist  preachers.16  And  for  some  years  after  peace 
was  permanently  established  the  Methodist  circuit  rider  crossed  the  Wilderness 
with  fear  and  trembling,  rumors  still  being  current  that  Doublehead  was  under  a 
curse  to  be  avenged  on  the  white  people.17  In  the  same  month  he  killed  the 
Wilson  family,  consisting  of  eight  women  and  children,  except  one  boy  whom  he 
took  into  his  possession.18 

The  first  day  of  April,  1794,  found  him  near  Crab  Orchard,  on  the  road  from 
Knoxville  to  Nashville,  at  a  point  since  called  Spencer's  Hill,  where  he  secreted 
his  party  and  lay  in  wait  for  the  unhappy  traveler  who  might  find  it  necessary 
to  venture  across  the  Wilderness. 

At  this  point  let  us  pause  long  enough  to  notice  a  few  incidents  in  the  career 
of  the  earliest  and  most  picturesque  pioneer  of  the  Cumberland,  Thomas  Sharpe 
Spencer.  He  was  a  man  of  giant  proportions  and  herculean  strength.  A  hunter 
left  by  Timothy  Demonbreun  in  charge  of  his  camp  on  the  Cumberland,  in  the 
fall  of  1777,  discovered  Spencer's  tracks,  and  was  so  alarmed  by  their  uncommon 
size,  that  he  fled  and  did  not  rest  until  he  had  joined  Demonbreun  at  Vincennes 
on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash.10  A  few  years  later,  at  a  general  muster  two  boys 
became  involved  in  a  fight.  Old  Bob  Shaw,  who  considered  himself  a  mighty 
man,  insisted  on  letting  them  fight  it  out.  Spencer,  however,  was  of  a  different 
opinion,  and  parting  the  crowd  right  and  left,  he  seized  one  of  the  belligerents 
in  either  hand,  pulled  them  apart  with  scarcely  an  effort,  and  bade  them  clear 
themselves.  This  Shaw  took  as  a  fighting  offense,  and  struck  Spencer  in  the 
face  with  his  fist.  Spencer  instantly  caught  him  by  the  collar  and  waistband  of 
his  trousers,  and  running  a  few  steps  to  a  ten-rail  fence,  tossed  him  over  it. 
This  much  is  on  the  authority  of  General  William  Hall.20 


is  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  634. 

i*  Stephen  Poster,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  331. 

is  American  Historical   Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  297;   Haywood,  p.  317. 

io  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  318. 

it  Thomas  Wilkinson,  McPerrin's  "History  of  Methodism  in  Tennessee,"  Vol.  I,  p.  255 

18  House  Journal,  Southwest   Territory,  Aug.  1794,  p.  29.      (Reprint,  1852.) 

is  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  95. 

2°  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  pp.   15-16. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  235 

There  is  a  tradition  that  when  Shaw  arose  and  brushed  the  dust  from  his 
clothes,  he  called  out:  "Mr.  Spencer,  if  you  will  be  kind  enough  to  pitch  my 
horse  over,  I  will  be  riding." 

But  Spencer  was  not  more  distinguished  by  his  colossal  frame  and  his  marvel- 
ous feats  of  strength  than  by  his  heroic  self-sacrifice  and  knightly  bearing.  He 
was  a  Virginian  of  cavalier  stock,  and  came  to  Cumberland  with  a  party  of 
adventurers  in  1776.  All  of  them  except  Spencer  and  John  Holliday  soon  after- 
wards returned.  Two  years  later  Holliday  also  determined  to  go  back  to  the 
settlements,  and  insisted  on  Spencer  going  with  him,  but  he  steadfastly  refused. 
When  Holliday  departed  Spencer  accompanied  him  to  the  barrens  of  Kentucky, 
and  put  him  on  the  path  he  was  to  travel ;  and  when  Holliday  complained  that 
he  had  no  knife,  Spencer  promptly  broke  his  own,  and  gave  him  half  of  it.21 
So  the  two  friends  parted  company,  Holliday  to  make  the  long  and  perilous 
journey  to  the  east,  and  Spencer  to  return  to  his  solitary  home  in  a  large  syca- 
more tree  near  what  is  now  Castalian  Springs.  R.  E.  W.  Earle,  the  artist, 
measured  the  stump  of  his  old  sycamore,  which  was  still  visible  at  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  about  the  year  1823,  and  found  it  be  twelve  feet  in  diameter,22  quite 
a  commodious  residence,  even  for  a  man  of  Spencer's  proportions. 

Once  while  hunting  with  a  companion  on  the  waters  of  Duck  River,  having 
killed  a  deer,  as  evening  approached  they  found  a  secluded  spot,  and  kindled  a 
fire  to  cook  their  supper.  Just  as  they  had  put  their  meat  on  the  fire  to  roast, 
a  party  of  Indians  who  had  discovered  their  camp,  crept  up  within  range,  fired 
upon  them,  and  shot  his  companion  dead.  Spencer,  who  was  lying  on  his  blan- 
ket by  the  fire,  sprang  to  his  feet,  caught  up  the  two  guns,  but  did  not  flee  until 
he  had  placed  the  dead  body  of  his  friend  on  his  powerful  shoulders,  when  he 
dashed  off  through  the  cane,  and  so  escaped  and  gave  his  friend  Christian 
burial.23 

On  another  occasion  he  gallantly  saved  the  life  of  Mrs.  Parker,  who  had 
formerly  been  the  wife  of  Colonel  Anthony  Bledsoe.  They  were  riding  from 
Greenfield  to  Station  Camp,  the  residence  of  her  son-in-law,  David  Shelby,  in 
company  with  Robert  Jones  and  William  Penny.  Spencer  and  Jones  were  in 
front,  followed  by  Mrs.  Parker,  with  Penny  in  the  rear.  About  two  and  a  half 
miles  east  of  Gallatin  a  party  of  Indians  fired  upon  them,  killing  Jones  and 
wounding  Mrs.  Parker's  horse.  Penny  instantly  wheeled  his  horse  and  bolted. 
Spencer  jumped  off  his  horse,  passed  his  arm  through  the  bridle  rein,  and  break- 
ing a  switch,  handed  it  to  Mrs.  Parker,  who  gave  her  horse  the  lash,  and  got  out 
of  range  before  the  Indians  could  reload.  In  the  meantime  Spencer  stood  behind 
a  tree  between  the  Indians  and  Mrs.  Parker,  until  he  saw  her  out  of  danger, 
when  he  remounted  his  horse  and  made  good  his  escape  through  a  fusillade  of 
bullets,  for  by  this  time  the  Indians  had  reloaded  their  guns.24 

Spencer  did  not  appear  to  have  any  fear  of  Indians,  such  as  other  men  had, 
though  he  was  often  attacked  by  them.  In  the  fall  of  1780  he  encountered  an 
Indian  scalping  party  in  the  woods,  as  he  was  returning  to  the  Bluff  with  a  load 
of  meat.  They  fired  upon  him  without  effect,  but  got  his  horses,  which  were 
afterwards  recovered.25     Again  in  May,  1782,  he  was  fired  upon  and  wounded. 


2iHavwood's    "Civil    and    Political    History    of    Tennessee,"    pp.    94-5;     Narrative    of 
General  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  15,  122-3. 

22  Haywood's  "Natural  and   Aboriginal  History  of  Tennessee." 

23  Narrative  of  General  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  16. 

24  Narrative  of  John  Shelby,  Indian  Battles,  Murders,  Sieges,  and  Forays  in  the  South- 
west, p.  88;  Narrative  of  General  Hall,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  16. 

25  Haywood 's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  126. 


236  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

He,  George  Espey,  Andrew  Lucas,  and  a  man  named  Johnson  were  out  hunting 
on  the  headwaters  of  Drake's  Creek.  As  they  stopped  to  let  their  horses  drink, 
the  Indians  made  their  attack.  Lucas  was  shot  through  the  neck  and  mouth. 
He  dismounted,  however,  with  the  rest,  but  in  attempting  to  fire,  the  blood 
gushed  out  of  his  mouth  and  wet  his  priming.  Perceiving  this  he  desisted  and 
crawled  into  a  bunch  of  briers.  Espey,  as  he  alighted,  received  a  shot  which 
broke  his  thigh,  but  still  fought  heroically.  Johnson  and  Spencer  acquitted 
themselves  with  incomparable  gallantry.  Spencer  received  a  shot,  but  the  ball 
split  on  the  bone  of  his  arm  and  saved  his  life.  They  were  finally  obliged  to 
give  way,  and  leave  Espey,  whom  the  Indians  scalped;  but  they  did  not  find 
Lucas,  who  shortly  afterwards  reached  the  fort,  and  recovered  from  his  wound.26 

In  the  fall  of  1793,  Spencer  made  a  journey  to  Virginia  to  settle  an  estate, 
and  receive  a  legacy  that  had  fallen  to  him.  Having  completed  his  business,  in 
the  following  spring,  he  started  back  to  the  "West,  having  in  his  saddle  bags 
$1,000  in  gold,  besides  other  valuables.  His  route  carried  him  by  way  of  Knox- 
ville  and  Southwest  Point.  He  left  the  latter  place  in  company  with  four  other 
travelers  and  started  across  the  Wilderness,  April  1,  1794.  Spencer  and  James 
"Walker  were  riding  together  in  advance,  and  when  they  reached  the  point  at 
which  Doublehead  had  formed  his  ambuscade,  they  received  a  volley  which 
brought  Spencer  dead  from  his  horse  and  wounded  Walker.  "When  Spencer 
fell  his  horse  fled,  and  made  his  escape  with  the  travelers  in  the  rear,  but  his 
saddlebags  coming  off,  his  money  and  other  valuables  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.27 

This  was  the  last  act  of  open  hostility  committed  by  Doublehead.  He  then 
hastened  to  Philadelphia,  whither  he  went  with  a  delegation  of  Cherokee  chiefs, 
who  concluded  a  treaty  with  Secretary  Knox,  June  26,  1794,  by  which  their 
annuity  was  still  further  increased  from  $1,500  to  $5,000.  He  was  treated  with 
the  utmost  attention  during  his  stay,  and  loaded  with  presents  on  his  depar- 
ture.28 He  returned  by  way  of  Charleston,  and  did  not  reach  home  until  the 
latter  part  of  October.29  Before  his  return  Wayne  had  won  his  great  victory 
over  the  northwestern  Indians,  August  20,  and  Major  Ore  had  penetrated  to  the 
Chickamauga  towns  and  destroyed  Nickajack  and  Running  Water,  September 
13,  which  practically  ended  the  Cherokee  wars  in  the  Old  Southwest. 

Let  us  now  notice  the  conclusion  of  Doublehead 's  tempestuous  career.  He 
had  now  reached  a  commanding  position  in  the  councils  of  his  nation.  He 
was  present  and  signed  the  treaty  of  Tellico  in  1798.  He  met  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  United  States  at  Southwest  Point  in  1801,  and  refused  to  allow 
them  to  make  a  road  through  his  nation  from  Nashville  to  Natchez.30  After- 
wards the  people  of  Tennessee  became  clamorous,  not  only  for  roads  through 
the  Indian  territory,  but  for  the  acquisition  of  large  bodies  of  the  Cherokee 
land.  September  13,  1806,  the  General  Assembly  removed  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment from  Knoxville  to  Kingston,  appointed  commissioners  for  the  purpose  of 
acquiring  land  at  or  near  Southwest  Point,  to  accommodate  the  permanent  seat 
of  government,  and  adjourned  to  meet  at  that  place  in  1807. 31     This  was  done 


2"  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  136,  223. 

27  House  Journal,  Southwest  Territory,  Aug.  1794,  p.  29;   Haywood's  "History  of  Ten- 
nessee, "p.  318;   Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.   16. 

28  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  356. 

2»  American   State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  "Vol.  I,  p.  523. 
3"  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  656. 
si  Tennessee  Senate  Journal,  1806,  p.  104. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  237 

in  order  to  give  color  to  the  claim  made  at  the  treaty  of  Tellico,  that  the  state 
might  want  to  fix  its  capital  at  that  point.  The  next  session  of  the  Legislature 
did  meet  at  Kingston,  organized,  and  adjourned  the  same  day  to  Knoxville, 
and  Southwest  Point  was  no  longer  considered  available  for  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment. 

The  treaty  of  Tellico  was  held  in  October,  1805.  Previously  to  that  time 
Doublehead  had  declared  himself  as  unalterably  opposed  to  selling  one  foot  of 
ground.32  But  when  the  conference  met  two  treaties  were  concluded,  with  his 
consent,  one  on  the  twenty-fifth  and  the  other  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  October, 
1805.  By  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  October  25,  there  were  reserved  three  square 
miles  of  land,  ostensibly  for  the  purpose  of  removing  thereto  the  garrison 
at  Southwest  Point,  and  the  United  States  factory  at  Tellico,  but  really  for 
the  benefit  of  Doublehead,  his  friend  and  adviser,  John  D.  Chisholm,  and  John 
Riley,  as  the  price  of  their  influence  in  securing  from  the  Cherokees  the  exten- 
sive cession  of  land  granted  by  that  treaty.  This  was  accomplished  by  means 
of  a  secret  article  attached  to  the  treaty,  but  not  submitted  to  the  Senate.  This 
secret  article  also  applied  to  a  small  tract  at  and  below  the  mouth  of  Clinch 
River,  likewise  intended  for  the  benefit  of  Doublehead;  to  one  mile  square  at 
the  foot  of  Cumberland  Mountain ;  and  to  one  mile  square  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Tennessee  River,  where  Talotiskee  lived.33 

The  treaty  of  October  25  ceded  all  the  Cherokee  land  north  of  Duck  River, 
and  also  the  Cumberland  Mountain  reservation  known  as  the  Wilderness.  A 
large  part  of  the  nation  bitterly  resented  this  sale,  but  did  not  at  once  take 
any  steps  to  punish  Doublehead,  who  was  chiefly  responsible  for  it.  Perhaps 
this  was  due  to  the  fact  that  almost  immediately  after  signing  these  treaties, 
Doublehead  and  a  party  of  Cherokee  chiefs  accompanied  Return  J.  Meigs  and 
Daniel  Smith,  the  commissioners  who  negotiated  them,  to  Washington,  and 
signed  still  another  treaty  with  the  United  States,  January  7,  1806,  by  which 
they  ceded  the  Cherokee  claim  to  what  was  really  Chickasaw  territory,  lying 
between  the  Duck  and  Tennessee  rivers. 

In  the  summer  of  1807, 34  the  Cherokees  had  a  great  ball  play  on  the  Hi- 
wassee  River.  This  was  their  national  sport,  and  attracted  immense  crowds. 
On  this  occasion  there  were  more  than  a  thousand  Indians  present,  besides  the 
officers  from  Hiwassee  Fort,  and  numerous  traders  attracted  by  the  prospect 
of  selling  their  merchandise.  The  central  figure  among  the  Cherokees  was  the 
famous  Chief  Doublehead.  Gen.  Sam  Dale,  of  Mississippi,  then  a  Georgian  In- 
dian trader,  who  is  authority  for  the  following  account  of  his  death,35  knew 
Doublehead  and  called  upon  him.  "Sam,  you  are  a  mighty  liar,"  was  his 
greeting.  When  Dale  demanded  why  he  thus  insulted  him  in  public,  a  smile 
illuminated  his  grim  face  as  he  replied,  "You  have  never  kept  your  promise 
to  come  and  see  me.  You  know  you  have  lied."  He  then  produced  a  bottle 
of  whiskey,  and  invited  Dale  and  the  officers  present  to  drink  with  him.  When 
they  had  emptied  the  bottle,  he  rejected  Dale's  offer  to  replenish  it,  saying, 
"When  I  am  in  the  white  man's  country,  I  will  drink  your  liquor,  but  here 
you  must  drink  with  Doublehead." 


32  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V,  p.  76. 

33Koyce's  "Cherokee  Nation  of  Indians,  5th  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Eth- 
nology"   (1883-4),   pp.   191-193. 

3<  Return  J.  Meigs,  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  754. 

35  "Life  and  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale,  the  Mississippi  Partisan."  By  J.  F.  H.  Clai- 
borne, pp.  45-49. 


238  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

After  the  game  was  over  a  chief  named  Bone-polisher  approached  Double- 
head  and  denounced  him  as  a  traitor  for  selling  the  land  of  his  people.  The 
stolid  chief  remaining  tranquil  and  silent,  Bone-polisher  became  still  more 
angry,  accompanying  his  abuse  with  menacing  gestures.  Then  Doublehead 
spoke,  quietly  and  without  agitation:  "Go  away.  You  have  said  enough.  Leave 
me,  or  I  shall  kill  you."  Bone-polisher  rushed  at  him  with  his  tomahawk,  which 
Doublehead  received  on  his  left  arm,  and  drawing  his  pistol,  shot  him  through 
the  heart. 

Some  time  after  night,  Doublehead,  who  had  been  drinking,  came  in  to  Hi- 
wassee  Ferry,  and  entered  Mcintosh's  tavern.  Among  those  whom  he  en- 
countered there  was  a  chief  named  Ridge,  afterwards  Major  Ridge,  a  half-breed 
called  Alex.  Saunders,  and  John  Rodgers,  an  old  white  man  who  had  long 
resided  in  the  nation.  Rodgers  began  to  revile  him,  much  after  the  manner  of 
Bone-polisher.  Doublehead  proudly  rebuked  him:  "You  live  by  sufferance 
among  us.  I  have  never  seen  you  in  council  nor  on  the  war-path.  You  have 
no  place  among  the  chiefs.  Be  silent  and  interfere  no  more  with  me."  The 
old  man  still  persisted,  and  Doublehead  attempted  to  shoot  him,  but  his  pistol, 
not  having  been  charged,  missed  fire.  The  light  was  then  extinguished,  and 
at  the  same  instant  a  pistol  shot  was  fired.  When  the  light  was  rekindled,  Ridge, 
Saunders,  and  Rodgers  had  all  disappeared,  and  Doublehead  lay  motionless  on 
his  face.  The  ball  had  shattered  his  lower  jaw  and  lodged  in  the  nape  of  his 
neck. 

His  friends  now  set  out  with  him  for  the  garrison,  but  fearing  they  would 
be  overtaken,  turned  aside,  and  concealed  him  in  the  loft  of  Schoolmaster 
Black's  house.  Two  warriors  of  the  Bone-polisher  clan  traced  Doublehead  by 
his  blood  to  his  hiding  place.  At  the  same  time  Ridge  and  Saunders  came  gal- 
loping up,  shouting  the  war  whoop.  Sam  Dale  and  Col.  James  Brown,  of 
Georgia,  followed  them.  The  wounded  chief  was  lying  on  the  floor,  his  jaw 
and  arm  terribly  lacerated.  Ridge  and  Saunders  each  leveled  his  pistol,  but 
both  missed  fire.  Doublehead  sprang  upon  Ridge  and  would  have  overpowered 
him  had  not  Saunders  discharged  his  pistol  and  shot  him  through  the  hips. 
Saunders  then  made  a  rush  on  Doublehead  with  his  tomahawk,  but  the  dying 
chief  wrenched  it  from  him,  and  again  leaped  upon  Ridge.  Saunders  seized  an- 
other tomahawk  and  drove  it  into  his  brain.  When  he  fell  another  Indian 
crushed  his  head  with  a  spade. 

it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  after  the  tribe  had  been  removed  to  the  west, 
Major  Ridge  was  himself  executed  in  the  same  manner,  for  a  like  offense. 

THE   NICKAJACK  EXPEDITION,    1794 

It  had  long  been  apparent  that  the  Chiekamauga  towns  would  have  to  be 
destroyed.  The  strength  of  their  position  had  attracted  to  them  a  party  of 
daring  young  warriors,  mostly  Cherokees,  who  wished  a  stronghold  from 
which  they  could  make  sorties  upon  the  frontiers.  Moreover,  they  were  situ- 
ated at  the  Creek  crossing  place,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  and  their  people 
fraternized  with  the  Creek  war  parties,  who  used  them  as  a  base  for  their 
operations  against  the  settlers  on  the  Cumberland  and  in  Kentucky.  As  early 
as  August  13,  1792,  President  Washington  wrote  the  secretary  of  war :  "If  the 
banditti,  which  made  the  successful  stroke  on  the  station  at  Nashville  (Zeig- 
ler's)   could  be  come  at  without  involving  disagreeable  consequences  with  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  239 

tribes  to  which  they  respectively  belong,  an  attempt  to  cut  them  off  ought  by 
all  means  to  be  encouraged.  An  enterprise  judiciously  concerted  and  spiritedly 
executed,  would  be  less  expensive  to  the  Government  than  keeping  up  guards 
of  militia,  which  will  always  be  eluded  in  the  attack,  and  never  be  overtaken 
[sic]  in  pursuit."  J 

Again,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Etowah,  General  Robertson,  in  a  letter  to 
General  Sevier,  asked  when  the  Lower  towns  would  get  their  deserts.  He 
said  the  governor  had  hinted  that  it  might  be  next  spring,  but  he  feared  that 
would  be  too  late  to  save  the  Cumberland  settlements,  considering  their  ex- 
posed situation,  and  the  little  protection  they  had.  He,  therefore,  urged  Gen- 
eral Sevier  to  carry  an  expedition  of  fifteen  hundred  men  into  the  Cherokee 
country  before  the  ensuing  spring.2 

Nothing  came  of  General  Robertson's  request,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
Indian  depredations  were  renewed  and  prosecuted  with  great  malignancy.  The 
Territorial  Assembly  which  met  at  Knoxville  in  August,  1794,  adopted  a  second 
memorial  to  Congress  on  the  subject,  and  appended  to  it  a  list  of  Indian 
depredations,  which  showed  that  they  had  killed  sixty-seven  people,  wounded 
ten,  captured  twenty-five,  and  had  stolen  374  horses,  between  February  26 
and  September  6,  1794.3 

Many  of  these  depredations  were  notable.  The  murder  of  the  Casteel 
family,  near  Knoxville,  was  shocking.  About  daybreak,  April  22,  1794,  "Wil- 
liam Casteel  was  in  his  cabin,  dressed,  and  waiting  for  Anthony  Ragan,  with 
whom  he  was  going  on  a  hunt.  When  Ragan  arrived,  a  few  minutes  later,  he 
found  Casteel's  dead  body  near  the  fire,  where  he  had  fallen  from  the  stroke 
of  a  war  club,  evidently  taken  by  surprise.  His  wife,  aroused  by  the  attack 
on  her  husband,  seems  to  have  made  a  desperate  resistance.  A  bloody  axe 
found  by  her  side,  a  broken  arm,  and  a  mutilated  hand,  all  testified  to  her 
courageous  defence.  She  was  finally  despatched  with  a  butcher  knife.  Pour 
small  children  were  killed  and  scalped,  one  of  them,  a  little  girl,  receiving  a 
stab  which  pierced  through  her  body  and  into  the  bedclothes  beneath  her. 
The  oldest  daughter,  Elizabeth,  ten  years  of  age,  was  found  weltering  in  the 
blood  that  flowed  from  six  wounds  inflicted  by  a  tomahawk.  She  afterwards 
showed  signs  of  life,  and  under  Dr.  Crosby's  treatment  finally  recovered.4 

Among  the  killed  on  the  Cumberland  were  the  two  young  Anthony  Bledsoes, 
sons,  respectively,  of  Cols.  Anthony  and  Isaac  Bledsoe.  They  were  killed  near 
Rock  Castle,  the  home  of  Secretary  Daniel  Smith,  where  they  were  boarding 
and  going  to  school.  The  death  of  the  old  pioneer,  Thomas  Sharpe  Spencer, 
has  already  been  noticed.  James  R.  Robertson,  a  son  of  Colonel  James  Robert- 
son, was  killed  near  his  father's  house  on  Cumberland  River.  Maj.  George 
Winchester,  a  brother  of  Gen.  James  Winchester,  and  a  gallant  militia  officer, 
was  killed  on  his  way  to  the  County  Court,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

The  committee  of  Congress  to  which  the  first  memorial  of  the  Southwest 
Territory,  adopted  February,  1794,  was  referred,  reported  to  the  House  of 
Representatives,  April  8,  1794,  that  the  situation  of  the  southwestern  frontiers 
in  general,  and  Mero  district  in  particular,  called  for  the  most  energetic  meas- 
ures on  the  part  of  the  Government,  and  recommended  that  the  President  be 


i  Spark's  "Writings  of  Washington,"  Vol.  X,  pp.  262-3. 

2  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  387. 

3  Journal   of  the  Legislative  Council   of  the  Territory  of  the   United   States   of   America, 
South  of  the  River  Ohio,  1794    (Reprint),  pp.   22-25. 

*  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  592-3. 


240  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

authorized  to  carry  on  offensive  operations  against  any  nation  or  tribe  of 
Indians  that  might  continue  hostile.6  This  report,  however,  was  not  acted  upon, 
and  the  secretary  of  war  wrote  Governor  Blount,  July  29,  1794,  that,  "With 
respect  to  destroying  the  Lower  towns,  however  vigorous  such  a  measure  might 
be,  or  whatever  good  consequences  might  result  from  it,  I  am  instructed  spe- 
cially, by  the  President,  to  say  that  he  does  not  consider  himself  authorized  to 
direct  any  such  measure,  more  especially  as  the  whole  subject  was  before  the 
last  session  of  Congress,  who  did  not  think  proper  to  authorize  or  direct 
offensive  operations. ' '  6  But  the  mild  tone  of  the  secretary 's  letter,  the  well- 
known  attitude  of  President  Washington,  and  the  great  anxiety  of  Governor 
Blount  for  the  relief  of  the  frontiers,  made  it  manifest  that  an  unauthorized 
expedition  against  the  Chickamauga  towns,  if  judiciously  concerted  and  spirit- 
edly executed,  would  not  seriously  offend  either  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  or  of  the  Southwest  Territory. 

Early  in  August,  General  Robertson  received  two  dispatches  from  the 
Chickasaws,  one  by  Thomas  Brown,  a  man  of  veracity,  and  the  other  by  a 
common  runner,  bringing  information  that  the  Creeks  and  Chickamaugas  were 
"embodying"  in  large  numbers  for  the  purpose  of  invading  Mero  District 
about  the  20th  of  the  month.  Afterwards  he  received  from  some  confidential 
Chickasaws  and  from  Dr.  R.  J.  Waters,  of  New  Madrid,  the  further  intelligence 
that  two  attacks  would  be  made  simultaneously,  one  by  a  party  of  100  Creeks, 
who  would  drop  down  the  Tennessee  River  in  canoes  and  fall  upon  the  lower 
settlements,  while  a  larger  force,  consisting  of  three  or  four  hundred  Creeks, 
were  to  pass  through  the  Chickamauga  towns,  receive  reinforcements  from  them, 
and  march  against  Nashville. 

The  Creek  campaign  was  launched  in  accordance  with  the  plan  outlined. 
A  small  party  proceeded  by  river  to  Mero  District,  and  invaded  the  lower  settle- 
ments around  Clarksville.  The  main  body  also  marched,  near  the  time  ap- 
pointed; but  the  action  of  Hanging  Maw  and  the  friendly  Cherokees  of  the 
upper  towns,  in  killing  two  Creeks,  and  delivering  a  third  over  to  the  territorial 
authorities,  who  tried  and  executed  him,  August  4,  1794,  caused  such  confusion 
in  the  Creek  and  Chickamauga  ranks,  that  this  branch  of  their  expedition  was 
abandoned,  only  a  few  small  war  parties  reaching  the  Cumberland.  There  were 
at  least  three  such  parties  operating  in  the  district  about  the  middle  of  Sep- 
tember, one  in  Tennessee,  one  in  Sumner,  and  one  in  Davidson  County.7 

As  soon  as  General  Robertson  heard  of  the  purposed  Creek-Chickamauga 
invasion  he  began  active  preparations  for  an  offensive  campaign,  of  which  every 
one  seemed  to  be  aware,  but  no  one  took  official  cognizance.  After  despatching 
Sampson  Williams,  the  old  scout,  to  Col.  William  Whitley,  at  Crab  Orchard, 
in  Lincoln  County,  Kentucky,  who  was  expected  to  take  part  in  the  expedition, 
he  proceeded  to  organize  and  equip  the  local  militia.  Col.  James  Ford  raised 
a  company  around  Port  Royal,  which  he  put  under  command  of  Capt.  William 
Miles;  Col.  John  Montgomery  raised  another  in  the  neighborhood  of  Clarksville, 
which  he  commanded  in  person;  and  General  Robertson  himself  enlisted  volun- 
teers in  the  country  adjacent  to  Nashville.  They  rendezvoused  at  Brown's 
Blockhouse,  September  6,  1794,  and  numbered  about  three  hundred  and  eighty 
men. 


5  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  476. 
<>  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  609. 

7  Robertson's  correspondence,  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  360-362;  Vol. 
IV,  pp.   75-77. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  241 

Governor  Blount  may  have  received  intelligence  of  the  Creek  invasion  at  the 
same  time  it  was  communicated  to  General  Robertson,  which  induced  him  to 
order  Maj.  James  Ore,  with  his  command  of  about  seventy  men,  to  Mero 
District.8  Major  Ore's  orders,  which  were  received  August  19,  1794,  directed 
him  to  range  the  Cumberland  Mountains  in  search  of  hostile  Indians,  but  some- 
how he  marched  direct  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  at  Nashville,  and  although 
Governor  Blount  had  reason  to  anticipate  Colonel  Whitley's  movements,  and  to 
apprehend  their  effect  on  the  border  people,  he  "forgot,"  Haywood  says,9  to 
give  Major  Ore  any  directions  on  the  subject.  In  the  meantime  Colonel  Whitley, 
with  about  one  hundred  men,  arrived  from  Kentucky.  He  set  out  August  20, 
1794,  a  day  made  memorable  by  the  victory  of  General  Wayne  over  the  Indians 
of  the  Northwest ;  and  if  he  followed  a  party  of  Indians  who  had  been  com- 
mitting depredations  on  the  frontiers  of  Lincoln  County,  as  reported  to  General 
Robertson,10  it  was  an  opportune  coincidence.  It  happened,  therefore,  that 
Major  Ore's  United  States  troops,  General  Robertson's  Mero  militia,  and  Colonel 
Whitley's  Kentucky  volunteers,  all  met  at  Brown's  Blockhouse,  forming  an 
army  of  resolute  backwoodsmen  550  strong. 

The  chief  command  was  entrusted  to  Maj.  James  Ore,  who  commanded  the 
only  troops  in  the  expedition  levied  by  public  authority ;  thus  giving  color  to 
the  claim  of  the  troops  for  pay,  which  was  subsequently  allowed  by  the  Federal 
Government.  The  territorial  troops  had  been  strictly  forbidden  to  carry 
on  offensive  operations  against  the  Indians,  but  evading  this  prohibition,  on 
the  ground  that  it  could  not  be  considered  otherwise  than  defensive  to  strike 
the  first  blow,  General  Robertson  ordered  Major  Ore  to  march  against  the  Creeks 
and  Chickamaugas  who  were  threatening  Mero  District,  and,  if  he  should  not 
meet  with  them  before  he  arrived  at  the  Tennessee  River,  to  pass  it  and  destroy 
the  Lower  Cherokee  towns.  Col.  John  Montgomery  was  given  command  of 
the  territorial  forces,  Col.  William  Whitley  commanded  the  Kentucky  contingent, 
and  Richard  Pindleston,  the  friendly  half-breed  who  warned  General  Robertson 
of  Watts'  invasion  in  1792,  who  acted  as  guide  for  General  Sevier  at  Etowah 
in  1793,  was  engaged  to  pilot  the  expedition. 

Marching  from  Brown's  Blockhouse,  September  8,  1794,  the  army  proceeded 
along  Taylor's  trace,  by  way  of  the  present  towns  of  Murfreesboro  and  Man- 
chester, to  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  crossing  which,  they  reached  the  Tennessee 
River  about  three  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Sequatchie,  after  dark  on  the  even- 
ing of  September  12th.  Here  Findleston  volunteered  to  swim  the  river,  which 
was  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide,  and  build  a  fire  on  the  southern  bank 
to  guide  the  men  in  crossing.  Daniel  G.  Brown,  the  brother  of  Col.  Joseph 
Brown,  and  William  Topp,  joined  them,  and  the  trio  safely  made  the  landing. 
Then  the  soldiers  began  swimming  the  river,  the  least  expert  availing  them- 
selves of  whatever  assistance  they  could  contrive,  such  as  bundles  of  dry  cane 
and  small  pieces  of  wood,  and  in  this  way  about  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  men 
crossed  over,  without  an  accident.  The  others  remained  on  the  north  side  of 
the  river  in  charge  of  the  horses  and  impedimenta  of  the  camp.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  transporting  their  arms  and  clothing,  they  had  provided  two  boats  made 
of  ox-hides,  to  which  were  added  some  light  rafts,  which  the  men,  in  their  im- 
patience, improvised  to  expedite  their  passage.     The  boats  were  kept  plying 


8  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  IV,  p.  76. 

9  ' '  History  of  Tennessee, "  pp.  409-410. 
i°Kam(-ey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  618. 


242  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

back  and  forth  all  night,  and  it  was  after  sunrise  on  the  morning  of  September 
13,  1794,  before  the  troops  could  again  be  got  in  motion. 

Having  crossed  the  river,  they  found  themselves  between  the  small  village 
of  Long  Island,  on  the  west,  and  Nickajack,  on  the  east.  Nickajack  was  situated 
on  the  east  bank  of  Nickajack  Creek,  a  short  distance  above  its  mouth,  and 
contained  about  two  hundred  houses,  mostly  built  of  round  logs,  and  covered 
with  boards  and  bark.  Protected  on  the  south  by  picturesque  and  rugged  moun- 
tains, it  was  surrounded  by  fields  of  potatoes  and  corn,  peach  orchards,  and 
melon  patches,  and  back  of  these  was  a  thick  growth  of  cane.  Five  miles  east 
of  Nickajack,  nestled  in  a  beautiful  little  valley,  encompassed  by  friendly 
heights,  lay  the  Town  of  Running  Water,  the  most  important  of  the  Chicka- 
mauga  towns.  It  had  been  their  capital  in  the  time  of  Dragging  Canoe,  and 
contained  a  council  house,  sixty  or  seventy  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  conical 
roof,  covered  with  bark.  The  road  from  Nickajack  to  Running  Water  passed 
a  point  called  the  narrows,  between  the  Tennessee  River  and  the  overhanging 
cliffs  that  jutted  down  from  the  mountain,  and  formed  a  defile  of  great  strategic 
strength. 

The  army,  having  been  formed  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  marched  south- 
ward up  the  mountain,  intending  to  get  in  behind  the  Town  of  Nickajack,  and 
strike  it  from  the  rear.  When  they  reached  the  field  back  of  the  town,  the  men 
were  formed  into  line  of  battle  among  the  cane,  Colonel  Whitley  commanding 
the  right  wing  and  Colonel  Montgomery  the  left.  The  two  wings  were  ordered 
to  march  so  as  to  strike  the  river  above  and  below  the  town.  Joseph  Brown, 
one  time  prisoner  in  the  town,  being  entirely  familiar  with  the  surroundings, 
was  sent  with  twenty  men  to  guard  the  mouth  of  Nickajack  Creek  below  the 
town,  and  cut  off  the  retreat  of  any  Indians  who  might  seek  to  escape  in  that 
direction. 

Colonel  Montgomery's  division  first  sighted  the  enemy.  He  discovered  two 
houses  standing  out  in  the  field,  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
town.  He  left  a  detachment  of  fifteen  men  to  watch  these  houses  until  the 
firing  should  begin  in  the  town ;  and  lest  the  Indians  in  them  should  discover 
the  approach  of  the  troops  and  give  the  alarm,  he  ordered  his  main  force  to  push 
on  with  all  speed.  The  corn  was  growing  close  around  the  houses,  and  concealed 
their  movement  from  the  enemy.  Firing  commenced  near  a  house  on  the  left 
of  the  town,  and  was  returned  by  the  Indians,  one  of  whom  was  killed.  The 
troops  then  dashed  into  the  town,  but  found  the  houses  all  vacant  and  their 
doors  open. 

While  these  movements  were  taking  place,  the  guard  left  to  watch  the  houses 
in  the  field  saw  a  lithe  and  graceful  Indian  maiden  pounding  hominy  in  a 
mortar  outside  the  cabin.  In  a  few  moments  she  was  joined  by  a  young  warrior 
who  passed  his  arms  around  her  waist,  playfully  swung  her  about,  and  then 
assisted  her  with  the  pestle.  While  engaged  in  this  delightful  dalliance  the 
firing  began  in  the  town,  then  the  crack  of  a  rifle  was  heard  in  the  cornfield, 
and  the  young  girl's  lover  fell  dead  at  her  feet.  The  doors  were  instantly  closed, 
portholes  opened,  and  the  men  in  the  houses  prepared  to  make  a  desperate 
defense.  The  girl  undertook  to  make  her  escape  by  flight,  but  was  pursued  and 
captured  by  the  guard,  who  deeming  it  unwise  to  continue  the  contest,  retired 
with  their  prisoner,  and  rejoined  the  main  force  in  the  town.  The  girl  was  put 
into  a  canoe  with  the  other  prisoners,  and  while  she  was  being  rowed  down  the 
river  towards  the  crossing  place,  she  sprang  head  foremost  into  the  river,  dis- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  243 

engaging  herself  artfully  from  her  clothing,  which  was  left  floating  on  the 
water.  She  swam  superbly,  and  was  fast  making  her  escape.  Someone  shouted 
"shoot  her — shoot  her."  But  the  more  gallant  spirits,  admiring  her  agility, 
beauty  and  boldness,  intervened,  and  allowed  the  young  heroine  to  escape. 

The  Indians  in  the  town  were  taken  completely  by  surprise.  Years  of 
security  having  given  them  faith  in  their  fastness,  they  believed  their  town 
inaccessible,  and  when  the  whites  suddenly  appeared  among  them  they  wondered 
whether  they  had  fallen  down  from  the  clouds,  or  sprung  up  out  of  the  earth. 
As  soon  as  the  alarm  was  given  they  gathered  up  such  of  their  effects  as  they 
could  carry,  and  fled  to  the  river,  hoping  to  escape  in  their  canoes.  When 
Colonel  Montgomery's  men,  who  pressed  closely  upon  them,  reached  the  scene 
they  discovered  five  or  six  large  canoes  in  the  river,  filled  with  Indians  and 
their  goods,  while  twenty-five  or  thirty  warriors  still  stood  upon  the  shore. 
They  at  once  opened  fire  upon  them.  By  this  time  Colonel  Whitley's  division 
had  swept  down  from  the  east,  cutting  off  retreat  in  that  direction.  Having  the 
Indians  now  surrounded,  the  engagement  became  little  better  than  a  slaughter, 
and  hardly  a  soul  on  shore  escaped. 

A  few  of  the  Indians  in  the  canoes  succeeded  in  getting  away,  but  many  of 
them  fell  victims  to  the  deadly  aim  of  the  rifle,  some  of  them  in  their  canoes,  and 
others  in  the  waters  of  their  beloved  river.  Several  men  tried  to  kill  an  Indian 
who  was  lying  nearly  flat  in  his  canoe,  only  his  arms  showing  as  he  paddled  for 
his  life.  Having  failed  to  hit  him,  Colonel  Whitley,  who  came  up  at  the  moment, 
asked  them  to  let  him  try.  He  took  deliberate  aim,  and  when  he  pulled  the 
trigger,  the  blood  was  seen  to  spout  from  the  Indian's  shoulder.  Joseph  Brown, 
who  had  been  left  with  twenty  men  to  guard  the  mouth  of  Nickajack  Creek, 
heard  the  firing  commence,  rushed  forward,  and,  after  some  fighting  in  the 
canebrake,  rejoined  the  main  body  of  the  troops.  Seeing  a  canoe  floating  down 
the  river,  he  swam  out  to  it,  and  finding  in  it  the  Indian  Colonel  Whitley  had 
shot,  turned  him  over  to  ascertain  whether  he  was  yet  alive,  when  the  Indian 
seized  him  and  tried  to  throw  him  overboard.  After  a  hard  struggle,  in  which 
the  Indian  was  nearly  scalped,  he  cried,  "Enough!"  but  Brown,  in  his  "wrath," 
declared  it  was  not  enough,  and  throwing  him  into  the  river,  one  of  the  men 
shot  him  from  the  shore.11 

The  carnage  was  awful.  No  quarter  was  given  to  the  men,  who  were  killed 
wherever  found.  The  Breath,  whom  we  have  already  noticed  as  the  kindly  chief 
of  the  town,  and  somewhere  between  fifty  and  seventy  of  his  people — some  of 
them,  unfortunately,  women  and  children — perished,  either  on  the  river  bank, 
in  the  water,  or  at  their  cabins.  Nineteen  women  and  children  were  taken 
prisoners,  among  whom  were  the  wife  and  child  of  Richard  Findleston,  the  guide. 
A  search  of  the  town  disclosed  two  fresh  scalps  lately  taken  on  the  Cumberland, 
one  by  a  nephew  of  the  Fool  AVarrior  and  the  other  by  a  Creek,  and  a  number 
of  old  ones,  which  hung  as  trophies  in  the  homes  of  the  warriors  who  had  taken 
them.  They  also  found  a  quantity  of  powder  and  lead,  lately  arrived  from  the 
Spanish  Government,  and  a  commission  for  The  Breath.  In  making  the  search 
a  Kentucky  soldier  witnessed  a  pathetic  scene.  Entering  one  of  the  cabins, 
he  saw  an  infant,  ten  or  twelve  months  old,  with  its  bowels  protruding  from  a 
wound  in  its  abdomen,  crawling  over  the  body  of  its  mother,  who  lay  dead 


11  James  Collier,  "Howe's   Historical   Collections  of  the   Great  West,"  Vol.   I,  p.   176, 
note;  Joseph  Brown,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  p.  77. 


244  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

upon  the  floor.     He  was  horrified  at  the  sight,  and  as  an  act  of  mercy,  put  his 
rifle  to  its  head  and  blew  out  its  brains.12 

Having:  burned  the  Town  of  Nickajaek,  Major  Ore  immediately  set  out  with 
his  forces  for  Running  Water,  but  news  of  their  presence  preceded  them,  and 
the  warriors  of  that  town  made  a  stand  at  the  narrows,  already  mentioned. 
They  were  advantageously  posted  behind  rocks  on  the  mountain  side,  but  de- 
moralized by  the  panic-stricken  fugitives  that  fled  from  Nickajaek,  they  gave 
way  after  the  exchange  of  a  few  rounds,  abandoned  their  town  to  its  fate,  and 
fled  to  the  woods  with  their  wives  and  children.  At  the  narrows  three  white 
men  were  wounded,  Luke  Anderson  and  Severn  Donelson,  slightly,  and  Joshua 
Thomas,  mortally.  These  were  the  only  casualties  of  the  campaign.  Major  Ore 
continued  on  to  Running  Water,  which  with  all  the  effects  found  in  it,  was 
burned,  and  the  troops  returned  to  the  river,  which  they  recrossed  the  same 
day,  and  joined  their  comrades  on  the  opposite  shore.  Having  completed  their 
work  in  a  single  day,  on  the  following  morning  they  took  up  the  line  of  march 
for  Nashville,  which  they  reached  on  the  17th,  and  were  disbanded.13 

CHICKASAW  ALLIES 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  Chickamauga  campaign  General  Robertson  liberated 
a  prisoner  for  the  purpose  of  conveying  to  Colonel  Watts  a  letter,  in  which  he 
demanded  the  return  of  Miss  Collins,  a  white  prisoner,  and  four  negroes  that 
belonged  to  General  Logan,  in  exchange  for  the  prisoners  taken  by  Major  Ore ; 
promised  to  desist  from  further  hostilities  until  they  had  time  to  come  in  with 
a  flag  of  truce,  but  plainly  intimated  that,  should  they  not  restore  the  prisoners 
and  bring  good  assurances  of  peace,  he  would  soon  return  and  destroy  all  of 
their  towns.1  The  easy  penetration  of  their  fastnesses  and  the  complete  destruc- 
tion of  Nickajaek  and  Running  Water  by  Major  Ore,  and  the  overwhelming 
defeat  of  the  northwestern  Indians  by  General  Wayne,  in  which  action  some 
of  their  warriors  took  part,2  had  broken  the  spirit  of  the  Chickamaugas,  and 
they  were  at  last  sincerely  disposed  to  peace.  When  Colonel  Watts  received 
General  Robertson's  letter,  deeming  it  unsafe  to  go  to  Nashville,  on  account  of 
the  unusual  excitement  of  the  settlers,  he  sought  a  conference  with  Governor 
Blount,  which  was  held  at  Tellico  Blockhouse,  November  7-8,  1794.  There  were 
present  at  the  conference,  besides  Colonel  Watts,  the  Hanging  Maw,  who,  as 
head  man  of  the  nation,  had  been  asked  to  intercede  for  his  refractory  children, 
some  minor  chiefs,  and  about  four  hundred  warriors.  The  issue  had  already 
been  settled  in  favor  of  the  whites,  and  it  only  remained  to  bury  the  bloody 
hatchet.  The  conference  was  conducted  in  a  friendly  spirit,  and  a  peace  con- 
cluded that  has  never  since  been  broken,  and  may  now  be  expected  to  last,  in 
their  own  picturesque  language,  as  long  as  grass  grows  and  water  runs. 

The  Creeks,  whose  only  punishment  had  come  from  the  direction  of  Georgia, 
had  little  fear  of  an  invasion  from  the  Southwest  Territory,  and  were  not  so 
easily  pacified.  In  the  latter  part  of  September,  William  Colbert  and  other 
Chickasaws  informed  General  Robertson  that  they  still  threatened  Mero  District, 


12  James  Collier,  "Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  the  Great  West,"  Vol.  I,  p.  176,  note. 

is  Compare  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  406-414;  Eam- 
sey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  608-618;  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  I,  pp.  76-77;  Howe's 
"Historical  Collections  of  the  Great  West,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  175-177,  note. 

i  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  531,  537. 

■;  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  533. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  245 

not  in  such  large  numbers,  but  in  small  detached  parties,  which  were  even  more 
dangerous.3  Their  first  victim  was  Thomas  Bledsoe,  who  was  killed  near  Bled- 
soe's Station,  October  2,  1794.  The  killing  of  his  father,  brother,  uncle  and 
cousin,  has  already  been  noticed  in  this  history.  Several  war-parties,  appear- 
ing in  different  parts  of  the  district  at  the  same  time,  gave  unusual  alarm  to 
the  inhabitants.  Many  of  them  shut  themselves  up  in  the  stations,  while  some, 
like  Col.  Isaac  Tittsworth,  determined  to  remove  their  families  to  safer  sections. 
Colonel  Tittsworth  came  to  Cumberland  in  1783,  and  settled  on  Persons 
Creek,  near  Port  Royal.  His  place  was  known  throughout  the  neighboring 
settlements.  "When  Tennessee  County  was  erected  in  1788,  the  court  of  pleas 
and  quarter  sessions  was  organized  at  his  house.  Afterwards  he  rose  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant-colonel  in  the  county  militia.  He  had  passed  safely  through 
the  trying  decade  from  1784  to  1794  suffering  no  worse  misfortune  than  the 
burning  of  his  house  by  the  Creeks  in  1791.  He  and  his  brother,  John  Titts- 
worth, now  determined  to  remove  their  families  to  Double  Licks,  in  Logan 
County,  Kentucky. 

On  Wednesday,  November  5,  1794,  they  commenced  their  journey.  The 
caravan  contained  the  wives  and  children  of  the  Tittsworth  brothers,  but  neither 
of  the  brothers  is  known  to  have  been  with  the  train.  Their  route  lay  through 
a  rich  country  covered  by  a  magnificent  forest.  They  traveled  all  day  through 
the  wild  woods,  and  as  evening  drew  on,  had  passed  the  uttermost  limit  to  the 
settlement.  Nightfall  found  them,  weary  from  their  day's  journey,  four  miles 
farther  in  the  forest.  Here  they  were  glad  to  make  their  encampment  for  the 
night.  Before  morning  their  camp  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  Creeks  from  the 
Hickory  Ground,  on  the  Coosa  River.  Seven  or  eight  white  persons  were  killed 
and  scalped  on  the  spot ;  a  negro  woman  was  wounded ;  and  three  small  children, 
a  girl,  the  daughter  of  Co'onel  Tittsworth,  and  a  negro  man,  were  taken 
prisoners.4 

Pursuit  was  promptly  mide  by  the  neighboring  militia.  The  Indians  avoided 
an  engagement,  but  the  miMtia  prcsed  them  so  hard  that  they  abandoned  all 
the  property  taken  from  the  Tittsworths,  as  well  as  some  of  their  own.  The 
eagerness  of  the  pursuit,  however,  was  most  disastrous  for  the  captives.  The 
little  children,  being  unable  to  keep  up  with  their  captors,  were  s-a'ped,  the 
Indians  holding  them  by  the  hair  and  dragging  them  a7ong  until  their  heads 
were  entirely  skinned.  One  of  them  died  the  following  day,  and  the  others 
were  not  expected  to  live,  though  their  fate  is  not  now  known. 

The  Creeks  had  a  camp  in  the  woods  near  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River. 
They  carried  Miss  Tittsworth  and  the  negro  man  to  this  place,  where  they  kept 
them  until  their  return  to  the  Creek  nation,  about  six  months  later.  During  her 
captivity  Miss  Tittsworth  was  required  to  do  menial  service,  such  as  making 
fires,  bringing  water,  and  pounding  meal ;  was  subjected  to  corporal  punish- 
ment, and  in  all  respects  treated  as  a  slave.  The  Spanish  agent  resident  in  the 
Creek  nation  offered  a  ransom  of  $400  for  her,  with  a  view,  he  said,  of  sending 
her  to  New  Orleans  and  putting  her  in  school,  but  the  offer  was  declined.  After 
peace  was  concluded  in  1795,  she  was  restored  to  her  father,  after  a  captivity 
of  ten  months.5 

A   party  of  Creeks  from  Tuskegee  was  also  doing  much   mischief  in  the 


s  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  362. 

*  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  539. 

s  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  383. 


246  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

district.  They  were  familiar  with  the  country,  having  made  many  excursions 
to  it,  in  one  of  which  they  had  killed  Maj.  Evan  Shelby.  They  began  their 
depredations  in  the  vicinity  of  Colonel  Tittsworth's  place,  on  Red  River,  where 
they  killed  Miss  Betsy  Roberts,  on  the  12th,  and  Thomas  Reason  and  his 
wife,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1794.  Soon  afterwards  they  moved  their 
operations  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  where  they  hoped  to  break  up  Sevier's 
Station. 

Col.  Valentine  Sevier  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Tennessee  County. 
His  father  was  a  Virginian  of  French  extraction,  from  whom  he  inherited 
something  of  the  cavalier  spirit,  so  prominent  in  the  character  of  his  brother, 
Governor  John  Sevier.  Spare  of  flesh,  with  an  erect,  commanding,  soldierly 
presence,  a  bright  blue  eye,  and  a  quick  ear,  he  was  at  once  ardent,  brave, 
generous,  and  affectionate.  He  had  served  his  country  faithfully,  both  in  the 
Indian  wars,  and  the  War  of  Independence ;  had  been  prominent  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  Washington  County ;  took  an  active  interest  in  the  establishment  of 
the  State  of  Franklin,  soon  after  the  fall  of  which  in  1788,  he  emigrated  to 
Cumberland,  and  erected  a  station  on  the  north  side  of  Red  River,  near  its 
mouth,  and  about  a  mile  from  Clarksville.  In  1792  Doublehead  and  his  party 
killed  three  of  his  sons,  Robert,  William,  and  Valentine,  while  on  their  way  to 
Nashville  to  join  General  Robertson  in  the  defense  of  the  settlements.  He  now 
had  a  still  more  severe  trial  to  endure. 

About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  November  11,  1794,  when  the  men 
were  all  away  from  the  station  except  Colonel  Sevier  and  his  son-in-law,  Charles 
Snyder,  the  Indians  surprised  and  made  a  furious  assault  on  Sevier's  Station. 
The  scene  was  wild  and  tragic.  The  screams  of  the  women  and  the  crying  of 
the  children  were  mingled  with  the  roaring  of  the  guns  and  the  yelling  of  the 
Indians,  while  they  killed  and  scalped,  robbed  and  plundered,  in  frantic  con- 
fusion. Colonel  Sevier,  assisted  by  his  wife,  successfully  defended  their  own 
house,  but  the  Indians  were  in  nearly  every  other  building  before  they  were 
discovered.  Snyder,  his  wife,  Betsy,  their  son,  John  and  Colonel  Sevier's  son, 
Joseph,  were  all  killed  in  Snyder's  house,  but  the  colonel  prevented  the  Indians 
from  getting  Snyder's  scalp.  Mrs.  Ann  King  and  her  son,  James,  were  also 
killed,  and  Colonel  Sevier's  daughter,  Rebecca,  was  scalped  and  left  for  dead, 
but  revived  and  finally  recovered.  The  people  of  Clarksville  heard  the  firing 
of  the  guns,  and  John  Easten,  Anthony  Crutcher,  and  two  or  three  other  men, 
who  happened  to  be  in  the  town,  ran  over  to  the  relief  of  Colonel  Sevier,  when 
the  Indians  hastily  disappeared,  having  looted  the  houses  and  killed  the  stock.6 
Colonel  Sevier  abandoned  his  station  and  moved  over  to  Clarksville,  which  place 
was  itself  upon  the  eve  of  being  evacuated,  when  General  Robertson  ordered 
Captain  Evans,  with  a  part  of  his  command,  to  scout  on  the  frontiers  of 
Tennessee  County. 

After  the  massacre  of  Sevier's  Station,  the  Indians  retired  to  the  country 
around  Eddyville,  Ky.,  where  they  waylaid  a  hunting  party,  and  killed  Col. 
John  Montgomery,  who  has  appeared  more  than  once  in  this  history.  He 
was  a  bold,  resolute,  and  adventurous  pioneer.  In  company  with  Mansker, 
Drake,  Bledsoe,  and  others,  he  explored  the  Cumberland  country  as  early  as 
1771.    A  colonel  in  the  western  army  under  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark,  he  went 


»  Anthony  Crutcher  to  William  Crutcher,  and  John  Easten  to  James  Eobertson,  American 
State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  p.  542;  Valentine  Sevier  to  John  Sevier,  Kamsey's 
"Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  619. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  247 

to  Southwest  Virginia  to  enlist  recruits  for  his  army,  and  while  there  joined 
Col.  Evan  Shelby  in  the  destruction  of  the  Chickamauga  towns  in  1779.  He 
was  a  signer  of  the  Cumberland  compact,  and  was  the  first  sheriff  elected  for 
the  district.  In  1784  he  founded  the  City  of  Clarksville,  and  in  1794  com- 
manded the  territorial  troops  in  the  Nickajack  expedition. 

After  his  return  from  Nickajack  he  led  a  hunting  excursion  to  Eddyville, 
where  his  camp  was  surprised  and  attacked  by  the  Indians,  November  27,  1794. 
The  whites,  taken  at  a  disadvantage,  retreated,  when  Col.  Hugh  Tinnon, 
one  of  the  party,  who  was  impeded  by  a  wound,  asked  Colonel  Montgomery  not 
to  leave  him.  With  the  courage  and  devotion  so  often  found  among  the  pioneers, 
he  kept  himself  between  Colonel  Tinnon  and  the  Indians  until  a  bullet  from 
one  of  their  guns  took  effect  in  his  knee,  when,  finding  him  disabled,  the  Indians 
rushed  upon  him  and  killed  him  with  their  knives.  John  Rains,  on  his  return 
from  Fort  Massac,  reached  Eddyville  the  day  of  the  tragedy  and  met  Julius 
Sanders,  one  of  the  party,  who  had  escaped,  though  shot  in  four  places.  San- 
ders said  the  last  he  saw  of  Colonel  Montgomery  an  Indian  was  stabbing  him 
repeatedly  with  a  huge  knife.  Next  day  Rains  went  with  a  party,  including 
a  son  of  Colonel  Montgomery,  and  found  his  body,  which  they  buried  where  a 
tree  had  been  uprooted  by  the  storm.7  Two  years  later,  when  Tennessee  County 
gave  up  its  beautiful  name  to  the  state — tradition  says  at  the  suggestion  of 
Andrew  Jackson — it  was  called  Montgomery,  in  honor  of  Col.  John  Montgomery. 

At  this  juncture  the  Chickasaws  made  a  diversion  greatly  to  the  interest  of 
the  Cumberland  settlers.  President  Washington,  admiring  the  courage  of  the 
Chickasaws,  and  appreciating  the  constancy  of  their  friendship  for  the  United 
States,  in  the  spring  of  1794  authorized  Governor  Blount  to  invite  their  great 
chief,  Piomingo,  to  visit  him  at  the  seat  of  government.  The  invitation  was 
readily  accepted,  and  Piomingo,  with  some  other  Chickasaw  chiefs,  proceeded 
to  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  cordially  received,  and  had  an  audience  with 
the  President  July  11,  1794.  He  gave  some  of  the  chiefs  commissions  as  officers 
of  militia,  William  Colbert  heading  the  list,  with  the  title  of  major-general; 
and  presented  Piomingo  with  a  parchment  document  setting  forth  the  bound- 
aries of  the  Chickasaw  territory,  as  described  in  the  Nashville  conference  of 
1792.  He  also  gave  them  many  valuable  presents,  promised  them  goods  to  the 
amount  of  $3,000  annually,  and  with  many  flattering  speeches,  sent  them  off  in 
great  good  humor.8 

Having  been  invited  by  General  Robertson  and  Governor  Blount  to  make 
common  cause  with  the  Americans,  and  being  honored  by  President  Washington 
with  military  commissions,  for  their  services  in  the  Army  of  the  Northwest,  the 
Chickasaws  regarded  themselves  as  allies,  offensive  and  defensive,  of  the  United 
States.  Now  the  Chickasaws,  though  a  small  tribe,  had  never  been  controlled  by 
prudential  considerations  in  their  intercourse  with  their  neighbors,  but  boldly 
revenged  every  injury  received,  without  regarding  the  consequences  that  might 
follow. 

Early  in  January,  1795,  General  Robertson  was  informed  by  runners  that 
Gen.  William  Colbert,  Capt.  James  Underwood,  Captain  Muckishapoy,  and  the 
Old  Counsellors,  chiefs  of  the  Chickasaws,  with  seventy  warriors  and  some 
women  and  children,  were  on  their  way  to  Nashville,  with  live  Creek  scalps 
which  they  had  taken  near  Duck  River,  from  Shotlatoke  and  four  other  Creek 


7  Narrative  of  John  Rains,  Southwestern  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  pp.  2(56-7. 

8  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  424-5. 


248  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

warriors,  who  were  on  their  way  to  kill  and  plunder  the  people  of  Cumberland, 
as  they  had  often  done  before.  They  had  surrounded  the  whole  party  by  night, 
and  killed  them  in  the  morning.  They  said  they  were  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  bearing  commissions  from  the  President  himself,  and  therefore,  felt 
themselves  bound  to  retaliate  on  his  enemies.  They  were  received  with  great 
applause  by  the  people  of  Nashville,  who  gave  a  public  entertainment  in  their 
honor,  escorting  them  from  General  Robertson's  house  with  a  company  of 
cavalry  in  uniform.  On  their  part,  the  Chickasaws  held  a  war  dance  that  night 
around  the  scalps  of  their  Creek  victims.9 

By  the  5th  of  March,  1795,  they  had  killed  and  scalped  ten  more  Creeks. 
Acts  of  hostility  committed  by  other  Indians  seemed  to  disturb  the  Creeks  more 
than  similar  acts  of  the  white  people;  the  killing  of  two  or  three  Creeks  by 
Hanging  Maw  created  great  excitement  in  the  nation ;  and  now  the  hostile 
attitude  of  the  Chickasaws  produced  the  greatest  commotion  among  them.  They 
prepared  for  a  vigorous  campaign.  Their  first  acts  of  vengeance  were  as  cruel 
as  they  were  unnatural.  Some  of  their  warriors  had  Chickasaw  wives;  these 
were  now  killed,  and,  as  the  children  of  the  marriage,  under  their  customs, 
belonged  to  the  wife,  they  were  regarded  as  Chickasaws,  and  shared  the  fate 
of  their  mothers.  In  this  respect  the  Chickasaws  showed  their  superior  civiliza- 
tion and  humanity;  their  Creek  wives  were  not  only  spared,  but  some  of  them 
like  Jessie  Moniac,  the  wife  of  Gen.  William  Colbert,  were  held  in  great  honor 
and  esteem.10 

The  Creeks  being  occupied  with  their  preparations  for  the  invasion  of  the 
Chickasaw  towns,  few  depredations  were  committed  in  Mero  District.  The 
Cherokees  and  Choctaws  tried  to  preserve  peace  by  urging  the  Creeks  not  to 
make  war  on  the  Chickasaws,  at  least,  until  they  had  made  friends  with  the 
United  States.  The  Chickasaws  applied  to  President  Washington  for  assistance 
against  the  Creeks,  and  General  Colbert  came  to  Nashville  to  await  his  answer. 
General  Robertson  knew  that  he  was  not  authorized  by  the  Government  to  enlist 
troops  to  aid  the  Chickasaws  in  their  war  against  the  Creeks,  but  recognizing 
the  merits  of  the  demand,  and  appreciating  the  value  of  their  friendship,  he 
was  unwilling  to  see  them  extirpated,  and  determined  to  encourage  by  his  per- 
sonal influence  the  enlistment  of  volunteers  for  the  defense  of  their  towns.  In 
his  loyalty  to  his  old  friends,  General  Robertson  was  supported  by  Gen.  Daniel 
Smith,  secretary  of  the  territory,  and  all  the  leading  men  of  the  district.  With 
their  approbation,  he  requested  Capt.  David  Smith  to  enlist  as  many  volunteers 
as  he  could,  and  set  out  immediately  with  General  Colbert  for  the  Chickasaw 
nation.  Captain  Smith  collected  such  men  as  he  could  at  once  enlist,  des- 
patched some  of  them  by  water,  with  provisions  for  the  campaign,  and  with 
fifteen  men  escorted  General  Colbert  through  by  land  to  Log  Town,  where 
Colbert  lived.  After  their  departure  General  Robertson  induced  Col.  Kasper 
Mansker  and  Capt.  John  Gwin  to  join  in  the  same  enterprise.  They  accordingly 
raised  thirty-one  or  thirty-two  men,  and  following  Captain  Smith,  reached  the 
Chickasaw  towns  May  10,  1795.1 1 

The  Creeks  who  had  massacred  Colonel  Tittsworth's  family  and  were  still 
encamped  at  the  mouth  of  the  Tennessee  River,  attacked  and  captured  one  of 
Captain  Smith's  boats,  as  it  made  its  way  down  the  Cumberland  River.     The 


9  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  I,  pp.  556-7. 

io  Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  447. 

"Haywood's  "Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  448-9. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  249 

other  was  saved  by  one  white  man  and  some  Chickasaws,  who  carried  it  to  Fort 
Massac,  where  they  disposed  of  its  contents,  and  continued  on  to  the  nation; 
all  the  other  volunteers  who  were  with  the  boats  returned  to  Nashville. 

On  the  28th  of  May,  1795,  a  very  large  body  of  Creeks  appeared  in  view 
of  Log  Town.  Meeting  with  two  women  who  had  gone  out  for  wood,  they 
killed  and  scalped  them.  Captain  Smith  proposed  a  sortie,  but  General  Colbert, 
thinking  the  Creeks  wished  to  draw  the  men  out  of  the  fort,  so  they  could  get 
in  and  kill  the  women  and  children,  declined  to  leave  his  post.  A  party  of  the 
women's  kinsmen,  however,  rushed  out  upon  the  Creeks.  In  the  melee  that 
followed  one  of  the  Chickasaws  was  killed,  whereupon  Smith  and  Colbert  with 
a  small  detachment,  flew  to  the  relief  of  the  sallying  party.  On  their  approach 
the  Creeks  retired  precipitately.  There  was  much  blood  on  their  trail,  and  many 
of  their  arms  were  left  upon  the  ground,  from  which  it  was  believed  they 
suffered  severely.  The  Creeks  continued  in  the  vicinity  until  the  first  of  June, 
killing  cattle  and  taking  horses,  when  they  quietly  disappeared.  The  Chicka- 
saws thought  they  would  not  return,  and  were  content  that  Colonel  Mansker's 
troops  should  go  home,  which  they  did  about  June  7th.  General  Robertson,  who 
had  been  sent  by  Governor  Blount  on  a  peace  mission  to  the  Chickasaws,  was 
present  at  this  action.12 

The  Creek-Chickasaw  war  now  became  the  leading  question  in  the  South 
and  Southwest.  The  Creeks,  in  addition  to  the  large  army  they  were  preparing 
to  raise  in  their  own  nation,  sent  emissaries  to  ask  assistance  from  the  Shawnees, 
against  whom  the  Chickasaws  had  fought  in  the  armies  of  St.  Clair  and  Wayne. 
The  Chickasaws,  on  their  part,  renewed  their  solicitations  to  President  Washing- 
ton, who  replied  that,  to  grant  them  the  aid  they  asked  would  involve  a  general 
war  between  the  whole  Creek  nation  and  the  United  States,  which  only  Congress 
had  power  to  declare.  He  told  them  the  commissioners  at  the  Nashville  con- 
ference had  no  authority  to  promise  to  interfere  in  the  disputes  of  the  Indian 
nations,  except  as  friends  of  both  parties,  in  order  to  make  peace  between  them ; 
that  General  Robertson  had  done  wrong  to  tell  them  he  expected  the  United 
States  would  send  an  army  against  the  Creeks  next  summer;  and  that  the 
commissions  he  had  given  to  the  Chickasaw  chiefs  were  expressly  confined  to 
operations  against  the  Indians  of  the  Northwest.13  The  Chickasaws  were  greatly 
disappointed  but  never  lost  their  courage.  "As  what  I  expected  of  your  assist- 
ance is  not  in  your  power,"  Piomingo  writes  to  General  Robertson,  "I  hope 
I  have  made  good  times  for  you,  if  I  have  made  bad  for  myself ;  if  so,  you 
shall  hear  that  I  die  like  a  man."  14 

Governor  Blount,  meanwhile,  was  exerting  all  his  diplomatic  skill  to  restore 
peace  between  the  contending  tribes.  A  suggestion  of  Superintendent  Seagrove, 
after  a  peace  conference  with  the  Creeks  at  Beard's  Bluff,  on  the  Altamaha,  in 
which  he  advised  Alexander  Cornell,  a  son-in-law  of  the  late  General  MeGilli- 
vray,  and  deputy  agent  for  Indian  affairs,  that  he  ought  to  take  some  of  the 
Creek  chiefs  and  visit  Governor  Blount  at  his  home,  gave  Governor  Blount  the 
cue  he  wished.  Replying  to  a  letter  of  Cornell's  containing  the  above  informa- 
tion, he  acted  upon  his  suggestion,  and  appointed  a  conference  to  be  held  at 
Tellico  Blockhouse,  October  10,  1795. 15    At  this  conference,  which  was  attended 


12  Haywood,  pp.  449-50,  453. 

18  American   Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  393. 

11  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  IV,  p.  69. 

!5  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  379-390. 


250 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


by  Cherokees,  Creeks,  and  Chickasaws,  plans  were  concerted  under  which  .peace 
was  reestablished  between  the  Creeks  and  Chickasaws  before  the  end  of  the  year. 
Not  long  after  the  conference  at  Tellico  Blockhouse,  an  event  of  supreme 
importance  to  the  West  happened  in  international  affairs.  The  long,  irritating, 
and  humiliating  negotiations  with  Spain,  respecting  the  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  which  were  commenced  in  1785,  and  dragged  on  for  ten 
years,  were  finally  concluded,  and  a  treaty  signed,  October  27,  1795.  By  this 
treaty  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United  States  was  fixed  at  the  thirty-first 
degree  of  north  latitude,  and  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River,  from  its 
source  to  its  mouth,  was  declared  to  be  free  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
From  this  time  Spain  lost  interest  in  American  affairs,  ceased  her  intrigues  on 
our  western  frontiers,  and  withdrew  her  support  from  the  Creeks,  whose  aggres- 
sions she  had  hitherto  countenanced,  if  not  actually  instigated.  Peeling  the 
loss  of  this  support,  the  Creeks  now  expressed  a  desire  for  peace  with  the  United 
States,  hostilities  were  at  once  suspended,  and  a  treaty  was  concluded  with 
them  June  29,  1796.  This  brought  to  an  end  the  sanguinary  Indian  wars,  begun 
in  the  first  days  of  the  Revolution  in  1776,  which  had  for  twenty  years  distressed 
and  decimated  the  people  of  the  Old  Southwest. 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   INDIAN  TREATIES 

The  subjoined  compilation  of  the  treaties  with  the  Indians,  which  are  of 
interest  or  importance  to  the  student  and  reader  of  Tennessee  history,  is  taken 
from  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pages  130-137.  In 
making  this  compilation  the  gifted  authors  of  that  excellent  brief  history  of 
our  state  have  performed  a  service  not  hitherto  rendered  and  one  which  could 
hardly  be  improved  upon.  For  this  reason  it  is  inserted  in  this  work  and  ac- 
knowledgment is  hereby  made.  The  perusal  of  the  short  statements  concern- 
ing these  treaties  in  connection  with  the  accounts  of  the  Indian  wars  related 
in  the  chapters  immediately  preceding  will  be  found  to  be  extremely  beneficial 
to  a  thorough  understanding  of  the  history  of  the  Volunteer  State,  whose  early 
life  was  affected  so  much  and  so  seriously  by  its  dealings  with  the  Indians. 

THE    INDIAN    TREATIES 

Early  Indian  Treaties — The  first  treaty  with  the  western  Indians  was  made 
in  1721,  between  Governor  Nicholson,  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  Cherokees 
and  Creeks.  In  April,  1730,  a  treaty  was  made  between  Sir  Alexander  Gum- 
ming, on  behalf  of  North  Carolina  and  the  Cherokee  Nation,  at  Nequasse,  or 
Requasse,  which  was  intended  to  secure  the  cooperation  of  that  nation  against 
French  and  Spanish  encroachments  in  the  West.  At  this  treaty  the  crown  of 
the  Cherokee  nation  was  brought  from  Tenasee,  their  chief  town,  and  pre- 
sented to  Sir  Alexander  Gumming,  with  the  request  to  convey  it  to  England 
and  lay  it  at  His  Majesty's  feet.  Six  Indian  chiefs  accompanied  Sir  Alexander 
to  England  oh  this  mission,  and  concluded  an  additional  treaty  at  Dover,  June 
30.  In  1732,  Governor  Oglethorpe,  of  Georgia,  made  a  treaty  with  the  Creeks. 
After  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  the  chief,  Tomoehichi,  and  his  queen,  ac- 
companied Oglethorpe  on  a  visit  to  London.  In  1750,  a  treaty  was  made  be- 
tween Colonel  Waddell,  on  behalf  of  North  Carolina,  with  Atta  Culla  Culla,1 
or  the  Little  Carpenter,  on  behalf  of  the  Cherokees,  under  which  treaty  Fort 
Dobbs  was  built.  On  November  24,  1755,  a  treaty  was  made  by  Governor  Glenn, 
of  South  Carolina,  with  the  Cherokees,  by  which  the  Cherokees  ceded  a  large 
tract  of  territory  to  the  King  of  England.  In  1756,  a  treaty  was  made  between 
Col.  Hugh  Waddell,  on  behalf  of  North  Carolina,  and  the  Cherokee  and  Catawba 
Indians.  In  1760,  and  in  1761,  treaties  were  made  with  the  Cherokees,  by  au- 
thority of  South  Carolina — the  first  by  Colonel  Littleton,  and  the  second  by 
Colonel  Grant.  In  1763,  the  treaty  of  Augusta  was  made.  This  treaty  was  fol- 
lowed, October  14,  1768,  by  the  treaty  of  Hard  Labor.  All  of  the  above  men- 
tioned treaties  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  history  of  Tennessee  as 
preliminary  steps  to  its  settlement,  but  none  of  them  conveyed  title  to  any  land 
within  the  limits  of  the  state. 

An  article  in  a  special  council  held  on  Tennessee  River,  March  1,  1757,  con- 


i  Atta  Kulla  Kulla. 

251 


252  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

veys  to  Capt.  Patrick  Jack,  of  Pennsylvania,  in  consideration  of  $400,  a  tract 
of  fifteen  miles  square  south  of  Tennessee  River.  In  pursuance  of  this  grant 
a  deed  was  made  by  Arthur  Dobbs,  governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  Atta  Culla 
Culla,  or  the  Little  Carpenter,  half-king  of  the  Cherokees,  on  behalf  of  the 
Cherokee  nation.  This  deed  was  confirmed  by  a  general  council,  held  in  1762. 
The  Treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix — The  first  general  grant  of  land  by  the  Indians, 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  Tennessee,  was  made  by  the  Six  Na- 
tions in  the  treaty  at  Fort  Stanwix,  concluded  November  5,  1768.  This  treaty 
conveyed  a  doubtful  claim,  which  was  subsequently  productive  of  much  contro- 
versy, affecting  not  only  the  Tennessee  settlers  but  presenting  a  vexatious  ques- 
tion to  Congress  in  the  adoption  of  the  articles  of  confederation. 

Treaty  of  Lochabar — This  treaty  was  concluded  at  Lochabar,  S.  C,  October 
18,  1770.  It  conveyed  lands  in  Virginia,  "West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Ten- 
nessee.   A  portion  of  the  lands  embraced  in  this  treaty  lay  in  Tennessee. 

Leases  by  the  "Watauga  Association  and  Jacob  Brown— In  1772,  the  Watauga 
Association  leased  for  ten  years,  from  the  Cherokees,  lands  on  the  "Watauga 
River.  Jacob  Brown  made  a  similar  lease  for  lands  on  the  Nollichucky.  The 
boundaries  of  these  two  leases  are  not  positively  known. 

Transylvania  Purchase — March  17,  1775,  Richard  Henderson  and  eight  other 
persons,  organized  as  the  Transylvania  Company,  concluded  a  treatjr  with  the 
Cherokees,  at  Sycamore  Shoals,  on  the  "Watauga.  For  merchandise  to  the 
amount  of  $50,000  they  purchased  all  the  lands  lying  between  the  Kentucky, 
Ohio,  and  Cumberland  rivers,  and  extending  eastward  along  the  bank  of  the 
Holston  to  the  point  where  it  intersects  the  Virginia  line;  thence  westwardly 
along  that  line  to  the  western  boundary  of  the  Lochabar  Purchase,  and  north 
along  that  boundary  to  its  intersection  with  Powell  Mountain.  The  treaty  em- 
braced two  deeds — known  as  the  "Path  Deed"  and  the  "Great  Grant."  The 
main  portion  lay  in  Kentucky,  a  small  portion  in  Virginia,  and  a  portion  in 
Tennessee.  The  legality  of  this  purchase  was  not  admitted  by  Virginia  or  North 
Carolina.  It  covered  a  portion  of  the  territory  to  which  the  Six  Nations  had 
quit  claim  at  Fort  Stanwix,  and  to  which  the  Shawnees  had  recently  quit  claim 
by  a  treaty  in  1775,  made  with  Lord  Dunmore,  governor  of  Virginia.  The  pur- 
chase of  the  Transylvania  Company  served  to  extinguish  the  claims  of  the  Chero- 
kees, but  gave  rise  to  a  long  series  of  bitter  controversies  with  the  authorities 
of  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  in  Congress  and  the  Federal  courts. 
Finally  the  matter  was  compromised.  Virginia  granted  the  Transylvania  Com- 
pany 200,000  acres  of  land  as  compensation  for  the  release  of  the  company's 
claims. 

The  North  Carolina  Legislature,  1783,  granted  to  Landon  Carter,  the  son 
and  heir  of  John  Carter,  who  did  not  live  many  years  after  this  transaction, 
and  to  the  heirs  of  Robert  Lucas,  who  was  killed  in  defense  of  Davidson  County, 
for  their  expense,  trouble  and  risk  in  making  their  purchase  of  land  from  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  10,000  acres  of  land  on  Clinch  River,  and  in  the  same  act 
granted  Henderson  and  his  associates  190,000  acres,  making  the  whole  200,000 
acres. 

The  "Watauga  Purchases — During  the  conference  at  Sycamore  Shoals,  in 
March,  1775,  the  Cherokees  made  a  deed  to  John  Carter  and  Robert  Lucas, 
conveying  lands  extending  from  Cloud's  Creek  to  Chimney  Top  Mountain,  and 
embracing  Carter's  Valley,  in  compensation  for  the  robbery  of  Parker  and 
Carter's  Store  by  Cherokee  Indians,  and  in  further  consideration  of  the  pay- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  253 

ment  of  a  sum  of  money.  Two  days  later,  March  19,  a  deed  was  made  conveying 
in  fee  simple  to  Charles  Robertson,  as  trustee  for  the  Watauga  Association,  the 
lands  on  Watauga,  which  had  heretofore  been  leased,  in  consideration  of  "the 
sum  of  £2,000,  lawful  money  of  Great  Britain,  in  hand  paid."  This  deed  is 
recorded  in  the  register's  office  of  Washington  County,  Tenn.,  and  prescribes 
the  boundaries  of  the  purchase.  It  is  signed  by  the  following  Cherokee  chiefs 
on  behalf  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  viz. :  Oeonostota,  Attacullecully,  Tennessy 
Warrior,  Willinawaugh.  March  25,  1775,  two  deeds  were  executed  by  the  Chero- 
kees  to  Jacob  Brown  in  consideration  of  10  shillings.  One  deed  conveyed  to 
him  the  tract  which  he  had  previously  leased,  and  the  other  deed  conveyed  an 
additional  tract,  known  as  Brown's  Second  Purchase. 

Avery's  Treaty — July  20,  1777,  Commissioners  Preston,  Christian,  and 
Shelby,  on  the  part  of  Virginia,  and  Avery,  Sharpe,  Winston,  and  Lanier,  on 
the  part  of  North  Carolina,  met  at  Port  Henry,  near  Long  Island,  on  the  Hol- 
ston,  and  concluded  with  the  Cherokees  a  treaty  which  is  known  in  Tennessee 
as  Avery's  Treaty.  It  confirmed  the  Watauga  cessions  made  in  1775,  and 
somewhat  extended  their  boundaries. 

Treaty  of  Nashborough — The  Treaty  of  Nashborough  with  the  Chickasaws 
and  Cherokees  was  made  in  June,  1783.  The  Chickasaws  ceded  a  large  body  of 
land  which  coincides  very  nearly  with  the  cession  of  the  Hopewell  Treaty.  This 
treaty  was  never  officially  recognized  by  North  Carolina,  but  was  sacredly  ob- 
served by  the  Chickasaws,  and  the  official  cession  was  completed  by  the  Treaty 
of  Hopewell. 

Treaties  Made  by  the  State  of  Franklin — During  the  existence  of  the  "State 
of  Franklin,"  that  state  made  two  treaties  with  the  Cherokees — one  on  the 
French  Broad,  near  the  mouth  of  Dumplin  Creek,  May  31,  1785,  the  other  at 
Coytoy,  August  3,  1786.  After  the  collapse  of  the  short-lived  state  both  these 
treaties  were  ignored,  and  the  pioneers  who  had  settled  the  country  south  of 
the  French  Broad  and  Holston  adopted  rules  of  government,  and  for  a  time 
exercised  the  functions  of  an  independent  government. 

Treaty  of  Hopewell  or  Hawkins'  Treaty — The  articles  of  confederation  were 
adopted  in  1781  and  the  control  of  Indian  affairs  devolved  upon  the  United 
States.  The  first  Indian  treaty  made  under  Federal  authority  which  conveyed 
land  in  Tennessee  was  the  Treaty  of  Hopewell.  The  commissioners  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States  were  Benjamin  Hawkins,  Andrew  Pickens,  Joseph 
Martin,  and  Lachlan  Mcintosh.  This  treaty  is  generally  known  in  Tennessee 
as  "Hawkins'  Treaty."  It  was  concluded  at  Hopewell,  S.  C,  November  18, 
1785.  So  far  as  Tennessee  was  affected  this  treaty  officially  confirmed  to  the 
United  States  the  same  territory  which  the  Chickasaws  had  previously  granted 
informally  at  the  Treaty  of  Nashborough  in  1783,  making  the  boundary  lines 
more  definite.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty,  goods  valued  at  $1,311.10/90, 
were  distributed  among  the  918  Cherokees  present.  This  treaty  was  made  with 
the  Cherokees,  and  was  subsequently  confirmed  by  the  Chickasaws  at  Hopewell, 
January  10,  1786. 

Treaty  of  Holston,  or  Blount's  Treaty — William  Blount,  governor  of  the 
Territory  south  of  the  River  Ohio,  and  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  rep- 
resenting the  President  of  the  United  States  at  White's  Fort,  where  Knoxville 
now  stands,  concluded,  July  2,  1791,  a  treaty  with  the  chiefs  and  warriors  rep- 
resenting the  Cherokee  nation.  This  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  Senate,  No- 
vember 9,  1791,  and  proclaimed  by  the  President,  February  2,  1792.     It  con- 

Vol.  1—17 


254 


TKXXESSFE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


tained  many  stipulations  for  peace  and  friendship  and  for  the  arbitration  of 
controversies.  In  consideration  of  the  delivery  of  certain  valuable  goods  and 
the  annual  payment  of  $1,000,  by  the  Tinted  States,  the  Cherokees  renounce  all 
claims  to  a  large  tract  of  land. 

Knox's    First    Treaty— February    17,    17912.   at    Philadelphia,    Henry    Knox. 
secretary  of  war,  concluded  with  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Cherokee  na- 
tion a   treaty,  which  amended  Blount's  Treaty,  by   increasing  the  annual   pay 
ment   to  the  Cherokees  from  +1.000  to  +1,500. 

Knox's  Second  Treaty — June  26,  1794,  Henry  Knox,  secretary  of  war,  con 
eluded  at  Philadelphia  a  second  treaty  with  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the 
Cherokee  nation.  By  this  treaty  some  disputes  were  settled  in  relation  to  the 
correct  running  of  the  boundary  lines,  and  the  annual  payment  to  the  Chero- 
kees was  increased  to*  +5,000 — +50  to  be  deducted  for  every  horse  stolen  from 
the  whites  by  the  Cherokees. 

First  Treaty  of  Tellico,  or  Walton's  Treaty — October  2,  1798,  a  treaty  was 
concluded  between  George  Walton  and  Thomas  Butler,  commissioners  in  be- 
half of  the  United  States,  and  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of  the  Cherokee  nation, 
in  the  Cherokee  Council  House  near  Tellico.  This  treaty  contained  the  usual 
stipulations  for  peace  and  friendship,  with  regulations  for  intercourse  between 
the  whites  and  the  Cherokees.  It  raised  the  price  of  stolen  horses  to  +60.  It 
ceded  to  the  United  States  certain  lands,  of  which  two  detached  portions  lay 
in  Tennessee.  The  United  States  agreed  to  pay  for  this  cession  $5,000,  and  an 
annuity  of  $1,000. 

Second  Treaty  of  Tellico  Block  House — Daniel  Smith  and  Return  J.  Meigs. 
commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  concluded  a  treaty  with  the 
Cherokees  at  Tellico  Block  House,  October  24,  1804,  by  which  no  land  was  ceded 
within  Tennessee.  The  copy  of  this  treaty  retained  by  the  United  States  was 
lost,  in  consequence  of  which  the  treaty  was  not  ratified  for  many  years.  Finally 
the  Indians  produced  a  duplicate  copy.  Upon  this  evidence  the  treaty  was 
ratified,  and  was  proclaimed  May  17,  1824. 

Chickasaw  and  Creek  Treaties — July  23,  1805,  James  Robertson  and  Silas 
Dinsmoor  concluded  with  the  Chickasaws  a  treaty  relinquishing  all  claims  north 
of  Duck  River  and  east  of  the  Tennessee,  and  all  the  disputed  tracts  on  Elk 
River.  A  tract  one  mile  square  on  Tennessee  River,  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  River, 
was  reserved  for  Okoye.  The  consideration  for  this  cession  was  +20,000,  to  be 
paid  by  the  United  States  to  the  tribe,  and  $1,000  each  to  be  paid  Colbert  and 
Okoye,  and  an  annuity  to  Chinuubbe,  king  of  the  tribe.  In  order  to  extinguish 
all  adverse  titles  the  United  States  subsequently  purchased  the  claims  of  the 
Cherokees  to  the  disputed  tracts  on  Elk  River,  at  which  the  Chickasaws  took 
offense. 

In  connection  with  this  treaty  with  the  Chickasaws  an  amusing  correspond- 
ence is  recorded  which  illustrates  some  of  the  methods  used  in  dealing  with 
the  Indians.  After  examining  the  accounts,  the  secretary  of  war,  Henry  Dear- 
born, wrote  to  General  Robertson:  "Among  other  extraordinary  articles  for 
an  Indian  treaty  in  the  woods,  for  two  commissioners,  may  be  noticed  raisins, 
anchovies,  cinnamon,  nutmegs,  pickles,  etc.,  amounting  to  near  +200."  To  this 
the  commissioners  replied  that  they  never  sat  down  to  a  meal  with  less  than 
twenty-nine  Indians  at  the  table.  They  added:  "When  Indians  eat,  they  eat 
indeed."  *     *     "One  Indian   can   eat   enough    at   one  meal   to  last  him  a 

week.     Whoever  should  see  old  Puekshunubbe,  old  Mussulatubbe,  old  Pushma- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  255 

talia,  or  a  score  of  these  old  Falstaffs  in  the  woods  at  a  feast,  would  suppose 
they  were  indeed  eating  a  last  meal." 

In  the  same  year,  1805,  Return  J.  Meigs  and  Daniel  Smith  concluded  a 
treaty  with  the  Creeks  by  which  the  Creeks,  in  consideration  of  .+14,000,  re- 
leased all  claims  to  lands  in  Tennessee.  These  lands,  being  in  dispute,  were 
acquired  by  treaties  with  the  Cherokees. 

Third  Treaty  of  Tellico — Daniel  Smith  and  Return  J.  .Meigs  concluded  a 
treaty  with  the  Cherokees  at  Tellico  Block  House,  October  25,  1805,  by  which 
a  tract  of  land  was  ceded,  lying  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  For  this  cession 
the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  +14,000,  and  an  annuity  of  $3,000. 

Fourth  Treaty  of  Tellico — Two  days  later,  October  27,  1805,  another  treaty 
was  concluded  between  the  same  parties  at  the  same  place.  In  the  former  treaty 
the  Indians  had  reserved  several  small  tracts  around  spots  to  which  they  wen' 
especially  attached.  In  order  to  show  the  purpose  of  the  parties,  and  to  give 
a  specimen  of  the  form  of  Indian  treaties,  this  treaty  is  given  below  in  full, 
omitting  the  caption  and  signatures : 

"Article  I.  Whereas,  it  has  been  represented  by  the  one  party  to  the  other, 
that  the  section  of  land  on  which  the  garrison  of  Southwest  Point  stands,  and 
which  extends  to  Kingston,  is  likely  to  be  a  desirable  place  for  the  Assembly  (if 
the  State  of  Tennessee  to  convene  at  (a  committee  from  that  body  now  in  ses 
Nion  having  viewed  the  situation),  now,  the  Cherokee,  being  possessed  of  a 
spirit  of  conciliation,  and  seeing  that  this  tract  is  desired  for  public  purposes 
and  not  for  individual  advantages,  reserving  the  ferries  to  themselves,  quit 
claim,  and  cede  to  the  United  States  the  said  section  of  land,  understanding  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  buildings  erected  by  the  public  are  to  belong  to  the 
public,  as  well  as  the  occupation  of  the  same,  during  the  pleasure  of  the  gov- 
ernment; we  also  cede  to  the  United  States  the  first  island  in  the  Tennessee 
above  the  mouth  of  Clinch. 

"Article  II.  And,  whereas,  the  mail  of  the  United  States  is  ordered  to  be 
carried  from  Knoxville  to  'New  Orleans,  through  the  Cherokee,  Creek,  and 
Choctaw  countries;  the  Cherokees  agree  that  the  citizens  of  the  United  States 
shall  have,  so  far  as  it  goes  through  their  country,  the  free  and  unmolested  use 
of  a  road  leading  from  Tellico  to  Tombigbee,  to  be  laid  out  by  viewers  on  both 
sides,  who  shall  direct  it  the  nearest  and  best  way;  and  the  time  of  doing  the 
business  the  Cherokees  shall  be  notified  of. 

"Article  III.  In  consideration  of  the  above  cession  and  relinquishment,  the 
United  States  agree  to  pay  to  the  said  Cherokee  Indians  sixteen  hundred  dol- 
lars, in  money  or  useful  merchandise  at  their  option,  within  ninety  days  after 
the  ratification   of   this  treaty. 

"Article  IV.  This  treaty  shall  be  obligatory  between  the  contracting  parties 
as  soon  as  it  is  ratified  by  the  President,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate, 
of  the  United  States.     In  testimony  whereof,"  etc. 

Dearborn's  Treaty — At  Washington  City,  Henry  Dearborn,  secretary  of 
war,  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees,  January  7,  1806,  which  was  pro- 
claimed by  the  President,  May  23,  1807.  By  this  treaty  the  Cherokees  ceded 
to  the  United  States  an  extensive  tract,  lying  in  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and 
Tennessee.  The  portion  of  this  cession  lying  in  Tennessee  was  south  of  Dink 
River.  By  this  treaty  the  Cherokees  also  ceded  Long  Island,  in  Holston  River. 
In  consideration  of  these  cessions,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  $10,000, 
and  further  agreed  as  follows:  "That  a  gristmill  shall,  within  one  year 
from  date  hereof,  be  built  in  the  Cherokee  country  for  the  use  of  the  na- 
tion, at  such  place  as  shall  be  considered  most  convenient;  that  the  said  Chero- 
kees shall  be  furnished  with  a  machine  for  cleaning  cotton;  and,  also,  that  the 


256  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

old  Cherokee  chief,  called  the  Black  Fox,  shall  he  paid  annually  $100  by  the 
United  States  during  his  life." 

Robertson  and  Meigs'  Treaty — This  treaty  was  held  on  Chickasaw  Island, 
in  Tennessee  River,  and  was  concluded  with  the  Cherokees  by  James  Robert- 
son and  Return  J.  Meigs,  September  11,  1807,  and  was  proclaimed  April  22, 
1808.  It  was  merely  an  elucidation  of  former  treaties,  and  made  no  additional 
cessions  of  land.  In  consideration  of  concessions  made  by  the  Indians  on  the 
points  in  dispute,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  them  $2,000,  and  accorded 
them  the  privilege  of  hunting  in  the  ceded  territoiy.  There  was  also  a  secret 
article  that  $1,000  and  two  rifles  should  be  given  to  the  chiefs  who  negotiated 
the  treaty. 

The  Capitulation  of  the  Creeks — Following  the  crushing  blow  administered 
to  the  Creeks  at  Tohopeka,  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  dictated  to  them  a  treaty 
which  was  concluded,  August  9,  1814.  Of  the  land  ceded  by  the  Creeks,  no 
portion  was  within  the  limits  of  Tennessee,  but  this  treaty  had  an  important 
influence  on  the  history  of  the  state. 

Sundry  Treaties  with  the  Cherokees — George  Graham,  commissioner  of  the 
United  States,  concluded  two  treaties  with  the  Cherokees,  March  22,  1816.  The 
first  ceded  land  in  South  Carolina,  for  which  the  State  of  South  Carolina  agreed 
to  pay  $5,000.  The  second  made  no  cession  of  land,  hut  contained  important 
stipulations  with  reference  to  boundaries,  conceding  to  the  United  States  the 
free  navigation  of  all  rivers  in  Cherokee  territory,  and  the  right  to  open  and 
use  roads  free  of  charge.  For  these  concessions,  and  to  reimburse  the  Indians 
for  losses,  etc.,  the  United  States  agreed  to  pay  $25,000. 

Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  Gen.  David  Meriwether,  and  Jesse  Franklin,  commis- 
sioners of  the  United  States,  concluded  with  the  Cherokees  a  treaty,  at  the 
Chickasaw  Council  House,  September  14,  1816.  By  this  treaty  the  Cherokees 
ceded  a  large  tract  in  Georgia,  for  which  they  received  $5,000  in  cash,  and  an 
annuity  of  $6,000  for  ten  years.  This  treaty  was  ratified  by  the  Cherokee  na- 
tion, at  Turkeytown,  October  4,  1816,  and  was  proclaimed,  December  30,  1816. 
By  these  treaties  no  cession  of  land  was  made  within  the  limits  of  Tennessee. 

Jackson  and  McMinn's  Treaty — This  name  has  been  given  in  Tennessee  to 
the  treaty  concluded  at  the  Cherokee  Agency,  July  18,  1817,  between  Andrew 
Jackson,  Joseph  McMinn,  and  David  Meriwether  and  the  Cherokees.  By  this 
treaty  a  tract  of  land  was  ceded  in  East  Tennessee,  provision  was  made  for 
a  census  of  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  inducements  were  offered  for  the  re- 
moval of  the  Cherokees  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  United  States  agreed 
to  cede  to  the  Cherokees  who  should  remove,  a  tract  of  land,  north  of  the  Arkan- 
sas River,  equal  in  area  to  the  cessions  made  by  the  Cherokees  in  this  treaty, 
to  bear  the  expense  of  removal,  to  give  each  "poor  warrior  one  rifle-gun  and 
ammunition,  one  blanket,  one  brass  kettle,  or,  in  lieu  of  the  brass  kettle  a  beaver 
I  rap,'"  to  pay  for  all  improvements  on  the  real  estate  left  behind,  and  to  have 
a  census  of  the  tribe  taken,  in  accordance  with  which  all  who  removed  west 
should  receive  their  proportional  shares  of  all  annuities  granted  the  tribe  by 
previous  treaties.  Provision  was  also  made  for  granting  to  each  head  of  a 
( 'herokee  family  residing  within  the  ceded  territory  a  tract  of  640  acres,  on 
condition  of  his  becoming  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

Great  Chickasaw  Cession — By  a  treaty  made  September  20,  1816,  the  Chicka- 
saws  ceded  to  the  United  States  their  title  to  certain  lands  in  dispute.  The 
great  Chickasaw  cession  was  made  October  19,  1818.     This  treaty  was  concluded 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  257 

at  the  ' '  Treaty  Ground  east  of  Old  Town ' '  *  with  the  United  States  commission- 
ers, Isaac  Shelby  and  Andrew  Jackson.  By  this  treaty,  the  Chickasaws  ceded 
to  the  United  States  all  of  what  is  now  West  Tennessee,  the  tract  extending 
into  Kentucky  between  the  Ohio  and  Tennessee  rivers.  A  tract  in  Tennessee, 
four  miles  square,  was  reserved,  including  "a  salt  lick,  or  springs,"  near  Sandy 
River.  Three  other  small  tracts  were  reserved  to  individual  Indians  on  condi- 
tion that  all  persons  living  on  these  reservations  shall  be  subject  to  the  laws 
of  the  United  States.  In  consideration  of  these  cessions,  the  United  States 
agreed  to  pay  "$20,000  per  annum,  for  fifteen  successive  years  to  be  paid  an- 
nually"; and  also  agreed  to  pay  two  debts  of  the  Chickasaws,  one  to  Captain 
Gordon  of  $1,115,  and  one  to  Captain  Smith  of  $2,000;  and  further  agreed  to 
pay  to  individual  Chickasaws  sums  amounting  to  $4,264 ;  and  further  agreed 
that  all  annuities  heretofore  payable  in  goods  should  be  hereafter  paid  in  cash. 
In  consequence  of  some  delays  in  the  first  payments  stipulated  in  the  treaty, 
Andrew  Jackson  and  William  B.  Lewis  raised  the  money  on  their  personal 
credit,  and  prompt  payment  was  made. 

Calhoun's  Treaty — February  27,  1819,  John  C.  Calhoun,  secretary  of  war, 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees,  who  ceded  various  outlying  tracts  which 
had  not  been  included  in  former  treaties.  Three  of  these  were  extensive  tracts. 
The  others  were  tracts  of  small  area,  from  one  to  twelve  miles  square,  which  had 
been  retained  by  the  Indians  as  favorite  spots  for  which  they  felt  a  special 
attachment,  or  a  superstitious  reverence.  It  was  agreed  that  these  minor  ces- 
sions were  to  be  sold  by  the  United  States,  the  proceeds  to  be  invested  in  goods 
and  stocks,  the  annual  income  of  which  should  be  used  for  establishing  schools 
for  the  Cherokees.  Many  stipulations  were  made  for  issuing  grants  of  640 
acres  each  to  individual  Indians.  The  policy  of  the  treaty  was  to  encourage 
the  Cherokees  to  emigrate  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  induce  those  who  re- 
mained to  abandon  their  tribal  relations,  and  to  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States.  This  treaty  extinguished  the  title  of  the  Cherokees  to  all  lands  in  Ten- 
nessee, except  the  tract  known  as  the  "Hiwassee  District,"  to  which  they  re- 
tained title  until  December,  1835. 

Overton's  Treaty — In  1823,  a  treaty  was  made  with  the  Chickasaws  by 
Judge  John  Overton  by  which  the  Chickasaws  released  claim  to  the  small  tracts 
of  land  which  they  had  reserved  in  former  treaties.  One  tract,  four  miles 
square,  included  the  salt  lick  on  Sandy  River.  Another  tract,  one  mile  square, 
on  Tennessee  River,  at  the  mouth  of  Duck  River,  was  known  as  "Okoye's  Res- 
ervation." 

Attitude  of  Tennessee  and  Georgia — The  Cherokees  were  too  weak  to  engage 
in  war,  but  were  not  congenial  neighbors.  They  had  learned  many  of  the  arts 
and  vices  of  civilized  life,  and  had,  to  a  great  extent,  abandoned  their  roving 
habits.  They  did  not  need  large  areas  of  ground,  and  had  gradually  sold  all 
their  territory  in  Tennessee  except  Hiwassee  District.  The  bulk  of  the  nation 
had  been  gradually  forced  down  into  Georgia.  They  showed  some  disposition 
to  become  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  actually  made  propositions  to  that 
effect.  The  people  of  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  however,  were  bent  on  their  re- 
moval across  the  Mississippi.  Both  states  became  involved  in  controversies  with 
the  Federal  authorities  in  reference  to  the  Indian  relations.  The  controversy 
on  the  part  of  Tennessee  was  with  reference  to  the  state  law  directing  the  sale 
of  disputed  reservations.     The  controversy  on  the  part  of  Georgia  was  more 


*  A  few  miles  east  of  Old  Pontotoc  in  North  Mississippi. 


258  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

serious.  The  United  States  accepted  the  cession  of  the  western  lands  of  Georgia 
in  1802  and  agreed  to  extinguish  all  Indian  titles  to  lands  within  the  limits  of 
the  state.  Georgia  demanded  the  fulfillment  of  the  contract.  Meanwhile,  and 
before  any  steps  had  been  taken  for  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  Georgia  as- 
serted the  right  to  legislate  for  the  entire  state,  and  to  execute  her  laws  within 
the  Indian  reservations.  The  United  States  claimed  that  the  Indians  were  a 
distinct  organization  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,  and  could  be  dealt  with  only 
by  Congress  under  the  treaty-making  powers.  Governor  Troupe,  of  Georgia, 
gave  notice  that  he  would  maintain  the  authority  of  Georgia,  and  matters  as- 
sumed a  hostile  shape  during  the  latter  part  of  the  administration  of  Monroe 
and  the  succeeding  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams.  Finally,  the  Chero- 
kee nation,  July  26,  1827,  adopted  a  constitution  as  an  independent  and  sov- 
ereign state.  The  people  of  Georgia  were  indignant  at  this  attempt  to  establish 
a  separate  government  within  the  jurisdiction  of  a  sovereign  state,  and  to  assert 
a  right  which  would  he  treason,  if  attempted  by  her  own  citizens.  Her  Legis- 
lature made  what  they  styled  a  last  appeal  to  the  United  States,  and  expressed  a 
purpose,  if  this  should  fail,  to  take  the  matter  into  their  own  hands. 

Abortive  Treaties — In  1832,  the  Indian  Territory  was  laid  out  west  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  in  1834  Congress  made  enactments  for  the  definite  location  of 
the  several  tribes  which  were  to  occupy  it.  May  6,  1828,  James  Barbour,  secre- 
tary of  war,  concluded  a  treaty,  and  February  14,  1833,  Stokes,  Ellsworth  and 
Sehermerhorn  concluded  a  similar  treaty  with  the  Cherokees.  Neither  of  these 
treaties  were  contracts,  but  were  a  series  of  offers  made  by  the  United  States 
In  induce  the  Cherokees  to  remove  to  the  Indian  Territory  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River.  Both  treaties  were  barren  of  results.  February  10,  1834,  George 
Vashon  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  similar  in  character,  and  offering 
additional  inducements.  This  treaty  was  made  inoperative  by  the  refusal  of 
President  Andrew  Jackson  to  submit  it  to  the  Senate. 

Treaty  of  Removal — This  treaty  was  concluded  December  29,  1835,  at  New 
Echota,  Ga.,  between  the  Cherokees  and  Gen.  William  Carroll  and  John  F. 
Sehermerhorn,  commissioners  for  the  United  States.  By  its  provisions  the  Chero- 
kees ceded  to  the  United  States  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  River  in 
consideration  of  +5,000,000.  The  United  States  ceded  to  the  Cherokees  15,000,- 
000  acres  of  land  in  the  Indian  Territory,  which  should  never  be  included  in  any 
state  or  territorial  government,  and  agreed  to  pay  all  expenses  of  removal,  to 
furnish  one  year's  subsistence  in  their  new  home,  to  pay  for  improvements  on 
their  lands,  to  pay  various  special  funds  and  annuities,  among  other  provisions 
to  add  $150,000  to  the  existing  permanent  school  fund,  and  to  appropriate 
$60,000  to  pay  debts  due  from  the  Cherokees  to  citizens  of  the  United  States. 
It  was  agreed  that  all  who  remained  should  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  state 
within  which  they  resided,  and.  upon  becoming  qualified  as  citizens,  should  be 
entitled  to  preempt  160  acres  of  land.  The  treaty  contained  other  important 
provisions  which  can  not  be  here  recited.  March  1,  1836,  a  supplemental  treaty 
was  made,  which  added  $1,000,000  to  the  obligations  of  the  United  States.  The 
Cherokees  agreed  to  remove  to  the  Indian  Territory  within  two  years  from  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty.  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty,  the  title  of  the  Cherokees 
was  extinguished  to  Hiwassee  District,  their  last  possession  in  Tennessee. 

The  Removal — The  large  majority  of  the  Cherokees.  led  by  their  famous 
chief,  John  Ross,  were  opposed  to  this  treaty,  and  protested  against  it.  The 
United  States,  however,  refused  to  recognize  their  authority,  and  concluded  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  259 

treaty  with  the  minority  party  of  the  Cherokees,  led  by  the  chiefs  Major  Ridge 
and  Andrew  Ross.  The  Cherokee  nation,  in  full  council,  in  October,  1835,  re- 
jected the  treaty,  but  the  United  States  Senate,  nevertheless,  confirmed  it.  and 
President  Jackson  proclaimed  it,  May  23,  1836.  John  Ross  went  to  Washington 
on  behalf  of  his  people,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  the  President  and  Congress 
to  declare  it  void.  He  displayed  great  diplomatic  ability,  and  created  a  strong- 
sentiment  of  sympathy  in  favor  of  the  Indians.  Henry  Clay,  Daniel  Webster, 
Edward  Everett.  Henry  A.  Wise,  and  other  political  opponents  of  President 
Jackson,  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  Ross.  Previous  to  his  departure  for 
Texas,  David  Crockett  ardently  supported  Ross.  During  the  two  years  which 
had  been  allowed  the  Cherokees  for  removal,  strong  efforts  were  used  to  revoke 
the  treat}",  but  President  Jackson  was  firm.  Many  of  the  Indians  removed  in 
small  bands  before  the  appointed  date.  As  the  time  drew  near,  Gen.  Winfield 
Scott,  with  a  force  of  United  States  troops,  was  ordered  to  the  Cherokee  coun- 
try. He  issued  an  address,  announcing  that  he  would  enforce  their  removal  in 
accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  treaty.  Ross  made  application  for  extension 
of  time,  and  other  indulgences,  which  were  granted.  December  4,  1838.  the 
last  organized  band  of  Cherokees  began  their  march  for  the  Indian  Territory. 
A  number,  subsequently  enumerated  at  1,046,  took  refuge  in  the  mountains  and 
remained  behind.  Most  of  these  afterwards  joined  their  comrades  in  the  West. 
The  few  who  finally  remained  abandoned  their  tribal  relations,  and  became 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  total  number  of  the  Cherokees  who  removed 
West  was  stated  on  the  rolls  of  John  Ross  to  be  13,149.  Upon  reaching  their 
new  homes,  fierce  dissensions  arose  between  the  party  of  John  Ross  and  the 
Ridge  party,  which  resulted  in  the  killing  of  Major  Ridge.  Finally  the  nation 
became  unified,  and  made  other  treaties  with  the  United  States  by  which  they 
secured  a  large  annual  income. 

The  Ind:au  Territory — The  Cherokees,  Chiekasaws,  Choctaws,  Creeks  and 
Seminoles,  known  as  the  "Five  Civilized  Tribes,"  thereafter  dwelt  peaceably 
and  contentedly  in  the  Indian  Territory.  They  became  prosperous,  industrious, 
and  law  abiding.  In  addition  to  large  revenues  derived  from  the  United  States 
for  the  sale  of  their  eastern  lands,  they  became  self-sustaining  and  wealthy.  They 
owned  many  negro  slaves  prior  to  the  general  emancipation.  They  had  schools, 
churches,  good  governments,  and  all  the  appliances  of  civilization.  They  are 
now  citizens  of  Oklahoma. 

REVOLUTIONARY  AND  MILITARY  PENSIONERS— LIST   FOR 
TENNESSEE,  JUNE  1.  1840 

The  general  pension  law  of  April  10,  1806  (see  Annals  of  Congress,  1805-6, 
page  1255),  extending  and  enlarging  previous  acts,  provided  only  for  officers, 
soldiers  and  seamen,  •'disabled  by  known  wounds." 

This  Act  became  the  subject  of  subsequent  debates  in  Congress,  in  which 
the  strictness  of  its  requirements  was  criticized.  March  3,  1809,  it  was  amended 
by  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  Concerning  Invalid  Pensioners."  by  which  a  long 
list  of  petitioners  were  added  by  name. 

Various  discussions  subsequently  arose  in  Congress  leading  to  amendments. 
In  1 8 1 S ,  in  order  to  render  legislation  more  systematic,  standing  committees  on 
pensions  were  appointed  in  both  Houses,  Mr.  John  Rhea  of  Tennessee  being 
the  chairman  of  the  House  committee;  (Annals  of  Congress,  1818-19,  pages  20, 


260  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

291).  An  Act  was  passed  March  3,  1819,  "regulating  the  payments  to  Invalid 
Pensioners. ' ' 

Notwithstanding  the  careful  limitations  and  strict  administration  of  these 
early  pension  laws,  charges  were  made  of  extravagance  and  counter  charges  of 
undue  severity  of  construction.  The  general  trend,  however,  was  toward  ex- 
tension of  the  law  and  increase  of  the  pension  list.  At  various  times  committees 
were  appointed  to  investigate,  and  officers  were  required  to  report.  Mr.  Cal- 
houn, while  secretary  of  war,  reported  a  complete  list  of  all  pensioners  then  on 
the  rolls.  These  investigations  and  reports  led  to  debates,  the  most  extended 
and  acrimonious  of  which  occurred  in  the  Senate  in  1830. 

The  most  important  acts  of  legislation  between  1819  and  1840,  were : 

1.  The  Act  of  February  4,  1822,  reviving  and  continuing  previous  acts. 

2.  The  Act  of  1836,  a  general  law,  which  Mr.  Calhoun  subsequently  styled 
"the  permanent  law."  This  Act  extended  the  benefits  to  the  widows  of  soldiers 
and  sailors. 

3.  The  Act  of  1838,  which  extended  the  benefits  to  widows  of  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  cases  where  the  marriage  had  been  contracted  after  the  war. 

These  and  other  Acts  added  largely  to  the  list  of  pensioners,  and  to  the 
cost  of  pensions. 

February  28,  1839,  President  Van  Buren  sent  a  message  to  Congress,  trans- 
mitting a  communication  from  the  secretary  of  war,  and  recommending  that 
the  officers  employed  to  take  the  census  be  required  to  make  a  return  of  the 
names  and  ages  of  all  pensioners  in  the  United  States.  A  provision  in  accord- 
ance with  the  recommendation  of  the  President  was  incorporated  in  the  census 
law  of  March  3,  1839. 

A  special  appendix  of  the  census  of  1840  gives  the  entire  roll  of  honor. 
The  following  is  the  title  page  of  this  appendix : 

A 
CENSUS  OF  PENSIONERS 

FOR 

REVOLUTIONARY  OR  MILITARY  SERVICES; 

WITH  THEIR 

NAMES,  AGES,  AND  PLACES  OF  RESIDENCE, 

AS 

RETURNED  BY  THE  MARSHALS  OF  THE  SEVERAL  JUDICIAL 

DISTRICTS, 

UNDER 

THE  ACT  FOR  TAKING  THE  SIXTH  CENSUS. 
Published  by  authority  of  an  Act  of  Congress,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  State.    Washington :  Printed  by  Blair  &  Rives,  1841. 
Below  is  the  list  of  those  living  in  Tennessee,  June  1,  1840. 

State   of  Tennessee — Eastern  District 

anderson  county  bradley  county 

names  ages     names  ages 

James   Trowell    78      Charles  Lain   81 

Douglas  Oliver  88      Joseph   Lain    83 

William   Cross    80      Sarah  Cry   78 

William  Patterson    87      Robert  McCormack 83 

Peter  Johnson 81      James  Hamilton   84 

Page  Portwood  83      William  McAllister,  sen 80 

Thomas  Brummett 87      Robert  Forrester 80 

J.  J.  Williams 81      William  Dodd  83 

James  Sellers 85 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


261 


BLOUNT    COUNTS 
NAMES  AGES 

Robert  McCay 81 

Thomas  Hunter 82 

James  Houston   82 

William  Tipton 79 

James  Taylor    82 

John  Davis   86 

Robert   Tedford    80 

James  McKensey    87 

Robert  Bryant    93 

George  Haden  91 

James  Symms  90 

George  Ewing 80 

James  Carathers 80  to  90 

Robert.  Rhea   76 

William  Hamby   97 

BLEDSOE    COUNTY 

District  No.  1 
John    Narramore    79 

District  No.  2 

Chatten  D.  Pollard   79 

John  Ford,  sen   78 

District  No.  3 
Charles    Shurmon    86 

District  No.  6 

Philip  Shurmon    82 

John  Hail   86 

Andrew  Davis 83 

District  No.  7 
Andrew  McDonough   80 

District  No.  9 
Francis  Hughs   80 

CARTER    COUNTY 

District  No.  1 

Charles  Moreland 76 

James  Campbell   80 

District  No.  3 

Jeremiah  Campbell    78 

Civil  District  No.  5 

Ephraim  Buck 49 

John    Scott    87 

Isaac    Taylor    84 

District  No.  6 

Solomon  Hendrix  86 

Andrew  Taylor 80 

District  No.  7 

Abner  McLeod   44 

Elizabeth   Carter    75 

School  District  No.  8 

John   Miller    75 

George  Emert   83 

Richard  Kelly  76 


District  No.  9 

NAMES 

AGES 

Leonard  Bowers   

....     80 

CLAIBORNE  COUNTY 

Harman    Hopper    78 

Richard  Harper   76 

Andrew  Presly   90 

Thomas  Nun  ' 90 

Jesse  Webb    63 

Thomas  Hardy   74 

John  Ousley  ' 82 

Solomon  Lewis   90 

John  Braden  80 

John  Jones,  sen 77 

Peter   Peck 78 

Whorton    Nunn    85 

Matthew  Bussle    93 

COCKE   COUNTY 

William  Bragg  75 

Peter  Wise 89 

Darius  O'Neal 76 

Bartlett    Sisk    79 

Samuel  Yeates    83 

Joseph  Burke   75 

Henry  Click    59 

Allen  Seratt 77 

CAMPBELL    COUNTY 

James  Cabbage  83 

James  McDonald   79 

Martha   Rogers    75 

Dennis  Trammel 

Richard  Crabtree   76 

GREENE    COUNTY 

Peter  Kent 80 

John   Sexton    79 

William  Houston   77 

George  House   78 

Thomas  Morgan,  sen 88 

Martin  Waddle  80 

Nasma  Sevier   97 

Joseph  Dunlap   92 

William  Sharp   79 

Jacob  Brunei"   76 

John  Morrison    83 

John  Gass,  sen 83 

Azariah  Doty   96 

John  Carter 83 

Thomas   Bryant    86 

Frederick  Shaffer 82 

John    Kesterson    85 


262 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


(juainger  county 
nAtstes  ages 

John  Tanner  81 

Lewis   Collins    87 

Chapman  Poindexter 81 

Richard  Grantham 85 

John   Bethel    84 

Joseph  Yadon   84 

James  Hines    89 

William  Clay    80 

Thomas  Brown  77 

Joseph    Ellis    77 

Adam  Cabbage   85 

John  Hammock 86 

Israel  McBee  79 

Thomas  Lay 79 

HAMILTON    COUNTY 

Moses   Nelson    41 

Robert   Martin    84 

William  Reid    75 

James  Davis    80 

Thomas   Palmer    81 

Joseph  Campbell    86 

HAWKINS  COUNTY 

William  Thurman 79 

Robert   Hensley 81 

Mary   Beaty 86 

Henry  Frazier 57 

Thomas  A.   Fletcher    90 

Robert  Campbell,  sen 80 

Washington  Denham   54 

William  Molsbey,  sen 82 

James  Simmons,  sen 81 

Henry   Blevins    84 

John  Hicks    80 

Thprnas    Brooks    80 

Wright  Bond    87 

James  Lovin    81 

Richard   Matlock    79 

Notley    Thomas    93 

John  *  Sowed    80 

Momon  Lawson 95 

Littleton  Brooks   90 

Selh  Manis   78 

Alexander   Trent    81 

Bartlet    Belcher    76 

Francis  Winstead 81 

John  Rains 81 

Abner   Gordon    82 

Pharaoh  Cobb   90 

Samuel  Riggs   80 

Elizabeth    Smith     79 

Tl as  Price 79 

Jonathan    Long,    sen 78 

Letitia  Rorark 93 


NAMES  AGES 

John  Leonard   82 

I  )aniel  Jones,  sen 86 

William  Bussell   77 

John  Light,  sen 76 

William    Jewell    97 

James  Morrison    86 

Flower  Mullins 77 

William  Skelton    79 

Joseph  Britton   87 

JOHNSON  COUNTY 

William  Wilson    82 

James  McDaniel   82 

Jacob    Hood    96 

JEFFERSON    COUNTY 

Northern  Division 

Stephen  McLanghlon 82 

John   Petty    83 

Jacob   Maddox    76 

Allen  Kelley   55 

William  Murphy    83 

Benjamin  Bradshaw    82 

William  Caldwell,  sen 80 

John  McCoy 88 

John  Hasket   90 

Samuel  McSpadden   83 

Jesse   Gammon    75 

Spencer  Watkins    80 

Richard   Cheek    79 

Tide  Lane 78 

James  Anderson,  sen 80 

Michael   Treace    85 

Southern  Division 

George   Turnley    78 

John    Fain     51 

Zaccheus  Copeland  76 

George  Gregory    61 

James  Fuller 49 

John  Russell    55 

Michael  Barnet   80 

John  Henry 81 

Jesse  Webb    74 

Joel  Davis   77 

Ely  Sartin   55 

KNOX   county 

David  Pinn   80 

Philip   Titlow    57 

Edward  Smith 80 

Samuel   Tarver    80 

Thomas   Dove    85 

Perrin  <  lardwell   7(i 

Ahsolom   Rutherford    78 

Vincent    Jackson    95 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


263 


NAMES  AGES 

.Marcus  Swadley   80 

Thomas  Sumpter    76 

Joseph  Brown  84 

Mitchell  Childress 90 

John  Fox  83 

David  Falkner 83 

Joseph   Large    84 

Edmund  Newman    77 

James  Campbell   83 

Harris  Gammon    83 

John  Childress   81 

Garnett  Smith 78 

Jesse  Wells    91 

Jacob   Gallespie    86 

Card    Cox,   sen 77 

Luke  Stansbury    88 

Richard  Portertield    82 

Jesse  Perry 83 

James  Crews   86 

Robert   Johnson    81 

John  McLemore   85 

Abraham  Hankins   86 

MC  MINN   COUNTY 

Isaac    Lane    81 

Jno.  Honey    79 

Will  Peters   79 

William  Norman 76 

Spencer  Benson 76 

Edmond  Roberts 83 

Elizabeth  McNabb   80 

•lames  Cunningham   80 

John  Raney 84 

James  Riggins 88 

Maximilian  Rector  82 

Henry  Matlock   54 

Charles  Carter   73 

William  Barnett   79 

Simeon  Eldridge 78 

John  Kurtus   85 

Benjamin  Brown    87 

E.    Cooper    45 

MONROE    COUNTY 

26th  Regiment 

Gideon   Morgan    65 

Henry  Stephens  66 

Nathaniel  Watson 99 

<  !hristopher  Boston    81 

Bergiss    Wit    79 

William  Duggan  49 

John  Allgood 85 

27th    Regiment. 

Thomas   Vernon    88 

Jacob    Patton    83 

Thomas   Duncan    76 

•lames   Montgomery    49 


NAMES  AGES 

John  Pannel    49 

John   Simms    90 

John    Denton    81 

James  McGill    83 

Samuel  Steel  81 

MORGAN    COUNTY 

Betsey   Staples    76 

Rebecca  Holloway 76 

Joseph   McPeters    83 

Marsha  Green   87 

Abel  Peak   79 

Esther  Sexton   79 

Nathaniel   Milton    80 

Jonathan  Deldine   77 

John   Howard    73 

Rval  Pren    77 

John  Williams    80 

Joseph  Patton  78 

Joseph    Stincuphor    85 

Thomas   Kindred    81 

John  Crinshaw   83 

Matthew  Williams    85 

•MEIGS   COUNTY 

John   Dyer   80 

John    Sutton    90 

MARION    COUNTY 

Ransom   Smith    81 

Ezekiel  Stone    83 

Letitia    Rains    71 

Laton   Smith    84 

William  Everett   78 

•lames  Morgan   81 

FOLK    COUNTY 

William  May  75 

William    Longlev    82 

Samuel  Walker' 80 

Thomas  Towns    89 

Samuel  ( Jarter 85 

RHEA  COUNTY 

Daniel  Broiles 80 

James   Furgison    81 

Thomas    Hamilton    80 

Thomas  McKeddy 86 

Mary    Reaee    . . '. 23 

Harris   Ryan    Mi 

ROANE    COUNTY 

Thomas  Landrim 86 

•lames    Aeree    Mi 

John    Daman    86 

Adam  Miller   83 


264 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


NAMES  AGES 

David    Blaekwell    82 

Benjamin    Chapman    78 

Samuel  Evans  84 

.John  Hood 78 

John   Wooddy    81 

John   McNatt    78 

James  Allen    81 

Edward  Wyatt  81 

-lames  Akin   80 

Robert   Liles    81 

Thomas  Ives    82 

( larter   Barnard    78 

Solomon  Gearran   80 

Tandy   Senter    82 

Lard  Burns   85 

John  Cox   82 

George  Fuller,  sen 83 

Nathaniel  Orsbourn 89 

William  Boyd  84 

William  Moore   82 

Benjamin    Clark    77 

William  Ilvden 76 

David  C.   Demey    86 

SULLIVAN  COUNTY 

Thomas  King    86 

David   Hughes    82 

John  Almoney    58 

John  Grier 79 

Thomas  Jones   78 

Thomas  Morrell    80 

Joshua   Hamilton    79 

Elijah   Cross    84 

Abraham  Cross  90 

Edward  Cox   83 

Jacob  Bealer  89 

Joseph   Grey    76 

Jacob   Hawk    82 

George  Bushong 48 

•I  a  cob  Slaughter    84 

William  Snodgrass 80 

Samuel  Tavlor    85 

Thomas  Cox    84 


N  A  M  ES  AGES 

Henry   Maggot    80 

John    Hudson    85 

Henry  Maggot    84 

Ankev   Godsev    77 

William  King   88 

William  Bolen 83 

David  Childress    78 

Benjamin  Birdwell    74 

William  Goad   86 

Richard    Parkers    i  55 

-John    Chester    86 

John  Douglas    76 

Robert  Tribbett    57 

Mieajah   Adams    81 

SEVIER    COUNT V 

Penelope  Porter   77 

Lydia   Atchley    75 

Jacob   Layman 78 

William  Trotter   77 

Jeremiah   Compton    87 

George  Parson 79 

Daniel  Fox 66 

-John    MeCroskey    84 

WASHINGTON   COUNTY 

John  Crouch   84 

Loyd  Ford 83 

Am  on  Hale    83 

William  Ledmon 67 

Jeremiah  Keys   43 

Elizabeth  Lacky  80 

James   Simmons    49 

William  Slaughter   85 

John    Thornburg    61 

Jacob    Brown    91 

Hugh  Harriss   84 

Adam    Ilannan    75 

Andrew   Hannah    79 

Zadoc   Freeman    55 

Adam  Ingle   86 

•lames    Sevier    76 

Elizabeth  Jackson 75 

Darling   Jones    77 


State  of  Tennessee — Middle  District 


BEDFORD    COUNTY 

Robert   Majors    79 

Samuel  Knox 83 

Richard    Keel    87 

Matt  Martin,  sen 77 

John  Davidson    77 

Zadoc  Wood    74 

John  Moore,  sen 80 

John  Gibbs    81 

Horatio  Coop    84 

Jackson   Lisle    78 

John    Morrison     77 


David   Ostean    79 

John  Tacke   86 

Jacob  Bledsoe   79 

Ezekiel  Reynolds    80 

Abram  Hilton   90 

James   Murry    88 

John    Williams    79 

CANNON    COUNTY 

John    Bynum    83 

Enoch    Berry    77 

John  Stephenson    89 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


265 


NAMES  AGES 

Isaac  Eoff    79 

Daniel    Carroll    77 

Hardy   Lassetor    88 

David  Faulkenburg   101 

Gisbin   Lane    89 

COFFEE    COUNTY 

Isaac    Street    78 

Morton  Jones    91 

John   Nelson    84 

Lewis   Taylor    79 

Charles    Pearson    80 

Sterling  Pearson 87 

George  D.  Sherrell    77 

DICKSON    COUNTY 

Benjamin  C.  Waters   92 

Abraham  Hogins    85 

William  Willie    90 

James  Daniel    54 

George    Clark    94 

Christopher  Strong    80 

John  Nesbitt  84 

Robert  Nesbitt,  sen 80 

Simon  Deloach    57 

William  James    45 

Gideon  Carr   90 

John   Maybourne    97 

Isaac    Walker    85 

Gustavus  Rape   77 

William   Tatorn    80 

Mary  Thompson  71 

Benjamin  Darrow 78 

DE  KALB   COUNTY 

John  Pite 81 

Leonard  Fite 81 

James  Saunders   79 

Elijah  Duncan    90 

Elijah  Hooton 93 

Joseph  Rankhorn   81 

John  Pucket    76 

John    Bevert    86 

DAVIDSON  COUNTY 

Norvell   Lipscomb    84 

Perkinson  Jackman   77 

James  Haley   84 

Peter   Leslie    80 

Gideon  Johnson    86 

James  Rarnes   79 

Nicholas  Hale   78 

Civil  District  No.  9 

Cabler  Frederick   82 

Joseph   Vick    78 


Civil  District  No.  10 

NAMES  AGES 

John  Williamson    79 

Civil  District  No.  11 
John    McCutchin    87 

Civil  District  No.  12 

William  Watkins   85 

Caleb  Mason   87 

Civil  District  No.  18 

John  Casey   77 

Isaiah  Alley    91 

Civil  District  No.  19 

Peter  Bashaw   78 

Benjamin  Morgan 78 

Civil  District  No.  20 
William  Coats 80 

Civil  District  No.  22 

John  McCaslin   90 

District  No.  23 

Thomas  Hickman   78 

District  No.  24 

Thomas  Douglass   84 

George  Smith    80 

FENTRESS  COUNTY 

Lucy    Chapman    70 

Andrew  Shortridge    85 

Anna  F^wers   78 

Jane  Evans   72 

Railey  Owen    82 

George  Chilton   88 

George  Helm 89 

Smith  Willis  78 

William  Dorse    78 

FRANKLIN  COUNTY 

Samuel   Handley    89 

Enoch  Breedon 82 

Thomas  Wakefield   76 

Elihu  Berk 75 

Patrick  McElyea   91 

Richard    Erwin     30 

William  Calwell    78 

Larkin  Ragan   93 

Ann   Wilson    40 

William   Jackson    78 

William  Calwell    78 

Jonas    Hill    76 

Jacob  Reynolds 47 

Samuel  Reynolds    84 

GILES     COUNTY 

Joseph   Jones    82 

Nathaniel  Tatum   79 

Eenry  Goodnight    79 

-John  Jones 90 

John   Everly    74 


266 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


NAMES  AGES 

John  Ross   89 

Thomas   Williams    79 

Benjamin   Cheatham    89 

James   Tinner    81 

Aaron   (irigsby 85 

John  Erwin   85 

Richard    Jones    77 

George  Dodson   79 

Hugh  King    85 

Elles  Wood   87 

John  Bradberry   104 

•  lames  Higgins,  sen 89 

John  Watkins  83 

Lester  Morris    80 

Robert  Patterson    83 

Samuel  Baker   86 

Lawson   Hobson    86 

Thomas  Hudson    78 

Samuel   Watson    7!) 

HICKMAN   COUNTY 

Elijah   Mayfield    80 

Josiah  Grimett    74 

Jordan  Milum 90 

John  Tucker   87 

Richard  Campbell 82 

Richard  Nails   77 

HUMPHREYS    COUNTY 

District  No.  1 
John   Plant    56 

District  No.  3 
Simon  Steptoe 77 

District  No.  5 

Josiah  Pucket   91 

Alexander  Anderson   85 

District  No.  9 

I  saac  Hale  78 

William   Gibson    93 

JACKSON   COUNTY 

District  No.  1 

James  Cayson   83 

Richard    Gordon     78 

District  No.  2 
Thomas  Wilkerson   77 

District  No.  3 
Reuben  Graves   79 

District  No.  4 

William  Carlisle   75 

Velvaton  Neville 76 

District  No.  5 
John    Wood     92 

District  No.  9 

Joseph    Hawkins    74 

Jeremiah    Brown    86 


District  No.  10 

NAMES  AGES 

David   Phillips    85 

Charles  Harmon  83 

District  No.  11 

David   Lyles    84 

Daniel  Ramsey   77 

District  No.  12 
.Michael    Saylers    82 

District  No.  13 

John    Henley    89 

Peter  Crumb   81 

Joseph  Jared,  sen 80 

Jacob  Newman    75 

District  No.  15 
William    Ferrel    83 

LINCOLN    COUNTY 

District  No.  1 
Thomas  Davis   81 

District  No.  2 
John  McNott   105 

District  No.  3 

Samuel  Isaacs  82 

Josiah   Brandon    80 

District  No.  6 

Thomas  Armstrong   85 

Aaron  D.  Gage  82 

William  Pamplin    77 

District  No.  7 

William  Shaw  82 

Districts  Nos.  10  &  11 

William   George    85 

Davis  Henderson    49 

W.  C.  Smith    82 

Benjamin   Rowe    82 

Philip  Koonce   75 

District  No.  14 
John   Gibson    80 

District  No.  17 
William  Beard    80 

District  No.  22 
William    Brown    .  .  .  .• 70 

District  No.  23 

John  R.  Vickers  91 

Alexander  Forbes,  sen 79 

Rapel  Smith,  sen 77 

LAWRENCE   COUNTY 

Wilson   Rogers    82 

Palmore  Kendred   95 

Richard  Robinson 104 

Joseph  Spears 80 

John  Evans  77 

Jeremiah  Bent  ley  82 

James  Waters,  sen 88 

Wm.  H.  Redding   81 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


267 


MARSHALL    COUNTY 
NAMES  AGES 

Lewis   Parham    55 

Benjamin  Copeland   76 

William   Martin    81 

John  Dysart,  sen 91 

Richard  Long,  sen 82 

James   Shaw    69 

Robert  Walker    86 

James  Wilson    86 

Ezekiel  Billington    82 

James  Bass   83 

Sylvester  Chunn 86 

Robert  Cowden  86 

Frederick  Fisher    78 

Shadraek  Weaver 74 

William  Dickson 54 

Emanuel   McConnell    84 

Jacob  Lawrance   82 

Samuel  Hilles   81 

William    Bingham    84 

Elijah  Alexander   81 

Alexander  Ewens 79 


MONTGOMERY'   COUNTY 

Benjamin  P.  Persons 58 

Lucinda   Pool    75 

John  Vick 84 

James    Fentress    77 

Alexander  Frazier   81 

Joseph   Ligon  ] , .  85 

Thomas  Hackney    88 

-lames  Bowers   84 

MAURY    COUNTY 

4th  District 
Joseph    Haynes    89 

9th  Civil  District 

Zachariah  Butler   76 

Jacob  Biffle 78 

10th   Civil   District 

Samuel  Mayers  81 

Joel   Fagg    88 

12th   Civil    District 

William  Gordon   88 

James    Mitchell    74 

14th  Civil  District 
Jacob  Gilliam    79 

15th    Civil    District 
James    Love    78 

17th    Civil    District 

Martin  True    80 

David  Dobbins '. 82 

Abner  Johnson   81 

20th    Civil    District' 
Abraham   Parker    77 

1  Great-grandfather  of  J.  B.  Killebrew. 


22d  Civil  District 

NAMES  AGES 

Jacob  W.  Young   78 

23rd   Civil   District 

James    Lockridge    84 

James  Hardison    81 

Elisha   Williams    80 

David    Long    82 

24th    Civil   District 

George    Barker    81 

OVERTON    COUNTY 

Samuel  Tays   79 

Cornelius   Carmack    82 

William  Phillips,  sen 91 

Jesse  Ashlock   84 

Abraham  Sevier   80 

Henry  Dillon 80 

Benjamin    Reader    80 

Henry   Hoover,  sen 86 

Joseph  Taylor,  sen 78 

Smith  Ferril    , 80 

Andrew  Swallow 80 

David  Gentry,  sen 97 

George  Henderson    81 

RUTHERFORD  COUNTY 

Cornelius  Saunders   79 

William  Burnett  91 

John  M.  Leak   88 

George   C.   Booth    82 

John    Ealter    81 

Joseph    Bennett    83 

John  Bruce    45 

Peter  Jennings   88 

William  Mitchell    75 

William  Leckie   77 

A.  Miles   91 

John    Bradly     84 

Samuel    Rillough    77 

Joshua  Ford 83 

James  Saunders   77 

John  Brown 80 

John  Stephenson 87 

John  Barclay    77 

Jordan  Williford    85 

Benjamin   Todd    78 

Daniel  Bowman    82 

John   Newman,   sen 85 

Thomas  Blanton   78 

Stephen  White    77 

Joseph    Newman     81 

Timothy  Parker   81 

George  Bruce   81 

John   Stone    76 

Daniel  McCoy   89 

Nathaniel  Winston   73 

Svlvania  Tucker  84 

John   Clark    80 


268 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


ROBERTSON    COUNTY 
NAMES  AGES 

John  C.  Coon 85 

Charles    Gent    85 

James  Jones   88 

David  Jones 86 

Martin  Walton   79 

William  W.  Walker    25 

David   Henry    89 

Pendal  Roland    80 

John  Zeek   81 

Charles  Ellison  76 

Ann  White    81 

SMITH    COUNTY 

Willis  Hodges   93 

Philip    Pope    ! 78 

William  Denny  47 

Isom   Beasley    87 

Elizabeth  Darnes   79 

Ann  Ford 67 

Robin  Hayse   46 

Berry  Gregory   79 

William  Gregory    76 

Francis   Cauly    100 

Dabney  Cooper  84 

Henry  Wakefield    88 

Benjamin  Jones   81 

Susanna  Boon   79 

STEWART   COUNTY 

Thomas  French    88 

John  Ross    88 

Benjamin  Daniel    87 

Alexander  Anderson    88 

SUMNER   COUNTY 

Bathl.  Stovall 80 

Thomas  Parrish    80 

John    Carney,   sen 106 

Reuben  Pruett 80 

William  Fortune 94 

James    Gamblin    90 

Hudson  Thompson 77 

William  Beard   86 

William  Bruce    77 

•Tames   Pond    75 

John  McMurtry    86 

Joseph   Jackson    84 

Henry  Pitt    75 

John  B.  Miller   79 

Richard  Johnson    80 

Elijah  Bayles   81 

John  Sloan    82 

John   Cleburne    82 

Benjamin  Haynes 94 

William   Morris    80 


NAMES  AGES 

John  McClung 80 

Albert  Hendricks  80 

Samuel  Cochram,  sen 84 

William  May 85 

John   McAdams    79 

Bzekiel   Marshall    82 

William  Bell   82 

WHITE    COUNTY 

District  No.  2 

Patrick  Hewet 100 

John   White,   sen 83 

Turner  Lane,  sen 78 

John   H.   Miller    77 

District  No.  3 

Edward  He'ton 77 

Thomas  Hill   84 

Elijah  Alverson    78 

District  No.  4 

Thomas  Crawley    86 

District  No.  5 

Burgess    Clark    77 

George  Ailsworth   83 

District  No.  8 

John  Ditty 84 

John  Ellisson    78 

District  No.  11 

Thomas  Welch    91 

District  No.  12 

Alexander  Cooper 77 

Samuel  Weaver    78 

Henry   Marsh    75 

William  Bertram    81 

Isaac  Graham   100 

John  Weaver    78 

District  No.  13 

Solomon  Yager,   sen 82 

District  No.  15 

Thomas  Moore    78 

Abel   Pearson    78 

Thomas  Shoekley   80 

Joseph  Cummings 78 

Jesse   Hopkins    78 

Samuel .  Moore    81 

WAYNE    COUNTY 

Benjamin  Shaw   75 

Richard  Copeland,  sen 81 

Zacliariah  Goforth   81 

Robert  Cypert 85 

Isaac   Horton,   sen 81 

John  Broadway    80 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


269 


WILLIAMSON    COUNTY 
NAMES  AGES 

James   Potts    81 

Benjamin  Ragsdale    82 

Tapley  M.  Lightfoot 81 

Isaac  Ferguson  83 

Charles   Allen,   sen 82 

Joshua  Pierce   82 

Richard  Vernon    82 

Jacob   Grimmer    84 

John    Secrest    82 

William  Kennedy  85 

Zachariah  Smith 81 

Robinson   Ross    78 

20th  District 

David  Ivy    82 

Laban  Hartley    95 

Sherrod  Smith    79 

John  Hall    83 

WILSON    COUNTY 

Samuel    Shepard    78 

Abednego  Rutland   80 

Samuel  Williams    80 

John  Crunk 78 

John  W.  Beashainp   33 

John   Garrison    82 

John  Gunn,  sen 80 


NAMES  AGES 

Robert  Crisswell  80 

Nancy  Williams    83 

George  Avery   70 

William  L.  Sypert    45 

Thomas    Conner    83 

John    Bonner    76 

William  Colly 88 

Austin    Colly    84 

Susan  Oakley    82 

Moses   Allen    86 

Henry    Criswell    80 

Jonathan   Tipton    85 

Charles  Blalock    75 

William  Donald    94 

Charles  Smith  88 

William  Teag   78 

WARREN    COUNTY 

Robert    Brown    78 

Thomas  Brown    91 

William  Bond   75 

John  Cunningham    93 

Samuel  Hand    85 

Reuben  Roberts,  sen 80 

Robert  Carson 87 

John    Lockheart    83 

John  Kersy   84 


State  op  Tennessee — Western  District 


BENTON    COUNTY 

William  Cockran    73 

Samuel  Wadkins    80 

Thomas  Petty   76 

CARROLL   COUNTY 

Elias  Miars    83 

Thomas  Seamore    80 

William  Matheny   96 

Pleasant   Henderson    84 

John   McKenzie    84 

Frederick   Miller    81 

Matthew  Sparks   7!) 

Jonathan  Montgomery    78 

John    Chambers    88 

Arthur  Brown    78 

William  Whitesides   77 

DYER  COUNTY 

John  Given  76 

Joseph  Scoby  66 

FAYETTE   COUNTY 

Samuel    Martin    84 

David   Blalock    93 

Mark   Miller    75 


James  McKee    76 

Benjamin  Starret 76 

John  Birdsong 77 

Andrew    Pickens    86 

James  Belloat   80 

Henry  Randolph    84 

( 'liarles  Turner 75 

Hugh   Luekey    77 

GIBSON    COUNTY 

Thomas  Frazier    81 

Thomas    May    78 

David  Hambleton 89 

Stephen  Richards 75 

John   Crisp    85 

Beverly  Williams   57 

Thomas   Morton    45 

James  Givens    76 

Anderson  Davis   50 

Josiah   Reed    84 

Jacob   Trout    105 

James  Bell 79 

HARDIN    COUNTY 

1st  District 

William  Lingo 44 

Allegany  McGuire    78 


270 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


2nd   District 
\  \  M  ES  AGES 

Ezekiel  Fortner   79 

5th   District 

John  Throp  63 

7th  District 

George   Ross    79 

8th  District 

Stephen    Austin    82 

John    Perkins    77 

9th  District 

Shadraek  Nolen 89 

10th  District 

Richard  Strame   77 

12th  District 

Samuel   McFerren    79 

HARDEMAN    COUNTY 

Sanies    Vales    82 

Richard  Glasgow    87 

Jeremiah  Doxcy   87 

John   Holiday    78 

Elijah  Warren   87 

HENDERSON    COUNTY 

Joseph    Purviance    78 

Nathan  Green   80 

Archibald   McCorcle    81 

John    Foster    86 

Daniel  Murphy 78 

John  Andrews 52 

HAYWOOD  COUNTY 

Westword  A.  Jones   64 

John    Maxwell    76 

Hemdon  Hamilton   82 

John    Moore    77 

HENRY    COUNTY 

Elias  Bowden   77 

Daniel  Rogers  72 

Alexander   Craig    85 

Polly  Simmons    74 

Susanna  Palmer   77 

Matthew  Alexander   85 

William  Powel    74 

Joseph  Weatherington 82 

Matthew    Myrick    88 

James  Haynes 79 

Mai-tin   Neace,  sen 82 

William    Bunton    73 

Robert  Ramsey   82 

Britton    George    102 


LAUDERDALE    COUNTY 
NAMES  AGES 

James  Barefield 58 

Sharrack    Elkins    79 

MC  NAIRY  COUNTY 

Pugh   Cannon    80 

Jovan    Cox    79 

Alexander  N.  McColler,  sen 81 

William   Barns    75 

Robert   Moore    78 

James  Roland    87 

John*  Stewart    83 

Daniel  Hill    83 

Robert   Rankin    83 

Allen   Sweat    , 81 

MADISON   COUNTY 

Daniel  Madding   45 

Ann  Fenner    73 

David  Eckleburger 43 

Jonas   Clark,   sen 82 

Bradley  Medlin 80 

OBION     COUNTY 

Thomas   Parker    85 

PERRY    COUNTY 

Philip    Rushing    78 

Bartholomew  Murphev   81 

John    Tolly    * :  . .  .  78 

William  Higginbottom 79 

James    Kelly    81 

John  Eply   78 

Edward  Box    68 

William   Gibson    92 

Richard  Rushing    92 

John   Bregins    67 

SHELBY    COUNTY 

A.    B.    Shannon    48 

William  Hope  79 

TIPTON    COUNTY 

Col.  Thomas  Good   81 

William  McFerrin    85 

Vincent   Voss    84 

Henry  Yarbrough,  sen 84 

WEAKLEY  COUNTY 

John    Chester    88 

Presley    Thonton    86 


PERIOD  II 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  ADMISSION  OF  TENNESSEE  AS  A  STATE 

AND 
THE  FIRST  SERIES  OF  ADMINISTRATIONS  OF.  JOHN  SEVIER 

The  adoption  of  the  constitution  for  the  State  of  Tennessee  created  a  pro- 
found impression,  not  only  in  Tennessee  but  also  in  Congress  and  throughout 
the  United  States.  Immediately  antagonism  to  the  admission  of  this  state  sprang 
up  on  the  part  of  the  federalists  who,  with  reason,  feared  the  republican  tend- 
encies of  the  people  of  this  state. 

Governor  Blount,  as  president  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,  in  obedience 
to  its  direction  forwarded  a  copy  of  the  constitution  adopted  to  Timothy 
Pickering,  secretary  of  state  of  the  United  States.  The  messenger  was  Joseph 
McMinn,  a  member  of  the  convention  and  later,  1815-1821,  governor  of  Ten- 
nessee. Blount  also  notified  Pickering  that  the  Territorial  Government  would 
cease  on  March  28th,  the  date  set  for  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly, 
in  accordance  with  writs  of  election,  dated  February  6th,  which  had  been  issued 
by  the  president  of  the  convention  to  the  sheriffs  of  the  several  counties,  re- 
quiring them  to  hold  the  first  election  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and 
governor  of  the  State  of  Tennessee. 

The  election  was  held  and  John  Sevier  was  elected  governor ;  but  Blount 's 
communication  to  Pickering  was  not  received  until  February  28th,  and  was  not 
transmitted  to  Congress  until  April  8th,  eleven  days  after  the  state  government 
had  gone  into  operation.  Before  that  date  Gen.  Daniel  Smith  had  made  his 
final  official  report  to  the  Federal  Government  and  Governor  Blount  had  been 
elected  United  States  senator,  had  accepted  the  office  and  was  on  his  way  to 
Philadelphia  where  Congress  was  in  session. 

The  new  Legislature  convened  on  March  28th  and  organized.  James  Win- 
chester was  elected  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  James  Stuart,  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives. 

INAUGURATION   OP   GOVERNOR  JOHN   SEVIER 

The  inauguration  of  Governor  Sevier  took  place  on  March  30th:  "Both 
Houses  having  convened  in  the  representative  chamber,  the  several  oaths  pre- 
seribed  were  duly  administered  by  the  Hon.  Joseph  Anderson." 

The  governor  then  presented  to  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  the 
following  address  which  was  ordered  to  be  inserted  in  the  journals: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives: — The  high  and 
honourable  appointment  conferred  upon  me  by  the   tree  suffrage  of  my  coun- 

271 


272         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

trymen,  fills  my  breasl  with  gratitude,  which,  I  trust,  my  future  life  will 
manifest.  I  lake  this  early  opportunity  to  express,  through  you,  my  thanks 
in  the  strongest  terms  of  acknowledgment.  I  shall  labour  to  discharge  with 
fidelity  the  trust  reposed  in  me;  and  if  such  my  exertions  should  prove  satis- 
factory, the  first    wish  of  my  heart  will  be  gratified. 

"Gentlemen,  accept  of  my  best  wishes  for  your  individual  and  public  hap- 
piness; And,  relying  upon  your  wisdom  and  patriotism,  1  have  no  doubt  but 
the  result  of  your  deliberations  will  give  permanency  and  success  to  our  new 
system  of  government,  so  wisely  calculated  to  secure  the  liberty,  and  advance 
the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  our  fellow  citizens." 

For  United  States  senators  the  House  nominated  William  Mount,  William 
Cocke  and  Joseph  Anderson  in  which  nominations  the  Senate  concurred  and 
added  the  name  of  Dr.  James  White,  formerly  the  representative  in  Congress 
of  the  Territory  South  of  the  River  Ohio.  The  names  of  -Judge  Anderson  and 
Doctor  White  were  withdrawn  and  Blount  and  Cocke  were  elected.  A  joint 
committee  of  which  Doctor  White  was  chairman  wrote  complimentary  addresses 
of  notification  of  election  to  '"citizen"  William  Blount  and  "citizen"  William 
Cocke  and  the  new  senators  replied  in  a  similar  vein  of  good  feeling.1 

William  Mac' in  was  elected  secretary  of  state.  John  McNairy,  Willie  Blount 
and  Archibald  Roane  were  elected  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and 
Equity.  Landon  Carter  was  elected  treasurer  of  the  districts  of  Washington 
and  Ilami'ton,  and  William  Black,  treasurer  of  the  District  of  Mero. 

In  place  of  Willie  Blount,  who  declined  to  serve,  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne  was 
elected  judge  on  September  28,  1796;  and  in  place  of  John  McNairy  who  also 
declined,  Howell  Tatum  was  elected  on  May  12,  1797.- 

SITUATION  OF  THE  PEOI'LE  SOUTH  OF  THE  FRENCH  BROAD  AND  HOLSTON 

The  peculiar  and  deplorable  situation  of  the  people  dwelling  south  of  the 
French  Broad  and  Holston  rivers  has  already  been  related;  and,  although 
they  had  formed  an  association  for  their  own  government,  they  were,  without 
perfect  titles  to  their  lands  which  they  held  by  the  right  of  occupancy.  This 
was  a  condition  which  appealed  strongly  to  the  sympathy  of  Governor  Sevier, 
and  it  was  one  of  the  subjects  which  he  brought  before  the  Legislature  in  this 
short  session  which  adjourned  April  23,  1796. 

On  April  11th,  Governor  Sevier  addressed  this  message  to  the  Legislature : 

"Mr.  Speaker  and  Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assembly:  Permit  me  to  re- 
mark to  your  honorable  body,  that  our  senators  are  about  to  proceed  to  the 
Federal  Legislature.  It  may  not  be  inexpedient  to  remind  them  of  the  neces- 
sity of  taking  under  consideration,  the  embarrassed  situation  claimants  of  land 
are  under,  to  those  lying  south  of  the  line  concluded  on  in  the  treaty  of  Holston. 
and  now  within  the  Indian  boundary. 

"In  my  humble  opinion,  it  is  a  matter  of  great  public  importance  and  par- 
ticularly interesting  to  the  State  and  to  individuals,  to  either  have  the  Indian 
claims  extinguished,  or  the  adventurers  compensated  for  those  lands. 

"I  have  no  doubt  that  you  will  take  the  premises  under  due  deliberation, 
and  give  your  senators  such  instructions  as  you,  in  your  wisdom,  may  deem 
necessary  and  advisable. 

John  Sevier." 


1  See  Ramsey,  pp.   660-662. 

2  See  Ramsey,   p.   662. 


JOHN  SEVIER 

Pioneer  builder  who  fought  thirty-five  battles  with  the  Indians 

and  was  victorious  in  every  one 


jH£   }iPSA»V 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  275 

Accordingly  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  instructing  the 
"Senators  and  Representatives  of  this  State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States"  to  tell  that  bod}'  that  measures  ought  to  be  taken  to  relieve  the 
situation. 

On  April  22,  1796,  the  day  before  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature. 
Governor  Sevier  sent  a  message  to  that  body  calling  attention  to  the  need  of 
protecting  the  frontiers,  of  the  rapid  immigration,  and  of  the  fact  that  the 
brave  officers  and  privates  in  the  last  campaign  were  still  unpaid. 

On  the  next  day  the  Legislature  made  reply  expressing  confidence  both  in 
the  general  government  and  in  Governor  Sevier. 

At  this  session  Tennessee  County,  which  gave  up  its  name  in  favor  of  the 
state,  was  divided  and  two  new  counties,  Robertson  and  Montgomery,  were 
carved  out  of  it. 

The  Legislature  also  carved  Carter  County  out  of  Washington  County. 

Grainger  County,  named  for  Mrs.  William  Blount,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Mary  Grainger,  was  laid  off  April  22,  1796. 

George  Rutledge  was  elected  brigadier-general  in  place  of  General  Sevier, 
now  governor,  and  James  Winchester,  brigadier-general,  in  place  of  General 
Robertson,  resigned  in  consequence  of  criticisms  relative  to  the  Nickajack  cam- 
paign, and  George  Conway,  major-general.  The  last  named  was  succeeded  by 
Andrew  Jackson. 

LEGISLATION    OP    THE    FIRST    SESSION 

The  first  act  passed  was  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  number  of 
judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity.  This  is  mentioned  par- 
ticularly, because  so  many  writers  on  historical  subjects  have  given  out  so 
many  erroneous  statements  as  to  what  the  first  act  was. 

Among  the  other  acts  passed  at  this  session  was  one  for  establishing  a 
treasury  department ;  one  for  directing  the  mode  of  electing  members  of  Con- 
gress, dividing  the  state  into  the  Holston  and  Cumberland  districts,  each  being 
entitled  to  one  representative  in  Congress;  one  for  providing  for  appointment 
by  the  Legislature  of  electors  for  President  and  vice  president  of  the  United 
States;  one  for  providing  payment  of  salary  of  the  governor  amounting  to  $7.">() 
annually;  one  for  compensation  for  members  of  the  Legislature  of  $1.75  per 
day. 

Although  the  General  Assembly  was  in  session  only  twenty-seven  days,  it 
performed  its  legislative  functions  as  if,  in  truth,  Tennessee  were  already  a 
member  of  the  Union,  whereas  it  was  not  admitted  until  June  1,  1796.  The 
governor,  too,  proceeded  to  issue  commissions  to  all  the  civil  and  military 
officers  in  all  the  counties  of  the  state. 

On  April  8th,  President  Washington  transmitted  to  Congress  the  letter  witli 
enclosures  sent  by  Governor  Blount  to  Secretary  Pickering,  advising  him  of  the 
action  of  the  Constitutional  Assembly,  and  accompanied  the  letter  with  a 
message  reciting  the  Act  of  Congress  of  May  26,  1790,  conferring  on  the  Ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States  South  of  the  River  Ohio  all  the  rights  and  privileges 
possessed  by  the  Northwest  Territory,  including  the  privilege  of  adopting  ;i 
constitution  and  of  forming  a  state  government  and  concluding  with  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph  : 

"As  proofs  of  the  several  requisites  to  entitle  the  Territory  South  of  the 


276  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

River  Ohio,  to  be  admitted,  as  a  State,  into  the  Union,  Governor  Blount  has 
transmitted  a  return  of  the  enumeration  of  its  inhabitants,  and  a  printed 
copy  of  the  Constitution  and  form  of  Government,  on  which  they  have  agreed, 
which  with  his  letters  accompanying  the  same,  are  herewith  laid  before  Con- 
gress. ' ' 

The  application  of  Tennessee  for  statehood  in  the  Union  became,  as  was 
anticipated,  a  political  question.  The  federalists,  who  were  strongest  in  New 
England,  feared  the  influence  and  the  commei-ee  of  the  lusty  young  states  which 
might  probably  be  carved  out  of  the  Southwest  which  section  was  only  remotely 
interested  in  whale  oil  and  cod-fish,  products  which  the  federalists  so  much 
wished  protected  that,  ten  years  before,  John  Jay  had  advised  that  the  United 
States  abandon  to  Spain  for  twenty-five  years  the  exclusive  navigation  of  the 
Mississippi  in  return  for  their  purchase  of  the  favorite  commodities  of  the 
northeastern  seacoast  communities. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  know  that  when  the  subject  was  referred 
to  an  appropriate  committee  of  the  House,  of  which  Dearborn  was  chairman, 
and  that  committee  made  a  favorable  report  ending  with  these  words:  "and 
that  the  State  of  Tennessee  is  hereby  declared  to  be  one  of  the  sixteen  United 
States  of  America,"  then  the  opposition  was  made  manifest  most  vigorously. 

Rufus  King,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate,  to  whom  the  same 
subject  was  referred,  made  a  long  report  against  the  admission  of  Tennessee, 
on  two  grounds: 

1.  That  Congress  should  first  declare  the  whole  territory  ceded  by  North 
Carolina  to  be  one  state. 

2.  That  provision  be  made  for  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  under  the 
authority  of  the  Federal  Government. 

THE   ADMISSION    OF   TENNESSEE 

In  the  meantime  the  two  senators,  Blount  and  Cocke,  had  proceeded  to 
Philadelphia,  then  the  seat  of  the  Federal  Government,  but  were  not  admitted 
to  membership  in  the  Senate,  because  they  had  been  elected  before  the  admission 
of  Tennessee  into  the  Union. 

The  act  which  finally  passed  admitting  Tennessee  as  a  member  of  the  Federal 
Union  is  as  follows : 

"An  act  for  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  into  the  Union — Ap- 
proved June  1,  1796. 

"Whereas  by  the  acceptance  of  the  deed  of  cession  of  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  Congress  are  bound  to  lay  out  into  one  or  more  States,  the  territory 
thereby  ceded  to  the  United  States ; 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  whole  of  the  territory  ceded 
to  the  United  States  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  shall  be  one  state,  and  the 
same  is  hereby  declared  to  be  one  of  the  United  States  of  America,  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  states,  in  all  respects  whatever  by  the  name  and  title 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee.  That  until  the  next  general  census,  the  said  State 
of  Tennessee  shall  be  entitled  to  one  Representative  in  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  the  United  States;  and  in  all  other  respects,  as  far  as  they  may  be 
applicable,  the  laws  of  the  United  States  shall  extend  to,  and  have  force  in  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  in  the  same  manner,  as  if  that  State  had  originally  been 
one  of  the  United  States." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  277 

In  the  House  of  Representatives  the  bill  for  the  admission  was  favored  by 
such  strong  advocates  as  Thomas  Blount,  a  brother  of  William  Blount,  James 
Madison  and  Albert  Gallatin.  They  argued  that,  as  the  territory  had  attained 
a  population  of  60,000  free  inhabitants  and  had  adopted  a  constitution  and 
form  of  government  it  became  a  state  of  the  Union  and  was  entitled  to  all  rights, 
privileges  and  advantages  of  statehood.  This  view  prevailed  and  the  bill  passed 
in  the  House  on  the  6th  of  May,  by  a  vote  of  forty-three  to  thirty. 

On  May  26th,  the  Senate  passed  a  bill,  by  a  vote  of  fifteen  to  eight,  provid- 
ing for  the  erection  into  a  state  of  the  territory  ceded  to  the  United  States  by 
North  Carolina  and  for  an  enumeration  of  its  inhabitants.  The  House  proposed 
an  amendment  substituting  the  provisions  of  their  bill,  which  proposition  the 
Senate  declined  to  accept.  At  the  request  of  the  House  conference  committees 
were  appointed  and  on  May  31st  the  Senate  receded  from  their  nonconcurrence 
with  the  proposition  of  the  House,  the  effect  of  which  action  was  the  passage  of 
the  bill.  On  the  following  day,  June  1,  1790,  it  was  signed  by  President  Wash- 
ington, and  thus  Tennessee  became  the  sixteenth  state  of  the  Federal  Union, 
the  first  member  erected  out  of  a  territory  of  the  United  States. 

REASONS    FOR    AN   EXTRAORDINARY    SESSION    AND    A    NEW    ELECTION    OP 
UNITED   STATES   SENATORS 

Two  acts  passed  by  the  spring  session  of  the  General  Assembly  caused  un- 
expected difficulties.     These  were : 

Act  X,  which  provided  for  laying  off  two  congressional  districts  when  but 
one  representative  in  Congress  was  allowed  to  Tennessee ;  and 

Act  XI,  which  provided  for  the  election  of  four  electors  for  President  and 
vice  president,  when  the  state  was  entitled  to  but  three  electors. 

Governor  Sevier,  therefore,  found  it  expedient  on  July  4,  1796,  to  summon 
the  General  Assembly  to  convene  on  the  last  Saturday  of  the  same  month  (July 
30)  that  legislation  might  be  had  that  proper  relations  with  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment might  be  established. 

The  General  Assembly  met  on  the  day  appointed  and  Governor  Sevier  sent 
it  a  message,  calling  attention  to  the  need  of  repealing  Acts  X  and  XI  of  the 
preceding  session  and  of  again  electing  United  States  senators. 

He  also  spoke  of  the  admission  of  the  state  in  the  following  language: 

' '  I  have  the  pleasure  of  announcing  to  you,  gentlemen,  the  admission  :!  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee  into  the  Federal  Union,  a  circumstance  pregnant  with 
every  prospect  of  peace,  happiness  and  opulence  to  our  infant  State." 

The  Senate  promptly  nominated  James  White,  William  Blount,  William 
Cocke  and  David  Campbell.    Blount  and  Cocke  were  again  elected. 

On  August  third  an  Act  was  passed  providing  for  the  election  of  one  repre- 
sentative in  Congress,  and  repealing  the  Act  of  the  preceding  session  which 
authorized  the  election  of  two  representatives.  Under  the  provisions  of  this 
Act  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  without  opposition  as  the  first  representative 


3  The  Legislature  of  1852  ordered  reprinted  the  Journals  of  the  Territorial  Council;  of 
the  Convention  of  179o';  and  of  the  first  and  second  sessions  of  the  Genera]  Assembly  of 
Tennessee  for  1796.  The  reader  is  referred  to  these  for  study  of  the  action  of  Tennessee  in 
the  matter  of  her  application  for  admission  to  the  Union.  In  the  State  Library  is  a  volume 
in   which   all   of   tin  se   reprints  are   bound. 


278  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

from  Tennessee  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  Be  was  the  second  of- 
ficer of  this  state  elected  by  the  votes  of  the  people.  Governor  Sevier  having 
been  the  first.  Jackson  took  his  seat  on  December  5,  1796,  and  distinguished 
himself  in  that  session  of  ( 'ongress. 

On  August  16th,  the  Act  providing  for  the  election  of  four  electors  of  Presi- 
dent and  vice  president  of  the  United  States  was  repealed  and.  a  new  Act  was 
passed  providing  for  the  election  of  three  electors. 

The  feeling  of  resentment  against  taxation  without  representation,  which 
has  prevailed  since  colonial  times,  appeared  in  the  reply  of  William  Cocke 
to  the  notification  that  he  had  been  elected  United  States  senator.  It  doubtless 
reflected  the  temper  of  the  people  of  the  state  of  that  time.     It  reads  as  follows: 

"Gentlemen:  Nothing  can  be  a  higher  reward  for  faithful  services  than 
the  approbation  of  a  free  people — I  call  my  country  free,  because  by  their 
Constitution  they  are  so. 

'"1  cannot  help  mentioning  to  you,  I  feel  the  deepest  concern  to  see  our 
dearest  rights  invaded  by  the  supreme  legislature  of  the  nation.  We  are  by 
them  made  subject  to  the  payment  of  taxes,  while  we  have  been  unjustly  de- 
prived of  representation. 

"  We  have  been  deprived  of  the  use  of  our  property  for  public  convenience, 
without  any  compensation  being  made;  and  acts  in  the  style  of  laws  have 
passed,  declaring  it  highly  penal  to  enjoy  the  free  use  thereof;  such  rude  at- 
tacks on  our  constitutional  rights  should  be  remonstrated  against  with  freedom 
and  firmness. 

"1  hope  our  opponents  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  will  be  unable 
to  find  another  quibble  whereby  to  deprive  us  of  an  equal  share  of  the  rep- 
resentation that  shall  make  the  laws  by  which  we  are  to  be  governed. 

"I  am.  with  greal   respect,  your  obedient  servant,  William  Cocke." 

They,  also,  on  the  last  day  of  the  session  passed  a  resolution  "that  it  shall 
lie  the  duty  of  the  senators  and  representatives  of  this  state,  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  to  lay  a  remonstrance  of  the  Legislature  before  Congress, 
and  endeavor  that  the  object  thereof  he  obtained." 

This  remonstrance  was  prepared  in  behalf  of  the  people  who  had  settled 
south  of  the  line  claimed  by  the  Cherokees  as  the  boundary.  This  was  one  of 
many  efforts  to  have  land  titles  in  East  Tennessee  made  clear.  The  controversy 
between  these  settlers  and  the  Indians  about  the  boundary  was  fraught  with 
imminent  danger  of  precipitating  an  Indian  war  and  it  required  the  exercise 
of  all  of  Governor  Sevier's  diplomacy  to  keep  the  settlers  patient  and  the  In- 
dians in  a  peaceable  frame  of  mind. 

The  State  of  Franklin  had  made  the  treaty  of  Dumplin  and  Coyatee  in  ac- 
cordance with  which  the  settlers  poured  in,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  were  com- 
pelled to  form  an  association  for  their  own  government  after  the  collapse  of 
the  Franklin  regime. 

By  the  treaty  of  Holston  in  1791  the  boundary  was  agreed  upon  but  the 
line  was  not  run  until  some  time  later.  In  the  meantime  more  settlers  came  in 
and  pushed  ever  onward  into  the  Indian  territory  until  some  of  them  had  made 
their  homes  as  far  south  as  the  Little  Tennessee  River,  and  others  had  settled  in 
Powell's  Valley. 

In  order  to  enforce  an  Act  of  Congress,  passed  in  May,  1796,  "to  regulate 
trade  and  intercourse  with  the  Indian  Tribes,  and  to  preserve  peace  on  the  fron- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  279 

tier,"  two  companies  of  United  States  troops,  commanded  by  Capt.  Richard 
Sparks  and  Capt.  John  Wade,  were  stationed  at  Knoxville.  This  action,  involv- 
ing the  requirement  that  the  settlers,  who  had  made  their  homes  within  the 
Indian  lands,  should  withdraw  from  them,  created  the  utmost  excitement  in 
Tennessee  and  attracted  the  attention  and  interest  of  the  whole  Union ;  and. 
although  the  Federal  officers  acted  with  tact  and  discretion,  the  influence  of 
the  authorities  of  Tennessee  was  necessary  to  assist  in  promoting  obedience  to 
the  law  of  Congress.  The  opinions,  also,  of  the  far-sighted  and  conservative 
elements  supported  the  attitude  of  the  two  captains  and  was  reflected  by  the 
following  statement  which  appeared  in  the  Knoxville  Gazette,  which,  established 
by  George  Roulstone  4  in  1791,  had  already  attained  a  position  of  recognized 
power: 

"It  (the  circular  issued  by  the  captains)  is  so  replete  with  mildness  and 
moderation,  that  the  most  obstinate  disposition  cannot  but  concur  with  them 
in  opinion,  that  it  is  better  to  meet  the  wishes  of  these  gentlemen,  than  by  a 
perverse  conduct  compel  them  to  measures  which  may  terminate  in  unhappy 
consequences, " 

A  correspondent,  who  signed  himself  "Many,"  also  wrote  to  the  same  pur- 
port. But  there  were  others,  notably  one  who  subscribed  his  communications 
•Campbell,"  supposed  to  be  Col.  Arthur  Campbell,  who  argued  the  question 
ably  and  urged  that  the  members  of  Congress  from  Tennessee  "use  their  in- 
dustry to  have  the  Act  repealed." 

Messrs.  Blount  and  Cocke,  senators,  and  Andrew  Jackson,  representative. 
became  active  in  the  matter,  and  a  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Senate 
that  the  President  of  the  United  States  be  requested  to  make  a  treaty  with  the 
Indians  to  extinguish  their  title  to  the  lands  occupied  by  the  whites  but  claimed 
by  the  Indians.     This  resolution,  however,  was  rejected. 

The  intruders  were  removed  and  a  triangular  controversy  concerning  pub- 
lic lands  ensued  between  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  the  United  States  which 
was  not  disposed  of  until  1806.  Under  an  Act  of  North  Carolina  a  land  of- 
fice' had  been  opened  in  Washington  County  in  1777,  and  one  in  Sullivan 
County  in  1779.  Both  of  these  offices  were  closed  in  1781.  In  1783  a  land 
office  known  as  John  Armstrong's  office  was  opened  in  Hillsboro,  N.  G,  but 
was  closed  in  1784,  when  that  state  made  the  first  cession  of  its  western  terri- 
tory. From  this  time  there  was  no  land  office  in  Tennessee  for  twenty-two  years, 
an  anomalous  condition  which  was  decidedly  detrimental  to  both  public  and 
private  welfare. 

LAWS  OP  THE    UNITED  STATES   EFFECTIVE   IN    TENNESSEE 

On  January  31,  17!)7,  Congress  passed  an  Act  giving  effect  to  the  Federal 
laws  within  the  State  of  Tennessee.  By  the  second  section  of  this  Act,  the  state 
was  made  one  district  of  the  United  States,  called  Tennessee  District.  A  Dis- 
trict Court  was  established  whose  four  sessions  in  each  year  were  to  be  held 
alternately  at  Knoxville  and  Nashville.  By  the  fourth  section  of  the  Act  the 
state  was  made  one  collector's  district,  the  office  of  which   was  designated  to  lie 

'This  paper  was  established  at  Rogersville,  in  Hawkins  County,  on  November  5,  1791. 
It  was  called  the  Knoxville  Gazette,  because  it  was  the  intention  of  Roulstone  to  publish  it 
in    Knoxville   which   Governor   Blount    had   decided    to  he  the   seat    of    in-    government.     See 

Ramsey,  pp.  ."."7  ".is. 


280  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

at  Palmyra,5  the  only  port  of  entry  or  delivery  of  goods,  wares  and  merchan- 
dise, nol  the  growth  or  manufacture  of  the  United  States  in  the  entire  West. 

THE  EXPULSION  FROM  THE  SENATE  OF  WILLIAM  BLOUNT 

It  may  be  said  that  the  question  of  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River 
was  the  undoing  of  William  Blount.  He  had  so  much  at  heart  the  interests 
of  the  people  of  the  Southwest  and  especially  those  of  Tennessee  that  he  over- 
looked no  opportunity  to  advance  them.  In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
1796  it  was  lie  who  caused  the  adoption  of  that  section  of  the  Bill  of  Rights 
which  declared  the  inalienable  right  of  the  citizens  of  their  state  to  the  free 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  opposition  to  the  admission  of  Tennessee  was 
fomented  by  the  federalist  partisans  in  Congress.  Their  fears  of  the  republican 
tendencies  of  Tennessee  were  amply  justified  at  the  next  national  election  (in 
1797)  when  this  state  ardently  supported  the  republican  candidates  for  Presi- 
dent and  vice  president.  In  a  letter  to  Governor  Sevier  dated  September  26, 
1796,  Senator  Blount  declared  it  his  opinion  "that  it  will  be  the  true  interest 
of  Tennessee  in  particular,  and  of  the  Union  in  general,  to  promote  the  interest 
of  Jefferson  and  Burr  for  President  and  vice  president."  Nevertheless  the 
federalists  were  victorious  and  John  Adams  was  elected  President. 

In  the  spring  and  summer  of  1797  the  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  France  were  greatly  strained.  There  was,  indeed,  danger  of  war  between 
these  two  countries,  formerly  friends  and  allies.  By  the  treaty  signed  in  1783 
Great  Britain  had  recognized  our  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
si  ppi  River.  After  ten  years  of  harassing  controversy  Spain  had  conceded  this 
right  in  1795.  But  France  had  not  conceded  it;  and  it  was  strongly  suspected 
that,  by  a  secret  treaty,  France  had  acquired  the  Spanish  possessions  of  Florida 
and  Louisiana.  In  this  exigency  and  out  of  his  abundant  patriotism  William 
Blount  began  to  set  in  motion  agencies  which  lie  hoped  would  free  his  country 
and  especially  the  western  and  southwestern  sections  of  it  from  their  intolerable 
entanglements.  Just  what  his  plan  was  probably  never  will  be  known.  There 
is  a  dearth  of  information  on  this  point.  Indeed,  the  histories  of  Tennessee  have 
little  to  say  about  this  entire  episode,  generally  dismissing  it  with  a  careless 
or  perfunctory  sentence  or  two.  Its  importance,  however,  is  so  great  as  to 
warrant  the  use  of  liberal  space  for  the  proper  exposition  of  it.  William  Blount 
was  the  first  man  expelled  from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  This  fact, 
and  his  high  character,  and  justice  to  his  memory  require  a  thorough  considera- 
tion of  his  conduct  which,  in  some  respects,  is  still  mysterious. 

Fearing  the  attitude  of  France,  Blount  took  steps  toward  the  opening  of 
negotiations  with  England  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  that  country  to  secure 
control  of  the  Spanish  possessions.  It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  he  contemplated 
inducing  an  armed  invasion  of  Florida  and  Louisiana  by  any  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  However,  pending  the  putting  into  execution  of  whatever  plan 
he  had  in  mind  he  wrote  his  famous  "Carey  letter,"  to  James  Carey  at  Tellico 
Block  House,  then  located  in  what  is  now  Monroe  County,  Tenn.     This  letter 


a  Palmyra  is  situated  mi  the  south  side  of  the  Cumberland  River  at  the  mouth  of 
Deason's  Creek,  in  Montgomery  County.  It  was  laid  out  by  Dr.  Morgan  Brown,  father  of 
the  distinguished  lawyer  and  jurist,  William  L.  Brown,  and  established  by  legislative 
authority  in  1796.  Here,  probably  in  1802,  Doctor  Brown  built  the  first  iron  works  operated 
in  Montgomery  County.     It  was  a    place  of  great  importance  in  those  days. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  281 

is  frequently  referred  to  by  writers,  but  it  is  seldom  seen  in  print.  A  reading 
of  the  full  text  of  the  letter  is  important,  because  Blount's  expulsion  was  predi- 
cated upon  its  contents.     The  letter  in  full  is  as  follows : 

"Col.   King's  Iron  Works, '• 
"April  21,  1797. 
"Dear  Carey : 

"I  wished  to  have  seen  you  before  I  returned  to  Philadelphia,  but  am 
obliged  to  return  to  the  session  of  Congress  which  commences  on  the  15th  of 
May. 

"Among  other  things  that  I  wished  to  have  seen  you  about  was  the  business 
Captain  Chisholm  mentioned  to  the  British  Minister  last  winter  at  Philadelphia. 

"I  believe,  but  am  not  quite  sure,  that  the  plan  then  talked  of  will  be  at- 
tempted this  fall,  and  if  it  is  attempted,  it  will  be  in  a  much  larger  way  than 
then  talked  of,  and  if  the  Indians  act  their  part,  I  have  no  doubt  but  that 
it  will  succeed.  A  man  of  consequence  has  gone  to  England  about  the  business ; 
and  if  he  makes  arrangements,  I  shall  myself  have  a  hand  in  the  business,  and 
shall  probably  be  at  the  head  of  the  business  on  the  part  of  the  British. 

"You  are,  however,  to  understand  that  it  is  not  yet  quite  certain  that  the 
plan  will  be  attempted,  and  to  do  so  will  require  all  your  management.  I  say 
will  require  all  your  management,  because  you  must  take  care  in  whatever  you 
say  to  Rogers  or  anybody  else,  not  to  let  the  plan  be  discovered  by  Hawkins, 
Dinsmoor,  Byers,  or  any  other  person  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States 
or  of  Spain. 

"If  I  attempt  this  plan,  I  shall  expect  to  have  you  and  all  of  my  Indian 
friends  with  me,  but  you  are  now  in  good  business,  I  hope,  and  you  are  not  to 
risk  the  loss  of  it  by  saying  anything  that  will  hurt  you  until  you  again  hear 
from  me.  Where  Captain  Chisholm  is  I  do  not  know.  I  left  him  in  Phila- 
delphia in  March,  and  he  frequently  visited  the  Minister  and  spoke  about  the 
subject ;  but  I  believe  he  will  go  into  the  Creek  Nation  by  way  of  South  Caro- 
lina or  Georgia.  He  gave  out  that  he  was  going  to  England,  but  I  do  not  be- 
lieve him.  Among  other  things  that  you  may  safely  do,  will  be  to  keep  up  my 
consequence  with  Watts  and  the  Creeks  and  the  Cherokees  generally ;  and  you 
must  by  no  means  say  anything  in  favor  of  Hawkins,  but  as  often  as  you  can 
with  safety  to  yourself,  you  may  teach  the  Creeks  to  believe  he  is  no  better 
than  he  should  be.  Any  power  or  consequence  he  gets  will  be  against  our 
plan.  Perhaps  Rogers,  who  has  no  office  to  lose,  is  the  best  man  to  give  out 
talks  against  Hawkins.  Read  the  letter  to  Rogers,  and  if  you  think  best  to 
send  it,  put  a  wafer  in  it  and  forward  it  to  him  by  a  safe  hand ;  or  perhaps, 
you  had  best  send  for  him  to  eome  to  you,  and  to  speak  to  him  yourself  re- 
specting the  state  and  prospect  of  things. 

"I  have  advised  you  in  whatever  you  do  to  take  care  of  yourself.  1  have 
now  to  tell  you  to  take  care  of  me  too,  for  a  discovery  of  the  plan  would  pre- 
vent the  success  and  much  injure  all  parties  concerned.  It  may  be  that  the 
Commissioners  may  not  run  the  line  as  the  Indians  expect  or  wish,  and  in  that 
case  it  is  probable  the  Indians  may  be  taught  to  blame  me  for  making  the 
treaty. 

"To  such  complaints  against  me,  if  such  there  be,  it  may  be  said  by  my 
friends,  at  proper  times  and  places,  that  Doublehead  confirmed  the  treaty 
with  the  President  at  Philadelphia,  and  received  as  much  as  five  thousand 
dollars  a  year  to  be  paid  to  the  Nation  over  and  above  the  first  price ;  indeed, 
it  may  with  truth  be  said  that  though  I  made  the  treaty,  that  I  made  it  by  the 
instructions  of  the  President,  and  in  fact,  it  may  with  truth  be  said  that  I 
was  by  the  President  instructed  to  purchase  much  more  land  than  the  Indians 
agreed  to  sell.  This  sort  of  talk  will  be  throwing  all  the  blame  off  me  upon  the 
late  President,  and  as  he  is  now  out  of  office,  it  will  be  of  no  consequence  how 
much  the  Indians  blame  him.     And  among  other  things  that  may  be  said  for 

11  This  was  Col.  .James  King,  whose  iron  works  was  erected  at  the  mouth  of  Steele's  ('reck, 
in   Sullivan  County,   probably   in  1784.     See   "Historic   Sullivan,''    p.    153. 


282  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

me,  is  thai  I  was  no1  at  the  running  of  the  Line,  and  that  if  I  had  been,  it 
would  have  been  more  to  their  satisfaction.  In  short,  you  understand  the 
subject,  and  must  take  care  to  give  out  ihe  proper  talks  to  keep  my  conse- 
quence with  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees.  Can't  Rogers  contrive  to  g'et  the 
Creeks  to  desire  the  President  to  take  Hawkins  out  of  the  Nation.'  for  if  he 
stays  in  the  Creek  Nation,  and  gets  the  good  will  of  the  Nation,  he  can  and 
will  do  great  injury  to  our  plan. 

"When  you  have  read  this  letter  over  three  times,  then  hum  it.  1  shall 
be  in  Knoxville  in  July  or  August,  when  I  will  send  for  Watts  and  give  him 
the  whiskey  I  promised  him.     I  am,  &c, 

Willi .\ii  Blount." 

This  letter  fell  into  the  hands  of  President  Adams  at  a  time  of  great  excite 
ment  and  was,  on  -Inly  3,  17!)7.  transmitted  by  him  to  both  houses  of  Congress. 
Senator  Blount  was  not  in  the  Senate  chamber  when  the  message  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  the  accompanying  letter  were  received  and  read,  but,  when  he  came 
in,  he  was  asked  the  question  whether  he  wrote  the  letter;  and,  in  reply,  he 
said  that  it  was  true  that  he  had  written  Carey  a  letter  but  was  unable  to  say 
whether  the  copy  read  in  the  Senate  chamber  was  a  correct  one  or  not.  and 
requested  time  in  which  to  make  an   investigation. 

On  July  4,  1797,  the  Senate  passed  the  following  resolution: 

"Resolved,  That  so  much  of  the  Message  from  the  President  of  the  United 
States  of  the  third  instant,  and  the  papers  accompanying  the  same,  as  re- 
lates to  a  letter  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  William  Blount,  a  Senator 
from  Tennessee,  be  referred  to  a  select  Committee  to  consider  and  report  what,  in 
their  opinion,  it  is  proper  for  the  Senate  to  do  thereon;  and  that  the  said 
Committee  have  power  to  send  for  persons,  papers,  and  records  relating  to  the 
subject  committed  to  them,  and  that  Messrs.  Ross.  Stockton.  Henry.  Sedgwick 
and  Read  be  the  Committee." 

On  July  7,  1797,  the  Senate  voted  that  Senator  Blount  might  he  represented 
h\  counsel  and  be  furnished  copies  of  all  papers  he  might  wish  to  have.  On 
the  same  day  he  announced  that  Jared  Ingersoll  and  Alexander  B.  Dallas  would 
represent  him  in  his  trial.  On  the  same  day  the  House  of  Representatives  sent, 
by  Mr.  Sitgreaves,  one  of  its  members,  the  following  message  to  the  Senate: 

•'.Mi'.  President,  I  am  commanded  in  the  name  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  of  all  the  people  of  the  United  States,  to  impeach  William  Blount,  a 
Senator  of  the  United  States,  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors;  and  to  acquaint 
the  Senate  that  the  House  of  Representatives  will  in  due  time,  exhibit  particular 
articles  against  him  and  make  good  the  same. 

"I  am  further  commanded  to  demand  that  the  said  William  Blount  he  se- 
questered from  his  seat  in  the  Senate;  and  that  the  Senate  do  take  order  for 
his  appearance  to  answer  the  said  impeachment." 

Blount  was  required  to  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  .+20,000,  with  two  sureties 
for  $15,000  each,  Thomas  Blonnt,  his  brother,  being  one,  and  Pierce  Butler  the 
other,  that  he  might  not  leave  without  permission. 

Up  to  this  time  Senator  Blount  seems  not  to  have  been  unduly  alarmed,  for 
on  July  5th  he  wrote  the  following  calm  letter  to  the  people  of  Tennessee : 

"Philadelphia,  July  5th.   '97. 
"In  a  few  days  you  will  see  published  by  order  of  Congress,  a  letter  said  to 
have  been  written  by  me  to  James  Carey.     It  makes  quite  a  fuss  here.     I  hope, 
however,  the  people  upon  the  Western  waters  will  see  nothing  but  good  in  it, 
for  so  I  intended  it,  especially  for  Tennessee." 

While  Blount  did  not  deny  his  authorship  of  the  Carey  letter,  he  did   not 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  283 

admit  the  fact,  thus  placing  the  burden  of  proof  upon  the  Senate  committee 
appointed  to  make  the  investigation. 

In  their  report  the  committee  said  that  they  had  compared  the  handwriting 
of  the  Carey  letter  with  the  handwriting  of  other  letters  known  to  have  been 
written  by  Senator  Blount  and  that  the  handwriting  of  all  was  the  same;  that 
Carey  was  in  the  pay  and  employment  of  the  United  States  as  interpreter  to  the 
Cherokee  Indians;  that  Hawkins  was  the  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  for 
the  United  States  among  the  Southern  Indians;  that  Dinsmoor  was  United 
States  agent  in  the  Cherokee  nation;  and  that  Byers  was  one  of  the  agents  in 
the  public  factory  at  Tellico  Block  House,  and  concluded  their  reporl  as  follows : 

"The  plan  hinted  at  in  this  extraordinary  letter,  to  be  executed  under  the 
auspices  of  the  British,  is  so  capable  of  different  constructions  and  conjectures, 
that  your  Committee  at  present  forbear  giving  any  decided  opinion  respecting 
it,  except  that  to  Mr.  Blount's  own  mind,  it  appeared  to  be  inconsistent  with 
the  interest  of  the  United  States,  and  he  was  thereby  anxious  to  conceal  it  from 
both.  But,  when  they  consider  his  attempts  to  seduce  Carey  from  his  duty,  as 
a  faithful  interpreter,  and  to  employ  him  as  an  engine  to  alienate  tli>'  affections 
and  confidence  of  the  Indians  from  the  public  officers  of  the  United  States  re- 
siding among  them;  the  measures  he  has  proposed  to  excite  a  temper  which 
must  produce  the  recoil  or  expulsion  of  our  Superintendent  from  the  Creek 
Nation;  his  insidious  advice  tending  to  the  advancement  of  his  own  popularity 
and  consequence,  at  the  expense  and  hazard  of  the  good  opinion  which  the 
Indians  entertain  of  the  Government,  and  of  the  treaties  subsisting  between  us 
and  them,  your  Committee  have  no  doubt  that,  Mr.  Blount's  conduct  has  been 
inconsistent  with  his  public  duty,  renders  him  unworthy  of  a  further  continu- 
ance of  his  present  public  trust  in  this  body,  and  amounts  to  a  high  mis- 
demeanor. They,  therefore,  unanimously  recommend  to  the  Senate  an  adoption 
of  the  following  resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  William  Blount,  Esq.,  one  of  the  Senators  of  the  United 
States,  having  been  guilty  of  a  high  misdemeanor,  entirely  inconsistent  with 
his  public  trust  and  duty  as  a  Senator,  be,  and  he  hereby  is.  expelled  from  the 
Senate  of  the   United  States." 

The  expulsion  of  Blount  took  place  on  July  8,  1797.  by  a  vote  of  twenty- 
five  to  one,  Senator  Tazewell  of  Virginia  being  the  only  senator  present  who 
voted  in  the  negative. 

After  he  was  expelled,  Blount's  bond  was  reduced  to  $1,000,  with  two 
sureties  of  $500  each,  to  insure  his  presence  at  the  impeachment  proceedings 
set  for  July  10,  1797.  This  bond,  however,  was  forfeited  as  Blount  did  not  ap- 
pear at  the  time,  set,  but  had  left  for  his  home  in  Knoxville,  and  the  impeach- 
ment was  not  taken  up  until  the  next  session  of  Congress.  There  was  a  very 
good  reason  for  this  postponement  which  is  told  by  Doctor  Ramsey  "  as  follows: 

"The  Sergeant-at-arms  of  the  United  States  Senate,  James  Matthers,  soon 
after  repaired  to  Knoxville,  with  the  purpose  of  arresting  the  ex-senator,  and 
of  taking  him  in  custody,  to  the  seat  of  Government.  After  the  service  of 
process  upon  Blount,  the  Sergeant-at-arms  found  it  impossible  to  execute  that 
part  of  his  official  duty,  which  required  him  to  take  the  accused  to  Philadelphia. 
He  refused  to  go.  Matthers  was  treated  by  the  citizens  of  Knoxville  with  marked 
attention  and  civility.  He  became,  for  several  days,  the  guest  of  Governor 
Blount,  and  was  hospitably  entertained  by  the  State  authorities.  After  some 
days,  wishing  to  return  with  his  prisoner  to  Philadelphia,  he  summoned  a  posse 
to  his  assistance.  But  not  a  man  could  be  found  willing  to  accompany  him. 
Whatever  foundation  there  may  have  been  for  the  impeachment  of  William 
Blount,  and  whatever  truth  there  may  have  been  in  the  charge  preferred  against 

7  Roe  Ramsey's  '•Annals,"   pp.  (i99-700. 


284  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

him.  there  was  no  one  in  Tennessee  who  viewed  his  conduct  as  criminal,  un- 
patriotic, or  unfriendly  to  the  true  interests  of  the  State,  or  the  West;  and  all 
refused  to  sand  ion  the  proceedings  against  him.  The  influence  of  the  Marshal 
of  the  District  was  either  withheld  or  was  impotent  amongst  the  countrymen 
of  Blount.  The  Sergeant-at-arms,  convinced  of  the  fruitlessness  of  further 
attempt  to  execute  one  part  of  his  mission,  started  homeward.  Some  of  the 
citizens  accompanied  him  a  few  miles  from  town,  where,  assuring  him  that 
William  Blount  could  not  be  taken  from  Tennessee  as  a  prisoner,  bade  him  a 
polite  adieu." 

The  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives  made  its  report  concerning 
Senator  Blount  on  December  4,  1797,  and  submitted  the  testimony  on  whicli  it 
was  based.     The  impeachment  trial  was  begun  December  17,  1798. 

THE  IMPEACHMENT   OF   WILLIAM   BLOUNT 

There  were  Ave  articles  of  impeachment  submitted,  whicli  articles  the  Senate 
accepted.  In  substance  they  charged  that  William  Blount  did  conspire  to  set 
on  foot  a  military  hostile  expedition  against  the  territory  of  his  Catholic  Majesty 
in  the  Floridas  and  Louisiana  for  the  purpose  of  taking  them  from  Spain  and 
giving  them  to  Great  Britain.  "William  Blount  did  not  appear,"  but  on  the 
next  day,  December  18th,  his  counsel  appeared  and,  on  the  twenty-fourth  filed 
their  plea  that  the  Senate  had  no  jurisdiction  of  the  case,  inasmuch  as  it  had 
expelled  Blount  and  he  was  no  longer  a  member  of  that  body  and  that  by  the 
eighth  article  of  the  Constitution  it  is  provided  "that  in  all  criminal  prosecu- 
tions the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public  trial  by  an  im- 
partial jury  of  the  state  or  district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  com- 
mitted." 

On  January  3,  1799,  Mr.  Bayard,  chairman  of  the  managers  of  the  impeach- 
ment prosecution,  filed  a  replication,  which  was  in  substance  a  demurrer  to  the 
plea. 

To  this  replication  Messrs.  Ingersoll  and  Dallas,  Blount's  attorneys,  tiled 
a  rejoinder. 

On  January  10,  1799,  the  Senate  sitting  as  the  court  of  impeachment,  heard 
the  debate  on  the  question,  "That  William  Blount  was  a  civil  officer  of  the 
United  States  within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and, 
therefore,  liable  to  be  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  that  as 
the  articles  of  impeachment  charge  him  with  crimes  and  misdemeanors,  sup- 
posed to  have  been  committed  while  a  senator  of  the  United  States,  his  plea 
ought  to  be  overruled." 

The  Senate  by  a  vote  of  fourteen  to  eleven  sustained  the  motion  of  the  de- 
fense that  the  Senate  ought  not  to  hold  jurisdiction  of  the  impeachment  and 
that  it  be  dismissed. 

On  January  14,  1799,  judgment  was  pronounced  by  the  vice  president  of 
the  United  States,  who,  as  ex-officio  president  of  the  Senate,  presided  over  the 
court,  that  "The  court  is  of  opinion  that  the  matter  alleged  in  the  plea  of  the 
defendant  is  sufficient,  in  law,  to  show  that  this  court  ought  not  to  hold  juris- 
diction of  the  said  impeachment,  and  that  the  said  impeachment  be  dismissed." 

Meanwhile,  in  September,  1797,  Joseph  Anderson  had  been  appointed  as 
senator  from  Tennessee  to  fill  out  Senator  Blount's  unexpired  term. 

POPULARITY   OF   BLOUNT 

Next  to  John  Sevier,  William  Blount  was  the  most  popular  man  in  Tennes- 
see.    In  "times  that  tried  men's  souls"  he  had  proven  his  patriotism,  fidelity 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  285 

and  ability  and  devotion  to  the  interests  of  Tennessee  so  many  times  that  he 
had  become  thoroughly  intrenched  in  the  good  will  of  the  people  of  this  state. 
When,  therefore,  he  returned  to  Knoxville  after  his  expulsion  from  the  United 
States  Senate  the  people  sought  for  a  way  in  which  to  show  their  unswerving 
belief  in  him.  Gen.  James  White,8  the  senator  from  Knox  County,  sympathiz- 
ing with  this  feeling,  resigned  his  seat,  which  resignation  made  vacant  the 
speakership  of  the  Senate  which  he  held.  William  Blount  was  elected  without 
opposition  and,  in  the  subsequent  called  session  of  the  Legislature  of  December 
3,  1797,  was  made  speaker  of  the  Senate. 

Had  Blount  lived  longer,  Tennessee  would  have  honored  him  further;  but 
he  was  cut  off  in  the  prime  of  his  life.  His  character  and  ability  were  never 
more  appreciated  than  at  the  time  of  his  death  which  occurred  at  Knoxville, 
March  21,  1800,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three.  A  plain  marble  slab  points  out  his 
grave  near  the  entrance  of  the  cemetery  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Knoxville,  and  on  it  is  this  simple  inscription  only : 

"William  Blount,  died  March  21,  1800,  aged  53  years." 

THE  VINDICATION  OF   WILLIAM   BLOUNT 

During  his  lifetime  Blount's  friends  doubtless  thought  that  he  needed  no 
vindication ;  certainly  he  needed  none  for  his  fellow-citizens  of  Tennessee.  Ram- 
sey says : n 

"Here,  he  was  never  censured  for  the  conduct  which  was  made  the  occasion 
of  the  Senate's  proceedings  against  him;  and  his  friends,  conscious  of  his  good 
intentions,  never  found  it  necessary  to  make  a  public  vindication  of  his  con- 
duct. There  is,  however,  in  the  hands  of  this  Annalist,  a  vindication  of  William 
Blount,  made  in  1835,  by  Willie  Blount,  his  younger  brother,  who  was  associated 
with  him  in  most  of  the  transactions  of  his  public  and  private  life,  and  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  administration  of  the  duties  of  Governor  of  Tennessee  for 
many  years.1"  His  character  for  candour,  truth  and  impartiality  will  be  no- 
where questioned,  and  the  position  of  no  one  could  have  been  more  favorable 
for  the  ascertainment  of  all  the  facts  he  mentions,  or  the  purposes  to  which  he 
alludes,  in  the  vindication  of  William  Blount.  It  is  addressed  to  Richard  B. 
Blount,  and  the  other  orphan  children  and  the  relatives  of  the  deceased." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  this  vindication  was  not  published  by  Doctor  Ramsey, 
who  omitted  it  "on  account  of  its  length,"  because  it  was  destroyed  by  fire 
in  1863  by  a  federal  soldier,  together  with  numerous  other  documents  and 
papers  which  Doctor  Ramsey  had  collected  for  the  purpose  of  writing  a  second 
volume  of  his  "Annals  of  Tennessee." 

SKETCH   OF   WILLIAM   BLOUNT  BY   WILLIE  BLOUNT  ' 1 

' '  1  will  now  speak  of  William  Blount,  whom  I  knew  as  well  as  He  who 
created  him;  and  of  him,  of  his  love  (of)  country,  and  of  his  devotion  to  the 
promotion  of  its  best  interests,  from  pure  motives,  free  from  ignoble  bias,  or 
selfishness,  I  hesitate  not  to  say,  that  he  with  the  light  of  a  good  understanding 
and  a  knowledge  of  the  condition  of  the  United  States,  of  the  Government,  of 

s  Father  of  Hugh  Lawson  White,  and  founder  of  Knoxville. 
11  Ramsey  's  ' '  Annals, ' '  p.  702. 

i"  Willie  Blount  was  a  governor  of  Tennessee,  1809-1815. 

11  The  original  of  this  sketch  is  among  the  Draper  MSS.  in  possession  of  the  Wisconsin 
Historical  Society. 

Vol.  I— 10 


286  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

its  policies  and  measures,  of  the  particular  and  peculiarly  neglected  condition 
of  the  South  and  Southwestern  section  of  the  Union,  and  of  the  actual  and 
starving  condition  of  the  four  Southern  tribes  of  Indians,  had,  from  his  op- 
portunities of  ascertaining  the  condition  of  the  whole  of  them,  possessed  as 
thorough  knowledge  of  that  condition  as  did  any  man  in  the  U.  S.  in  his 
day ;  and  I  confidently  assert,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  a  better  man, 
and  patriot,  never  lived  in  any  day  or  time,  that  (than)  he  was,  and  unless  it 
was  sinful  to  do  good,  he  was  as  safe  from  any  just  reproach,  as  any  man  ever 
who  lived.  Having  premised  thus  much  respecting  him,  will  next  say,  that 
whilst  he  was  a  senator  from  Tennessee  in  Congress  of  the  U.  S.,  during  the 
administration  of  the  elder  Adams,  he  for  love  of  country,  under  all  the  above 
mentioned  circumstances,  as  they  related  to  the  South  and  Southwestern  sections 
of  the  U.  S.,  and  as  they  related  to  all  other  above  to  heads  of  public  considera- 
tions, and  with  the  single  view  on  his  part  of  promoting  the  U.  S.  interest, 
with  the  view  of  strengthening  the  interest  of  the  republicans,  by  getting  them 
more  fully  represented  in  the  councils  of  the  Union,  by  opening  the  Indian 
country  to  settlement  by  a  dense  American  population,  and  the  more  fully  to 
exercise  the  elective  franchise  in  the  election  of  the  republican  President,  more 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  west,  S.  W.  and  N.  W.?  as  well  as  with  the  view 
of  getting  a  dense  American  population  settled  in  the  country  occupied  by 
the  four  Southern  tribes  of  Indians  in  their  stead,  by  a  removal  of  those  tribes 
from  the  east  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  that  without  expense  to  Govern- 
ment, whereby  all  the  above  alluded  to  benefits  hoped  for  by  the  U.  S.  might 
accrue  to  them ;  as  well  likewise  with  the  view  of  bettering  the  almost  forlorn 
and  destitute  condition  of  those  tribes  by  enabling  them  through  a  removal  to 
prolong  their  national  character,  and  to  live  as  they  pleased,  free  from  any 
undue  influences ;  he,  from  the  motives  and  considerations  thus  founded  in 
love  of  country,  and  in  manifestation  of  a  fixed  and  firm  attachment  to  the 
U.  S.  and  their  political  fabric,  and  to  our  republican  institutions  under  whose 
fabric,  and  from  no  other  motives  and  considerations  whatever,  as  is  well  known 
to  the  writer  of  this  sketch  from  frequent  conversations  with  him;  he,  from 
such  motives  and  with  such  objects  in  view,  and  no  other,  and  free  from  any 
bias  of  personal  aggrandizement  of  himself,  and  with  no  view  or  intention  of 
removing  himself  from  Tenn.,  laudably  conceived  a  project,  having  for  object 
a  removal  of  those  four  tribes  with  their  own  consent,  from  east  to  the  west 
of  the  river  Mississippi  and  there  in  the  far  west,  to  settle  them  in  a  comfortable 
situation,  favorable  to  their  hunter  state;  (Indians  being  known  to  ramble,  from 
place  to  place,  and  one  country  to  another,  and  settle  wherever  they  found  game 
to  suit  them  in  a  wilderness  waste,  distant  from  settlements  of  white  people, 
and  being  known  to  do  so  from  time  immemorial,  without  offence  to  any  white 
civilized  nation,  they  conducting  themselves  in  a  peaceable  manner,  and  with- 
out violence  of  conduct  in  their  removal,  had  a  right,  according  to  usage,  to 
remove  themselves  without  offence  to  anybody  or  Power)  nor  was  any  the  least 
injury  contemplated  or  intended  to  be  done  to  the  Spaniards,  who  then  claimed 
the  waste  country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  but  the  Treaty  between  the  U.  S. 
and  Spain,  entered  in  the  year  1795,  having  stipulated,  that  both  Spain  and  the 
U.  S.  should  restrain  the  movements  of  Indians  within  their  respective  limits 
and  boundaries ;  a  provision  of  Treaty  which  William  Blount  told  me  he  did 
not  recollect,  when  first  he  contemplated  that  project,  but  it  afterwards  occur- 
ring to  his  recollection,  he  before  making  any  overt  act  for  the  removal  of 
those  tribes,  abandoned  his  contemplated  project  for  their  removal ;  and  did 
so,  as  he  honestly  and  candidly  as  well  as  openly  declared,  thro'  respect  for 
the  U.  S.  and  Spain,  lest  either  power  should  think  a  removal  of  those  tribes, 
from  the  country  of  one  to  that  of  the  other,  should  savor  of  a  violation  of  that 
Treaty  of  amity ;  and  thus,  and  for  that  reason  of  respectful  consideration 
towards  the  U.  S.  and  Spain,  that  once  contemplated  project  was  abandoned, 
and  no  further  proposition  for  a  removal  of  these  tribes  was  ever  made  by 
him  to  them.  And  could  there  be  wrong  in  such  a  project  ?  That  Federal  Ad- 
ministration, however,  having  heard  of  that  once  contemplated  project,  after 
he  had  abandoned  it,  caught  at  that  straw,  in  order,  no  doubt,  to  injure  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  287 

reputation  of  a  sensible,  active,  high-minded,  potent  republican  opponent  of  that 
reign  of  terror;  and  by  its  further  making  a  story  of  "raw  head  and  bloody 
bones"  of  that  only  once  contemplated  project,  never  acted  on  before  it  was 
most  respectfully  abandoned,  the  Senate  proceeded  to  his  expulsion  from  that 
body,  as  if  a  Senator's  conduct  beyond  the  walls  of  the  House,  be  it  good  or 
bad,  was  cognizable  by  the  Senate;  (Why,  have  we  not  courts'?)  also  proceeded 
to  get  up  his  impeachment  for  erroneously  alleged  high  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors, as  if  a  Senator  or  Representative  was  ever  considered,  before  or  since, 
to  be  impeachable;  charging  him  by  articles  of  impeachment,  with  plotting 
mischief  against  Spain,  through  connivance  of  his  project,  by  the  British  in 
concert  with  him ;  when,  too,  neither  he,  the  Legislature,  the  British  Govern- 
ment, its  ministers  near  the  U.  S.,  nor  anybody  else  knew  of  any  such  plot  or 
concert  entered  into;  and  in  fact  no  such  plot  or  concert  ever  was  proposed  or 
intended,  as  evidenced  by  a  letter  from  the  British  Minister  in  answer  to  one 
from  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  U.  S.,  asking  a  communication  of  all  that 
he  knew  of  Wm.  Blount's  conduct  in  relation  to  that  or  any  other  project  of 
his  against  the  Spanish  Government  or  its  Territories;  the  minister  denying 
any  knowledge  of  such  a  plot ;  upon  the  Senate's  receipt  of  that  letter,  and  upon 
Wm.  Blount's  plea,  denying  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Senate,  the  impeachment 
was  dismissed ;  but  he  had  been  previously  ousted  from  his  seat  in  the  Senate, 
so  that  body  had  gotten  clear  of  legislative  opposition  to  its  reign  of  terror 
objects  and  aristocratic  measures,  for  suppressing  the  public  interest  and  to 
get  him  out  of  their  way  was  their  great  object;  after  which,  and  after  the 
dismissal  of  that  before  unheard-of  impeachment  of  a  member  of  the  Senate 
for  no  crime,  no  more  charges  for  previously  alleged  and  unfounded  charges 
of  high  crimes  and  the  misdemeanors,  or  of  that  raw-head  and  bloody  bones 
story,  trumped  up  to  answer  an  unhallowed  party  purpose,  ever  was  heard  of 
any  more,  either  in  the  Senate  or  in  any  court  of  Judicature,  his  innocence  of 
any  misconduct,  either  practiced  or  even  contemplated,  being  apparent.  How- 
ever, as  those  crooked  proceedings  against  an  innocent,  virtuous,  and  patriotic 
citizen,  now  and  long  since  in  his  grave,  as  are  many  of  that  then  Federal 
Senate,  and  of  that  reign  of  terror  memory,  as  these  are  all  over  and  done 
with,  let  the  subject  rest  and  may  the  tear  of  the  recording  Angel  blot  the 
memory  of  such  illegal,  unjust  and  oppressive  proceedings  against  an  innocent 
man,  out  of  the  record  of  the  American  Senate.  I,  knowing  his  innocence  and 
pure  motives,  should  never  have  mentioned  these  particulars,  were  it  not  that 
I  am  the  only  living  person,  to  whom  all  the  facts  and  circumstances  relating 
to  the  above  mentioned  once  conceived  but  never  attempted  project,  was  ever 
communicated  by  the  projector ;  and  were  it  not,  from  my  own  reflection,  known 
(knowing)  that  the  facts  and  circumstances  above  mentioned  were  not  known 
even  to  his  orphan  children,  who  never  had  a  knowledge  of  them,  nor  of  the 
grounds  of  his  innocence,  the  most  of  those  orphan  children  being  at  the  time 
of  his  death  too  young  even  to  recollect  the  features  and  manly  appearance  of 
their  father ;  and  it  is,  moreover,  a  justice  due  in  favor  of  innocence  that 
they  should  know  the  amiable  and  true  character  of  their  useful  and  patriotic 
father  from  the  pen  of  their  very  affectionate  friend. 

"Willie  Blount." 
"To  Richard  B.  Blount,  his  sisters  and  relatives,  Clarksville,  Tennessee." 

The  two  principal  sources  of  information  concerning  the  expulsion  of 
William  Blount  from  the  United  States  Senate  are  Ramsey's  "Annals  of  Ten- 
nessee," pp.  699-703;  and  Gen.  Marcus  J.  Wright,  who  in  1884  wrote  a 
short  life  of  Senator  Blount,  comprising  142  pages,  which  was  intended  as  a 
vindication  of  a  patriotic  man  who  was  striving  with  all  his  ability  and  energy 
to  ameliorate  the  conditions  of  Tennesseans  for  whom  "the  United  States  was 
either  unable  or  unwilling  to  secure  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
and  in  general  was  little  disposed  to  take  notice  of  their  grievances." 


288  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

In  his  preface  General  Wright  says: 

' '  Among  the  pioneer  patriots  of  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio,  who  asserted 
the  rights  of  its  settlers  both  in  council  and  in  the  field,  none  deserves  more 
grateful  remembrance  than  William  Blount. 

"After  a  careful  study  of  his  life  and  character,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say 
that  in  breadth  of  intellect,  deep  thought,  untiring  activity,  intrepid  persever- 
ance, and  broad  palriotisin  he  had  few  equals  and  no  superior  among  his 
colleagues. 

"He  united  in  his  character  the  gentleman,  the  soldier,  the  statesman  and 
the  citizen ;  and  all  in  the  most  perfect  harmony  of  those  qualities  which  chal- 
lenge admiration  in  both  public  and  private  life.  Defamed  and  traduced  for 
a  brief  time  in  his  life  by  the  followers  of  a  strong  partisan  administration 
under  which  his  service  as  senator  commenced ;  expelled  from  his  seat  in  a  man- 
ner so  hasty  and  on  evidence  so  slight  that  its  reading  now  excites  wonder, 
he  never  failed  to  retain  the  fullest  confidence  of  the  people  of  Tennessee,  who 
demonstrated  it  by  placing  him  afterwards  in  the  highest  positions  of  trust  in 
the  State." 

To  complete  the  account  of  this  sensational  occurrence  it  is  necessary  to  state : 
that  the  famous  Carey  letter  was  brought  to  Philadelphia  by  a  Mr.  Byers,  of 
Tellico  Blockhouse,  and  delivered  to  President  Adams  about  June  20,  1797 : 
that  the  action  of  the  President  was  very  prompt,  if  not  hasty ;  that  the 
"prosecution  was  of  the  most  vigorous  character.  It  was  instituted  by  Mr. 
President  Adams.  The  attorney-general  lent  active  assistance ;  the  secretary 
of  state  was  especially  vigilant.  Mr.  Harrison,  United  States  attorney  for  New 
York;  and  Mr.  Hoffman,  attorney-general  for  that  state,  assisted;  as  did  Colonel 
Hamilton  and  Governor  Jay." 

' '  The  Chevalier  D  'Yrugo  supplemented  their  evidences  with  the  arts  peculiar 
to  Spanish  intrigue.  Not  only  were  all  the  officials  of  the  Government  on  the 
side  of  the  prosecution,  but  all  who  hoped  for  office  under  Executive  favor, 
contributed  to  swell  the  volume  of  popular  clamor.  And,  finally,  the  watchful 
Sitgreaves  12  did  not  suffer  even  an  anonymous  communication  or  an  abusive 
newspaper  article  to  remain  untraced.  "13 

Of  the  large  number  of  witnesses  summoned  by  the  committee  of  prosecu- 
tion the  following  were  the  most  important:  Dr.  Nicolas  Romayne,  William 
Davy,  Timothy  Pickering,  Robert  Liston  (British  minister  to  the  United  States), 
James  Carey,  John  Rogers  and  the  Chevalier  D 'Yrugo. 

As  showing  the  genesis  of  the  so-called  "conspiracy"  the  testimony  of 
Doctor  Romayne  is  most  important.    In  his  deposition  he  says: 

<<*  *  #  j-iia{-  ij-  was  understood  and  agreed  by  Mr.  Blount  and  himself 
throughout  the  whole  of  their  conversations  on  this  subject,  that  the  most  favor- 
able state  of  things  for  the  United  States  was  the  possession  of  Louisiana  by 
Spain ;  but  if  it  were  to  pass  from  their  hands,  it  was  deemed  by  them  of  great 
importance  that  England  should  possess  it  rather  than  France."14 

Doctor  Romayne  also  testified  as  follows: 

"17.  What  was  the  nature  and  object  of  the  business  contemplated  be- 
tween William  Blount  and  you?" 

"A.  Nothing  precise  or  definite  had  been  agreed  on.  Much  was  to  depend 
on  the  result  of  Mr.  Blount's  inquiries  and  observations,  upon  which  I  never 
received  any  communication  from  him.     But  the  general  object  was  to  prevent 

12  Chairman  of  the  House  Impeachment  Committee. 
"  Wright's  Life  of  William  Blount,  p.  82. 
"Ibid.,  p.  43. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  289 

Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  from  passing  into  the  hands  of  France,  pursuant 
to  the  supposed  cession  by  Spain ;  and  to  make  propositions  to  the  British 
Government  in  that  view." 

"18.  What  were  the  propositions  intended  to  be  made  to  the  British 
Government?" 

"A.  On  this  head,  also,  nothing  definite  had  been  agreed  upon.  Had 
Governor  Blount  gone  to  England,  he  would  of  course  have  proposed  his  own 
terms ;  had  I  gone,  I  would  have  received  his  instructions.  This  would  have 
been  settled  in  the  interview  which  I  proposed  between  us,  had  it  taken  place. 
Had  I  gone  without  seeing  him,  I  should  have  waited  in  England  for  letters 
from  him  on  the  subject." 

"19.  Was  it  not  understood  that  William  Blount  and  yourself  were  to  use 
your  personal  efforts  and  influence  to  prevent  the  supposed  cession  of  Louisiana 
by  Spain  to  France  from  being  carried  into  effect?" 

"A.  This  was  certainly  our  object;  and  every  means,  both  in  this  country 
and  in  Europe,  would,  of  course,  have  been  employed  by  us  for  its  accom- 
plishment." 

"20.  Was  it  not  proposed  that  Great  Britain  should  send  a  force  into  that 
country  for  this  purpose?" 

"A.  To  ascertain  whether  they  would  do  this,  was  the  express  object  of 
Governor  Blount's  intended  visit  to  Europe."15 

After  giving  all  the  evidence  produced  in  the  case,  General  Wright  states 
the  following  conclusions : 

"The  evidence  before  the  committee  shows,  and  it  is  fairly  admitted,  that 
the  ostensible  plan  of  Governor  Blount  was  to  cooperate  with  England  in  con- 
quering for  that  power  the  Spanish  possessions  in  the  Floridas  and  Louisiana. 
We  say  'ostensible  plan,'  because  it  may  be  that  he  conceived  the  ulterior  de- 
sign of  securing  this  territory  for  the  United  States  afterwards.  But  let  this 
pass  as  conjecture.  There  was  nothing  criminal  in  the  wish  that  Great  Britain 
should  possess  this  country  in  preference  to  Spain,  nor  was  there  anything 
criminal  in  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  enterprise,  provided  he  took  no  unlawful 
steps  in  so  doing,  such  as  organizing  an  expedition  within  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  of  which  purpose  there  is  nowhere  any  evidence."16 

AVhatever  plan  Blount  had  in  contemplation  seems  to  have  originated  largely 
in  his  intimacy  with  Dr.  Nicolas  Romayne  and  Capt.  John  Chisholm,  with  the 
former  of  whom  he  took  up  a  land  speculation  and  in  the  latter  of  whom  he 
had  no  confidence,  as  he  considered  Chisholm 's  affair  to  be  "some  petty  plun- 
dering enterprise."  But  the  controlling  influence  was  the  unfortunate  situation 
of  the  western  people.  Romayne  says  that  when  Blount  spoke  of  it  he  was 
affected  "even  to  tears."  But  after  Lord  Grenville  wrote  to  Mr.  Liston,  under 
date  of  April  8,  1797,  Blount  seems  to  have  abandoned  his  plan,  whatever  it 
was,  for  in  May  he  wrote  Doctor  Romayne,  apologizing  for  not  having  written, 
and  expressing  his  esteem,  all  of  which  seems  to  indicate  that  he  regarded  the 
affair  at  an  end. 

And  Blount's  central  idea  that,  in  the  then  marked  hostility  of  France  toward 
the  United  States,  we  had  much  to  fear  from  a  cession  of  the  Spanish  posses- 
sions in  this  country  to  the  French,  was  borne  out  by  subsequent  events.  This 
phase  of  our  history  is  given  by  General  Wright  as  follows: 

"The  suppression  of  this  enterprise  did  not  settle  the  vexed  question.  It 
continued  for  years  to  cause  anxiety  to  our  government,  and  gloomy  apprehen- 

i5  Wright's  Life  of  William  Blount,  p.  48. 
"Wright's  Life  of  William  Blount,  p.  48. 


290  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sions  to  our  people.  In  1797  the  secret  cession  of  the  country  1T  to  France  was 
believed  to  have  been  already  made.  The  only  one  now  known  certainly  to 
have  been  made  was  agreed  on  in  the  year  1800,  but  was  not  made  public  until 
1802.  As  soon  as  it  became  known,  President  Jefferson  wrote  to  Mr.  Living- 
ston, our  minister  to  France,  that  if  that  government,  under  the  treaty  with 
Spain,  should  take  possession  of  New  Orleans,  the  United  States  must  become 
allies  of  Great  Britain  and  antagonists  of  France.  The  matter  created  great 
excitement  throughout  the  country,  and  in  Congress,  where  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced to  raise  an  army  to  meet  the  possible  contingencies.  As  a  final  effort  to 
escape  a  war,  James  Monroe  was  commissioned  to  join  Mr.  Livingston,  our 
minister  at  Paris,  and  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  made  in  1803. 

"So  important  was  it  to  hurry  this  purchase  that  both  of  the  contracting 
parties  concurred  in  a  violation  of  the  rights  of  Spain,  who  had  stipulated  in 
her  act  of  cession  to  France,  that  if  ever  that  nation  should  wish  to  dispose  of 
the  Territory,  Spain  was  to  have  the  preference  as  a  purchaser.  Thus  was 
accomplished  without  war  what  Mr.  Blount  and  his  people  so  ardently  desired, 
the  extinction  of  the  French  dominion  on  our  borders,  and  over  our  greatest 
highway." 

A  great  deal  has  been  written  and  said  about  William  Blount's  guilt  or 
innocence  in  the  unfortunate  episode  of  the  letter  to  "Dear  Carey."  The  con- 
sensus of  Tennessee  historians  is  to  deny  his  guilt  and  to  shield  one  so  greatly 
and  justly  beloved  in  his  own  state.  This  is  a  credit,  indeed,  to  their  hearts  and 
patriotic  impulse. 

But  history  is  not  history  if  it  evades  the  truth,  and  a  historian  is  not  a 
true  chronicler  if  he  permits  his  sympathy  to  bribe  his  judgment.  In  view  of 
all  the  facts  above,  however  loath  one  may  be  to  maintain  it,  however  much  one 
may  wish  to  pass  it  over,  yet  the  truth  of  history  is  plain  for  the  evidence  shows 
from  William  Blount's  own  letter,  that  he  was  guilty  as  charged  and  properly 
expelled  from  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

It  seems  almost  unbelievable  that  a  man  of  the  experience,  breeding,  edu- 
cation and  knowledge  of  things  just  and  right,  as  Blount  undoubtedly  had, 
would  have  been  so  foolish  as  to  write  such  a  letter  at  all,  especially  while  an 
officer  of  the  United  States  Government  and  wearing  the  toga  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States. 

It  is  the  veriest  tyro  of  a  half-baked  statesman's  foolish  dream,  the  bald 
scheming  of  a  cunning,  unscrupulous  political  adventurer,  so  utterly  inconsistent 
with  all  that  Blount  had  been  and  was,  as  to  cause  one  to  wonder  if  he  actually 
wrote  or  someone  forged  it. 

The  fact  that  Willie  Blount,  his  half-brother,  acknowledges  it  in  a  so-called 
vindication  that  does  not  vindicate  and  an  explanation  that  makes  matters  worse, 
because  so  palpably  at  variance  with  the  letter  itself,  is  sufficient  proof  that 
Blount  really  wrote  it.  The  latter  explanation  is  almost  as  calamitous  as  the 
letter.  Coolly  to  plot  to  deceive  the  Indians  and  cause  them  to  believe  that  the 
Father  at  Washington,  indeed  their  great  Father  Washington,  had  cheated  and 
deceived  them,  on  the  ground  that  "as  he  is  now  out  of  office,  it  will  be  of  no 
consequence  how  much  the  Indians  blame  him,"  is  the  depth  of  shortsightedness. 
a  lack  of  sincerity  and  justice  that  seems  to  proclaim  the  absence  of  a  higher 
motive  in  the  very  germ  cells  of  his  soul.  However  honorable  his  intentions  and 
patriotic  purposes  in  behalf  of  his  own  state,  he  has  written  his  own  monument 
of  unwisdom,  deceit  and  duplicity,  if  not  downright  treason,  to  the  country 
whose  sworn  officer  he  was.     Suppose  his  foolish  plan  had  succeeded  and  the 


J"  The  Spanish  possession   of  Louisiana. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  291 

Louisiana  Purchase  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  British  either  by  battle 
or  purchase,  what  would  have  been  the  result? 

There  would  have  been  no  Creek  war  nor  Andrew  Jackson ;  no  battle  of  New 
Orleans  and  January  8th.  But  if  there  had  been  war,  the  British  already  hold- 
ing New  Orleans,  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  almost  one-third  of  the  con- 
tinent, would  have  smashed  the  South  and  Southwest  as  she  did  New  England 
and  the  North,  driven  a  wedge  between  them,  conquered  both  ends  and  the 
Revolutionary  War  would  have  been  fought  in  vain. 

Let  us  honor  William  Blount  as  doubtless  a  well-meaning  man,  a  wise,  patri- 
otic territorial  governor,  but  who,  given  greater  honors  and  opportunities  fell 
into  foolish,  lamentable  and  disastrous  and  unwise  ways. 

PRINCIPAL   EVENTS   IN   SEVIER 's   FIRST    THREE   ADMINISTRATIONS 

After  the  called  session  of  the  Legislature,  which  convened  on  July  30,  1796, 
had  passed  the  acts  that  placed  the  state  in  accord  with  the  Federal  Government, 
as  has  already  been  narrated,  the  regime  of  Governor  Sevier  went  on  without 
friction  and  Tennessee  progressed  and  prospered.  Sevier  was  elected  governor 
in  1796,  in  1797  and  in  1799. 

It  is  true  that,  after  the  organization  of  the  state  government,  there  was  a 
change  in  the  aspect  of  public  affairs.  Prior  to  this  time  power  and  patronage 
had  been  entrusted  to  one  man  alone,  William  Blount.  Now  they  rested  in  the 
people  alone.  And,  while  Sevier  was  the  most  popular  man  in  Tennessee,  he 
was  treated  with  less  of  the  pomp  and  ceremony  which  had  attended  the  rela- 
tions with  Governor  Blount.  With  a  large  element,  too,  the  democratic  sim- 
plicity which  characterized  all  of  Sevier's  conduct,  both  public  and  private, 
still  further  enhanced  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held. 

The  principal  events  of  Sevier's  first  three  terms  as  governor,  besides  those 
already  mentioned,  were  the  following: 

On  November  9,  1796,  Landon  Carter  was  commissioned  brigadier-general 
of  Hamilton  District  and  James  Winchester,  brigadier-general  of  Mero  District. 
On  November  12,  1796,  Andrew  Jackson  was  commissioned  as  the  first  Repre- 
sentative in  Congress  from  Tennessee. 

Tennessee  County  was  divided  into  two  counties:  Robertson  County,  named 
for  Gen.  James  Robertson,  and  Montgomery  County,  named  for  Col.  John 
Montgomery. 

The  electoral  vote  of  Tennessee  (three  votes)  was  cast  for  Thomas  Jefferson, 
for  president  and  Aaron  Burr  for  vice  president. 

The  winter  of  1796-97  was  extremely  cold.  It  is  said  that  at  a  barbecue  given 
on  the  ice  of  the  Tennessee  River  at  Knoxville,  by  United  States  army  officers, 
"two  quarters  of  a  bear  were  barbecued  without  melting  the  ice." 

On  April  30th,  1797,  Louis  Philippe,  afterwards  known  as  King  of  France, 
and  his  two  brothers,  sons  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  arrived  in  Tennessee. 

' '  THREE  SONS  OF  ORLEANS ' '  * 

The  "three  sons  of  Orleans"  mentioned  in  Sevier's  journal  were  Louis 
Philippe  and  his  younger  brothers,  Count  de  Montpensier  and  Count  de 
Beau.jolais.    They  were  descendants  of  Philip  of  Orleans,  brother  of  Louis  XIV. 

*  From  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.   5,  p.  265. 


292  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Upon  the  extinction  or  removal  of  the  house  of  Bourbon  the  Duke  of  Orleans 
would  be  entitled  to  the  throne  of  France.  Louis  Philippe  and  his  brothers 
were  sons  of  Philippe  Egalite,  Duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  guillotined  in  1793, 
during  the  Terror,  by  the  Jacobins,  although  as  a  member  of  the  assembly  he 
had  voted  for  the  death  of  Louis  XVI.  When  very  young,  Louis  Philippe  had 
commanded  one  of  the  wings  of  the  army  of  Dumouriez  and  was  the  hero  of 
Jemappes.  His  brothers  were  imprisoned  with  their  father  in  Fort  St.  Jean 
at  Marseilles.  They  remained  in  prison  forty-three  months.  Louis  Philippe 
escaped  from  France  with  Dumouriez.  Disguised  as  a  lawyer  interested  in 
geology  and  botany,  he  wandered,  over  many  countries  of  Europe.  As  "Pro- 
fessor Chabaud,"  he  taught  mathematics,  French,  geography  and  history  at 
Reichenau,  Switzerland,  for  eight  months.  Afterw'ard  he  wandered  in  Denmark 
and  Norway. 

In  1796  the  French  Directory  proposed  to  the  widowed  Duchess  of  Orleans 
to  liberate  her  two  younger  sons  and  give  the  family  their  property  if  they 
would  go  to  the  United  States.  After  much  difficulty  Louis  Philippe  was 
found.  A  loan  was  arranged  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  United  States  minister  to 
France,  and  it  was  finally  repaid. 

The  three  brothers  took  residence  at  Philadelphia,  where  they  heard  Wash- 
ington's farewell  address  and  witnessed  the  inauguration  of  John  Adams. 
Washington  planned  their  itinerary  through  the  United  States.  They  spent  four 
days  with  him  at  Mount  Vernon.  Thence  they  came  by  horseback  along  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  thence  to  Abingdon  ;  stopped  with  James  Campbell  at  the 
state  line,  then  at  Rogersville  with  Mr.  Mitchell ;  stopped  with  Joel  Dyer  on 
the  Holston.  On  April  28,  1797,  they  were  at  Colonel  Orr's,  "in  a  rugged 
country,"  had  dinner  at  Mr.  Bunch's  and  beds  at  the  home  of  Mr.  Parkins. 
On  April  29  they  arrived  in  Knoxville.  The  next  day  they  called  on  Governor 
Sevier  and  went  to  Maryville,  an  outpost  on  the  Cherokee  frontier.  At  Tellico 
Blockhouse  they  were  guests  of  the  commander,  Colonel  Strother,  and  ate  wild 
turkey  for  the  first  time.  There  the  Duke  of  Orleans  began  his  studies  of 
Indian  character  and  customs.  They  were  guests  of  the  chief,  John  Watts, 
at  dinner.  The  Indians  played  a  game  of  ball  for  them  and  the  princes  of- 
fered a  prize  of  six  gallons  of  brandy  to  the  winning  side.  (The  annual  game 
of  ball  of  the  Cherokees  gave  to  that  region  of  the  country  west  of  Tellico  River, 
where  it  empties  into  the  Little  Tennessee,  the  name  of  "Ball  Play."'  It  was 
the  site  of  old  Fort  Loudon.)  They  visited  the  Cherokee  village  of  Tokona, 
where  they  saw  in  the  temple  the  war  shields  of  the  three  tribes,  on  which  were 
painted  a  serpent,  a  turtle,  and  a  lizard.  They  smoked  a  great  diversity  of 
tobacco  and  pipes  and  ate  of  many  queer  dishes. 

On  May  3,  1797,  with  Major  George  Colbert,  a  Chickasaw  half  breed,  as 
guide,  the  princes  set  out  for  Nashville.  At  the  junction  of  the  Holston  and 
the  Tennessee  they  were  entertained  by  Judge  Campbell.  At  Southwest  Point 
(now  Kingston),  they  visited  the  proposed  site  of  a  fort  and  studied  the  remains 
of  a  prehistoric  breastwork  between  the  Clinch  and  Tennessee  rivers.  They 
met  a  squad  of  soldiers  under  General  Higgins  and  were  urged  to  travel  under 
protection,  but  declined.  They  crossed  the  Cumberland  Mountains  into  a 
country  teeming  with  game.  They  had  to  swim  their  horses  across  Obey  River. 
On  May  8  they  reached  Cumberland  River,  lined  by  swamp  and  cane  jungles, 
near  Fort  Blount,  then  about  to  be  rebuilt.  They  had  to  eat  smoked  bear's 
grease  and  Indian  corn.     At  Dixon  Springs  they  had  coffee  and  two  beds  for 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  293 

four — themselves  and  their  servant,  Baudoin — at  the  home  of  Maj.  Tilman 
Dixon.  On  May  9  they  reached  Bledsoe's  Lick.  Near  the  site  of  Gallatin  they 
stopped  with  Edward  Douglas.  The  next  day  they  arrived  in  Nashville  for 
dinner,  put  up  at  Capt.  Jesse  Maxwell's  house  and  dined  at  the  home  of  Dr. 
Henning,  an  Englishman.  It  was  court  week  and  one  bed  had  to  do  for  three. 
They  stayed  in  Nashville  two  days  to  write  their  journals  and  buy  a  horse.  In 
his  journal  the  Duke  mentions  Nashville  as  a  little  town,  much  smaller  than 
Knoxville,  which  had  about  one  hundred  houses. 

On  May  13  they  left  for  Louisville.  Learning  that  it  would  be  well  nigh 
impossible  to  get  good  liquors  on  the  road  between  Nashville  and  Louisville,  they 
strapped  to  the  neck  of  the  prince  of  the  Bourbons  a  tin  canteen  filled  with 
the  best  of  whisky.  They  spent  the  first  night  at  Mr.  Britton's,  keeping  to  the 
high  ground,  noting  the  conically  shaped  small  depressions  in  the  earth's  sur- 
face, the  rich  pasture  lands  and  innumerable  flowers.  They  arrived  finally  at 
Bardstown,  where  the  Duke  was  taken  seriously  ill.  His  journal  closes  there. 
When  Citizen  King  he  sent  a  clock  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  at  Bardstown. 

In  June  the  princes  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  the  younger  ones  in  ill  health. 
After  wanderings  on  land  and  sea,  they  landed  at  Falmouth,  England,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1800,  and  settled  in  a  home,  Orleans  House,  Twickenham.  Montpensier 
died  in  1807  and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Beaujolais  died  soon  after- 
ward in  Malta.  In  1830,  upon  the  abdication  of  Charles  X,  Louis  Philippe 
became  the  "citizen  king"  of  France.  In  1848  he  was  compelled  to  abdicate 
as  a  result  of  his  endeavor  to  render  the  government  independent  of  the  nation. 
He  died  in  England  in  1850. 

(See  article  by  Jane  Marsh  Parker,  "Louis  Philippe  in  the  United  States," 
Century,  September,  1901;  Ramsey's  Annals,  p.  686,  quoting  from  Knoxville 
Gazette,  May  1,  1797.) 

William  Charles  Cole  Claiborne  was  elected  Representative  in  Congress,  suc- 
ceeding Andrew  Jackson  who  was  elected  to  succeed  William  Cocke  as  United 
States  Senator.  Joseph  Anderson  was  elected  United  States  Senator  to  fill  the 
unexpired  term  of  William  Blount.  Cocke  County,  named  for  William  Cocke, 
was  carved  out  of  Jefferson  County.  George  Conway  was  commissioned  major- 
general. 

The  progressive  tendency  of  the  people  of  the  new  state  was  in  no  action 
more  clearly  shown  than  in  the  passage  of  the  act  18  on  October  27th,  1797, 
for  the  holding  of  a  fair  at  Greeneville,  Tennessee,  on  May  and  November  of 
each  year.  This  was  the  first  legislation  of  the  kind  in  this  state.  At  the  same 
session,  and  soon  after,  a  similar  act  was  passed  permitting  the  location  of 
a  fair  at  Knoxville. 

In  this  year  (1797),  the  first  newspaper  in  Nashville  was  established.  It 
was  called  the  Tennessee  Gazette,  afterwards  the  Clarion. 

In  this  year,  also,  Zachariah  Coxe,  who,  it  will  be  remembered  had  attempted 
to  establish  a  colony  at  Muscle  Shoals  upon  lands  bought  from  the  state  of 
Georgia,  made  another  abortive  attempt  which  was  frustrated  by  the  United 
States  Government  after  he  had  built  a  very  large  boat,  impregnable  to  small 
arms  and  well  equipped  with  howitzers  and  small  ordnance 

In  1798  laws  were  passed  providing  for  the  appointment  of  entry  takers 
and  surveyors  in  the  several  counties,  also  for  fixing  the  number  of  state  sen- 
ators at  twelve  and  state  representatives  at  twenty-four,  also  for  regulating  the 

'«  Acts  of  1797,  chapter  XVIII. 


294  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

licensing  of  attorneys,  and  requiring  all  judgments  to  be  rendered  in  dollars 
and  cents.  In  this  year  Andrew  Jackson  resigned  as  United  States  Senator  19 
and  was  elected  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity. 

THE  FIRST  TREATY  OP  TELLICO 

From  the  very  beginning  of  Governor  Sevier's  first  term  there  were  three 
questions  of  paramount  interest  to  the  people  of  Tennessee.  These  were  (1) 
the  relief  for  the  people  who  had  settled  beyond  the  Indian  boundary,  those 
who  had  crossed  what  had  been  called  the  "experiment  line,"  (2)  the  dispo- 
sition of  public  lands;  and  (3)  the  organization  and  regulation  of  the  militia. 

Governor  Sevier  named  General  Robertson,  James  Stuart  and  Lachlan  Mc- 
intosh as  agents  to  represent  the  interests  of  Tennessee  and  gave  them  minute 
instructions.  James  Stuart  resigned  and  his  place  was  filled  by  Gen.  James 
"White.  The  United  States  commissioners  were  Col.  Thomas  Butler  and 
George  Walton.  Before  the  treaty  was  effected  Governor  Sevier  found  it 
necessary  to  attend  in  person.  The  treaty  was  signed  on  October  2nd,  1798, 
by  Thomas  Butler,  George  Walton,  and  a  long  list  of  Cherokee  chiefs.  By  this 
treaty  the  Indians  ceded  to  the  United  States  lands  which  afforded  much 
relief  to  the  advanced  settlers,  and  received  in  payment  $5,000  and  an 
annuity  of  $1,000.  The  disposition  of  the  public  lands  in  Tennessee 
was  not  determined  until  1806,  when  by  act  of  Congress  the  protracted 
controversy  between  Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  the  United  States  was 
ended. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  STATE  MILITIA 

By  an  act  of  the  first  Legislature  of  the  state  the  organization  of  the  state 
militia  was  effected  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  constitution. 
Officers  of  the  militia  companies  were  elected  by  the  members  of  their  companies, 
but  the  field  officers  were  elected  by  those  voters  in  their  respective  counties  who 
were  subject  to  military  duty.  The  field  officers  elected  the  brigadier-generals 
of  their  respective  districts,  and  the  brigadier-generals  and  the  field  officers  of 
the  state  elected  the  major-general.  The  governor  was  to  cast  the  deciding 
vote  in  case  of  a  tie  for  major-general.  The  casting  of  this  deciding  vote  by 
Governor  Roane,  together  with  some  other  causes,  produced  for  a  time  a  deadly 
enmity  between  John  Sevier  and  Andrew  Jackson. 

In  1799  Smith  County,  named  for  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  was  carved  out  of 
Sumner  County,  and  Wilson  County  and  Williamson  County  were  also  created. 
Legislative  acts  were  passed  "to  prevent  the  malicious  killing  of  slaves,"  "to 
suppress  excessive  gaming,"  "concerning  divorces,"  and  "to  provide  for  the 
election  of  electors  for  President  and  Vice  President  by  a  committee  of  three 
citizens  in  each  county."  The  first  camp  meeting  in  Tennessee  (possibly  the 
first  camp  meeting  in  the  United  States),  was  held  at  Cane  Ridge,  in  Sumner 
County. 

In  1799  William  Cocke  was  again  elected  United  States  Senator.     He  was 


19  Eaton  in  his  "Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  p.  19,  says:  "Becoming  tired  of  political 
life,  for  the  intrigues  of  which  he  declared  himself  unqualified,  and  having  for  two  years 
voted  in  the  minority  in  Congress,  he  resigned  after  the  first  session,  his  seat  in  the  Senate. 
To  this  measure  he  was  strongly  induced,  from  a  desire  to  make  way  for  General  Smith,  who, 
he  conjectured,  would,  in  that  capacity,  be  able  to  render  more  important  services  to  the 
Government  than  himself. ' ' 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  295 

"one  of  the  strongest  men  developed  in  those  sturdy  times,  a  man  of  great  nat- 
ural ability,  and  who,  as  orator,  has  had  but  few  peers  in  the  history  of 
Tennessee."  20 

It  may  be  said  that  Sevier's  first  administration  laid  broad  and  deep  foun- 
dations for  Tennessee's  prosperity  at  home  and  her  prominence  in  national 
affairs  for  more  than  half  of  the  succeeding  century. 

In  1800  there  was  a  remarkable  revival  of  religion  at  the  Red  River  meeting 
near  Clarksville,  led  by  Rev.  James  McGrady,  from  which  meeting  it  is  said  that 
the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  had  its  origin.21  In  this  year  George 
Rutledge  was  commissioned  brigadier-general  for  the  district  of  Washington, 
in  place  of  Landon  Carter,  deceased. 


20  Sanford  's   "Blount   College  and  the  University   of  Tennessee,"  p.   13. 

21  Miller's  Official  and  Political  Manual  of  Tennessee,  p.  18. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  ROANE  AND  OF  SEVIER  (SECOND  SERIES) 

As  the  constitution  of  the  state  rendered  Sevier  ineligible  for  a  fourth  suc- 
cessive term,  he  retired  and  Archibald  Roane  was  elected  without  opposition 
to  succeed  him.  The  present  generation  is  prone  to  underestimate  Governor 
Roane.  Coming  between  two  series  of  administrations  of  John  Sevier,  it  is, 
perhaps,  not  strange  that  he  was  overshadowed  by  that  Titan.  Nevertheless, 
Roane  was  essentially  a  great  man  among  great  men.  He  possessed  a  much  bet- 
ter education  than  mast  of  his  contemporaries,  having  been  college  bred,  indeed, 
a  man  of  much  erudition  and  of  sound  and  extensive  legal  attainments.  He  was 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  came  to  Washington  District  after  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and,  when  the  territorial  government  was  organized,  was  appointed  attor- 
ney-general for  the  district  of  Hamilton.  He  was  elected  one  of  the  first  three 
judges  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity  in  1796  and  retained  this  posi- 
tion until  his  election  as  governor.  During  the  last  four  years  of  this  period  he  was 
associated  on  the  bench  with  Andrew  Jackson  and  a  warm  friendship  was  con- 
tracted between  these  two  eminent  men. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  ROANE 

The  Fourth  General  Assembly  met  at  Knoxville  on  September  21,  1801,  and 
adjourned  on  November  14,  1801.  Some  of  the  most  important  laws  passed 
were:  "an  act  to  prevent  frauds  and  perjuries;"  "to  empower  county  courts  to 
emancipate  slaves;"  "to  authorize  the  governor  to  appoint  commissioners  to 
ascertain  the  boundary  line  between  Tennessee  and  Virginia;"  "to  prevent 
dueling;"  "to  appoint  one  attorney-general  for  the  state;"  "to  prevent  the  dis- 
turbance of  public  worship;"  "providing  for  the  election  of  members  of 
Congress  on  the  last  Thursday  and  Friday  of  October."  The  following  new 
counties  were  created :  Anderson  County,  named  for  Senator  Joseph  Anderson ; 
Roane  County,  named  for  Governor  Archibald  Roane ;  Claiborne  County,  named 
for  W.  C.  C.  Claiborne ;  and  Jackson  County,  named  for  Andrew  Jackson.  This 
was  the  first  geographical  district  in  the  Union  to  be  named  for  Andrew  Jack- 
son. Today  there  are  scores  of  counties,  towns  and  cities  in  the  F«;ted  States 
named  in  his  honor.  In  this  respect  Washington  is  the  only  name  which  has  been 
more  numerously  honored,  and  it  is  an  interesting  fact  that  Washington  was  so 
honored  for  the  first  time  by  the  settlers  on  the  Watauga  and  the  Nollichucky. 

THE  GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE  STATE  OF  TENNESSEE 

In  Roane's  administration,  too,  the  great  seal  of  the  state  was  adopted.  The 
early  pioneers  of  Tennessee  fully  appreciated  the  dignity  of  the  use  of  official 
seals.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  Articles  of  Agreement  of  the  Watauga 
Association   (1772)   contained  a  provision  requiring  the  use  of  a  seal,  because 

296 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  297 

such  a  provision  was  made  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Franklin1  (1784- 
1788)  ;  it  was  intended  to  have  one  for  the  Territory  South  of  the  River  Ohio 
(1790-1796)  ;  and  there  is  a  mandatory  article  in  each  of  the  three  state  consti- 
tutions of  1796,  of  1834  and  of  1870  requiring  the  official  use  of  a  seal  by  the 
governor.2 

In  a  letter  written  March  1,  1792,  by  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  Secretary  of  the 
Southwest  Territory,  to  Thomas  Jefferson,  then  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  General  Smith  says: 

"I  have  requested  Mr.  Allison  the  bearer  hereof,  a  lawyer  of  reputation, 
who  is  on  the  business  and  in  the  confidence  of  Governor  Blount  to  employ 
some  person  to  make  a  seal  for  this  territory,  and  will  thank  you  to  suggest 
to  him  a  proper  device  for  the  same. ' ' 

There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  the  seal  was  ever  made,  for  no  territorial 
seal  appears  on  any  of  Governor  Blount 's  papers. 

For  many  years  there  has  been  a  romantic  tradition  that  the  first  seal  of 
Tennessee  was  made  in  1796  by  pouring  molten  lead  into  a  half  cymbling  and 
carving  the  design  with  a  pocket  knife.  There  is  no  historical  basis  whatever 
for  a  belief  in  the  "cymbling  seal."  3 

There  is  no  evidence  that  any  action  was  taken  relative  to  procuring  a  great 
seal  until  April  29,  1796,  when  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  authorizing 
the  governor  to  procure  a  seal  for  the  use  of  the  state.  On  April  25,  1796,  Gov- 
ernor Sevier  wrote  a  circular  letter  to  Senators  Blount  and  Cocke  in  which  he 
said: 

"By  an  act  of  the  Assembly,  the  Governor  is  empowered  to  provide  a  seal 
for  the  use  of  the  State,  and  there  being  no  proper  artist  (in  my  opinion)  in  this 
State  competent  to  the  completion  of  a  seal  that  might  be  considered  and 
thought  sufficient ;  you  will  pardon  me  sir,  when  I  take  the  liberty  to  request, 
that  our  senators  take  the  trouble  on  themselves  to  have  a  suitable  seal  made, 
and  provided,  at  the  expence  of  the  State,  you  will  have  it  in  your  power  among 
the  great  number  of  ingenious  mechanics  that  are  to  be  found  in  the  City  of 
Philadelphia  to  have  such  a  one  made,  as  will  be  elegant,  comprehensive,  and 
sufficiently  expressive,  of  the  purposes  and  use  the  same  is  intended  for." 

No  official  great  seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  however,  was  made  until  1802. 
John  Sevier  was  inaugurated  governor  of  Tennessee  on  March  30,  1796.  On  all 
his  papers  on  which  a  seal  appears  he  used  his  personal  seal.  So  did  Governor 
Roane  until  April  24,  1802,  when  the  great  seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  was 
used  for  the  first  time. 

Legislative  action  looking  to  the  adoption  and  making  of  a  great  seal  was 
inaugurated  on  September  26,  1801.  Committees  were  appointed  by  the  Senate 
and  the  House  and  the  following  report  made  on  November  14,  1801,  was 
adopted : 

"The  said  committee  report,  that  the  said  seal  be  a  circle,  two  inches  and 
a  quarter  in  diameter,  that  the  circumference  of  the  circle  contain  the  words 

1  At  its  first  session  which  ended  March  31,  1785,  it  passed  "an  act  for  procuring  a 
great   seal    for   this  state. ' ' 

2  The  provisions  for  a  seal  in  these  three  constitutions  appear  as  follows: 

Article  II,  Section  15,  of  the  Constitution  of  1796,  reads:  "There  shall  be  a  seal  of 
this  state,  which  shall  be  kept  by  the  governor,  and  used  by  him  officially,  and  shall  be  called 
'the  Grert  Seal   of  the  State   of  Tennessee.'  " 

Article  III,  Section  15,  of  the  Constitution  of  1834  and  Article  III,  Section  15  of  the 
Constitution  of  1870,  have  the  identical  wording  of  the  quoted  section  of  the  Constitution 
of  1796. 

3  In  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  July,  1901,  the  late  Dr.  R.  L.  C.  "White 
effectually  disposes  of  this  myth. 


298  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE  GREAT  SEAL  OP  TENNESSEE,  that  in  the  lower  part  of  said  circum- 
ference be  inserted  Feb.  6th,  1796,  the  date  of  the  constitution  of  this  state; 
that  in  the  inside  of  the  upper  part  of  said  circle,  be  set  in  numerical  letters 
XVI,  the  number  of  the  state  in  chronological  order ;  that  under  the  base  of 
the  upper  semicircle,  there  be  the  word  AGRICULTURE ;  that  above  said  base, 
there  be  the  figure  of  a  plough,  sheaf  of  wheat  and  cotton  plant;  that  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  lower  semicircle,  there  be  the  word  COMMERCE,  and  said 
lower  semicircle,  shall  also  contain  the  figure  of  a  boat  and  boatman." 

Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  the  wording  in  the  circumference  of  the 
circle  is  required  by  the  report  adopted  to  be  "The  Great  Seal  of  Tennessee." 
Yet  when  the  seal  was  made  the  wording  was  found  to  be  "The  Great  Seal  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee."  Doctor  White  noted  the  discrepancy  and  said:  "By 
what  authority  the  extra  words  were  inserted  it  is  impossible  now  to  ascertain, 
but  as  they  unquestionably  improve  the  dignity  of  the  seal,  we  need  not  quarrel 
with  an  unknown  memory." 

Doctor  White  overlooked  the  fact  that  the  State  Constitution,  Article  II, 
Section  15,  required  the  wording  "The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee." 

The  report  of  the  committee  appointed  to  contract  for  cutting  a  seal  for 
Tennessee  says: 

(i*  #  #  That  they  have  contracted  with  William  and  Matthew  Atkinson 
for  the  same,  in  the  manner  following.  The  seal  is  to  be  cut  on  Steele  and  well 
hardened,  agreeably  to  the  plan  and  device  reported  by  the  committee  appointed 
for  that  purpose.  And  the  press  is  to  be  made  of  the  following  dimensions. 
The  screw  to  be  six  and  an  half  inches  in  length,  and  two  inches  in  diameter. 
The  box  at  least  four  inches ;  the  seal  to  rise  one  inch  and  an  half,  with  half  a 
turn  of  the  screw,  and  a  sufficient  spring  to  throw  the  screw  half  round.  The 
whole  of  the  press  to  be  of  iron,  the  width  of  the  press  to  be  eighteen  inches, 
and  of  a  proportionable  height,  and  the  said  William  and  Matthew  Atkinson, 
have  agreed  to  keep  said  press  and  seal  in  repair  so  long  as  either  of  them 
reside  in  this  state,  for  which  they  are  to  receive  one  hundred  dollars.  They 
have  also  contracted  and  agreed,  that  the  said  work  shall  be  done  and  delivered 
to  the  governor  within  three  months  after  the  rise  of  this  assembly,  and  that 
they  are  not  to  receive  any  compensation  for  the  same,  until  the  work  is  done 
and  the  same  is  received  by  the  governor."4 

The  Atkinsons,  however,  did  not  complete  the  seal  and  press  and  deliver  them 
to  the  governor  until  April,  1802.  In  the  archives  of  the  state  are  official  papers 
of  Governor  Roane,  prior  to  April  24,  1802,  none  of  which  has  the  great  seal  of 
Tennessee  affixed.  But  on  April  24,  1802,  the  great  seal  was  used  for  the  first 
time  on  the  document  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy: 

"Archibald  Roane,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Tennessee, 

"To  John  Maclin,  esquire,  Treasurer  of  the  Districts  of  Washington  and 
Hamilton. 

"Pay  to  William  and  Matthew  Atkinson  one  hundred  dollars  in  full  com- 
pensation for  making  the  great  Seal  of  the  State,  and  a  press  to  work  the  same, 
agreeably  to  their  contract  with  the  Legislature,  and  this  shall  be  your  warrant 
for  so  doing. 

"In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  caused  the  great 
Seal  of  the  State  to  be  affixed  at  Knoxville  this  24th  day  of  April,  1802. 

"Archibald  Roane. 
"By  the  Governor, 

Wm.  Maclin,  Secretary." 

Official  documents  in  the  archives  of  the  state  show  that  the  "Great  Seal  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee ' v  made  by  the  Atkinsons  was  used  by  each  governor  from 


■*  Senate  Journal,  p.  165;  House  Journal,  p.  132. 


'SEAL  USED  BY  GOVERNOR  ARCHI- 
BALD ROANE  JUST  BEFORE  THE  GREAT 
SEAL  OE  THE  STATE  WAS  MADE. 

• 

•tot 

••••••••••• 

GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE  STATE  OF  TENNESSEE  USED  BY  ALL  THE  GOVERNORS 
FROM  ROANE  TO  HALL  INCLUSIVE— THE  ONLY  GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE  STATE 
EVER  AUTHORIZED  BY  THE  LEGISLATURE. 



.•  .  V.--  vvr    •••.>**.  • 


jtvi 


/#/jfeE5q| 


GREAT  SEAL  OF  THE  STATE  AFTER 
IT  WAS  CHANGED  IN  CARROLL'S  AD- 
MINISTRATION, PERHAPS  IN  1833; 
USED  BY  ALL  THE  GOVERNORS 
FROM  THIS  TIME  TO  BROWNLOW'S 
REGIME. 


:  E-:  ACRicui/ruRE  •  »j  : 

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THE  GREAT  SEAL  AFTER  IT  WAS 
CHANGED  IN  BROWNLOW'S  ADMIN- 
ISTRATION. 


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THE    GREAT  SEAL   IN   USE   AT   THE   PRESENT    TIME 


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Of  SHE 

umvERsuv  of  ii mm 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  301 

Roane  to  Hall  inclusive.  After  1829,  however,  in  the  second  series  of  Gov- 
ernor Carroll's  administrations  a  different  seal  was  used.  By  whose  authority 
the  new  seal  was  made  there  are  no  records  to  show.  A  diligent  search  of  the 
acts  and  journals  of  the  Legislature  for  that  period  has  failed  to  disclose  any 
bill  or  resolution  passed,  or  even  proposed,  to  make  any  change  in  the  great  seal 
of  the  state.  Nor  can  there  be  found  in  all  the  acts  and  journals  of  all  the  Legis- 
latures from  1801  to  the  present  time  any  authority  for  making  the  slightest 
change  in  this  seal. 

The  seal  used  by  Carroll  in  1833  was  only  one  and  three-fourths  inches  wide. 
The  date  February  6  is  omitted  and  the  boat,  entirely  different  from  the  original, 
is  pointed  in  the  opposite  direction.  There  are  differences,  too,  in  the  details  of 
execution  of  the  engraving,  not  only  of  the  boat  but  also  of  the  plow,  the  sheaf  of 
wheat  and  the  stalk  of  cotton.  The  same  changed  seal  was  used  by  the  successive 
governors  until  the  administration  of  Brownlow,  when  some  of  the  papers  con- 
tain the  seal  first  used  by  Carroll  and  other  papers  contain  still  another  seal, 
nearly  as  wide  as  the  original  seal,  being  a  fraction  more  than  two  inches  wide. 
On  this  third  seal  also  the  boat  points  in  the  same  direction  as  that  of  the  original 
seal  and  yet  is  very  similar  to  that  first  used  by  Carroll.  The  new  Brownlow  seal 
appears  on  the  bonds  issued  by  Brownlow  in  1868,  also  on  those  issued  under 
Governor  Senter  in  1869  and  on  those  issued  under  Governor  John  C.  Brown 
in  1873.    This  seal  has  been  used  by  succeeding  governors  until  the  present  time. 

In  1915,  Hon.  Hallum  W.  Goodloe,  formerly  Secretary  of  State  of  Tennessee, 
and,  at  that  time,  private  secretary  to  Governor  Thos.  C.  Rye,  placed  on  the  wall 
of  the  Governor's  outer  office  a  framed  article  on  the  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee  which  had  been  published  June  25,  1910,  in  the  ninety-eighth  anni- 
versary edition  of  the  Nashville  American.  Over  the  old  seal  located  in  this 
office  Mr.  Goodloe  placed  a  framed  memorandum  which  reads  as  follows: 

The  Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  described  in  this  framed 
article  was  placed  in  the  Governor's  office  by  Gov.  Rye  in  1915  after 
it  was  discarded  and  its  stone  base  removed  from  the  Secretary  of 
State's  office,  "to  make  more  room."  This  article  from  a  special  edition 
of  the  Nashville  American  in  1910  is  supposed  to  contain  the  best 
information  obtainable  on  its  history ;  while  a  committee  report  and 
voucher  of  A.  D.  1803  in  the  State  Archives  indicates  that  this  is  the 
original  press  made  at  that  time. 

Hallum  W.  Goodloe, 

Secretary. 
On  the  press,  clearly  discernible  upon  close  scrutiny,  appears  the 
name,  presumably  of  the  maker, 

Geo.  Jepperys, 
39  Ann  Street, 

New  York. 

The  old  seal,  used  with  this  press  differs  from  the  seal  now  in  use  in  size,  being 
only  two  inches  in  diameter,  and  in  slight  details  concerning  the  engraved  parts. 

SURVEY  OP  THE  TENNESSEE-VIRGINIA  STATE  LINE 

In  1802,  John  Sevier,  Moses  Fisk  and  George  Rutledge  were  appointed  by 
Governor  Roane  commissioners  for  Tennessee  in  connection  with  Creed  Taylor, 
General  Joseph  Martin,  and  Peter  Johnson,  for  Virginia. 


302         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sevier  gives  in  a  fragmentary  way  in  his  diary5  some  information  concerning 
this  survey,  between  Thursday,  September  30,  1802,  and  Wednesday,  January 
5,  1803.    Under  the  former  date  he  says : 

"Thur.  30  *  *  *  Self  &  Mr.  Fisk  started  for  Abingdon,  Va.,  to  meet 
the  Commissioners  to  extend  the  division  lines  between  States  Virginia  and 
Tennessee." 

Under  the  latter  date  he  says: 

"Wed.  5  *  *  *  Memo.  I  settled  my  account  for  running  the  state  line 
&e  to  the  amount  of  375  dollars." 

THE   JACKSON-SEVIER  IMBROGLIO 

The  genesis  of  the  differences  between  Andrew  Jackson  and  John  Sevier 
which  caused  so  much  bitterness  between  these  two  great  men  and  which,  for  a 
time,  was  extremely  serious  undoubtedly  harks  back  to  the  election  of  a  major- 
general  to  fill. the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death,  in  1801,  of  Gen.  George  Conway, 
who  had  been  elected  major-general  in  1797.  Indeed,  the  predicate  for  some 
hostility  between  them  was  laid  at  the  time  of  Conway's  election  when  Jackson 
who  attended  the  election  "as  a  private  citizen"  felt  constrained  to  criticise 
Sevier  for  performing  an  unconstitutional  act  in  delegating  to  Joel  Lewis  some 
gubernatorial  authority,  in  consequence  of  which  criticism  it  was  said  that  Sevier 
wrote  Gen.  James  Robertson  that  he  "did  not  regard  the  scurrilous  expressions 
of  a  poor  petty  fogging  lawyer  and  treated  them  with  contempt."  Jackson, 
writing  Sevier  under  date  of  May  8,  1797,  in  referring  to  the  language  quoted 
said :  ' '  These,  Sir,  are  expressions  that  my  feelings  are  not  accustomed  to,  and 
which  my  conduct  through  life  by  no  means  merits,  and  which,  Sir,  I  will  not 
tamely  submit  to."  He  ended  the  letter  by  asking  an  explanation  and  a  redress 
for  the  injury  done  his  character  and  feelings.  Several  letters  passed  between 
them  which  showed  that  Sevier  had  no  desire  to  harm  Jackson  in  any  way  and 
the  previous  good  feeling  between  them  was  restored.  So  that,  in  1798,  when 
Judge  Tatum  resigned  as  judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity, 
Sevier  appointed  Jackson  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

There  was  much  feeling  over  the  election  of  Conway  which  was  reflected  in 
the  notice  of  a  contest  filed  against  him.  The  following  letter  bearing  on  this 
point  is  in  the  state  archives: 


s  This  diary  begins  in  May,  1790,  and  continues  intermittently  until  a  few  days  before 
Sevier's  death,  twenty -five  years  later.  After  Sevier's  death  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  his 
son,  George  W.  Sevier,  who  gave  it  to  Col.  J.  F.  H.  Claiborne,  who  in  turn  gave  it  to  the 
State  of  Mississippi.  Some  years  ago  the  late  Col.  W.  A.  Henderson,  of  Knoxville,  Ten- 
nessee, caused  a  copy  of  this  diary  to  be  made  and  presented  it  to  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Society.  The  manuscript  was  carefully  annotated  by  Judge  John  H.  DeWitt,  Col.  H.  M. 
Doak  and  the  late  Judge  John  Allison  and  was  published  serially  in  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  beginning  with  the  issue  for  October,  1919.  Of  this  journal  Judge  DeWitt  says: 
"It  is  the  intimate  story  of  much  of  his  daily  private  life,  the  modest  notations  of  his 
personal  concerns,  his  domestic  associations,  and,  to  some  extent,  his  public  services.  It  is 
a  quaint  document,  full  of  interesting  personalia  of  bygone  folks  and  reflections  of  pioneer 
conditions.  It  records  curious  dreams  and  sets  forth  prescriptions  based  on  primitive  notions 
of  the  nature  and  causes  of  disease.  It  pictures  Sevier,  the  farmer  and  trader,  much  more 
than  Sevier,  the  soldier  and  statesman.     *     *  These   (entries)   are  generally  but  the  com- 

monplaces of  a  life  that  projected  with  a  noble  vision,  guided  by  a  great  destiny  and  led 
along   an    unanswering   path   of   duty     *     *  It   is   a   privilege   to   this   generation   to   get 

these    hitherto    unnoticed    and    unpublished    gleanings    from    life    and    times    that    are    now 
Homeric  in  our  historical  perspective  and  our  patriotic  esteem. ' ' 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  303 

"Knoxville,  8  "Mch.,  1797. 
Sir 

Your  election  like  a  number  of  the  others  is  contested,  and  the  complaint, 
principally  is,  that  Gen.  Winchester  contrary  to  law,  voted  for  Major-general 
at  Knoxville  in  the  District  of  Hamilton,  at  the  same  time  he  was  Brigadier  of 
the  District  of  Miro,  and  they  contend  was  only  entitled  to  have  given  his  vote 
in  his  own  district;  as  I  have  no  power  to  determine  contested  and  disputed 
elections,  it  must  of  course  be  laid  before  the  next  General  Assembly  for  their 
determination. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  &c. 

John  Sevier. 
Geo.  Conway,  Esq., 
Greene  County." 

General  Conway  served  as  major-general  for  four  years  until  his  death  in 
1801,  in  consequence  of  which  Governor  Roane  issued  an  order  that  the  briga- 
dier-generals and  field  officers  meet  on  February  5,  1802,  for  the  purpose  of 
electing  a  major-general  to  fill  the  vacancy.  The  office  of  major-general  was 
much  coveted  among  the  pioneers  of  Tennessee.  It  was,  therefore,  not  astonish- 
ing that  John  Sevier,  who  was  at  that  time  out  of  office  and  who,  by  reason  of 
his  long  military  experience  was  so  well  qualified  to  fill  it,  should  aspire  to  this 
honor.  Nor  was  it  astonishing  that  Jackson  with  his  character  and  conscious- 
ness of  military  genius,  should  have  cherished  the  same  ambition.  These  two  and 
Gen.  James  Winchester  were  the  candidates  and  the  vote  stood  as  follows:0 

For  Sevier — Washington  District,  7 ;  Hamilton  District,  4 ;  Mero  District,  6 ; 
total,  17. 

For  Jackson — Washington  District,  0 ;  Hamilton  District,  6 ;  Mero  District, 
11;  total,  17. 

For  Winchester — Washington  District,  3;  Hamilton  District,  0;  Mero  Dis- 
trict, 0;  total,  3. 

The  votes  were  counted  and  the  result  certified  by  the  Secretary  of  State  on 
February  16,  1802,  and,  on  the  same  date,  the  papers  belonging  to  the  entry- 
taker's  office  of  Washington  County  were  delivered  by  Maj.  John  Carter  accom- 
panied by  the  following  affidavit  made  before  Willie  Blount,  J.  P. : 

"I,  John  Carter,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  have  delivered  all  the  papers 
belonging  to  the  entry-office  of  Washington  County,  which  has  been  in  my 
possession  since  the  books  belonging  to  the  said  office  were  destroyed  or  stolen, 
unto  William  Maclin,  a  commissioner  appointed  to  receive  them,  to  the  best  of 
my  knowledge  and  belief,  except  one  file  of  papers  purporting  to  be  locations, 
which  I  have  delivered  to  his  Excellency,  Governor  Roane,  which  file  I  found 
amongst  the  papers  of  the  said  office  about  the  year  one  thousand,  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-five,  and  believe  it  did  not  originally  belong  to  the  office,  but 
has  been  fraudulently  put  in.  And  do  further  swear  that  I  do  not  know  of  any 
papers  belonging  to  said  entry-office  to  be  in  the  possession  of  any  other  person. 

(Signed)     John  Carter." 

It  has  been  asserted  repeatedly  that  this  affidavit  was  made  at  that  particular 
time  for  the  purpose  of  influencing  Governor  Roane  to  cast  the  deciding  vote  in 
favor  of  Andrew  Jackson.  However  that  may  be,  it  is  a  fact  that  Roane  did  vote 
for  Jackson  and  that  the  latter  was  thus  elected  over  John  Sevier,  who  was 
much  chagrined  and  angry. 

Later  in  this  year,  when  the  term  of  Roane  approached  its  end,  Sevier  be- 
came  a   candidate   against   Roane,   who   wished    to   succeed    himself.      Jackson 


8  Certificate  of  William   Maelin,  Secretary  of  State,  in   State   Archives 


304  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

espoused  Roane's  cause.  Iu  fact  he  took  full  charge  of  Roaue's  campaign,  which 
he  prosecuted  with  all  the  dauntless  vigor  and  daring  impetuosity  which  char- 
acterized him,  and  thus  the  contest  was  virtually  a  struggle  between  Sevier  and 
Jackson;  for,  while  Roane  did  not  lack  courage  in  the  least,  he  was  a  scholar, 
a  man  of  letters,  retiring  in  his  habits  and  somewhat  diffident. 

At  the  very  outset  the  charges  of  fraud7  in  land  dealings  were  renewed 
against  Sevier,  and  became  the  leading  issue  of  the  canvass.  Jackson  issued  a 
circular  letter  sometimes  called  the  "Bradford  circular,"  in  which  he  spoke  of 
the  high  sense  of  honor  of  Governor  Roane  who  had  been  charged  with  having 
published  a  "falsehood  against  General  Sevier,  with  an  intention  to  destroy  his 
character,  prevent  his  election,  and  to  build  his  own  greatness  on  the  ruin  and 
downfall  of  his  rival." 

Jackson  then  continues : 

'"Having  had  a  long  acquaintance  with  Governor  Roane,  having  sat  upon 
the  same  bench  with  him  as  a  Judge  for  more  than  four  years,  I  knew  him  to 
be  a  man  of  strict  truth,  I  thought  him  to  be  ambitious,  and  my  sincere  belief 
is  that  he  would  not  knowingly  promulgate  a  falsehood  against  any  man  to 
raise  himself  to  the  highest  pitch  of  official  dignity ;  added  to  this  knowledge 
of  Mr.  Roane,  I  had  seen  the  documents  alluded  to,  and  have  received  particular 
information  respecting  them  from  Mr.  John  Carter,  entry-taker.  A  love  of 
truth  and  respect  for  the  welfare  of  my  country,  then  compelled  me  to  assert, 
that  the  charges  stated  to  be  contained  in  Mr.  Roane's  letters  (for  I  have  seen 
one  of  them)  were  well  founded  and  susceptible  of  convincing  proof: — First, 
that  Carter's  books  were  stolen  or  by  some  person  destroyed,  in  or  about  the 
year  1795.  Secondly,  that  among  papers  belonging  to  the  office  were  found  soon 
after  'a  file  of  papers  purporting  to  be  locations,  to  the  amount  of  175,  of  640 
acres  each,  165  appears  to  be  for  John  Sevier,  all  in  the  same  hand  writing, 
and  all  dated  the  16th  of  September,  1779,  and  numbered  from  1634  to  1808, 
inclusive.'  " 

Jackson  then  inserted  the  affidavit  of  John  Carter  which  has  already  been 
given.  He  then  charges  John  Sevier  as  the  person  in  whose  name  the  fraudulent 
locations  were  made  and  says : 

"I  will  just  add  that  I  have  understood  from  Mr.  Carter,  that  he  believed 
them  to  be  in  the  hand  writing  of  Mr.  Sevier." 

Besides  charging  Sevier  with  fraud  in  having  lands  granted  him  by  North 
Carolina  upon  the  forged  warrants,  Jackson  also  asserted  that  Sevier  was  guilty 
of  bribing  James  Glasgow,  Secretary  of  State  of  North  Carolina,  and  in  cor- 
robation  of  this  assertion  furnishes  the  following  letter : 

"  Jonesborough,  11th  November,  1795. 
Dear  Sir  :— 

I  am  highly  sensible  of  your  goodness  and  friendship  in  executing  my 
business  at  your  office,  in  the  manner  and  form  which  I  took  the  liberty  to 
request.  Permit  me  to  facilitate  the  completion  of  the  small  remainder  of  my 
business,  that  remains  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Gordon. 

Should  there  be  no  impropriety,  I  should  consider  myself  obliged  to  have 
ten  pounds  inserted  in  the  room  of  fifty  shillings.  I  have  instructed  Mr.  Gordon 
to  furnish  unto  you  a  plat  of  the  amount  of  three  640  acres,  which  I  considered 
myself  indebted  to  you,  provided  you  would  accept  the  same,  in  lieu  of  what 
I  was  indebted  to  you  for  fees,  etc.,  which  I  beg  you  will  accept,  in  case  you 


7  These  charges  are  fully  stated  in  No.  281  of  the  Robertson  correspondence  published  in 
the  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  374-381.  Also  see  "Genesis  of  the  Jackson- 
Sevier  Feud,"  bv  A.  V.  Goodpasture,  published  in  the  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V, 
pp.   115-123. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  305 

can  conceive  that  the  three  warrants  will  be  adequate  to  the  sum  I  am  indebted 
to  you.     I  am  with  sincere  and  great  esteem,  Dear  Sir,  your  most  obedient 

humble  servant, 

John  Sevier. 
Hon.  Jas.  Glasgow." 

Jackson  then  asks  this  question : 

"Is  it  possible  that  any  man  can  believe  John  Sevier  so  ignorant  as* not  to 
know  that  altering  a  grant  agreeably  to  his  request,  so  as  to  make  it  speak  a 
lie,  was  a  crime  of  the  highest  nature?" 

Sevier's  contemporaries  nevertheless  did  not  condemn  him  on  the  charges 
preferred  and  there  is  nothing  in  his  character  as  it  has  come  down  to  us  to  make 
posterity  more  harsh  in  its  judgment. 

Although  Jackson  conducted  the  contest  with  all  his  restless,  eager  and 
dominating  leadership,  Sevier  proved  to  be  too  popular  and  too  much  beloved 
to  be  discredited  and  he  was  elected.  The  vote  was,  Sevier,  6,786 ;  Roane,  4,923. 
Sevier's  strength  was  in  East  Tennessee;  Roane's  in  Middle  Tennessee  counties. 

Before  he  retired  from  office,  Governor  Roane  sent  a  special  message  to  the 
Legislature,  transmitting  the  papers  filed  with  him  by  Maj.  John  Carter.  The 
ensuing  investigation  continued  throughout  the  session,  and,  while  the  House  was 
adverse  to  Sevier  the  conclusion  was  finally  reached  that  the  facts  as  cited  by 
Carter  were  correct  but  no  fraud  was  imputed  to  Sevier  nor  were  his  motives 
called  in  question. 

PERSONAL   RENCOUNTERS    BETWEEN    JACKSON    AND    SEVIER 

While  the  legislative  investigation  already  referred  to  was  being  pushed  witli 
the  utmost  vigor  by  the  opponents  of  Sevier,  headed  by  John  Tipton,  Jackson 
and  Sevier  met  on  the  public  square  of  Knoxville,  where  Jackson  was  holding 
court,  on  October  1,  1803.  Sevier  violently  denounced  Jackson  who  replied  hotly 
and  it  is  said  that  a  reflection  cast  by  Sevier  upon  the  reputation  of  Mrs.  Jack- 
son caused  Jackson  to  be  almost  insane  in  his  anger  and  he  made  desperate  efforts 
to  reach  Sevier,  but  was  restrained  by  friends. 

Phelan's  account  of  the  events  which  followed  this  sensational  meeting  is  as 
follows : 

"Jackson,  seeing  his  antagonist  with  a  drawn  cutlass,  and  having  only  a 
cane  bimse^,  prudently  yielded  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  bystanders.  The 
next  day  he  sent  a  challenge.8     Sevier  returned  a  mocking  reply,9   accepting 

8  In  those  early  days  dueling  was  a  somewhat  common  practice,  although  the  thought- 
ful considered  it  extremely  reprehensible  and  "contrary  to  public  policy."  So  much  so, 
indeed,  that  in  1801,  only  five  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  state,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  net  ''to  prevent  dueling."  Nevertheless,  then  and  for  many  years  afterwards  it 
was  considered  unmanly  and  cowardly  not  to  accept  a  challenge  from  any  man  of  reputable 
standing. 

9  That  the  render  may  judge  for  himself  whether  the  reply  was  "mocking,"  it  is  repro- 
duced as  follows: 

"Knoxville,   Oct,   2,   1803. 

"Sir,  yours  today,  by  Andrew  White,  Esq.,  I  have  received,  and  am  pleased  with  the 
contents,  so  far  as  respects  a  personal  interview.  Your  ungentlemanly  and  gasconading  con- 
duct of  yesterday,  and,  indeed,  at  all  other  times  heretofore,  have  unmasked  you  to  me  and 
to  the  world.  The  voices  of  the  Assembly  has  made  you  a  judge,  and  this  alone  lenders  you 
worthy  of  my  notice. 

"I  shall  wait  on  you  with  pleasure  at  any  time  and  place  not  within  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, attended  by  my  friend,  with  pistols,  presuming  you  know  nothing  about  the  use  of 
any  other  arms.  Georgia,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina  are  in  our  vicinity,  and  we  can 
easily  repair  to  either  of  those  places,  and  conveniently  retire  into  the  inoffending  govern- 
ment,    You  cannot  mistake  my  meaning. 

Yours,  etc.,  etc., 
Hon.   A.  Jackson."  John    Sevier." 


306  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

for  any  time  and  place  'not  within  the  State  of  Tennessee.'  Jackson  insisted  on 
the  meeting  taking  place  in  the  neighborhood  of  Knoxville,  since  the  insult  had 
been  passed  here.  Sevier  declined.  'I  have  some  respect,'  said  he,  'for  the 
laws  of  the  state  over  which  I  have  the  honor  to  preside,  although  you,  a  judge, 
appear  to  have  none.'  " 

A  vigorous  correspondence  bristling  with  threats  and  expletives  ensued.  It 
would  have  perplexed  the  best  special  pleader  in  England  or  America  to  deter- 
mine what  point  of  difference  was  at  issue  between  them  at  any  given  time. 
Finally,  Jackson,  in  a  note  dated  October  10,  1803,  expressed  his  willingness  to 
meet  Sevier  at  Southwest  Point,  any  time  between  Tuesday  afternoon  and 
Wednesday  midday.  This  proposition  Sevier  again  rejected  as  not  coming  within 
the  conditions  previously  raised.  Jackson  again  agreed  to  meet  him  in  Vir- 
ginia. Sevier  refused  to  open  the  note  containing  this  proposition.  Jackson,  in 
pursuance  of  a  previously  uttered  threat,  published  Sevier  as  "a  base  coward 
and  poltroon — he  will  basely  insult  but  has  not  the  courage  to  repair  the 
wound." 

Jackson  went  to  Southwest  Point,10  but  Sevier  did  not  appear.  Returning,  he 
met  him  and  a  company  of  friends.  Jackson  had  prepared  a  note  setting  out 
his  wrongs  and  demanding  reparation.  Seeing  Sevier  he  sent  this  forward. 
Sevier  refused  to  receive  it.  It  was  returned  to  Jackson.  Enraged,  Jackson 
charged  upon  him  with  his  cane.  Sevier  dismounted.  It  is  said  that  Sevier's 
horse  ran  away  with  his  pistols  in  the  holster.  Of  course,  Jackson  would  not  fire 
upon  an  unarmed  man.  Friends  intervened  and,  after  some  wrangling,  an  in- 
different peace  was  patched  up  between  them. 

While  this  quarrel  reflects  no  credit  on  either  of  the  participants,  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  these  two  men  would  clash,  for 
more  reasons  than  one,  as  they  were  different  in  every  way — in  race,  tempera- 
ment, pedigree,  and  mentality. 

There  was  a  time  when  these  two  men  ran  neck  and  neck  for  fame  and  the 
esteem  of  their  countrymen ;  so  close  was  this  race  that  it  often  hung  on  a  thread, 
as  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  Jackson's  hosility,  Sevier,  among  other 
honors,  was  elected  by  the  suffrage  of  his  constituents  six  times  governor  of 
Tennessee  in  the  face  of  active  and  bitter  opposition  of  Andrew  Jackson.  In 
truth,  it  may  be  said,  that  no  other  political  opponent  in  Tennessee,  except  Sevier, 
was  ever  able  ultimately  to  escape  defeat  when  Jackson  went  after  him. 

Jackson's  triumphal  career,  like  that  which  necessarily  follows  the  pathway 
of  all  great  men  of  political  and  military  achievements,  was  literally  lined  with 
the  bones  of  his  enemies.  It  was  a  perfectly  natural  process,  being  a  law  of 
nature  before  it  became  the  law  of  man.  The  list  is  too  numerous  to  insert  here. 
On  one  end  of  it  was  the  gentle  and  beloved  Hugh  Lawson  White,  on  the  other 
the  courageous,  lovable,  brilliant,  but  unbalanced  David  Crockett. 

Sevier,  alone,  seemed  to  escape  ultimate  defeat.  It  is  true  that  in  the  big 
thing  that  counted  and  which  seemed  that  the  hand  of  Fate  was  in  the  making 
0f  it — the  major-generalship  of  Tennessee,  the  deciding  vote  of  which  was  cast 
by  Governor  Roane  for  General  Jackson,  Jackson  won.  But  Jackson  never 
seemed  to  care  for  the  governorship  of  Tennessee  himself,  and  it  is  probable 
that  with  that  keen  insight,  so  deep  and  so  far-reaching,  and  at  times  uncannily 


io  In  Sevier's  Journal,  under  date  of  Saturday,  October  15,  1803,  he  says:  "Set  out 
early  and  arrived  at  Kingston  (Southwest  Point),  &  arrived  to  Breakfast  after  having  a 
violent  dispute  with  A.  Jackson." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  307 

prophetic,  as  if  coming  from  a  higher  power,  he  realized  that  he  had  won  over 
Sevier,  the  one  thing  worth  while,  and  let  it  go  at  that. 

There  was  a  big  gap,  too,  in  the  ages  of  the  two  men,  and  as  Jackson  swept 
in,  Sevier,  naturally,  swept  out. 

The  great  and  primal  difference  between  these  two  men,  and  which  historians 
do  not  seem,  heretofore,  to  have  taken  into  account,  was  in  their  pedigrees,  their 
race,  their  temperament.     In  horse  parlance,  their  blood  lines. 

Jackson  was  a  Scotch-Irish  Anglo-Saxon,  not  Irish,  for  he  had  not  a  drop  of 
Celt  blood  in  his  veins,  but  Scotch-Irish,  because  he  came  from  the  Scotch 
families  of  Protestants  who  were  settled  by  King  James  in  Northern  Ireland. 

Sevier  was  of  entirely  different  breed.  His  pedigree  was  French-Latin.  In 
only  one  thing  did  his  ideals  run  parallel  with  Andrew  Jackson — their  religion, 
since  the  French  Huguenots  were  exiled  and  persecuted  for  the  same  reason 
that  sent  the  Scotch-Irish  to  Ireland,  and  later  by  the  thousands  to  America. 

This  difference  in  the  race  blood  and  mentality  of  the  two  men,  after  more 
than  a  century  has  passed,  is  now  plainly  evident  and  easy  of  analysis.  They  no 
longer  run  neck  and  neck  in  history  and  in  fame.  Jackson  reached  the  wire  and 
the  goal  of  the  extreme  four-mile  heat;  Sevier  ran  gloriously  the  first  mile  and 
died  in  the  home  stretch.  A  keen  analysis  of  this  difference  with  the  results 
can  only  be  laid  to  the  superiority  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  temperament,  the  sturdi- 
ness  and  bulldog  tenacity  of  old  England,  the  courage  and  uncanny  shrewdness 
of  the  Scotch  over  the  volatile  and  emotional  Latin.  At  last,  in  what  Americans 
call  horse-sense. 

Sevier  was  brilliant,  with  educational  advantages  which  Jackson  never  had ; 
was  possessed  of  the  French  dash,  earnestness  and  love  for  show  and  display, 
as  is  proved  by  his  immaculate  uniforms  and  swords.  But  of  the  true,  cold- 
steel  courage  and  balanced  brain  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  as  illustrated  in  Andrew 
Jackson,  he  possessed  it  not.  This  is  proved  by  the  incidents  quoted  above 
wherein  he  struck  Jackson  below  the  belt  when  he  berated  the  character  of 
Jackson's  wife  on  the  streets  of  Knoxville  and  failed  to  give  him  the  satisfaction 
that  the  ethics  of  the  age  required. 

Colonel  Tipton,  perhaps,  was  wiser  than  future  historians  have  given  him 
credit  for,  knowing  the  temperament  of  John  Sevier  as  he  did  in  the  State  of 
Franklin  affair. 

Tipton,  like  Jackson,  realized  what  the  plain  people  could  not  see  in  this 
Frenchman's  character,  the  swashbuckling  that  was  not  the  real  thing.  It  was 
merciless  on  Indians  and  petty  foes,  as  is  always  its  characteristic,  and  in  this 
John  Sevier  surpassed  all  frontier  soldiers  in  killing  for  pure  killing's  sake. 

His  relentless  slaughter  in  his  Indian  warfare  was  no  credit  to  him  even  in 
that  age  of  cruelty  and  blood. 

How  different  was  Jackson !  Called  on  in  a  far  greater  Indian  war  to  save 
his  state  and  the  nation  from  the  knife  of  the  savage,  he  met  them  in  honorable 
and  dignified  battle,  utterly  crushed  them  and  then  bent  all  his  energies  toward 
saving  the  remnant  of  this  brave  people  and  making  just  and  honorable  treaties 
with  them  afterwards,  in  which  their  condition  under  the  protection  of  the 
United  States  Government  was  far  better  than  their  uncertain  tenure  as  savages. 

Would  John  Sevier,  the  Latin,  ever  have  thought  of  bringing  a  starving, 
motherless  Indian  child,  Lincoyer,  home  in  his  saddle-bag,  adopting  it,  raising  it 
to  manhood  and  starting  it  in  business  as  did  Jackson  ? 

When  the  Indian,  Weatherford,  on  whose  head  as  the  butcher  of  Fort  Mims 


308  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

a  price  was  laid,  surrendered  and  begged  for  mercy — not  for  himself  but  for  his 
starving  people,  was  there  ever  a  Latin  who  ever  lived,  from  Julius  Caesar  to 
John  Sevier,  who  would  have  failed  to  put  him  in  chains  and  iron? 

God,  indeed,  made  this  difference  between  them.  It  is  not  ours.  We  merely 
mention  it. 

Every  Tennessean  honors  and  reveres  each  for  what  he  did,  but  the  historian. 
as  an  impartial  judge  sitting  in  equity,  sifting  the  evidence  not  known  by  others, 
is  bound  to  admit  that  Sevier  is  vastly  overestimated  both  as  a  soldier  and  as  a 
man.  and  none  need  wronder  at  the  inexorable  laws  of  evolution  which  operate 
just  as  fully  in  history  as  in  life,  and  which  have  placed  the  crown  on  Andrew 
Jackson. 

THE    ROANE    MONUMENT 

For  ninety-nine  years  the  body  of  Governor  Roane  lay  in  an  unmarked  grave 
in  Pleasant  Forest  Cemetery,  Campbell  Station,  Knox  County,  Tennessee,  when 
the  state  Legislature  appropriated  the  sum  of  $500  for  a  monument  to  his  mem- 
ory, which  monument  was  unveiled,  with  elaborate  and  appropriate  exercises,  in 
which  Governor  Tom  C.  Rye  and  other  public  officials  took  part,  on  June  26, 
1918.     The  inscription  is  as  follows: 

ARCHIBALD  ROANE 

1759-1819 

Revolutionary  Soldier  at  Surrender  of  Cornwallis 

Member  of  Tennessee  Constitutional  Convention  1796 

Superior  Judge  1796 

Supreme  Judge  1819 

GOVERNOR  1801-1803 

Erected  by  the  State  of  Tennessee,  1918. 

LEADING  EVENTS  IN  SEVIER'S  SECOND  SERIES   OP   ADMINISTRATIONS,    1803-1809 

Notwithstanding  the  charges  of  fraud  preferred  against  Sevier,  which  have 
already  been  related,  his  popularity  was  not  appreciably  lessened.  In  1805  he 
was  reelected  and  again  reelected  in  1807.  Just  before  his  term  expired  in 
1809,  he  was  a  candidate  for  United  States  senator,  but  was  defeated  by  Joseph 
Anderson,  the  incumbent.  In  1809,  when  he  again  became  ineligible  for  the 
governorship,  he  sought  the  retirement  of  quiet  country  life.  But  his  friends 
wished  to  confer  upon  him  further  honors  for  the  great  services  he  had  ren- 
dered to  the  state  and  the  nation;  and,  consequently,  they  elected  him  first  a 
member  of  the  state  senate  and  then  a  representative  in  Congress  in  1811,  and 
reelected  him  in  1813  and  1815. 

Subjoined  is  a  list  of  the  principal  events  in  Sevier's  second  series  of  adminis- 
trations, some  of  which  are  of  such  importance  as  to  demand  more  detailed  rela- 
tion which  will  follow : 

In  1803,  Stewart  County  and  Dickson  County  were  created ;  the  state  was  laid 
off  into  three  congressional  districts,  Washington,  Hamilton  and  Mero;  the 
boundary  line11  between  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  as  agreed  upon  by  the  com- 
missioners, was  confirmed ;  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  five  electoral  districts, 
the  voters  in  which  were  to  choose  electors  for  President  and  Vice  President ;  an 


11  See  chapter  on  the  State  Boundary  Lines  of  Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  309 

act  was  passed  "to  purchase  for  the  State  of  Tennessee  the  patent  right  of  Eli 
Whitney  and  Phineas  Miller,  of  a  machine  or  new  invention  for  cleaning  cotton, 
commonly  called  a  saw  gin;''12  articles  of  impeachment  against  Judge  David 
Campbell  were  preferred,  but  he  was  acquitted. 

In  1804  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  to  regulate  the  laying  out  of  public 
roads. 

In  1805,  Aaron  Burr  visited  13  Tennessee  and  was  entertained  at  the  Hermi- 
tage ;  horse  racing  in  Tennessee  was  inaugurated  at  Gallatin. 

In  1806,  Aaron  Burr  again  visited  Nashville;  the  "Silver  Grays"  of  Nash- 
ville tendered  their  services  to  General  Jackson;  land  offices  were  established 
at  Knoxville  and  at  Nashville ;  Mero  District  was  divided  into  three  districts, 
viz. :  Robertson  District  with  court  at  Clarksville  for  Stewart,  Dickson  and 
Robertson  counties;  Mero  District  with  court  at  Nashville,  for  Davidson,  Sum- 
ner, Williamson  and  Rutherford ;  the  salaries  of  the  Superior  Court  Judges 
were  fixed  at  $1,000  per  annum,  and  that  of  attorney-general  at  $350  per 
annum;  twenty-seven  academies  were  established,  and  Davidson  Academy 
was  changed  to  Cumberland  College  and  made  the  principal  college  for 
West  Tennessee,  a  term  which  at  that  time  was  applied  to  all  of  Tennessee 
west  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains  ;14  on  March  1st,  a  duel  was  fought  between 
N.  A.  McNairy  and  Gen.  William  Coffee ;  on  May  30th,  a  duel  was  fought 
between  Andrew  Jackson  and  Charles  Dickinson. 

In  1807,  the  Nashville  Bank  was  incorporated  with  a  capital  of  $200,000 ;  the 
following  counties  were  erected:  Rhea,  Bledsoe,  Bedford,  Hickman,  Franklin, 
Warren  and  Maury;  Blount  College  became  East  Tennessee  College  (now  the 
University  of  Tennessee)  ;  provision  was  made  for  the  appointment  of  two  attor- 
neys-general for  the  state ;  the  first  session  of  the  seventh  general  assembly  of 
Tennessee  met  at  Kingston  on  Monday,  September  21st  and  adjourned  on  the 
same  day  to  meet  at  Knoxville  on  Wednesday,  September  23rd ;  William  Cocke 
offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for  governor  against  Sevier,  but  realizing  the 
hopelessness  of  the  contest  withdrew. 

IMPEACHMENT  OP  JUDGE  DAVID  CAMPBELL 

When  the  character,  standing,  patriotism  and  public  services  of  Judge  David 
Campbell  are  thoughtfully  considered,  it  does  seem  strange  that  articles  of  im- 
peachment could  ever  have  been  preferred  against  him.  Yet  he  was  the  first 
man  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  upon  whom  such  a  misfortune  was  permitted  to 
rest.  Naturally  it  created  much  excitement  throughout  the  state,  which  was  at 
the  time  in  a  turmoil  over  the  allegations  of  fraud  made  by  Jackson  against 
Sevier.  It  has  been  said  that  the  friends  of  Sevier  trumped .  up  the  charge 
against  Campbell  with  the  hope  that  some  stigma  in  connection  with  it  might 
attach  itself  to  Jackson,  as  Campbell  and  Jackson  were  friends  and  associates 
upon  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court.  However  that  may  be,  the  account  of  this 
sensational  affair,  as  given  by  Caldwell,  covers  the  case  admirably.     He  says: 

"'No  record  of  the  birth  of  David  Campbell  has  been  found.  He  was  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  and  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  sent 
by  Sevier  to  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina  seeking  an  adjustment  between  the 

12  The   bond    of  .$10,000   required   by   the   state   to   be   furnished   by   Whitney   and  Miller 
together  with  other  papers  pertaining  to  this  transaction  arc  in  the   state   archives. 
1:1  See  chapter  on  Historic   Snots   and   Places. 
i*Ibid. 


310  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

two  States.  Some  time  before  Sevier  was  willing  to  submit  to  the  restored 
authority  of  North  Carolina,  Campbell  accepted  the  judgeship  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  the  State  for  Washington  District,  and  held  Court  at  Jonesboro  in 
February,  1788,  but  when  called  upon  to  issue  a  bench  warrant  for  the  arrest 
of  Sevier,  he  refused,  and  the  warrant  was  issued  by  Judge  Samuel  Spencer. 
He  was  judge  of  the  Territorial  Court  so  long  as  that  Court  existed,  and  a 
judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Tennessee  from  October  11,  1797,  until  1807. 
He  was  impeached  in  1803,  while  Superior  Judge,  upon  the  charge  of  receiving 
a  bribe  from  a  litigant,  but  was  acquitted  by  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  nine  to 
three.  The  specific  charge  was  that  he  had  received  a  bribe  of  fifty  dollars  for 
which  he  had  agreed  to  secure  a  favorable  decision  of  a  lawsuit.  He  was 
prosecuted  by  Jenkin  Whiteside,  on  behalf  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
was  defended  by  Edward  Scott,  John  Williams  and  Robert  Whyte. 

"Phelan  intimates  that  the  acquittal  was  procured  by  the  friends  of  Jackson, 
for  fear  that  a  conviction  might  be  favorable  to  Sevier  and  injurious  to  Jackson. 
This  occurred  during  the  bitter  contest  of  1803  between  these  two  leaders.  The 
account  given  in  Goodspeed's  History  of  Tennessee  is  not  altogether  favorable 
to  Judge  Campbell.  Phelan  states  in  a  foot-note  that  Campbell  never  recovered 
from  this  affair,  and  that  when,  in  1809,  he  and  James  Trimble  were  candidates 
for  the  judgeship  of  the  Second  Circuit,  Trimble  was  unanimously  nominated 
on  the  first  ballot.  In  1810  or  1811,  Campbell  was  appointed  by  the  President 
one  of  the  Judges  for  the  Mississippi  Territory,  and  died  there  in  1812.  No 
data  have  been  found  for  an  opinion  as  to  his  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  charge 
on  which  he  was  impeached.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  he  lost  popular 
favor  and,  it  may  be,  confidence,  but  upon  the  other  hand  he  was  acquitted 
and  was  afterwards  appointed  to  a  place  of  honor  and  trust.  The  weight  of 
the  evidence  seems  to  be  in  his  favor."15 

THE    JACKSON-DICKINSON    DUEL 

The  apparent  cause  of  the  duel  between  Jackson  and  Dickinson  originated 
in  a  horse  race  arranged  for  but  never  run.  The  real  cause  originated  in  re- 
flections reported  to  have  been  made  by  Dickinson  upon  the  character  of  Mrs. 
Jackson.  General  Jackson  could  and  did  man,y  times  forgive  what  was  said  and 
done  in  the  heat  of  passion,  but  slanders  upon  Mrs.  Jackson  constituted  an  un- 
pardonable sin  which  could  be  atoned  for  only  by  the  blood  of  the  offender. 
Because  Dickinson  calumniated  her  whom  Jackson  loved  far  more  dearly  than 
he  did  his  own  life,  he  killed  Charles  Dickinson  and  never  repented  of  having 
killed  him.  Those  who  wish  to  investigate  this  affair  very  thoroughly  are  re- 
ferred to  Parton's  account  in  his- Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  volume  I,  pages  268- 
301.  There  is  also  a  good  account  in  Guild's  "Old  Times  In  Tennessee,"  pages 
211-224.  In  this  latter  account  Dickinson  is  erroneously  called  Samuel  instead 
of  Charles. 

This  most  famous  duel  has  been  written  up  and  written  about  a  good  deal, 
but  the  personal  view,  that  is  the  view  of  Jackson  himself  and  of  his  family  has 
been  but  little  exploited.  This  view  is  given  in  an  article  written  by  Mrs.  Mary 
Emily  Donelson  Wilcox,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Jackson  and  a  daughter  of  Major 
Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,  published  in  Leslie's  Magazine  about  twenty-five 
years  ago,  she  says : 

"It  was  also  while  living  in  that  little  frame  house  16  that  the  most  deplored 
event  of  Jackson's  life — the  Dickinson  duel — occurred.  He  had  a  store  at 
Clover  Bottom  (three  miles  distant)  to  and  from  which  he  daily  rode,  and  in 
the  valley  below,  where  Colonel  Donelson  planted  Tennessee's  first  corn  and 

is  Caldwell's  "Bench  and  Bar  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  13-14. 
is  The  first  Hermitage. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  311 

cotton  patch,17  he  had  a  track  noted  as  the  scene  of  many  exciting  races.  In 
December,  1805,  a  race  18  planned  between  Jackson's  horse,  Truxton,  and  Plow- 
boy,  owned  by  Captain  Erwin,19  came  off.  Charles  Dickinson,  Erwin's  son-in- 
law,  bet  heavily  on  Plowboy,  and  seeing  Truxton  forged  ahead,  screamed,  though 
Mrs.  Jackson  sat  near:  'His  horse  is  gaining,  and  will  win  the  stake,  just  as 
he  ran  off  with  and  kept  another  man 's  wife ! '  "  20 

"It  was  said  and  believed  that  a  political  clique,  alarmed  at  Jackson's  im- 
mense popularity,  saw  the  necessity  of  getting  rid  of  him,  and  to  accomplish 
this,  prompted  Dickinson  to  pick  a  quarrel  by  this  and  other  insulting  remarks, 
sure  to  be  repeated.  Dickinson  remembered  that  in  the  Sevier-Jackson  feud 
the  unforgivable,  only-to-be-wiped-out-with-blood  words  were,  'I  know  of  no 
great  service  rendered  by  Jackson  unless  it  be  running  off  to  Natchez  with 
Robard's  wife.'  Dickinson  was  considered  the  best  shot  in  the  world,  while 
Jackson,  known  to  be  a  poor  marksman,  was  singularly  averse,  notwithstanding 
his  numerous  frays,  to  personal  encounters.  A  challenge  was  sent  and  ac- 
cepted, date  and  place  being  named  for  the  meeting.  Mrs.  Jackson,  knowing 
that  Dickinson's  young  wife  was  with  child,  implored  her  husband  earnestly 
to  arrange  the  difficulty  if  possible.  Kissing  him  goodbye  as  he  rode  off  with 
his  second,  Judge  Overton,21  she  said:  'Forget  his  remarks  about  me,  think 
only  of  his  wife  and  babe,  and  if  consistent  with  honor  spare  him.'  Awaiting 
his  return  and  noting  his  pallor  and  blood-stained  clothes,  she  screamed:  'You 
are  wounded!'  'Yes,  only  slightly,  but  Dickinson  will  insult  no  more  innocent 
women ; '  then,  remarking  her  look  of  dismay,  he  added :  '  I  promised  you  to 
spare  and  meant  to  keep  my  promise.  On  the  road  I  saw  signs'  of  his  skill — 
hairs  cut  in  two,  small  circles  on  trees  and  fences  black  with  shot,  then  heard 
his  messages,  '  "Tell  Jackson  I  will  snap  his  life's  threads  like  that  hair,  will 
pepper  his  craven  breast  with  lead  like  that  disk.'  :  Even  when  we  took  our 
places  on  the  ground  and  waited  for  the  seconds  to  give  the  word,  I  still  in- 
tended to  fire  in  the  air,  but  when  I  felt  his  bullet  plowing  through  my  body 
and  heard  him  shriek,  '  "Great  God,  have  I  missed  the  d — d  scoundrel,"  '  hate 
of  me  overpowering  even  death's  agony,  the  demon  in  me  awoke.  I  fired  and 
he  fell.'  Mrs.  Jackson,  almost  fainting,  fell  on  her  knees,  praying:  'Oh,  God, 
have  pity  on  the  poor  wife,  pity  on  the  babe  in  her  womb.'  Years  afterwards, 
Jackson  said :  '  There  never  lived  a  woman  in  whom  the  mother  instinct  so 
predominated,  she  would  have  gathered  in  her  pitying  arms  every  afflicted 
being.    Why,  she  even  wept  and  prayed  for  Dickinson's  wife  and  child.'  : 

The  above  has  been  inserted  because  it  represents  the  commonly  expressed 
opinion  of  this  noted  duel.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  this  opinion  prevails 
when  members  of  Jackson's  family  make  such  statements.     As  a  matter  of  fact, 


17  She  doubtless  means  the  first  patch  of  corn  and  cotton  raised  after  the  advent  of  the 
Cumberland  settlers  under  Eobertson  and  Donelson.  This  crop  was  gathered  in  the  fall  of 
1780. 

i8  In  the  Impartial  Review  and  Cumberland  Repository  of  March  15,  1806,  appeared  the 
following   advertisement : 

CLOVER  BOTTOM   RACE. 
On  Thursday,  the  3d  of  April  next,  will  be  run  the  greatest  and  most 
interesting   match   race  ever  run  in   the   western   country,   between   General 
Jackson's  horse, 

Truxton, 
six  years  old,   carrying  124  pounds,  and   Capt.   Joseph   Erwin's  horse, 

Ploughboy, 
eight  years  old,  carrying  130  pounds.     These  horses  run  the  two-mile  heats 
for  the  sum  of  $3,000.     No  stud  horses  can  be  admitted  within  the  gates, 
but  such  as  contend  on  the  turf,  and  all  persons  are  requested  not  to  bring 
their  dogs  to  the  field,  as  they  will  be  shot  without  respect  to  the  owners. 

19  In  some   accounts    spelled    Ervin. 

20  Bassett,  in  his  "Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  Vol.  I,  p.  61,  says:  "In  1805,  Jackson's 
noted  horse,  'Truxton, '  was  booked  in  a  race  against  Capt.  Joseph  Ervin 's  'Plowboy,'  and 
a  forfeit  of  $800,  payable  in  certain  specified  notes,  was  agreed  upon  if  the  race  was  not  run. 
Before  the  day  fixed,  the  race  was  cancelled  by  Ervin,  and  the  forfeit  was  paid  without 
dispute. ' ' 

21  This  was  Gen.   Thomas  Overton,  not  Judge  John  Overton. 


312  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  race  between   Truxton  and  Ploughboy  was  not  run  at  all,  Major  Erwin's 
horse  proving  to  be  lame  on  the  day  of  the  race,  his  owner  paying  the  forfeit. 

THE    NATCHEZ    TRACE 

No  sooner  had  the  early  pioneers  of  Tennessee  become  securely  intrenched  in 
the  possession  of  the  lands  they  occupied  than  they  began  to  plan  for  better 
means  of  communication  with  each  other  and  with  the  outside  world  than  the  old 
Indian  trails  afforded.  As  early  as  1787  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  pro- 
vided for  a  lottery  to  be  held  at  Hillsboro,  the  proceeds  of  which  were  to  be 
applied  to  the  cutting  of  a  way  from  the  South  end  of  Clinch  Mountain  (in  what 
was  later  Hawkins  County)  to  Bean's  Lick.  In  1792  the  Cherokee  Indians 
agreed  that  a  road  might  be  run  through  their  lands  from  Washington  District 
to  Mero  District.  In  1794  the  Territorial  Legislature  passed  an  act  for  "cutting 
and  clearing  a  wagon  road  from  Southwest  Point  to  the  settlements  on  Cumber- 
land River  in  Mero  District." 

The  population  of  Tennessee  increased  very  rapidly,  continuously  from  its 
admittance  into  the  Union.  Roads  in  every  direction  became  not  merely  desid- 
erata, but  necessities.  Hence,  each  session  of  the  General  Assembly  took  up  the 
question  of  "roads"  and  numerous  acts  were  passed.  The  roads  were  provided 
for  between  East  Tennessee  and  the  Cumberland  settlement,  one  called  the 
Walton  Road  and  the  other  the  North  Carolina  Road  or  "Avery  Trace."  In 
1801  the  Legislature  turned  the  Walton  Road  into  a  pike.  During  some  of  those 
years  efforts  at  road  building  had  the  cooperation  of  the  general  government, 
which,  in  1801,  opened  the  Natchez  Trace.  Of  this  road  Park  Marshall,  probahly 
the  best  authority  on  this  subject  says : 

"The  Natchez  Trace,  or  Natchez  Road,  or  as  it  was  officially  named,  the 
'Columbian  Highway,'  has  been  during  the  past  one  hundred  and  fourteen  years 
a  subject  of  great  interest  to  the  people  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi  and  of 
more  or  less  interest  to  the  whole  country.  It  was  'cut'  and  opened  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  after  treaties  negotiated  with  the  Chickasaw 
and  Choctaw  Indians  by  the  famous,  or  rather  notorious,  Gen.  James  Wilkin- 
son, towards  the  end  of  the  year  1801.22  The  Trace  was  designed  largely  for 
commercial  purposes  as  it  had  its  terminus  on  the  Mississippi  in  the  district 
of  Natchez  which  was  at  one  time  separated  from  our  other  disputed  pos- 
sessions, and  it  furnished  a  way  for  the  return  journey  of  merchants  and 
traders  who  descended  by  water  to  the  lower  Mississippi  country.  Still,  it  had 
military  advantages.  At  the  time  of  Jackson's  Natchez  expedition,  which  left 
Nashville  January  7,  1813,  mainly  on  flat  boats,  nearly  700  cavalry  under 
General  Coffee  traveled  the  Trace  to  Natchez ;  the  entire  army  returned  by 
way  of  the  Trace  in  the  spring.  When  the  British  fleet  came  into  the  gulf  in 
1814,  Jackson  and  Coffee  were  at  Pensacola  or  Mobile,  whence  they  went  direct 
to  New  Orleans,  while  Carroll  raised  an  army  at  Nashville  and  conveyed  it  to 
New  Orleans  in  boats.  At  this  time  many  squads  of  volunteers  went  by  way  of 
the  Trace  as  far  as  Natchez.  After  the  battle  the  army  returned  on  this  road. 
In  fact  there  are  many  interesting  facts  connected  with  this  famous  highway, 
but  to  detail  them  here  would  be  a  chapter  outside  of  the  purposes  of  this 
article."23 

It  was  at  Griner's  (sometimes  called  Grinder)  tavern  on  the  Natchez  Trace 
that  Meriwether  Lewis  either  committed  suicide  or  was  murdered  (it  is  still  a 
mooted  question,  with  the  weight  of  the  testimony  in  favor  of  suicide)  on  Octo- 
ber 11,  1809.  A  monument  to  his  memory  has  been  erected  on  the  spot  where  he 
died  on  the  Natchez  Trace  in  Lewis  County,  which  was  so  named  in  his  honor. 


-"-  American   State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs,  Vol.  V. 

23  ' '  The    True    Eoute    of    the   Natchez    Trace, ' '    in    the    Tennessee    Historical    Magazine, 
Vol.  T,  No.  3,  pp.  173-182.     See  also  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 


CHAPTER  XV 
TRIANGULAR  CONTROVERSY  OVER  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS 

EARLY     CUSTOMS — ESTABLISHMENT     OF     RELIGIOUS     DENOMINATIONS 

When  we  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  public  lands  of  Tennessee,  we  enter 
a  maze  almost  as  inextricable  mentally  as  the  famous  labyrinth  of  Daedalus 
was  inescapable  physically.  The  circumstances  connected  with  the  early  set- 
tlement of  Tennessee,  and  the  land  laws  of  North  Carolina,  led  to  peculiar 
complications  of  title  when  the  western  section  of  North  Carolina,  after  having 
been  ceded  to  the  United  States  and  governed  as  a  territory,  was  admitted  as 
an  independent  state  of  the  Union.  This  complexity  is  well  stated  in  the 
preface  1  to  Whitney 's  Land  Laws  of  Tennessee,  as  follows : 

"The  law  of  real  property  in  Tennessee  is  of  a  peculiar  and  complex  char- 
acter, more  so,  probably,  than  that  of  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  except 
those  in  which  titles  are  affected  by  old  Spanish  grants,  as  for  example  Louis- 
iana and  Mississippi.  This  complexity  of  the  law  governing  land  titles  in 
Tennessee  was  occasioned  chiefly  by  the  retention  on  the  part  of  North  Caro- 
lina of  the  right  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  her  soldiers  for  services  in  the 
Revolutionary  War  out  of  lands,  formerly  a  part  of  North  Carolina,  ceded 
to  the  United  States  in  1789,  and  subsequently  constituting  the  state  of  Ten- 
nessee. By  this  reservation  contained  in  the  'Cession  Act'  an  incumbrance  in 
favor  of  North  Carolina  was  created  upon  the  lands  destined  to  become  our 
State,  and  subsequent  legislation  looking  to  the  clearing  up  of  land  titles  and 
fixing  methods  of  obtaining  the  same  was  impeded  and  handicapped,  and  the 
State  was  from  her  infancy  subjected  to  a  burden  which  was  not  cast  off  until 
1846,  and  the  effects  of  which  still  extend  to  and  influence  the  rights  to  real 
property  in  a  considerable  portion  of  the  State." 

It  is  suggested  that  the  reader  now  refer  to  the  reservations  in  the  "Cession 
Act,"  found  on  page  145  and  especially  to  that  paragraph  headed  "Secondly." 
Under  that  head  it  is  stressed  that  the  lands  of  the  military  reservation  should 
inure  to  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  continental  line 
of  the  state,  and  North  Carolina  assiduously  adhered  to  the  protection  of  this 
class  of  beneficiaries  and,  later,  to  the  benefit  of  the  University  of  North 
Carolina,  which  latter  matter  will  be  adverted  to  subsequently. 

But  neither  the  United  States  nor  the  State  of  Tennessee  felt  the  same  keen 
interest  in  North  Carolina's  beneficiaries.  In  fact  during  the  existence  of  the 
Southwest  Territory  there  was  no  legislation  at  all  by  the  United  States  on  the 
subject  of  its  public  lands.  This  lack  of  land  legislation  was  unfortunate  for 
Tennessee,  because  no  provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  public  schools, 
academies  or  colleges,  which  has  been  made  in  behalf  of  every  territory  of  the 
United  States  except  Tennessee.  In  the  case  of  the  Northwest  Territory,  whose 
form  of  government  was  made  applicable  to  the  Southwest  Territory,  the  country 
was  divided  into  townships  of  six  miles  square,  containing  thirty-six  lots  of  one 
square  mile  each,  of  which  No.  16  in  each  township  was  reserved  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  public  schools  therein. 


1  This  preface  was  written  by  Judge  D.  M.  Key. 

313 


314  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

When  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union  it. was  supposed  that,  after 
North  Carolina's  claims  had  been  satisfied,  there  would  still  be  ample  vacant 
and  unappropriated  lands.  So  that  the  land  question  was  one  of  the  first 
matters  to  come  before  the  General  Assembly,  and  a  remonstrance  to  Congress 
was  drawn  up  in  1796  with  particular  reference  to  the  injury  and  grievances 
of  the  citizens  of  Tennessee  in  consequence  of  the  line  of  the  treaty  of  Holston. 

In  1799  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act  for  the  establishment  of 
an  office  for  receiving  entries  of  all  vacant  lands  in  the  counties  of  the  state. 
Subsequently,  this  act  was  suspended  until  the  following  session.  Meanwhile, 
the  state's  senators  in  Congress  had  sent  word  that  the  United  States  claimed 
the  right  to  dispose  of  the  vacant  and  unappropriated  lands  in  Tennessee. 
The  Legislature  then  instructed  the  senators  to  claim  the  right  for  Tennessee 
to  dispose  of  these  lands  and  to  secure  a  relinquishment  of  the  claim  preferred 
by  the  United  States. 

All  along  North  Carolina  had  been  issuing  warrants  and  perfecting  titles 
to  lands  in  Tennessee  under  her  reservations  in  the  same  manner  in  which  she 
would  probably  have  acted  had  the  cession  not  been  made.  The  situation  was 
furthermore  complicated  by  the  claim  put  forth  by  Tennessee  that  North 
Carolina  had  no  right  to  grant  lands  in  Tennessee  any  longer  because  of  the 
expiration  of  the  time  within  which  claimants  were  required  to  make  surveys 
and  procure  grants.  In  1801  conditions  became  acute  when  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act  to  prevent  North  Carolina  from  surveying  and  granting  lands  in 
Tennessee. 

REMEDIAL  LEGISLATION 

Realizing  the  deplorable  condition  of  land  matters  in  Tennessee  and  in  an 
effort  to  come  to  an  adjustment  of  the  differences  with  North  Carolina,  the 
Legislature,  in  1801,  passed  "an  act  for  the  appointment  of  an  agent  on  the 
part  of  this  state  to  go  to  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  for 
the  purpose  of  finally  settling  and  adjusting  the  landed  business  between  the 
two  states  and  for  other  purposes ; "  2  and,  in  the  first  section  of  the  act,  ' '  That 
John  Overton,  Esquire,  be  and  he  is  hereby  appointed  an  agent  on  the  part 
of  this  state  to  confer  and  agree  with  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina." 

In  another  act  (Chapter  81  of  the  Acts  of  1803),  Overton's  duties  are  set 
forth.  Overton  was  successful  in  his  mission  and  made  a  compact  with  the 
State  of  North  Carolina  which  was  ratified  by  an  act  (Chapter  14  of  the  Acts 
of  1804),  entitled,  "An  Act  ratifying  and  confirming  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  entitled,  'An  act  to  authorize  the 
State  of  Tennessee  to  perfect  titles  to  lands  reserved  to  this  state  by  the  cession 
act'  :  This  agreement  was  made  subject  to  the  assent  of  Congress, 
which  was  not  only  granted  but  Congress  took  a  long  step  forward  in 
settling  by  passing  an  act  approved  April  18,  1806,  which  act  is  incorporated 
in  an  act  (Chapter  10  of  the  Acts  of  1806),  passed  by  the  Tennessee  Legislature 
entitled,  "An  Act  to  ratify  and  confirm  an  act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  entitled,  'An  Act  to  authorize  the  State  of  Tennessee  to  issue 
grants  and  perfect  titles  to  certain  lands  therein  described,  and  to  settle  the 
claims  to  the  vacant  and  unappropriated  lands  within  the  same.'  : 


-  Whitney 's  ' '  Land  Laws  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.   54. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  315 

The  important  provisions  of  that  compact  are  stated  by_  Garrett  and  Good- 
pasture as  follows : 

(a)  Tennessee  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  sole  and  entire  disposition  of 
the  lands  south  and  west  of  a  line  beginning  at  the  place  where  the  main 
branch  of  Elk  River  intersects  the  southern  boundary  of  the  State,  and  run- 
ning due  north  until  it  intersects  the  main  branch  of  Duck  River ;  thence  down 
the  Tennessee  River  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  State,  called  the  Con- 
gressional line  3  and  exempted  the  same  from  taxation  until  the  expiration  of 
five  years  after  the  same  should  be  sold. 

(b)  The  United  States  ceded  to  Tennessee  the  lands  east  and  north  of  the 
Congressional  line,  subject  to  the  following  conditions: 

(1)  Tennessee  should  satisfy  all  North  Carolina  land  claims  out  of  the 
territory  ceded  to  it. 

(2)  It  should  appropriate  100,000  acres  to  be  located  in  one  entire  tract, 
within  the  district  south  of  French  Broad  and  Holston  and  west  of  Big  Pigeon 
River,  for  the  use  of  two  colleges,  one  in  East  and  one  in  West  (Middle)  Ten- 
nessee. 

(3)  It  should  appropriate  100,000  acres,  in  one  tract  within  said  limit, 
for  the  use  of  academies,  one  in  each  county  in  the  State. 

(4)  It  should,  moreover,  in  issuing  grants,  and  perfecting  titles,  locate  640 
acres  to  every  six  miles  square  in  the  territory  ceded  to  it,  where  existing  claims 
would  allow  the  same,  which  should  be  appropriated  for  the  use  of  schools 
forever. 

(5)  That  the  college  and  academy  lands  should  not  be  sold  for  less  than 
two  dollars  per  acre,  provided,  that  the  people  residing  south  of  French  Broad 
and  Holston  and  west  of  Big  Pigeon  River  should  be  secured  in  their  rights  of 
occupancy  and  preemption  at  a  price  not  less  than  one  dollar  per  acre.4 

The  land  west  of  the  Congressional  Reservation  line  was  known  as  the 
Congressional  Reservation  and  also  as  the  Chickasaw  Reservation  and  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  United  States,  on  October  19,  1818. 

The  college  and  academy  lands  were  located  south  of  the  French  Broad  and 
Holston  rivers  because  that  was  the  only  part  of  Tennessee,  at  that  time,  in 
which  North  Carolina  had  not  issued  warrants,  and  the  purpose  was  to  have 
the  pioneer  settlers  on  these  lands  pay  for  them.  These  pioneers  had 
settled  on  the  lands  in  question  under  sanction  of  the  treaties  made 
by  the  State  of  Franklin  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  at  Dumplin  Creek 
and  Coyatee.  As  has  already  been  seen  they  found  themselves  with- 
out protection  when,  in  1788,  the  sway  of  North  Carolina  over 
what  had  been  the  State  of  Franklin  was  restored,  and  they  consequently 
established  and  maintained  an  independent  government  until  the  Southwest  Ter- 
ritory was  formed.  Governor  Sevier,  in  a  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  1806, 
spoke  well  of  them  and  invoked  the  paternal  care  of  the  Legislature  in  their 
behalf.  Hence,  the  settlers  secured  the  lands  at  the  minimum  price  of  $1 
per  acre  which  was  probably  all  that  they  were  worth  at  that  time. 

The  public  schools,  however,  did  not  receive  the  benefit  anticipated  from 
the  generosity  of  Congress  for  the  reason  that  most  of  the  lands  fit  for  cultiva- 
tion and  improvement  had  already  been  taken  up  under  the  laws  of  North 
Carolina,  so  that,  while  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  (chapter  1),  in  1806,  "di- 
recting the  division  of  the  state  into  convenient  districts,  for  the  appointment 
of  principal  surveyors  thereof,  and  for  ascertaining  the  bona  fide  claims  against 
the  same, ' '  and  did  lay  it  off  into  six  districts,  ' '  exclusive  of  the  district  south  of 

3  Also  called  Congressional  Ecservation  Line.  See  article  on  the  subject  in  the  chapter 
on  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 

*  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.   152-153. 


316  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  French  Broad  and  Holston,"  the  surveyors  of  these  six  districts  could  locate 
only  22,705  acres  of  school  lands  out  of  a  total  of  444,444  acres  to  which  it 
was  estimated  that  the  State  was  entitled.5 

!IO\V    THE   SETTLERS   SOUTH    OF   THE   HOLSTON    AND    FRENCH    BROAD   PAID   FOR    THEIR 

LANDS 

The  two  colleges  and  the  academies  also  failed  to  receive  the  returns  expected 
from  the  sales  of  the  lands  south  of  the  Holston  and  French  Broad  rivers  because 
of  the  protracted  indulgence  extended  to  the  settlers  in  this  section  by  the 
General  Assembly.  As  has  been  shown,  the  rights  of  occupancy  and  preemption 
of  these  settlers  were  respected  b}r  North  Carolina  in  the  act  of  cession,  and  they 
were  secured  in  these  rights  by  the  Constitution  of  Tennessee  so  far  as  this 
instrument  was  competent  to  do  so.  Congress  completed  that  security  by  pro- 
viding in  the  compact  of  1806  that  those  settlers  should  have  titles  to  the  lands 
claimed  by  them,  not  exceeding  640  acres  each  at  a  price  of  not  less  than  $1 
per  acre.  Now  note  the  successive  steps  of  legislation  in  their  behalf  extending 
over  a  long  period  of  time. 

By  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  September  6,  1806,  these  occupants  were 
permitted  to  pay  for  their  lands  in  ten  equal  annual  installments,  the  first 
of  which  was  made  payable  on  March  1,  1808,  each  installment  to  bear  interest 
from  the  time  it  should  fall  due  until  paid. 

On  December  3,  1807,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  postponing  the  time 
of  payment  of  the  first  installment  until  March  1,  1809,  and  granting  another 
year  on  each  succeeding  installment. 

By  the  act  of  April  22,  1809,  the  Legislature  further  postponed  the  pay- 
ment of  the  first  installment  until  July  15,  1811. 

By  act  passed  on  November  8,  1809,  the  settlers  were  required  to  pay  only 
interest,  at  the  periods  fixed  for  the  payment  of  the  principal. 

By  an  act  passed  on  October  11,  1811,  the  Legislature  gave  time  for  the 
payment  of  interest  until  November  1,  1813.  Further  relief  was  extended  by 
an  act  passed  on  September  21,  1812,  which  remitted  the  interest  which  had 
accrued  on  the  installments  that  were  to  have  been  paid  in  1810  and  1811. 

The  occupants  secured  still  further  relief  in  1813  when  the  Legislature 
granted  them  a  suspension  of  the  payment  of  interest  until  November  1,  1815, 
and  provided  that  no  interest  should  accrue  on  any  installment  then  due. 

Similar  relief,  both  as  to  the  suspension  of  the  payment  of  interest  and 
the  accrual  of  it  was  granted  by  the  act  of  October  6,  1815,  to  operate  until 
November  1,  1817. 

On  November  12,  1817,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  suspending  the  pay- 
ment of  the  principal  of  the  debt  until  the  end  of  the  current  biennium,  and 
that  the  interest  then  due  should  be  paid  in  three  annual  installments,  and 
the  collection  of  the  interest  to  become  due  in  1818  and  1819  should  be 
suspended  until  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

By  an  act  passed  on  October  19,  1819,  the  payment  of  the  principal  was 
suspended  indefinitely,  and  the  interest  due  in  1818  was  required  to  be  paid 
on  November  1,  1820,  and  that  for  1819,  in  November,  1821. 

On  November  8,  1821,  the  sales  of  the  land  for  interest  were  suspended, 


5  This  subject  is  further  discussed  in  the  chapter  on  History  of  Education  in  Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  317 

and  two-thirds  of  the  interest  then  due  on  the  purchase  money  were  required 
b}'  the  Legislature  to  be  paid  on  or  before  May  1,  1823. 

By  an  act  passed  on  November  15,  1823,  the  Legislature  provided  for  the 
remission  of  one-third  of  the  entire  amount  of  debt  and  interest  remaining 
unpaid  on  May  1,  1824,  on  condition  that  the  occupants  paid  in  seven 
installments  the  balance  that  should  be  due. 

In  1824,  considerable  payments  were  made,  but,  in  1825,  the  occupants 
almost  unanimously  refused  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  the  law.  It  was 
realized,  too,  that  a  resort  to  legal  coercion  would  not  be  attended  with  success, 
for  the  section  was  extensive,  the  inhabitants  numerous,  and  many  of  them 
unproductive,  the  owners  of  the  land  being  wholly  unable  to  meet  even  the 
most  lenient  demands  for  payment.  So  that  little  money  was  realized  from  the 
sales  of  those  lands  and  some  of  the  settlers  gave  up  their  holdings  and  moved 
elsewhere. 

OTHER   LAND   LEGISLATION 

While  the  legislation  mentioned  with  regard  to  the  lands  south  of  the 
Holston  and  French  Broad  was  being  enacted,  the  Legislature  was  endeavoring 
by  numerous  acts  during  this  period  to  correct  the  mistakes  that  had  been 
made,  to  facilitate  the  proper  adjustment  of  conflicting  claims  and  to  place 
the  land  titles  of  Tennessee  upon  a  secure  basis  for  the  future.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary or  expedient  to  mention  all  these  acts.  To  discuss  them  all  would  require 
the  space  of  a  book  itself ;  but  proper  understanding  of  the  history  of  the  state 
requires  the  mention  of  the  most  important  of  them. 

In  1809  Governor  Willie  Blount  was  directed  by  act  of  the  Legislature  to 
sign  land  grants  which  Governor  Sevier  had  failed  to  sign.  Subsequent 
governors  were  clothed  with  similar  authority. 

In  1813  acts  were  passed  for  the  relief  of  persons  who  had  lost  their  grants 
before  they  were  registered,6  and  for  prescribing  the  duties  of  surveyors, 
which  duties  indeed  were  subject  of  much  legislation  at  various  times. 

In  1817  considerable  relief  was  experienced  in  granting  lands  by  reason 
of  the  treaty  concluded  between  the  United  States  and  the  Cherokee  Indians 
whereby  the  title  of  the  Indians  was  extinguished  to  part  of  the  lands  lying 
north  of  the  Tennessee  River.  So  an  act  was  passed  (Chapter  52,  Acts  of  1817), 
"to  provide  for  making  entries  for  lands  to  which  the  Indian  title  has  lately 
been  extinguished." 

In  1817  also  an  act  (Chapter  158),  was  passed  for  the  appointment  of 
commissioners,  one  in  East  Tennessee  and  one  in  West  Tennessee,  "for  the 
purpose  of  judging  and  ascertaining  the  validity  of  warrants,  and  other  legal 
evidences  of  unsatisfied  claims  to  land  within  the  state." 

Because  of  the  inadequacy  of  suitable  lands  north  and  east  of  the  Con- 
gressional Line,  Congress  by  an  act  passed  in  April,  1818,  provided  for  the 
satisfaction  of  North  Carolina  land  claims  out  of  the  tract  of  country  in  Ten- 
nessee lying  south  and  west  of  this  line.  The  Legislature  of  this  state  then 
passed  a  very  comprehensive  act  (Chapter  1,  Acts  of  1819),  "making  pro- 
vision for  the  adjudication  of  North  Carolina  land  claims,  and  for  satisfying 
Hie  same,  by  an  appropriation  of  the  Reservation  Line."     This  was  followed 


0  Act,  Chapter  :i9,  in  1819,  was  passed  to  afford  similar  relief. 

Vol.  1—21 


318         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

in  subsequent  sessions  by  other  ads  on  the  same  subjecl  and  also  by  Legislation 
seeking  to  place  a  limit  upon  the  satisfaction  of  the  North  Carolina  claims. 

But  when  ii  seemed  as  if  the  end  of  this  prolonged  settlement  of  these 
claims  mighl  be  soon  reached,  further  complexity  and  delay  was  caused,  in 
1822,  when  the  North  Carolina  Legislature  passed  an  act  giving  to  the  Uni- 
versity of  North  Carolina  warrants  for  western  lands  issued  for  military  service 
to  persons  who  had  died  without  heirs  or  proof  of  their  heirs.  Of  these  war- 
rants the  University  of  North  Carolina  transferred  .'5">  per  cenl  to  Cumberland 
College  (afterwards  the  University  of  Nashville),  and  25  per  cent  to  East 
Tennessee  College  (afterwards  the  University  of  Tennessee).7 

The  memorial  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina  to  the  General  Assembly 
of  Tennessee  asked  that  Tennessee  secure  the  lands  to  satisfy  its  claims  from 
the  territory  of  the  United  States  within  the  limits  of  Tennessee.  The  memorial 
of  the  university  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  also  asked  that  its  claim 
be  satisfied  out  of  the  same  lands.  The  Legislature  of  Tennessee  refused  to 
accede  to  the  plea  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina. 

In  1824,  James  K.  Polk,  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee, 
became  the  author  of  a  memorial  to  Congress  asking  that  Congress  make  good 
to  Tennessee,  for  the  use  of  the  common  schools,  the  proportion  of  the  public 
lands  within  her  borders  which  had  been  donated  for  such  a  purpose  to  every 
other  territory  and  state  created  out  of  the  public  domain.  His  argument  was 
unanswerable,  yet  Congress  would  not  act  and  did  nothing  until  1841,  when 
the  state  asked  and  received  a  mere  agency  in  disposing  of  these  lands.  Finally, 
in  1846,  the  United  States  released  its  title  to  the  lands  in  the  Congressional 
Reservation  on  condition  that  Tennessee  should,  out  of  the  proceeds,  set  apart 
$40,000  towards  the  establishment  of  a  college  in  "West  Tennessee,  in  accordance 
with  the  memorial  of  the  Tennessee  General  Assembly  in  1845-6.s 

EARLY   CUSTOMS 

The  sterling  qualities  possessed  by  the  early  pioneers  of  Tennessee  con- 
stitute an  historical  fact  in  which  the  later  inhabitants  of  this  state  in  all  the 
time  to  come  may  take  just  pride.  They  were  brave,  hardy,  patient  and  ambi- 
tious ;  but  so  were  the  settlers  along  the  Atlantic  seaboard ;  so  were  the 
pioneers,  who,  in  later  years,  opened  up  the  trans-Mississippi  wilderness,  and 
those  who  seized  and  held  the  Pacific  regions.  Yet  the  Tennessee  backwoodsmen 
differed  essentially  from  each  of  these  elements  and  from  all  other  pioneer 
peoples.  They  were  the  sturdiest  of  all,  for  their  environment  compelled  them 
to  be  so.  They  were  bold,  brave,  unafraid,  but  so  were  the  red  men  whom 
they  encountered;  and  the  long  continuance  of  the  conflict  with  these  untamable 
savages  caused  the  less  sturdy  to  succumb  and  the  strong  to  become  still 
stronger.  The  daily  menace  of  the  Indians,  of  the  savage  beasts,  the  bear,  the 
panther,  the   wolf  and   the   rattlesnake,    and   their   isolation   from  the   thickly 


7  The  subsequent  history  in  detail  of  the  land  matters  in  connection  with  these  in- 
stitutions is  given  in  the  "Memorials  Belative  to  Public  Lands  Claimed  by  the  University 
of  North  Carolina,"  published  in  The  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  268-282; 
in  the  "Memorial  of  the  President  and  Trustees  of  the  University  of  Nashville  to  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,"  published  in  The  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VII, 
pp.  80-87;  and  in  Sanf  ord 's  "Blount  College  and  the  University  of  Tennessee,"  published 
in  1894. 

s  See  "Education  and  the  Public  Lands  in  Tennessee,"  by  A.  V.  Goodpasture,  in  The 
American   Historical    Magazine,   Vol.   IV,   pp.   210-228. 


HAND-MADE  LOOM  FOR  WEAVING  CLOTH 


ANCIENT  COTTON  GIN  ANTEDATING  THE  ELI    WHITNEY   COTTON   GIN 


IHt  IIBRARY 
Of  THE 

UNiVFR^IfV  ttf  M  LINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  321 

settled  communities  of  the  east  caused  them  to  be  self-reliant  and  independent; 
and  these  characteristics  handed  down  to  their  descendants  have  made  subse- 
quent generations  of  Tennesseans  noted  in  national  and  international  affairs, 
so  that  the  underlying  reason  for  the  appellation  of  "The  Volunteer  State," 
applied  to  Tennessee,  because  of  the  readiness  of  its  people  to  enlist  in  just 
conflicts  for  country  and  home,  is  not  far  to  seek. 
Of  these  backwoodsmen  Roosevelt  says: 

"Their  grim,  harsh,  narrow  lives  were  yet  strangely  fascinating  and  full 
of  adventurous  toil  and  danger ;  none  but  natures  as  strong,  as  freedom-loving, 
and  as  full  of  bold  defiance  as  theirs  could  have  endured  existence  on  the 
terms  which  these  men  found  pleasurable.  Their  iron  surroundings  made  a 
mould  which  turned  out  all  alike  in  the  same  shape.  They  resembled  one 
another,  and  they  differed  from  the  rest  of  the  world — even  the  world  of 
America,  and  infinitely  more  the  world  of  Europe — in  dress,  in  customs,  and 
in  mode  of  life. ' ' 9 

Of  the  same  backwoodsmen  Ramsey  says: 

"Of  other  stamina  in  the  character  of  the  Tennessee  pioneer,  a  stern  in- 
dependence in  thought,  feeling  and  action,  attracts  the  notice  and  secures  the 
respect  of  all  who  are  pleased  with  simplicity,  truth  and  nature.  To  these  may 
be  added  frankness,  candour,  sincerity,  cordiality  and  the  inviolability  of  a 
private  friendship.  He  that  could  be  false  or  faithless  to  a  friend,  was  frowned 
out  of  the  backwoods  society,  and  could  never  again  enter  it.  No  perfidy 
was  considered  so  base,  so  belittling,  and  was  so  seldom  excused  or  forgiven,  as 
the  desertion  of  a  friend  or  ingratitude  to  a  benefactor.10 

"Ingratum  me  dixeris  omnia  dixeris. " 11 

When  the  white  man  first  made  his  permanent  abode  in  the  western  lands 
of  Tennessee,  he  found'  no  roads  leading  to  them,  but  only  trails  into  and 
through  the  regions  sought,  hence  the  pack-horse  was  a  necessity.  No  wagon 
was  seen  in  Tennessee  until  1776  12  and  they  were  not  numerous,  even  the  rudest 
of  oxcarts,  until  many  years  later. 

Because  the  settlers  were  far  distant  from  sources  of  supply,  there  were 
few  tools  and  articles  of  convenience  and  comfort  in  living.  Luxuries  were 
entirely  unknown.  Salt,  of  course,  they  were  forced  to  have,  and,  before  the 
home  supplies  were  discovered,  was  brought  from  long  distances  and  was  most 
carefully  conserved  in  the  family  gourd.  Coffee  and  tea  could  not  be  obtained 
and  sugar  was  secured  from  the  sugar  maple  tree  and  was  used  sparingly. 
Before  bloomeries  were  established,  iron  was  brought  at  great  expense  from 
the  furnaces  of  the  east  and  commanded  high  prices.  For  this  reason  its  use 
at  first  was  restricted  to  the  repairs  of  plows  and  other  tools  and  utensils  and 
for  nails,  hinges  and  fastenings. 

Ramsey  speaks  of  their  apparel  as  follows: 

"The  costume  of  the  first  settlers  corresponded  well  with  the  style  of  their 
buildings  and  the  quality  of  their  furniture.  The  hunting  shirt 13  of  the 
militiaman  and  the  hunter  was  in  general  use.  The  rest  of  their  apparel  was 
in  keeping  with  it — plain,  substantial,  and  well  adapted  for  comfort,  use  and 
economy.  The  apparel  of  the  pioneer's  family  was  all  home-made;  and,  in  a 
whole  neighborhood,  there  would  not  be  seen,  at  the  first  settlement  of  the 

o  "The  Winning  of  the  "West,"  Vol.  I,  p.  142. 

10  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.   724. 

11  If  you  call  me  ungrateful,  you  call  me  everything. 

12  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  714. 

]3Boosevelt  says  that  this  was  "the  most  picturesque  and  distinctively  national  dress 
ever  worn  in  America.  It  was  a  loose  smock  or  tunic,  reaching  nearly  to  the  knees  and  held 
in  at  the  waist  by  a  broad  belt,  from  which  hung  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife. ' ' 


322  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

country,  a  single  article  of  dress  of  foreign  growth  or  manufacture.  Half  the 
year,  in  many  families,  shoes  were  not  worn.  Boots,  a  fur  hat,  and  a  coat 
with  buttons  on  each  side,  attracted  the  gaze  of  the  beholder,  and  sometimes 
received  censure  and  rebuke.  A  stranger,  from  the  old  States,  chose  to  doff 
his  ruffles,  his  broadcloth  and  his  queue,  rather  than  endure  the  scoff  and 
ridicule  of  the  backwoodsmen."14 

Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  also  tells  in  his  characteristic  style  of  the  manner  of  life 
o!'  the  early  days,  as  follows: 

"Lands  were  easily  procured  at  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents  per  acre. 
The  axe  was  heard  felling  the  forest  and  fields  were  opened,  while,  occasionally, 
the  crack  of  the  rifle  announced  that  the  stag  of  the  forest  had  fallen.  Here 
and  there  was  found  a  happy  and  contented  family,  consisting  of  husband, 
wife  and  rosy  children.  Their  wants  were  few  and  easily  supplied.  The  men 
and  boys  built  the  cabins,  opened  the  fields,  and  cultivated  the  soil,  and  eared 
for  and  attended  the  stock.  The  women  and  girls  clothed  the  family,  cooked 
the  meals,  and  did  the  housework;  All  were  contented  and  happy,  voluntarily 
laboring  to  secure  a  competency  for  the  household.  The  pure  water,  mountain 
air  and  daily  labor  gave  health  and  robust  constitutions  to  all.  In  those  days 
I  never  heard  of  a  case  of  consumption,  gout  or  weak  lungs.  We  had  a  rattle- 
snake bite  occasionally,  and  an  Indian  scare.  These  were  the  greatest  dangers 
we  encountered.  Families  in  those  days  were  not  enervated  and  ruined  by 
luxuries,  what  is  called  high  living  and  fashion.  They  were  clothed  at  home 
by  their  honest  labor;  the  boys  in  their  jeans  and  copperas  cotton,  and  the 
girls  in  their  beautiful  stripes  of  cotton  and  linsey.  Dresses  were  made  to  fit 
their  persons  and  develop  their  natural  and  beautiful  forms."15 

And  Joseph  S.  Williams  speaks  of  these  conditions  as  follows: 

"In  a  virgin  land,  teeming  with  nature's  richest  verdure,  unknown  to  the 
ruthless  tread  of  oppression,  preserved  for  countless  ages  as  the  chosen  hunting- 
ground  of  the  red  men,  civilization  had  come  to  exercise  dominion  over  it — to 
found  its  places  of  abode.  Little  did  the  pioneer  settlers  think  that  in  less 
time  than  man's  ordinary  span  of  active  life,  the  march  of  improvement,  the 
progress  of  the  age,  would  cover  its  broad  acres.  It  is  not  of  the  present  that 
we  would  write,  but  of  our  country  in  its  infant  days,  when  the  ax  was  a 
stranger  in  its  giant  forests;  when  the  plow-share  and  the  grubbing-boe  were 
first  made  bright  and  dull  in  prepai'ing — in  making  it  ready  for  enjoying  civil- 
ized life — when  its  greatest  need  was  man."10 

It  may  be  that  Guild  and  Williams  depict  a  trifle  too  glowingly  the  beauty 
and  the  pleasure  of  pioneer  life  and  minimize  a  little  its  hardships.  The  call 
hack  to  Nature  and  the  delight  of  country  existence  are  the  entrancing  dreams 
of  urban  imagination.     Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  sings  fascinatingly: 

"Come  back  to  your  mother,  ye  children,  for  shame 
Who  have  wandered  like  truants  for  riches  and  fame ; 
With  a  smile  on  her  face  and  a  sprig  in  her  cap, 
She  bids  you  to  feast  from  her  beautiful  lap." 

It  is  a  pretty  enough  picture  that  Nature  is  a  fond  mother  taking  her  young 
affectionately  to  her  rich  and  ample  bosom  and  nurturing  them  comfortably 
with  but  little,  if  any,  effort  on  their  part.  But  those  who  have  lived  close  to 
wild  nature  know  her  for  a  tyrant,  void  of  pity  or  mercy,  from  whom  nothing 
can  be  wrung  without  toil  and  that,  too,  sometimes  at  the  risk  of  death.     To 


I*  "Annals   of   Tennessee,"  p.   715. 

is  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  p.  40. 

i'i  ' '  Old  Times  in  West   Tennessee,"  p.   32. 


A   TENNESSEE    PIONEER,   HIS    CABIN   AND   LONG   FLINTLOCK   RIFLE 


THE  HOME  OF  A   TENNESSEE  MOUNTAINEER 


IHf  IIBfURY 

Of  FHE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  If.LJMOiS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  325 

the  pioneers  of  Tennessee,  including  especially  the  women  and  children,  life 
was  a  long,  hard,  cruel  war  against  elemental  forces.  Nothing  short  of  the  arts 
of  war,  the  hazards  of  strife  and  heroic  courage  could  have  subdued  the  beasts 
and  the  Indians,  felled  the  forests  and  made  the  land  habitable  for  the  teeming 
thousands  and  millions  of  their  descendants  who  exist  in  a  state  of  dependence 
and  cultivation.  The  people  of  today  do  not  realize  what  a  debt  of  gratitude 
they  owe  to  their  rugged  forbears  of  Tennessee. 

The  first  lesson,  therefore,  which  the  pioneers  learned  was  self-reliance,  to 
provide  against  frost  and  famine  and  foes,  or  to  die.  But  there  were  com- 
pensations. While  the  school  of  nature  was  crude  and  harsh,  it  educated  sons 
and  daughters  of  lion  heart.  To  those  who  endured  came  the  reward  of  the 
most  outright  independence  to  be  had  on  earth.  No  king  ever  was  so  irre- 
sponsible or  absolute  as  the  early  backwoodsman  of  Tennessee. 

THE   STOCKADE   FORT 

When  a  group  of  families  moved  out  into  the  wilderness  they  built  for  their 
protection  against  the  Indians  a  station  or  rude  log  fort.  The  following  de- 
scription of  Ridley's  Fort  on  Mill  Creek,  near  Nashville,  is  applicable  to  most 
of  the  forts  of  the  early  days.     It  was  twenty  feet  square  and  was  built  thus : 

"Next  the  ground  were  six  round  logs,  about  twenty-one  feet  long,  laid  one 
upon  another,  and  well  mortised ;  next  came  a  log  twenty-four  feet  long,  and 
a  similar  one  on  the  other  side,  all  well  mortised.  In  this  way  a  projection 
even  with  the  floor  that  divided  the  upper  chamber  of  the  block  house  from  the 
lower  one,  was  formed  beyond  the  ground  tier  of  logs,  upon  which  an  upper 
wall  of  round  logs  was  built,  after  which  the  building  was  roofed  in.  Upon 
the  roof,  pieces  of  wood  were  fixed  for  the  garrison  to  step  on  and  put  out  any 
fire  the  Indians  might  succeed  in  setting  to  it  with  their  arrows.  Loopholes 
were  made  in  the  logs  of  the  upper  room,  to  enable  them  to  fire  at  any  Indians 
who  ventured  to  show  themselves.  There  were  other  loopholes  in  the  projecting 
part  of  the  floor,  whence  they  could  fire  down  upon  their  besiegers,  if  they 
should  attempt  to  run  up  to  the  block  house  to  set  fire  to  it.  These  block  houses 
were  surrounded  by  strong  picket  fences,  consisting  of  stout  posts  set  firmly 
in  the  ground,  the  upper  ends  of  the  posts  being  sharpened,  to  prevent  scaling.17 

"The  new-comer,  on  his  arrival  in  the  settlements,  was  everywhere,  and  at 
all  times,  greeted  with  a  cordial  welcome.  Was  he  without  a  family  he  was 
at  once  taken  in  as  a  cropper  or  a  farming  hand,  and  found  a  home  in  the 
kind  family  of  some  settler.  Had  he  a  wife  and  children  they  were  all  asked, 
in  backwoods  phrase,  'to  camp  with  us  till  the  neighbors  can  put  up  a  cabin 
for  you.'  The  invitation  accepted,  the  family  where  he  stops  is  duplicated, 
but  this  inconvenience  is  of  short  duration.  The  host  goes  around  the  neigh- 
borhood, mentions  the  arrival  of  the  strangers,  appoints  a  day,  close  at  hand, 
for  the  neighbors  to  meet  and  provide  them  a  home. 

"After  the  cabin  is  raised,  and  the  new-comers  are  in  it,  every  family,  near 
at  hand,  brings  in  something  to  give  them  a  start.  A  pair  of  pigs,  a  cow 
and  a  calf,  a  pair  of  all  the  domestic  fowls — any  supplies  of  the  necessaries  of 
life  which  they  have — all  are  brought  and  presented  to  the  beginners.  If  they 
have  come  into  the  settlement  in  the  spring,  the  neighbors  make  another  frolic, 
and  clear  and  fence  a  field  for  them."  18 

In  regard  to  amusements  Judge  Guild  says : 

"In  those  days  we  had  our  rural  and  innocent  amusements.  The  log-rollings, 
the  corn-shuckings,  the  house-raisings,  and  the  reapings  of  the  harvest;  while 

17  P.  M.  Bradford  in  The  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  p.  248. 

18  Ramsey's    "Annals   of   Tennessee,"   p.    724, 


326  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  ladies  and  the  girls  attended  at  the  same  time  to  their  cotton-pickings  and 
quiltings ;  and  when  the  day's  work  was  performed,  the  yard  was  swept,  covered 
by  the  flowers  of  the  forest,  and  tlje  dance  commenced.  The  old-fashioned  Vir- 
ginia breakdown  reel,  where  twenty  couples  faced  and  eyed  each  other,  as  they 
moved  through  the  mazes  of  the  merry  dance,  while  the  bow  was  drawn  across 
the  strings  of  the  violin  (we  called  it  a  fiddle),  discoursing  sweet  music.  Then 
'the  band'  would  give  us  'Jenny,  put  the  kettle  on,'  'Molly,  blow  the  bellows 
strong,  we'll  all  take  tea;'  then,  'Leather  breeches,  full  of  stitches,'  and  by  way 
of  variety,  'Billy  in  the  wild  woods,'  or  'Nappycot  and  pettycoat,'  and  'The 
linsey  gown,  if  you  want  to  keep  your  credit  up,  pay  the  money  down.'  ' 

Gradually,  as  population  increased  and  the  facilities  for  communicating 
with  the  outside  world  by  river  and  by  road  were  more  and  more  made 
available  the  conditions  and  manner  of  living  in  Tennessee  were  changed.  With 
the  surrender  of  New  Orleans  by  Spain  and  especially  following  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  by  President  Jefferson  new  life  was  breathed  into  the  settlements  of 
Tennessee,  sparse  though  they  still  were  and  the  influx  of  population  was 
equalled  by  the  increase  of  trade.  The  pirogue  gave  way  to  larger  boats  and 
shipments  of  corn,  cotton,  dried  beef,  tobacco,  whiskey,  flax,  tallow,  hides,  skins 
and  furs  were  sent  down  the  Cumberland,  the  Tennessee  and  the  Mississippi 
rivers  with  guards  to  protect  them  from  the  buccaneers.  From  New  Orleans 
were  brought  back  farming  implements,  carpenters'  tools,  nails  and  other  simple 
necessities  of  life  which  the  pioneers  could  not  provide  for  themselves.  Another 
result  of  the  increase  of  trade  was  the  increase  of  money.  The  puncheon  floor 
had  now  given  way  to  clean,  dry  plank  floors,  the  roofs  were  covered  with 
shingles  and  there  was  a  gradual  increase  in  articles  of  furniture.  Changes  in 
personal  attire  were  much  slower,  but  they,  too,  gradually  developed. 

While  the  struggle  for  life  was  still  earnest  and  vivid,  by  the  year  1800, 
the  settler's  aspect  of  the  world  had  altered.  The  old  days  of  perfect  and 
noble  equality  among  all  were  forever  past,  and  while  the  virile  qualities 
remained  the  prejudice  against  the  refinements  of  life  was  lost;  the  hunter 
had  been  supplemented  by  the  husbandman,  the  merchant  and  the  manufac- 
turer. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  IN  TENNESSEE 

In  all  probability  there  has  never  existed  a  people  more  essentially  religious 
than  the  early  inhabitants  of  Tennessee.  As  has  been  seen,  they  were  prin- 
cipally of  Scotch-Irish  origin  and  like  their  ancestors,  the  Scotch  who  settled 
in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  the  Scotch  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  were 
Presbyterians,  and  carried  into  the  wilderness  the  rifle  in  one  hand  and  the 
Bible  in  the  other.  Through  them,  too,  Presbyterianism  would  have  been  estah- 
lished  impregnably  in  this  state  but  for  schismatic  dissensions  among  them- 
selves, due  partly  to  the  fact  that  communities  were  so  far  separated  that  a 
regular  ministry  could  not  be  maintained,  even  when  there  were  no  wars  with 
the  Indians,  which  were  almost  continuous  for  many  years,  and,  of  course, 
precluded  regularity  in  community  religious  service;  and,  partly,  because  these 
people  became  too  democratic  for  extreme  Calvinism  with  its  supreme  authority 
of  the  clergy,  although,  in  many  parts  of  Tennessee  we  yet  sometimes  encounter 
hair-splitting  arguments  over  points  of  doctrine,  not  always  restricted  to 
Presbyterians  by  any  means.  The  differences  among  the  early  Presbyterians 
caused  the  division   into  "Old  Side"  Presbyterians  and  "New  Side"  Presby- 


FIRST    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH,    NASHVILLE 


m^H 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  329 

terians,  according  to  the  strictness  or  the  liberality  of  their  views  on  doctrinal 
points. 

THE   EARLIEST    ESTABLISHED    CHURCHES    AND    MINISTERS 

Although  the  Reverend  Charles  Cummings  19  located  in  Wolf's  Hills  (Ab- 
ingdon, Va.),  as  early  as  1772  and  served  two  congregations  along  the  Holston, 
including  service  in  what  is  now  Sullivan  County,  Tennessee,  Samuel  Doak 
deserves  the  credit  of  having  been  the  first  established  minister  in  Tennessee. 
He  has  been  called  the  pioneer  "preacher-teacher"  and  began  his  ministrations 
at  Salem  in  1780.  He  had  been  licensed  by  the  Hanover  Presbytery,  preached 
for  a  while  in  Virginia,  then  removed  to  the  "western  country,"  first  to  Sul- 
livan County,  then  to  Washington  County,  purchased  a  farm  and  located  his 
church  on  it.  This  was  probably  the  first  church  built  in  the  state.  He  also 
built  a  schoolhouse  and  established  a  school  which  was  not  only  the  first  in 
Tennessee  but  was  "the  first  literary  institution  that  was  established  in  the 
great  valley  of  the  Mississippi."  20 

Doak  was  soon  followed  by  other  Presbyterian  preachers,  prominent  among 
whom  were  Samuel  Houston,  Hezekiah  Balch  and  Samuel  Carrick,  all  of  whom, 
like  Doak,  had  belonged  to  the  Hanover  Presbytery.  But  the  Abingdon 
Presbytery  was  formed  in  1785  and,  in  1786,  was  divided  into  the  Abingdon 
and  the  Transylvania  Presbyteries,  the  latter  name  of  which  included  the  Cum- 
berland Settlement,  to  which  Thomas  Craighead  went  in  1785. 21 

The  doctrinal  schism  was  very  pronounced  in  the  Abingdon  Presbytery,  in 
which  Charles  Cummings,  Samuel  Doak,  Edward  Crawford,  Joseph  Lake,  and 
James  Balch  held  the  opinions  of  the  "Old  Side,"  and  Hezekiah  Balch,  John 
Coussan,  Samuel  Carrick,  Robert  Henderson,  and  Gideon  Blackburn  were  ar- 
rayed on  the  "New  Side."  Hezekiah  Balch  was  brought  before  the  Presby- 
tery for  teaching  ' '  Hopkinsianism. ' '  That  Presbytery,  however,  accepted 
Balch 's  explanations  and  apology,  an  action  which  incensed  the  "Old  Side" 
ministers  so  much  that  they  seceded  and  in  1796  formed  the  "Independent 
Presbytery  of  Abingdon,"  which,  in  the  next  year  they  disavowed  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  Synod.  The  differences,  however,  were  irreconcilable  and  re- 
sulted in  the  division  of  the  Abingdon  Presbytery  into  two  Presbyteries,  the 
Abingdon  Presbytery  and  the  Union  Presbytery,  the  former  including  the  "Old 
Side"  ministers  and  the  latter  the  "New  Side"  ministers.22 

It  was  these  dissensions  which  gave  an  opening  to  the  Methodists  and 
Baptists,  the  latter  of  whom,  although  in  evidence  on  the  Holston  as  early  as 
1780,  did  not  attain  large  numbers  until  years  later.  The  most  noted  of  the 
Baptist  ministers  who  came  about  this  time,  were  William  Murphy,  James  Keel, 
Thomas  Murrell,  Tidence  Lane,  Isaac  Barton.  Matthew  Talbot,  Joshua  Kelly, 
and  John  Christian.  In  the  great  religious  revival  which  began  shortly  before 
the  close  of  the  century  the  Baptists  took  little  part. 

The  first  Methodist  preacher  in  Tennessee  was  Jeremiah  Lambert  who  was 
appointed  to  the  Holston  circuit  in  1783.  In  1786,  Benjamin  Ogden  carried 
Methodism  into  the  Cumberland  settlement,  where  his  efforts  and  those  of  others 
were  much  impeded  by  a  faction  called  republicans,  headed  by  James  O 'Kelly, 

19  It  was  his  custom  to  carry  his  rifle  to  the  pulpit. 

20  See  chapter  on  Education  in  Tennessee. 

-i  See  Davidson  Academy  in   chapter  on   Historic  Spots  and  Places. 

22  "History  of  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Knoxville,"  by  Eev.  James  Park. 


330  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

who,  by  1795,  when  William  Burk  came  to  the  Cumberland  Circuit,  had  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  into  his  ranks  all  the  traveling  preachers  and  all  but  one  of 
the  local  preachers.23  In  1796,  however,  much  to  the  gratification  of  Bishop 
Asbury,  the  adherents  of  0 'Kelly  were  defeated.  For  a  full  and  well  written 
account  of  the  subsequent  growth  of  this  church,  reference  is  here  made  to  the 
History  of  Methodism  in  Tennessee,  by  Rev.  J.  B.  McFerrin,  one  of  its  pioneer 
preachers.  Carr's  "Early  Times  in  Middle  Tennessee,"  pp.  175-185,  also  gives 
valuable  information  concerning  Methodism  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

The  extraordinary  development  of  religious  feeling,  amounting  in  many 
cases  to  ecstasy,  was  a  natural  evolution,  an  irrepressible  exhilaration  of  religious 
enthusiasm,  all  the  more  irresistible  because  so  long  repressed.  For  the  long 
continued  wars,  especially  those  with  the  Indians,  the  prolonged  struggle  to 
establish  and  maintain  homes  in  the  wilderness,  prevented  the  practice  of  re- 
ligious observances  which  those  people  greatly  desired  to  maintain.  Further- 
more, the  tendency  of  such  conditions  is  to  weaken  the  fibre  of  worship,  to  lower 
the  standard  of  morality.  Scenes  of  bloodshed,  rapine  and  partisan  animosity 
never  make  men  better,  but,  on  the  contrary,  coarsen  and  harden  the  heart  to  the 
appeals  of  an  uplifting  conscience.    Ramsey  speaks  of  the  change  as  follows : 

"But  now,  war  and  its  influences  had  ceased,  and  the  quiet  of  a  stable  gov- 
ernment had  given  repose  to  the  excited  masses.  This  condition  was  favourable 
to  the  needed  reformation,  and  happily  the  instruments  by  whom  it  was  to  be 
effected,  were  at  hand.  'Men  of  burning  zeal,  inspired  by  the  lofty  theme,  and 
imbued  with  the  power  of  a  boisterous  but  natural  eloquence,  came  amongst 
the  people,  and  declared  their  mission.  To  most  of  them  it  was  novel,  and,  there- 
fore, attractive.  Large  audiences  of  sensitive  and  enthusiastic  hearers,  were 
assembled,  the  fame  of  the  preachers  is  extended  to  distant  neighbourhoods, 
other  appointments  are  made,  at  which  thousands  will  have  congregated,  some 
of  them  having  come  more  than  fifty  miles.'24  This  created  the  necessity 
of  what  has  since  been  known  as  'a  Camp-meeting.'  " 

THE  CAMP-MEETING  AND  GREAT  REVIVALS 

Authorities  differ  as  to  the  date  and  place  of  the  first  camp-meeting.  Ram- 
sey's Annals,  page  731,  states  explicitly:  "The  first  important  camp-meeting 
on  record  was  held  at  Cane  Ridge,  in  Tennessee,  in  the  summer  of  1799."  Flint's 
"Geography,"  page  147,  also  gives  Cane  Ridge,  Tennessee,  1799.  Phelan,  how- 
ever, in  his  "History  of  Tennessee,"  page  223,  favors  Gaspar  Creek,  Logan 
County,  Kentucky,  1800. 

It  is  very  evident,  at  any  rate,  that  the  first  camp-meetings  to  attract  wide- 
spread attention  were  held  in  the  north  central  part  of  Tennessee  and  in  the 
south  central  part  of  Kentucky.  They  were  the  result  of  a  great  religious  awak- 
ening which  occurred  under  the  preaching  of  eminent  divines  in  that  section. 

The  first  preacher  to  arouse  the  people  and  to  infuse  new  life  and  Christian 
energy  into  them  was  Rev.  James  McGready,  who  had  three  congregations  in 
Logan  County.  His  influence  grew  and  his  reputation  spread  until  people  came 
from  many  miles  to  hear  him.  Although  he  was  a  Presbyterian,  no  sectarianism 
entered  into  his  preaching.  The  wonderful  religious  excitement  aroused  by 
McGready  in  Logan  County  extended  into  Sumner  County,  where  in  the  summer 
of  1800,  a  great  revival  commenced  under  the  preaching  of  McGready,  William 


"Finley's  Sketches  of  Western  Methodism,  p.  46. 
24  Monette. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  331 

McGee,  John  McGee,  Thomas  Craighead  and  others.    An  attendant  at  those  meet- 
ings says : 

"Such  displays  of  Divine  power  as  were  there  seen,  I  had  never  before  wit- 
nessed. Under  the  preaching  of  Messrs.  McGready  and  McGee,  the  people 
fell  down  like  slain  men  in  battle ;  and  the  number  that  professed  religion  then 
will  never  be  known  in  time. ' '  25 

The  great  work  of  revival  went  on  unceasingly  day  and  night,  and  during 
its  progress  was  attended  by  strange  and  unusual  exercises,  about  which  very 
little  has  been  written  by  historians.  Carr,  himself,  witnessed  these  occurrences 
and  quotes  from  the  biography  of  Rev.  Barton  W.  Stone,  who,  he  says,  describes 
them  with  correctness  and  fidelity  as  follows: 

"The  bodily  agitations  and  exercises  attending  the  excitement  in  the  be- 
ginning of  this  century  were  various,  and  called  by  various  names,  as  the 
falling  exercise,  the  jerks,  the  dancing  exercise,  the  barking  exercise,  the  laugh- 
ing and  singing  exercises,  and  so  on.  The  falling  exercise  was  very  common 
among  all  classes,  the  saints  and  sinners  of  every  age  and  grade,  from  the 
philosopher  to  the  clown.  The  subject  of  this  exercise  would  generally,  with  a 
piercing  scream,  fall  like  a  log  on  the  floor  or  earth,  and  appear  as  dead     *     *     * 

"The  jerks  cannot  be  so  easily  described.  Sometimes  the  subject  of  the 
jerks  would  be  affected  in  some  one  member  of  the  body,  and  sometimes  in  the 
whole  system.  When  the  head  alone  was  affected,  it  would  be  jerked  back- 
ward and  forward,  or  from  side  to  side,  so  quickly  that  the  features  of  the 
face  could  not  be  distinguished.  When  the  whole  system  was  affected,  I  have 
seen  the  person  stand  in  one  place  and  jerk  backward  and  forward  in  quick 
succession,  the  head  nearly  touching  the  floor  behind  and  before.  *  *  * 
Though  so  awful  to  behold,  I  do  not  remember  that  any  one  of  the  thousands 
I  have  seen  thus  affected  ever  sustained  any  injury  in  body. 

"The  dancing  exercise  generally  began  with  the  jerks,  and  was  peculiar  to 
professors  of  religion.  *  *  *  The  barking  exercise,  as  opposers  contempt- 
uously called  it,  was  nothing  but  the  jerks.  A  person  affected  with  the  jerks, 
especially  in  his  head,  would  often  make  a  grunt  or  a  bark,  from  the  sud- 
denness of  the  jerk.  *  *  *  The  laughing  exercise  was  frequent — confined 
solely  to  the  religious.  *  *  *  The  running  exercise  was  nothing  more 
than  that  persons  feeling  something  of  these  bodily  agitations,  through  fear, 
attempted  to  run  away  and  thus  escape  from  them ;  but  it  commonly  happened 
that  they  ran  not  far  before  they  fell,  where  they  became  so  agitated  they  could 
not  proceed  any  farther.  *  *  *  The  singing  exercise  is  more  unaccountable 
than  anything  else  I  ever  saw.  The  subject,  in  a  very  happy  state  of  mind,  would 
sing  most  melodiously,  not  from  the  mouth  or  nose,  but  entirely  in  the  breast. 
*     *     *     It  was  most  heavenly." 

These  revival  meetings  led  directly  to  the  camp-meeting.  Everybody  wished 
to  attend  them,  but  the  country  was  sparsely  settled  and  those  at  a  distance  were 
precluded  from  attendance  unless  they  came  and  visited  or  camped  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  place  where  the  services  were  held.  This  was  done  in  several 
isolated  cases.  At  first  only  one  family  moved  to  the  country  where  Mofxready 
was  holding  his  meetings.  They  provided  themselves  with  provisions  and  a 
wagon,  camped  on  the  way  and,  when  they  reached  their  destination,  camped 
near  the  church.  Thus  they  were  enabled  to  give  their  undivided  attention  to 
the  gospel  ministration. 

At  subsequent  meetings  more  families  came  in  a  similar  way.  This  very 
satisfactory  method  of  overcoming  the  obstacle  of  long  distance  as  a  deterrent 
from  attendance  was  observed  by  McGready,  who,  prior  to  the  meeting  at  Gaspar 
River,  in  July,  1800,  announced  that  he  expected  people  to  camp  on  the  ground. 


25  Carr 's  "Early  Times  in  Middle  Tennessee,"  p.  67. 


332  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"A  vast  concourse  of  people  attended,  some  coming,  it  is  stated,  from 
twenty,  thirty,  fifty  and  even  a  hundred  miles.  This  was  the  first  camp- 
meeting  ever  held.  The  people  adapted  themselves  to  the  conditions  which 
surrounded  them.  These  meetings  spread  rapidly  over  all  the  Western  country, 
where  they  were  as  useful  as  they  were  popular. ' ' 20 

Speaking  of  the  Cane  Ridge  camp-meeting  which  he  asserts  was  the  first 
camp-meeting  on  record,  held  in  the  summer  of  1799,  Ramsey  says : 

"At  night  the  grove  was  illuminated  with  lighted  candles,  lamps  and 
torches.  The  stillness  of  the  night,  the  serenity  of  the  heavens,  the  vast  con- 
course of  attentive  worshippers,  wrapped  in  the  deep  solemnity  which  covered 
every  countenance,  the  pointed  and  earnest  manner  in  which  the  preachers, 
in  different  portions  of  the  vast  concourse,  exhorted  the  people  to  repentance, 
faith  and  prayer,  denouncing  the  terrors  of  the  law  upon  the  impenitent,  pro- 
duced the  most  awfully  solemn  sensations  in  the  minds  of  all.  Twenty  thousand 
persons  were  estimated  to  be  present."27 

These  revivals  and  camp-meetings  attracted  the  attention  of  the  entire  coun- 
try. So  large  a  number  of  meetings  and  so  tremendous  concourses  of  auditors 
required  the  services  of  a  large  number  of  preachers.  The  appeal  for  more 
ministers  was  insistent  and  continuous.  Hence,  Rev.  David  Rice,  the  oldest 
minister  in  the  Transylvania  Presbytery,  made  a  visit  to  the  Cumberland  coun- 
try and,  after  an  investigation,  decided  that,  in  the  emergency,  men  who  were 
found  to  possess  good  natural  ability,  and  capable  of  exercising  their  talents  in 
Christian  ministry,  should  be  encouraged  to  preach  the  gospel,  although  they 
might  not  be  equal  to  the  full  requirement  of  the  discipline  in  the  matter  of 
education. 

Finally,  three  earnest,  devoted  and  intelligent  men,  viz. :  Alexander  Ander- 
son, Finis  Ewing,  and  Samuel  King,  were  licensed  as  probationers  by  the  Transyl- 
vania Presbytery  and  were  subsequently  ordained  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  by 
the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  which  was  formed  from  Transylvania  Presbytery, 
in  1802. 

JUDGE  JO   C.   GUILD    ON   CAMP-MEETINGS 

"I  have  always  been  in  favor  of  camp-meetings.  They  bring  the  people 
together,  who  make  new  acquaintances  and  revive  old  associations.  They  create 
religious  excitement,  which  is  right  and  proper,  and  are  great  pioneers  in  the 
propagation  of,  religion.  It  is  a  storm,  it  purifies  the  atmosphere.  It  moves 
upon  the  waters  and  harrows  up  the  deep ;  in  its  course  it  fells  the  most  stubborn 
oak ;  it  is  a  religious  enthusiasm  that  throttles  sin  and  purifies  the  soul.  All 
the  Churches  should  unite,  and  revive  this  good  old  custom.     *     *     * 

"In  ancient  times,  I  have  seen  at  one  of  those  camp-meetings  the  forked 
lightning  playing  over  the  largest  assemblages,  and  the  wild  thunder  leaping 
from  head  to  head,  and  have  seen  a  hundred  women  with  the  jerks,  the  result 
of  religious  enthusiasm." 

A  long  contest  ensued  between  the  Kentucky  Synod  and  the  majority  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbytery.  One  of  the  causes  of  censure  alleged  against  revivalists 
in  the  Cumberland  Presbytery  was  too  strong  a  leaning  towards  Methodism. 
The  main  difference,  however,  was  a  licensing  of  the  young  men  to  exhort.  There 
was,  also,  some  difference  upon  doctrinal  points.     The  Cumberland  Presbytery 


26  Garrett   and   Goodpasture's  "History   of  Tennessee,"  p.   158. 

27  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  p.  731;    see  also  Bang's  "History  of  Methodism,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  110;  also  Monette's  "History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  26-29. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  333 

was,  at  last,  dissolved,  but  the  Council  (including  the  majority  of  the  dissen- 
tients) appealed  to  the  General  Assembly,  which  then  requested  the  Synod  to 
review  its  proceedings.    Finally,  the  General  Assembly  decided  with  the  Synod. 

ORGANIZATION  OP  THE  CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

The  establishment  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  constitutes  a 
veritable  romance  of  religious  sentiment  crystallized  into  an  ecclesiastical  life 
which  represented  the  earnest  and  sincere  views  of  its  founders.  The  following 
seems  to  be  the  best  of  the  short  accounts  of  its  organization : 

"An  effort  to  a  reconciliation  with  the  Kentucky  Synod  having  failed,  on 
the  4th  day  of  February,  1810,  in  the  old  log  house  of  Samuel  McAdow,  in 
Dickson  County,  Tennessee,  Samuel  McAdow,  Finis  Ewing  and  Samuel  King, 
regularly  ordained  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  against  whom  no 
charge,  either  of  immorality  or  of  heresy,  had  ever  been  made,  constituted 
themselves  into  a  Presbytery,  known  by  the  name  of  Cumberland  Presbytery, 
on  condition  that  no  candidate  for  the  ministry  should  be  required  to  receive 
and  adopt  so  much  of  the  Confession  and  Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
as  teaches  the  idea  of  fatality,  nor  to  stand  an  examination  in  any  other  than 
the  English  language.  Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  Its  name  was  taken  from  the  old  Cumberland  Presbytery,  which  had 
been  named  for  the  Cumberland  River,  that  flowed  through  its  bounds.  It 
celebrated  the  semi-centennial  of  the  meeting  of  its  first  General  Assembly 
in  1880."  28 

Up  to  1810  the  only  churches  represented  in  Tennessee  were  the  Presbyterian, 
Methodist,  Baptist  and  Cumberland  Presbyterian  churches.  Since  that  time, 
most,  if  not  all,  of  the  leading  denominations  have  established  churches  in  this 
state.  The  Lutherans  came  in  1825 ;  the  Christians  or  Disciples  in  1826 ;  the 
Episcopalians  in  1827  and  the  Catholics  in  1830. 


28  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.   160. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  WILLIE  BLOUNT,  1809-1815;  THE  CREEK 
WAR;  AND  BATTLE  OP  NEW  ORLEANS 

When,  in  1809,  John  Sevier  became  ineligible  for  the  second  time  for  election 
as  governor,  he  became  a  candidate  for  the  United  States  Senate  but,  being  un- 
successful, he  retired  to  his  home  near  Knoxville.  Judge  Joseph  Anderson  and 
Jenkin  Whitesides  were  elected  United  States  senators. 

Sevier's  successor  as  governor  in  1809  was  Willie  (pronounced  Wylie) 
Blount,  the  younger  half-brother  of  William  Blount.  The  influence  of  the  name 
of  Blount  and  his  own  merits  caused  him  to  be  reelected  without  opposition  in 
1811  and  again  in  1813.  He  was  on  intimate  terms  with  both  Sevier  and  Jackson. 
He  had  been  private  secretary  to  his  brother  and  had  been  offered  a  judgeship 
on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court,  but  refused  it.  He  was  a  trustee  of  Blount 
College  and  of  Cumberland  College  and  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  in 
1807.  His  hearty  support  of  Jackson  during  the  Creek  war  enabled  him  to  bring 
that  fierce  conflict  to  a  successful  conclusion.  On  his  own  responsibility  he 
raised  $370,000  for  this  war  at  the  time  of  Jackson's  most  urgent  need,  and  was 
thanked  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  three  secretaries  of  war,  by 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  and  by  General  Jackson,  whose  friendship 
he  enjoyed  until  his  death  in  1835. 

The  principal  events  during  Willie  Blount's  three  administrations  may  be 
summarized  as  follows: 

In  1809,  the  second  session  of  the  Seventh  General  Assembly  met  at  Knox- 
ville ;  the  following  counties  were  erected :  Humphreys,  Lincoln,  Giles ;  the 
state  was  divided  into  five  judicial  circuits,  as  follows :  First  Circuit,  Greene, 
Washington,  Carter,  Sullivan,  Hawkins,  Grainger,  Claiborne  and  Campbell, 
with  William  Cocke  as  judge;  Second  Circuit,  Cocke,  Jefferson,  Sevier,  Blount, 
Knox,  Anderson,  Roane,  Rhea,  and  Bledsoe,  with  James  Trimble,  judge;  Third 
Circuit,  Smith,  Warren,  Sumner,  Franklin,  Overton,  White  and  Jackson,  with 
Nathaniel  W.  Williams,  judge;  Fourth  Circuit,  Davidson,  Wilson,  Rutherford, 
Williamson,  Maury,  Giles,  Bedford  and  Lincoln,  with  Thomas  Stuart,  judge; 
Fifth  Circuit,  Montgomery,  Dickson,  Hickman,  Humphreys,  Stewart  and 
Robertson,  with  P.  W.  Humphreys,  judge;  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  anJ 
Equity  was  abolished  and  a  Supreme  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals  was  estab 
lishecl  with  two  judges  who  were  to  hold  court  in  conjunction  with  a  Circuit 
judge  at  Knoxville,  Jonesboro,  Carthage,  Nashville  and  Clarksville.  The  salary 
of  the  Supreme  judges  was  placed  at  $1,500  per  annum  and  of  the  Circuit 
judges  at  $1,000  per  annum.  Hugh  Lawson  White  and  George  W.  Campbell 
were  the  first  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

In  1810  the  need  for  iron  which,  up  to  that  time,  had  been  acute,  was,  in  a 
measure,  met  by  the  iron  works  which  had  been  established  and  which  had 
attained  a  large  measure  of  prosperity,  being  valued  at  $165,800,  a  great  sum  in 

334 


JOHN  SELFRIDGE 


MACHINE    USED    FOR    BORING    FLINTLOCK 
RIFLES   BY   JOHN    SELFRIDGE 


AUTOMATIC  FIRELIGHTER  OF  COLONIAL  DAYS 
—THE    FLINTLOCK    TINDER    BOX 


FLINTLOCK  RIFLE,  POWDER  HORN  AND  SHOT  POUCH  USED 
BY  ONE  OF  GEN.  COFFEE'S  RIFLEMEN  AT  NEW  ORLEANS  IN 
THE  WAR  OF  1812 


iHE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UMIVfiBSITY  QF  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  337 

those  days.  It  was  in  this  year  that  William  Carroll,  afterwards  governor, 
opened  at  Nashville  the  first  nail  store  in  the  state.  The  population  of  Tennessee, 
as  shown  by  the  census  of  this  year  was  261,727,  including  44,734  slaves.  This 
shows  the  wonderful  strides  made  by  this  state  in  the  preceding  fourteen  years, 
when,  in  1796,  it  first  was  made  a  member  of  the  Federal  Union,  with  a  popula- 
tion of  77,263,  including  10,613  slaves. 

In  1811  a  state  bank  was  established  at  Knoxville  with  branches  at  Clarks- 
ville,  Columbia,  Jonesboro  and  Nashville.  Hugh  Lawson  White  was  president 
of  this  bank  until  1827. 

The  Supreme  Court  was  vested  with  exclusive  equity  jurisdiction.  Circuit 
judges  were  constituted  judges  of  the  state,  and  authorized  to  interchange  rid- 
ings (circuits)  and  were  not  to  be  associated  on  the  bench  with  the  Supreme 
judges.  Criminal  and  civil  jurisdiction  were  restored  to  county  courts  and  coun- 
ties were  authorized  to  appoint  county  solicitors.  In  the  winter  of  this  year 
occurred  the  earthquakes  which  caused  the  formation  of  Reelfoot  Lake. 

In  1812,  the  Legislature  convened  in  Nashville  for  the  first  time  on  Sep- 
tember 12th.  The  United  States  having  declared  war  against  Great  Britain, 
Governor  Blount  delivered  a  spirited  and  patriotic  message  to  the  Legislature 
and  furnished,  on  requisition  of  the  war  department,  2,500  men  to  engage  in 
the  war.  The  rapid  development  of  Tennessee  is  shown  by  the  division  of  the 
state  into  six  congressional  districts  and  the  provision  for  eight  presidential 
electors.  Judge  William  Cocke  was  impeached  and  removed  from  the  office  of 
judge  of  the  First  Circuit. 

In  1813  the  Legislature  passed  the  following  important  acts:  "authorizing 
the  governor  to  march  3,500  men  against  the  Creek  Indians";  "allowing  ap- 
peals from  County  to  Supreme  Court";  "vesting  concurrent  equity  jurisdic- 
tion with  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Circuit  Courts";  "changing  name  of  the 
state  treasurers  from  Mero  and  Washington  to  treasurers  of  East  and  West 
Tennessee."  Gen.  William  Carroll  was  appointed  a  major  general  of  Second 
Division  State  Militia,  succeeding  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  appointed  a  major 
general  in  the  United  States  Army.  Governor  Blount  raised  $370,000  on  his 
own  responsibility  to  prosecute  the  Creek  war.  General  Carroll  and  Jesse  Ben- 
ton fought  a  duel  in  which  Benton  was  wounded.  In  a  fight  at  the  City  Hotel, 
Nashville,  between  General  Jackson,  John  Coffee  and  Thomas  Hays,  on  the  one 
side,  and  Thomas  H.  Benton  and  Jesse  Benton,  on  the  other  side,  Jackson  was 
very  seriously  wounded.  John  Coffee  commanded  the  Middle  Tennessee  bri- 
gade and  John  Cocke  the  East  Tennessee  brigade  in  the  Creek  war. 

In  1814  Gen.  James  Robertson  died  at  the  Chickasaw  Agency  (afterwards 
Memphis).  George  W.  Campbell  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  treasury  by 
President  Madison. 

THE   WAR  OP    1812   AND   THE   CREEK   WAR 

As  the  Creek  war  was  fought  during  the  continuity  of  the  War  of  1812,  the 
discussion  of  both  wars  should  naturally  be  taken  up  concurrently.  The  nar- 
rative concerning  these  wars,  however,  will  be  restricted  to  tbe  part  which  Ten- 
nessee and  Tennesseans  took  in  them  with  a  brief  preliminary  statement  for 
a  proper  historical  setting. 

The  United  States  had  declared  war  on  Great  Britain,  and  Tennessee  had 
been  called  upon  to  furnish  its  quota.     She  responded  with  her  usual  alacrity 


338  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and,  to  aid  in  the  defense  of  the  southern  frontier  against  apprehended  inva- 
sion, Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  embodied  at  Nashville  a  force  of  2,070  volunteers, 
of  whom  1,400  were  infantry  and  760  mounted  riflemen.  The  general  staff 
was  composed  of  Andrew  Jackson,  major-general;  William  B.  Lewis,  assistant 
deputy  quartermaster-general;1  William  Carroll,  brigadier  inspector;  James 
Henderson,  brigade  quartermaster;  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  first  aid;  John 
Reid,  second  aid.    The  cavalry  was  commanded  by  Col.  John  Coffee.2 

Jackson  broke  up  his  camp  at  Nashville  on  January  7,  1813,  sending  the  in- 
fantry in  thirteen  boats  down  the  Cumberland,  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi 
rivers  to  Natchez,  where  they  arrived  after  a  tedious  and  perilous  voyage  on 
February  15th.  Meanwhile  the  cavalry  (mounted  riflemen)  under  the  com- 
mand of  Gen.  John  Coffee  3  had  made  the  march  by  way  of  the  Natchez  Trace 
(the  Columbian  Highway),  starting  from  Franklin  on  January  j9th  and  reach- 
ing their  destination  a  few  days  before  the  infantry  arrived.  Here  a  month 
was  spent  in  idleness  when  an  order  was  received  from  John  Armstrong,  secre- 
tary of  war,  requiring  General  Jackson  to  discharge  his  men  from  service  on 
the  ground  that  the  threatened  danger  of  an  invasion  of  Louisiana  had  passed. 
This  order  was  dated  January  5th,  two  days  before  Jackson  had  started  for 
Natchez  and  ordered  him  also  "to  deliver  all  the  public  stores  and  property 
in  his  possession  into  the  hands  of  General  Wilkinson,  commander  of  the  Seventh 
District."4  "When  this  order  reached  his  camp,"  says  Eaton,  "there  were  150 
on  the  sick  report,  fifty-six  of  whom  were  unable  to  raise  their  heads,  and  al- 
most the  whole  of  them  destitute  of  the  means  of  defraying  the  expenses  of 
their  return.  The  consequence  of  strict  compliance  with  the  secretary's  order,5 
inevitably  would  have  been,  that  many  of  the  sick  must  have  perished,  whilst 
most  of  the  others,  from  their  destitute  condition,  would,  of  necessity,  have  been 
compelled  to  enlist  in  the  regular  army,  under  General  Wilkinson." 

In  these  circumstances  General  Jackson  assumed  the  responsibility  of  dis- 
obeying the  unreasonable  order  and  determined  to  retain  his  men  in  the  volun- 
teer service  of  Tennessee  until  they  should  reach  their  homes."  In  carrying 
out  his  purpose  he  was  greatly  harassed  by  the  interference  and  the  schemes 
of  General  Wilkinson  and  his  recruiting  officers  who  desisted  their  efforts  only 
when  Jackson  threatened  to  disgrace  them  by  drumming  them  out  of  his  camp. 

"Refusing  to  leave  behind  a  single  man  who  had  life  in  him,"  Jackson  took 
up  the  line  of  march  through  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  nations,  having  seized 
the  wagons  which  the  quartermaster  had  been  ordered  to  furnish  for  the  trans- 
portation of  the  baggage  and  the  sick,  but  which  he  (the  quartermaster),  through 
a  plan  concerted  with  General  Wilkinson,  it  was  thought,  had  treacherously  dis- 


1  In  the  state  archives  is  the  account  book  of  William  B.  Lewis,  assistant  quartermaster 
general,  beginning  on  January  7,  1813,  the  day  when  Jackson  broke  camp  at  Nashville,  and 
continuing  until  June  30,  1815.  It  contains  lists  of  purchases  and  expenditures  together  with 
names  of  payees  and  the  purpose  for  which  the  money  was  expended.  Historically,  the  im- 
portance  of   this  book  can   hardly  be   overestimated. 

2  Kendall's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  pp.  134-138. 

3  In  the  Coffee  Letters  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  265- 
29.*)  are  some  very  interesting  accounts  relative  to  the  camp  at  Franklin,  the  march  and  camp 
life  near  Natchez. 

■*  Waldo's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  p.  55.     Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  p.  22. 

5  The  date  of  the  receipt  of  this  order  is  fixed  by  a  letter  written  by  General  Coffee  to 
his  wife,  from  Camp  Jackson,  March  15,  1813,  in  which  he  says:  "By  last  mail,  which  came 
tci  hand  yesterday,  we  received  orders  from  the  War  Department  to  return  home." 

*  Kendall's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  p.  144. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  339 

missed,  and  after  a  fatiguing  march  of  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  discharged 
them  near  their  homes  on  the  19th  and  22nd  of  May.7 

It  is  said  that  it  was  on  this  march  Jackson  received  the  sobriquet  "Old 
Hickory,"  given  him  by  his  troops  on  account  of  his  "toughness"  and  ability 
to  withstand  all  weariness  and  dangers.  Eaton  tells  of  his  experience  on  this 
march  as  follows: 

"To  present  an  example  that  might  buoy  up  the  sinking  spirits  of  his 
troops,  in  the  long  and  arduous  march  before  them,  he  yielded  up  his  horses  to 
the  sick,  and  trudging  on  foot,  encountered  all  the  hardships  that  were  met 
by  the  soldiers.  It  was  at  a  time  of  year  when  the  roads  were  extremely  bad, 
and  the  swamps,  lying  in  their  passage,  deep  and  full ;  yet,  under  these  circum- 
stances, he  placed  before  his  troops  an  example  of  patience  and  hardship  that 
lulled  to  silence  all  complaints,  and  won  to  him,  still  stronger  than  before,  the 
esteem  and  respect  of  every  one. ' '  8 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Nashville  he  reported  to  President  Madison  the  course 
he  had  pursued  and  the  reason  for  it.  The  Government  fully  approved  every- 
thing he  had  done,  allowed  his  accounts  and  the  entire  expenses  were  paid  out 
of  the  national  treasury.9 

THE  CREEK  WAR 

When  the  Tennessee  volunteers  who  had  made  the  fruitless  expedition  to 
Natchez  had  been  discharged,  it  was  confidently  expected  that  their  services 
would  not  be  again  required,  but  their  rest  was  not  prolonged.  It  was  soon 
evident  that  serious  trouble  with  the  Creeks  was  to  be  apprehended. 

Knowing  the  English  of  the  present  day  as  we  do,  it  seems  positively  in- 
congruous that  they  could  have  been  so  inhuman  as  to  arouse  the  blood-thirsty 
Indians  to  war  against  the  border  people  of  the  United  States.  They  had  em- 
ployed the  Indians  during  the  Revolutionary  war  and  knew  the  ruthlessness  of 
their  warfare.  Now,  in  the  "War  of  1812,  not  satisfied  with  sacking  and  burning 
defenseless  cities  and  towns  along  the  Atlantic  Seaboard,  they  sought,  and 
successfully,  to  form  a  confederacy  of  the  Indians  of  both  the  northern  and 
southern  tribes  to  take  arms  against  the  whole  line  of  our  frontiers  at  the  same 
time,  satisfying  their  desire  for  military  glory  and  their  vengeance,  and  en- 
riching themselves  with  plunder.  For  the  execution  of  this  purpose  they  se- 
lected a  most  efficient  instrument  in  Tecumseh,  the  famous  chief  of  the  Shawnees. 
Tecumseh  lacked  but  little  of  being  a  great  man.  He  was  ambitious,  brave,  able, 
eloquent,  bold  yet  crafty,  knew  thoroughly  the  ways  by  which  Indians  could 
be  influenced,  and  was,  above  all,  implacable  in  his  hatred  of  the  white  man  whom 
it  was  his  keen  desire  to  destroy  utterly  or  to  drive  from  the  confines  of  this 
continent.  Furthermore,  his  brother  "the  Prophet,"  an  artful  impostor,  who 
posed  as  having  been  commissioned  by  the  "Great  Spirit"  to  communicate  his 
mandates  and  assurances  to  his  red  children,  had  acquired  great  influence  among 
the  Indians  of  the  North.  Accompanied,  then,  by  the  Prophet  and  about  thirty 
warriors  from  the  northern  tribes  Tecumseh  set  out  from  the  Wabash  on  his 


i  In  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  295-298,  is  the  complete  roll  of  the 
Tennessee  Cavalrymen  in  the  Natchez  Expedition.  It  is  probably  the  same  regiment  com- 
manded by  General  Coffee  in  the  first  part  of  the  Creek  war.  There  are  no  muster  rolls  of 
the  troops  of  the  Creek  war  in  the  archives  of  Tennessee,  but  these  are  preserved  in  the 
War  Records  Office  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington. 

s  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  pp.  26-27. 

9  Waldo's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  p.  58;  Kendall's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  pp.  150-152. 


340  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

mission  to  induce  the  southern  Indians  to  join  in  the  concerted,  general  attack 
all  along  the  frontier.  With  his  fervid  eloquence  and  vindictive  hatred  of  the 
American  people,  he  had  soon  created  in  the  Creek  nation  a  party  favorable  to 
his  purpose.  And  that,  too,  notwithstanding  all  that  had  been  done  for  these 
Indians  by  the  Federal  Government.  After  the  Spanish  influence  was  with- 
drawn from  the  Creeks,  they  became  more  amenable  to  the  conciliatory  policy 
of  the  United  States.  Missions  were  sent  among  them,  schools  were  opened 
for  the  education  of  their  children,  the  useful  arts  and  sciences  and  customs 
of  civilized  life  were  taught  them,  and,  gradually,  they  were  being  weaned 
from  the  privations  and  uncertainties  of  savage  life,  and  agriculture  and  manu- 
factures were  established.  Many  of  their  towns  were  large,  with  buildings  and 
improvements,  insuring  comfort  and  prosperity  previously  unknown  among 
the  Indians.  Some  of  them  were  wealthy,  with  large  plantations,  stock  and 
slaves. 

It  will  be  readily  understood,  therefore,  that  a  strong  party  among  the 
Creeks  withstood  the  fiery  zeal  and  importunities  of  Tecumseh.  Still  his  in- 
trigues and  discourses  moved  the  more  turbulent  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
could  hardly  be  restrained  from  rushing  to  arms  incontinently  and  committing 
depredations  at  once  on  the  exposed  frontiers.  Intestinal  strife  arose  among 
the  different  parties  in  the  nation  and  continued  until  the  party  in  favor  of 
civilization  was  overwhelmed  by  the  increasing  numbers  of  those  bent  on 
hostilities.  Several  of  the  friendly  chiefs  who  were  for  peace  and  civilization 
were  murdered  in  cold  blood.  As  the  hostiles  gained  strength,  their  atrocities 
increased,  much  blood  was  shed  and  finally  all  opposition  to  war  with  the 
Americans  was  ruthlessly  crushed  out  by  arbitrary  force. 

In  the  meantime  rumors  became  more  and  more  definite  that  the  Creeks 
had  made  their  preparations  and  were  about  to  fall  upon  the  defenseless  in- 
habitants of  the  border ;  that  their  first  attack  would  be  upon  the  settlers  east 
of  the  Tombigbee  River.  Therefore,  many  families  removed  to  the  nearest 
forts  which  were  ordered  to  be  strengthened  and  prepared  for  resistance. 
That  these  apprehensions  were  not  without  foundation  was  proven  on  August 
30,  1813,  when,  without  warning  about  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five  warriors, 
under  the  famous  chief  Weatherford  10  attacked  Port  Minis,  not  far  from 
Mobile,  in  the  Tensaw  settlement  of  Alabama,  then  a  part  of  Mississippi  Ter- 
ritory. Although  the  garrison  made  a  brave  defense,  they  were  overwhelmed 
by  numbers  and  all  of  the  inmates,  troops  and  civilians,  men,  women  and 
children  were  massacred.  Monette  says  that  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty 
were  slain.11     Others  give  still  larger  numbers. 

It  was  about  ten  days  later  that  the  news  of  this  terrible  tragedy  was 
brought  to  Nashville,  at  that  time  the  most  important  town  in  the  Southwest. 
The  utmost  indignation  at  the  heart-sickening  calamity  was  aroused  and  the 
fires  of  patriotism  were  enkindled  in  every  heart.  There  was  no  delay.  They 
determined  to  avenge  the  wrong,  and  that  speedily  and  summarily.  A  meeting 
of  the  citizens  was  held  on  September  18th,  over  which  Rev.  Thomas  Craig- 
head presided  and  made  a  most  eloquent  and  inspiring  speech.  A  committee 
was  appointed  which  waited  on  Governor  Blount  who  thereupon  called  out 
3,500  volunteers,  immediately  following  an  act  (Chapter  I  of  the  Acts  of  1813) 
passed  by  the  Legislature  on  September  24th  and  entitled  "AN  ACT  to  repel 


icMonotte's  "History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  405  406;   Eaton's 
"Life  of  General  Jackson,"  p.  33;   Martin's  "Louisiana,"  Vol.  II,  p.   316. 
"William  Weatherford,  called  by  the  Indians,  Red  Eagle. 


ANDBEW   JACKSON 
The  southern  planter  in  1835,  at  age  of  sixty-eight  years 


r«s 


E   / 


ff?J?4f?j 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  343 

the   invasion   of  the   State  of  Tennessee  by   the  Creek   Indians,   and   to   afford 
relief  to  the  citizens  of  the  Mississippi  Territory  and  other  purposes." 
Section  J  of  this  act  is  as  follows: 

"Section  J.  Be  It  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, That  of  the  militia  of  the  said  State,  the  Governor  is  hereby  authorized 
to  organize  and  march  immediately  any  number  not  exceeding  three  thousand 
tive  hundred  men,  in  such  proportions  of  Infantry,  Cavalry,  Artillery  and 
mounted  Infantry,  as  the  Governor  and  the  commanding-  General  deem  proper, 
for  the  public  service,  to  any  place  in  the  Creek  nation  of  Indians  or  in  the 
Mississippi  Territory  where  said  troops  may  give  relief  to  the  citizens^)f  said 
territory,  and  repel  the  invasion  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  by  said  Indrans  and 
their  allies."' 

The  fourth   section  of  this  act  is  as  follows: 

"Sec.  4.  Be  It  Enacted.  That  each  or  either  of  the  banks  in  Tennessee  are 
hereby  authorized  to  lend  to  the  Governor,  any  sum  or  sums  of  money  not 
exceeding  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  be  used  in  supplying  the  aforesaid 
troops,  or  for  their  pay  or  the  purchase  of  ammunition  or  arms." 

Tlie  authority  conferred  upon  Governor  Blount  was  necessary,  because  the 
crisis  had  arisen  unexpectedly  and  there  was  no  authority  from  the  general 
government  for  any  expenditure  for  a  military  expedition  against  the  Creeks. 
Hut  when  intelligence  of  these  actions  reached  Washington,  they  were  ap- 
proved and  the  expenses  incident  to  the  operation  of  the  army  were  assumed 
by  the   United  States. 

This  Legislature  further  showed  its  patriotism  by  passing  "an  act  to 
suspend  all  proceedings  at  law  against  the  militia  of  this  state  whilst  in  actual 
service."  V1 

The  anxiety  felt  at  this  time  was  accentuated  by  the  fear  that  Andrew 
Jackson,  major-general  of  the  Tennessee  troops,  might  not  be  able  to  command 
because,  but  a  few  days  previously,  he  had  been  seriously  wounded  in  an 
affray  with  the  Bentons  which  took  place  in  the  City  Hotel  in  Nashville  on 
September  4,  1813.  When  the  committee  waited  on  him  to  see  whether  he 
would  be  able  to  take  the  field  in  person  Jackson  said:  "It  is  no  time  for  a 
patient  to  be  sick  when  his  country  needs  his  services."  13  He  assured  them 
that  lie  would  lead  the  army  if  he  had  to  be  borne  on  a  stretcher. 

The  announcement  that  Jackson  w7ould  command  was  electrical.  It  rallied 
to  his  standard  the  chivalry  of  Tennessee.  The  utmost  enthusiasm  prevailed. 
In  a  surprisingly  short  time  the  troops  were  mobilized  and  made  their  ren- 
dezvous at  Fayetteville  on  October  4,  1813.  Jackson  especially  called  for  those 
soldiers  who  had  already  made  the  expedition  with  him  to  Natchez  as  well 
as  other  patriotic  men.  saying: 

"Already  are  large  bodies  of  hostile  Creeks  marching  to  your  borders, 
with  their  scalping  knives  unsheathed,  to  butcher  your  women  and  children; 
time  is  not  to  be  lost.  We  must  hasten  to  the  frontier,  or  we  shall  find  it 
drenched  in  the  blood  of  our  citizens.  The  health  of  your  general  is  restored — 
he  will  command  in  person." 

As  Jackson's  wounds,  however,  did  not  permit  him  to  reach  Fayetteville 
on  the  4th,  he  issued  a  stirring  address  which  was  read  to  the  soldiers.  The 
general  tenor  of  it  is  indicated  by  the  opening  sentences  which  are  as  follows: 


i^  Acts  of  Tennessee,  18l:i,  Chapter  IT,  p.  4;   see  also  Chapter  CXII,  Acts  of  181.'!,  p.  149 
"Guild's  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  p.  180. 


344  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"We  are  about  to  furnish  these  savages  a  lesson  of  admonition;  we  are 
about  to  teach  them  that  our  long  forbearance  has  not  proceeded  from  an 
insensibility  to  wrongs,  or  an  inability  to  redress  them.  They  stand  in  need 
of  such  warning.  In  proportion  as  we  have  borne  with  their  insults,  and  sub- 
mitted to  their  outrages,  they  have  multiplied  in  number,  and  increased  in 
atrocity.  But  the  measure  of  their  offenses  is  at  length  filled.  The  blood  of 
our  women  and  children  recently  spilt  at  Fort  Mims,  calls  for  our  vengeance; 
it  must  not  call  in  vain.  Our  borders  must  no  longer  be  disturbed  by  the 
warwhoop  of  these  savages,  and  the  cries  of  their  suffering  victims.  The  torch 
that  has  been  lighted  up  must  be  made  to  blaze  in  the  heart  of  their  own 
country  It  is  time  they  should  be  made  to  feel  the  weight  of  a  power,  which, 
becauseMt  was  merciful,  they  believed  to  be  impotent." 

Jackson,  with  his  arm  in  a  sling,  arrived  at  Fayetteville  on  the  7th. 
Meanwhile  Col.  John  Coffee,  with  the  men  of  his  command,  had  been  ordered 
to  Huntsville  and,  on  the  8th,14  word  from  him  reached  Jackson  that  the 
Indians  were  on  the  move,  threatening  with  a  large  force  on  the  Coosa,  the 
borders  of  Georgia  and  of  Tennessee.  Jackson  immediately  joined  Coffee, 
established  an  encampment  called  Port  Deposit,  near  Huntsville,  and  sent 
Coffee  forward  with  700  men  to  feel  out  the  enemy. 

GENERAL   COFFEE 's   MOVEMENTS 

General  Coffee,  in  his  correspondence,  published  in  Volume  II  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Historical  Magazine,  tells  of  his  movements  and  experiences  in  this 
campaign  and  from  it  we  make  the  following  excerpts : 

"Camp  Batey  near  Huntsville   (date  not  given) 

:<*     #     #     j  have  been  here  five  days  getting  things  ready  to  enter  the 

Indian  country.     Tomorrow  morning  I  shall  take  up  my  line  of  march,  shall 

go  from  this  to  Port  Hampton  near  the  mouth  of  Elk  river,  from  there  by  way 

of  Colbert 's  15  ferry  and  then  on  towards  fort  St.   Stephens — our  first  place 

of  destiny.     *     *     *     I  have  under  my  command  upwards  of  thirteen  hundred 

men  and  have  been  compelled  to  turn  off  several  hundred  others  that  I  could 

not  provide  for." 

< 

"Camp  Coffee,  South  Side  Tennessee, 
October  13,  1813. 
<<#  #  *  ^ye  have  ha(j  plausible  intelligence  of  the  enemy  intending  to 
come  against  Madison  County,  which  halted  me  here  untill  the  facts  could  be 
more  fully  ascertained.  *  *  *  Soon  after  I  encamped,  there  came  other 
news  that  the  whole  Creek  Nation  was  moving  on  this  way  in  one  body  and 
would,  in  all  probability,  reach  us  the  same  night.  After  we  received  the 
information,  we  prepared,  and  expected  an  attack,  and  continued  in  expectation 
two  days  and  nights,  when  General  Jackson,  with  his  army,  arrived  and  joined 
me  which  was  yesterday.  We  are  now  out  of  any  apprehension  of  being  at- 
tacked, being  strong  enough  to  meet  the  enemy  anywhere  we  can  find  them. 
They  will  no  doubt  try  to  evade  a  meeting,  which  they  can  easily  accomplish,  as 
they  know  the  situation  of  the  country  much  better  than  we  do.  The  General 
and  the  principal  part  of  his  army  will  necessarily  detain  here  a  few  days 
preparing  for  their  further  march.  Tomorrow  I  shall  make  a  small  excursion 
into  the  adjoining  country  with  about  600  of  my  regiment,  and  return  and 


14  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  p.  40. 

is  A  Chickasaw  chief,  son  of  a  Scotchman,  who  located  among  the  Chickasaws.  Mrs. 
Dunbar  Eowland  in  her  "Marking  the  Natchez  Trace,"  tells  in  an  interesting  way  the 
romantic  story  of  the  Colberts. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  345 

move  on  with  the  General.  The  East  Tennesseans  1G  are  in  motion  and  we 
will  all  unite  before  we  enter  the  Creek  Nation,  when  we  can  be  able  to  drive 
them  out  of  their  country  or  cut  them  off  if  they  attempt  to  support  it.  Things 
are  fixed  in  such  a  train  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  success  of  the  cam- 
paign." 

While  Colonel  Coffee  was  writing  so  optimistically  in  regard  to  the  out- 
come of  the  military  operations,  Jackson  was  being  confronted  with  a  situa- 
tion and  problem  with  which  it  required  all  of  his  ability,  his  resourcefulness 
and  his  iron  determination  to  cope.  The  main  difficulty  was  lack  of  supplies, 
a  difficulty  which,  in  those  circumstances,  would  have  shattered  the  resolution 
of  a  less  adamantine  man. 

Jackson's  orders  were  to  "act  in  conjunction  with  the  forces  relied  on 
for  the  expedition  or  separately  as  your  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  may 
teach  the  propriety  of,  first  making  the  necessary  arrangements  for  concert  with 
Major-General  Cocke  and  Colonel  Meigs."17 

Jackson  expected  that  the  two  forces  would  unite  and,  as  senior  officer,  he 
would  have  the  command. 

Jackson's  plan  of  campaign  contemplated  the  establishment  of  a  basis  of 
supplies  at  Ditto's  Landing  on  the  Tennessee;  the  building  of  a  military  road 
through  the  wilderness  thence  to  the  Ten  Islands  on  the  Coosa  at  which  place 
another  fort  should  be  established;  thence  down  the  Alabama  River  system  to 
Fort  Stephens,  destroying  towns  and  armed  forces  of  the  enemy  as  he  encoun- 
tered them.  For  the  carrying  out  of  this  plan  he  made  arrangements  with 
General  Cocke  for  large  quantities  of  bread  stuff  to  be  sent  down  the  Tennessee 
River  to  Ditto's  Landing.  He  also  applied  for  provisions  in  other  quarters — 
to  Governor  Blount,  to  Colonel  Meigs,  and  to  General  White,  who  commanded 
the  advance  of  the  East  Tennessee  troops.  He  received  assurances  from  Cocke, 
White  and  Meigs  and  also  from  the  contractors,  but  when  he  arrived  at  Ditto's 
Landing  he  was  compelled  to  suspend  active  and  general  operations  for  a  short 
period.  Having  been  informed  that  the  fort  of  Chinnaby,  a  friendly  Creek  chief, 
near  Ten  Islands,  on  the  Coosa  was  threatened,  Jackson,  on  the  13th,  gave 
orders  to  proceed  to  that  point ;  and  learning  of  the  inability  of  the  contractors 
to  supply  him  provisions  on  the  march,  he  discharged  them  and  appointed  others 
on  whom  he  thought  he  might  more  safely  rely.  He  also  applied,  without  avail, 
to  men  of  wealth  and  influence  in  that  section,  and  then  boldly  determining 
largely  to  live  upon  the  country  he  plunged  into  the  wilderness,  hoping  that 
the  provisions,  so  earnestly  looked  for,  would  in  a  little  while  be  forwarded  to 
him. 

To  prepare  the  minds  of  his  men  for  an  engagement  which  he  foresaw  would 
soon  take  place,  Jackson  issued  a  stirring  address,  the  tenor  of  which  can  be 
understood  from  the  first  paragraph,  which  is  as  follows: 

"You  have,  fellow  soldiers,  at  length  penetrated  the  country  of  your  enemies. 
It  is  not  to  be  believed,  that  they  will  abandon  the  soil  that  embosoms  the  bones 
of  their  forefathers,  without  furnishing  you  an  opportunity  of  signalizing  your 
valour.     Wise  men  do  not  expect;  brave  men  will  not  desire  it.     It  was  not  to 

i«  These  troops  numbering  about  2,500  men  were  under  the  direct  command  of  Major- 
General  John  Cocke,  the  regular  commander  of  the  second  division  of  militia.  Both  his 
division  and  Jackson's  were  under  command  of  the  governor,  but  otherwise  acted  separately. 
Cocke  was  ordered  to  cooperate  with  the  Georgia  militia  and  the  regulars  moving  on  the 
hostile  Creeks  and  to  protect  the  towns  of  the  friendly  Creeks.  See  Blount  to  Cocke,  Sep- 
tember 25,  1813,  Jackson,  MSS. 

17  Blount  to  Jackson,  October  4,  1813,  and  November  17,  1813.  Jackson  MSS.  .NPm^s 
was  Indian  agent  resident  among  the  Cherokees. 


346  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

travel  unmolested,  through  a  barren  wilderness,  that  you  quitted  your  families 
and  homes,  and  submitted  to  so  many  privations;  il  was  to  avenge  the  cruellies 
committed  upon  our  defenceless  frontiers,  by  the  inhuman  Creeks  instigated  by 
their  no  less  inhuman  allies;  you  shall  not  be  disappointed.  If  the  enemy  flee 
before  us,  we  will  overtake  and  chastise  him;  we  will  teach  him  how  dreadful, 
when  once  aroused,  is  the  resentment  of  free  men.  But  it  is  not  by  boasting 
that  punishment  is  to  he  inflicted,  or  victory  obtained.  The  same  resolution  that 
prompted  us  to  take  up  arms,  must  inspire  us  in  battle.  Men  thus  animated, 
and  thus  resolved,  barbarians  can  never  conquer;  and  it  is  an  enemy,  barbarous 
in  the  extreme,  that  we  have  now  to  face." 

BATTLE   OF   TALLUSHATCHEE 

When  the  report  reached  Jackson  at  Ten  Islands  that  a  large  body  of  Indians 
were  en-camped  at  Tallushatch.ee,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Coosa,  about  thirteen 
miles  distant,  he  sent  forward  ( 'offee,  now  made  a  brigadier-general,  to  attack 
and  disperse  them.  The  battle,  begun  soon  after  sunrise  on  November  2d,  was 
brief  but  spirited.  The  Indians  fought  with  the  utmost  bravery  and  despera- 
tion, refusing  to  ask  for  quarter.  They  fought  until  their  force  was  virtually 
annihilated.  Their  loss  was  186  killed  and  eighty-four  taken  prisoner.  Coffee 
lost  five  killed  and  forty-one  wounded,18  but  did  not  seem  to  be  impressed  with 
his  great  achievement,  for  on  November  4th  he  said  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  from 
Ten  Islands,  Coosa  River,  "I  have  a  small  scirmish  with  the  Indians  and  a 
part  of  my  Brigade,  where  we  killed  two  hundred  and  took  eighty  prisoners."  1!) 

Nevertheless  the  battle  inspired  the  army  with  confidence.  Gen.  William 
Carroll  said : 

"After  Tallushatchee  we  had  the  measure  of  the  Creeks.  All  apprehension 
was  dispelled.  Every  man  in  Jackson's  army  was  serenely  confident  that  con- 
tact with  them  meant  victory  for  us,  under  any  condition.  The  brightest  spot 
in  the  history  of  that  campaign  is  the  setting  of  its  pace  by  John  Coffee  and  his 
mounted  riflemen  of  Tennessee  at  Tallushatchee!"20 

-Jackson's  report  of  the  battle,  made  to  Governor  Blount  on  November  4th, 

is  as  follows  : 

"We  have  retaliated  for  the  destruction  of  Fort  Mims.  On  the  2nd  I  de- 
tached General  Coffee,  with  a  part  of  his  brigade  of  cavalry  and  mounted  rifle- 
men, to  destroy  Tallushatchee,  where  a  considerable  force  of  the  hostile  Creeks 
was  concentrated.  The  General  executed  this  in  style.  An  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  of  the  enemy  were  found  dead  on  the  field,  and  about  eighty  taken  prisoners, 
forty  of  whom  have  been  brought  here.  In  the  number  left  there  is  a  sufficiency 
but  slightly  wounded  to  take  care  of  those  who  are  badly  wounded.  I  have  to 
regret  that  five  of  my  brave  fellows  have  been  killed,  and  about  thirty  wounded; 
some  badly,  but  none  I  hope  mortally.  Both  officers  and  men  behaved  with  the 
utmost  bravery  and  deliberation.  Captains  Smith,  Bradly  and  Winston  are 
wounded,  all  slightly.  No  officer  is  killed.  So  soon  as  General  Coffee  makes 
his  report  I  shall  enclose  it.  If  we  had  a  sufficient  supply  of  provisions  we 
should  in  a  very  short  time  accomplish  the  object  of  our  expedition." 

BATTLE  OP  TALLADEGA 

At  Ten  Islands  Jackson  now  built  Fort  Strother  which  he  made  the  base  of 
his  operations.     He  had  not  yet  been  joined  by  the  East  Tennessee  troops  which 


is  Eaton's    "Life    of    General   Jackson,"   pp.    53-55.      Martin's    "Louisiana,"    Vol.    II, 
1».  317.     Kendall's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  pp.  198-199. 
is  Tennessee   Historical  Magazine,  Vol.   II,  p.   276. 
aoBuell's  "Life  of  Jackson,"  p.  305. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  347 

under  General  White  were  a1  Turkey  Town  only  twenty  miles  away,  nor  had 
the  needed  provisions  been  received.  At  this  juncture  he  was  informed  that 
the  friendly  Indians  in  Talladega  were  threatened  by  a  force  of  the  hostiles 
numbering-  about  one  thousand.  Relief  for  them  was  so  urgent  that  Jackson, 
after  sending  an  urgent  request  to  General  White  to  proceed  to  Fort  Strother 
and  guard  it  in  his  absence,  and  also  sending  more  imperative  messages  for 
provisions,  went  forward  to  Talladega  with  the  utmost  expedition. 

The  battle  of  Talladega  was  fought  on  November  9th  and  of  it  General 
Coffee  wrote  21  his  wife  on  November  12th  as  follows : 

"Our  party  consisted  of  2,000  men,  commanded  by  General  Jackson  in 
person,  the  enemy  were  a  little  upwards  of  1,000  chosen  warriors,  sent  on  to 
meet  and  intercept  our  march.  By  the  friendly  party  we  were  advised  of  their 
approach  and  position,  which  enabled  us  by  forced  marching,  night  and  day, 
with  our  detachment,  to  meet  them  thirty  miles  in  advance  of  our  main  army. 
We  met  them  in  the  morning  early,  when  we  surrounded  them  and  in  a  few 
minutes  put  the  whole  to  flight,  having  killed  three  hundred  of  their  best  war- 
riors on  the  ground  and  the  most  of  the  balance  were  wounded.  Thus  the  two 
first  chosen  sets  of  our  enemy  have  been  completely  cut  off  and  destroyed.  We 
have  in  the  two  battles,  one  on  the  third,  and  the  other  on  the  9th  instant,  killed 
500  of  the  warriors,  and  wounded  at  least  as  many  others  besides  upwards  of 
100  prisoners  of  their  families  now  in  our  possession.  In  the  first  battle  I  lost 
five  men  killed  and  forty  some  odd  wounded ;  in  the  latter  battle  we  lost  fifteen 
men  killed  and  eighty-five  or  six  wounded,  the  most  slightly.  Upon  the  whole 
calculation  we  shall  not  lose  more  than  thirty  men  killed  in  both  battles — whereas 
the  enemy  on  as  fair  calculation  will  have  lost  600  killed,  counting  on  such  as 
must  die  from  their  wounds.  Although  we  regret  the  loss  of  our  brave  fellows 
yet  the  great  disproportion  is  beyond  the  most  sanguine  calculations  on  our 
part. ' ' 

In  his  report  of  this  action  Jackson  says:  "Too  much  praise  cannot  be 
bestowed  on  the  advance,  led  by  Colonel  Carroll,  for  the  spirited  manner  in 
which  they  commenced  and  sustained  the  attack;  nor  upon  the  reserve,  com- 
manded by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Dyer,  for  the  gallantry  with  which  they  met  and 
repulsed  the  enemy.  In  a  word,  officers  of  every  grade,  as  well  as  privates, 
realized  the  high  expectations  I  had  formed  of  them,  and  merit  the  gratitude 
of  their  country." 

By  the  battle  of  Talladega  2-  all  the  efforts  of  the  Indians  to  invade  the 
Tennessee  settlements  were  frustrated  and  ended.  For  the  next  two  months, 
however,  Jackson  was  compelled  to  remain  at  Fort  Strother  to  deal  with  mutinies 
caused  by  the  claimed  termination  of  periods  of  enlistment,  with  lack  of  sup- 
plies and  the  need  of  almost  a  new  army. 

The  beginning  of  this  unfortunate  situation  developed  just  prior  to  the  battle 
of  Talladega  when  it  was  reported  to  General  Jackson  that  General  White,  in- 
stead of  marching  to  Fort  Strother,  was  ordered  by  Gen.  John  Cocke  to  proceed 
in  another  direction.  In  consequence  of  this  act  and  of  other  charges  of  failure 
to  cooperate  with  him  Jackson  afterwards  had  General  Cocke  arrested  and 
tried  by  court  martial  which  court  unconditionally  acquitted  him. 


-!  Coffee  letter  in   Tennessee  Historical  Society  Collection. 
.     22  Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  in  his  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  p.  182,  says:     "General  Coffee, 
with   his   detachment   of   one   thousand   mounted  volunteers,   participated   in    this    battle,    and 
contributed  largely   to  the  victory  achieved  on  that  hotly  contested  field.      He   was  a   giant 
in  stature,  finely  proportioned,  taciturn,  with  nothing  of  the  braggart  about  him. ' ' 

Mr.  Robert  Dyas,  grandson  of  General  Coffee  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  Coffee's 
height  was  six  feet,  five  inches. 


348  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

HUNGER    AND    MUTINY23 

The  campaign  so  brilliantly  begun,  which  Jackson  wished  to  push  on  to  a 
speedy  and  complete  conclusion  was  now  held  up  by  lack  of  provisions.  The 
soldiers  who  had  displayed  such  valor  in  battle  were  lacking  in  fortitude,  when 
actual  starvation  menaced  them.  Jackson  was  forced  by  lack  of  provisions  to 
return  to  Fort  Deposit  where  his  time  was  occupied  in  efforts  to  secure  supplies 
and  to  keep  his  men  in  good  spirits,  in  neither  of  which  was  he  successful.  It 
was  at  this  time  that  he  set  the  army  a  good  example  of  uncomplaining  self- 
sacrifice,  when  giving  up  his  own  food  to  the  needy,  he  was  found  by  a  soldier, 
who  told  him  he  was  nearly  starved,  busily  engaged  in  eating — Acorns.  He 
divided  his  supply  with  the  soldier  who  reported  the  occurrence  to  his  comrades. 

Small  supplies  from  the  army  contractors  reached  him  from  time  to  time, 
but  not  enough  to  relieve  the  present  want,  and  still  less  to  remove  the  ap- 
prehensions entertained  of  the  future.  As  the  stringency  became  more  pro- 
nounced, mutterings  of  mutiny  were  heard  and  defiance  of  the  commands  of 
their  general  followed.  Finally,  the  army  became  an  unruly  mob,  when  the 
soldiers  of  the  militia  expressed  their  determination  to  go  to  the  settlements 
for  food,  if  indeed  they  should  not  proceed  home.  On  the  morning  when  the 
militia  were  to  carry  their  plan  into  execution,  Jackson  drew  up  the  volunteers 
in  front  of  them  with  orders  to  prevent  the  progress  of  the  malcontents.  The 
militia  thereupon  desisted  from  their  purpose  and  extolled  Jackson's  firmness. 
On  the  next  day,  however,  the  volunteers  decided  to  withdraw  and  it  was  the 
militia  under  Jackson's  command  who  prevented  them  from  doing  so,  and 
the  militia  continued  to  remain  the  more  obedient. 

Jackson,  however,  did  permit  the  cavalry  to  go  to  the  settled  parts  of  the 
country  as  they  had  no  forage  for  their  horses,  but  exacted  the  pledge  that 
they  would  return  whenever  called  on.24 

Jackson  then  summoned  in  conference  the  field  and  platoon  officers,  told 
them  the  situation  frankly  and  appealed  to  their  patriotism.  The  militia  officers 
were  willing  to  remain  a  few  days  longer,  but  the  officers  of  the  volunteers  said 
they  and  their  soldiers  must  return.  Jackson  thereupon  ordered  General  Hall 
to  march  his  brigade  to  Fort  Deposit,  and,  after  satisfying  their  wants,  to  return 
as  an  escort  to  the  provisions.  He  also  gave  the  militia  assurances  that  they 
might  return  if  the  provisions  did  not  arrive  in  two  days,  being  confident  that 
they  would  reach  him  in  that  time.  The  stipulated  time  having  elapsed,  Jack- 
son, though  greatly  dejected,  took  immediate  measures  for  complying  with  the 
wishes  of  the  soldiers  to  whom  he  had  made  the  pledge.  While  pondering  on 
the  gloomy  prospect  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  said,  "if  only  two  men  will 
remain  with  me,  I  will  never  abandon  this  post." 

Captain  Gordon,  of  the  spies,  facetiously  remarked,  "you  have  one,  general, 
let  us  look  if  we  can't  find  another."     He  then  zealously  undertook  to  enroll 


^s  The  relation  of  this  episode  is  in  harmony  with  the  account  of  it  given  in  Eaton 's 
' '  Life  of  General  Jackson, ' '  Chapter  III,  the  four  first  chapters  of  which  were  written  by 
Major  John  Reid,  Jackson 's  aide-de-camp  in  the  Creek  war.  After  Jackson  had  become  a 
national  figure,  there  was  an  insistent  demand  for  a  biography  of  him.  That  it  might  be 
authentic,  Jackson  placed  his  papers  in  Reid's  hands.  Unfortunately  Reid  died  after  having 
written  only  a  small  part  of  the  biography  which  was  completed  by  John  H.  Eaton.  After 
Reid's  death  Jackson's  papers  went  successively  into  the  hands  of  Amos  Kendall  and  F.  P. 
Blair,  and  are  now  in  the  Library  of  Congress.     This  was  the  first  life   of  Jackson  printed. 

-*  General  Cocke  who  had  finally  arrived  at  Port  Strother  with  1,500  men  was  of  no 
advantage  because  the  term  of  service  of  his  troops  was  about  to  expire. 


TOMB   OF   GENERAL  ANDREW   JACKSON,   NASHVILLE 


MONUMENT    TO    GENERAL    ANDREW    JACKSON   IN    COURT    SQUARE,   MEMPHIS 


vol.  i— 2  a 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  351 

volunteers  and  finally  succeeded  in  securing  109  who  consented  to  stay  and 
protect  the  post. 

General  Jackson,  rejoicing  that  he  would  not  be  compelled  to  abandon  his 
position,  set  out  with  the  troops  for  Fort  Deposit,  but  they  had  proceeded  only 
ten  or  twelve  miles  when  they  encountered  the  provisions  in  the  form  of  150 
beeves.  This  sight,  so  pleasing  to  Jackson,  was  extremely  unwelcome  to  tbe 
soldiers,  whose  faces  were  now  turned  toward  home.  Even  after  their  hunger 
had  been  appeased,  murmurings  ran  along  the  line  and  broke  out  in  open 
mutiny.  They  began  to  revolt  and  one  company  moved  off  in  the  direction  of 
home.  Jackson  pursued  them  and  ordered  a  few  loyal  soldiers  to  form  across 
the  road  and  to  fire  on  the  mutineers  if  they  should  attempt  to  proceed.  The 
deserters  thereupon  returned  to  the  main  body.  The  mutinous  feeling,  however, 
permeated  the  whole  brigade  which  put  itself  in  an  attitude  of  moving  away. 

"A  crisis  had  arrived,  and  feeling  its  importance,  he  determined  to  take 
no  middle  ground,  but  to  triumph  or  perish.  He  was  still  without  the  use  of 
his  left  arm;  but  seizing  a  musket,  and  resting  it  on  the  neck  of  his  horse,  he 
threw  himself  in  front  of  the  column,  and  threatened  to  shoot  the  first  man  who 
should  attempt  to  advance.  In  this  situation  he  was  found  by  Major  Reid  and 
General  Coffee,  who,  fearing  from  the  length  of  his  absence,  that  some  disturb- 
ance had  arisen,  hastened  where  he  was,  and  placing  themselves  by  his  side, 
awaited  the  result  in  anxious  expectation.  For  many  minutes  the  column  pre- 
served a  sullen,  .yet  hesitating  attitude,  fearing  to  proceed  in  their  purpose,  and 
disliking  to  abandon  it.  In  the  meantime,  those  who  remained  faithful  to  their 
duty,  amounting  to  about  two  companies,  were  collected  and  formed  at  a  short 
distance  in  advance  of  the  troops,  and  in  rear  of  the  general,  with  positive 
directions  to  imitate  his  example  in  firing,  if  they  attempted  to  proceed.  At 
length,  finding  no  one  bold  enough  to  advance,  and  overtaken  by  those  fears 
which  in  the  hour  of  peril  always  beset  persons  engaged  in  what  they  know  to 
be  a  bad  cause,  they  abandoned  their  purpose,  and  turning  quietly  around, 
agreed  to  return  to  their  posts."  25 

Jackson,  however,  found  it  impossible  to  prevent  the  soldiers  from  returning 
home  when  the  terms  of  their  enlistment  expired  and  as  these  expired  in  Decem- 
ber, 1813,  and  January,  1814,  he  found  himself  soon  after  the  first  of  the  year 
virtually  without  an  army,  because  of  the  failure  of  Governor  Blount  to  issue 
a  call  for  additional  men  when  Jackson  informed  him  of  the  situation  developing. 
Instead  of  ordering  the  new  levy,  Governor  Blount  wrote  Jackson  that  he 
doubted  his  authority  to  do  so  and  advised  him  to  fall  back  to  the  frontier  and 
await  the  order  of  the  Government.  To  this  letter  Jackson  made  a  reply, 
courteous  and  respectful,  even  friendly,  but  keenly  cutting,  forceful,  patriotic 
and  effective.  When  his  country  was  in  danger,  Jackson  assumed  responsibility. 
When  others  weakened  under  pressure,  or  stress  or  seemingly  insuperable  ob- 
stacles, Jackson  became  stronger  and  made  the  obstacles  superable.  In  that 
letter,  besides  other  things,  he  said : 

"Your  country  is  in  danger.  Apply  its  resources  to  its  defense.  Can  any 
course  be  more  plain?  Do  you,  my  friend,  at  such  a  moment  as  the  present,  sit 
with  your  arms  folded  and  your  heart  at  ease,  waiting  a  solution  of  your  doubts 
and  a  definition  of  your  powers  ?  Do  you  wait  for  special  instructions  from  the 
Secretary  of  "War,  which  it  is  impossible  for  you  to  receive  in  time  for  the 
danger  that  threatens?  How  did  the  venerable  Shelby  act  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances, but  by  no  means  so  critical?  Did  he  wait  for  orders  to  do  what 
every  man  of  sense  knew,  what  every  patriot  felt  to  be  right  ?     He  did  not,  and 

25  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  pp.  75-76. 


352  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

yet  highly  and  justly  did  the  Government  extol  his  manly  and  energetic  eon- 
duct,  and  how  dear  his  name  became  to  every  friend  of  his  country." 

Like  the  true  patriot  he  was  Governor  Blount  reconsidered  his  former  posi- 
tion and  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  2,500  volunteers.  While  they  were 
being  raised,  Jackson  sent  Major  Searcy,  Colonel  Carroll  and  Gen.  Isaac  Roberts 
to  Tennessee  and  they  secured  about  one  thousand  men  to  serve  for  short  periods 
of  time. 

The  soldiers  enrolled  by  General  Roberts  became  dissatisfied  and  were  allowed 
by  him  to  leave  for  home,  but  were  ordered  by  Jackson  to  proceed  to  the  army 
or  be  arrested.  The  officers  and  men  of  this  contingent  concurred  in  ascribing 
their  misconduct  entirely  to  the  influence  of  General  Roberts.  He  was  later 
arrested  and  sentenced  by  court  martial  to  be  cashiered. 

The  effusion  of  blood  was  narrowly  averted  when  Lieutenant  Kerley,  who  bad 
left  with  his  men,  was  ordered  by  Jackson  to  be  arrested.  He  refused  to  give 
up  his  sword  and  his  men  supported  him.  The  arresting  party  and  Kerley 's 
men  stood  with  guns  cocked,  ready  to  be  discharged,  when  Jackson  ordered 
Kerley 's  liberation  from  arrest,  an  action  which  calmed  the  inflamed  minds  and 
made  Kerley  a  devoted  friend  of  Jackson  for  life. 

THE  BATTLES  OF  EMUCKFAU  AND  ENOTACHOPCO 

The  recruiting  for  Jackson's  army  was  necessarily  slow,  but  a  force  of  about 
nine  hundred  men  was  finally  assembled  at  Fort  Strother,  on  January  15,  1814. 
Having  delivered  to  them  one  of  his  stirring  addresses,  Jackson  put  his  troops 
in  motion  to  attack  the  Creeks  who  had  concentrated  between  Emuekfau  and 
Tallapoosa,  about  seventy  miles  to  the  south.  His  haste  was  urgent  for  a  two- 
fold purpose,  to  relieve  Fort  Armstrong,  which  was  threatened  with  attack, 
and  also  to  create  a  diversion  in  favor  of  General  Floyd  who  was  advancing 
with  an  army  from  Georgia.  Jackson  realized  that  a  campaign  of  this  kind, 
with  so  small  a  force  of  untried  raw  recruits,  was  extremely  hazardous.  But 
he  deemed  the  movement  indispensable  and,  with  his  accustomed  intrepidity, 
plunged  into  the  Indian  country  in  a  venture  in  which  success  was  the  only 
safety. 

On  the  morning  of  January  22nd  the  Indians  began  the  battle  with  a  furious 
assault.  The  engagement  which  ensued  was  fierce  and  sanguinary  and  resulted 
in  a  complete  and  brilliant  victory  for  Jackson. 

During  this  battle  General  Coffee  "was  wounded  through  the  body"  and  was 
carried  from  the  field  in  a  litter.  Yet  in  his  characteristic  way  he  minimized 
the  importance  of  the  wound  when,  under  date  of  January  30th,  he  wrote  his 
wife  as  follows: 

"Before  this  reaches  you,  no  doubt  you  will  have  heard  of  one  other  excur- 
sion we  have  had  in  the  enemies'  country — we  returned  to  this  place  on  the 
27th,  after  a  tour  of  ten  days — -we  advanced  70  miles  below  this,  and  on  the 
22nd  and  24th  of  this  month  we  had  four  different  engagements  with  the  enemy, 
in  all  of  which  we  killed  upwards  of  200  of  the  Indians — we  lost  18  men  killed 
and  about  seventy  wounded — I  received  a  wound  myself  in  my  right  side,  but 
not  dangerous — and  your  Brother  Sandy20  is  no  more."27 

On  January  24th,  two  days  after  the  battle  of  Emuekfau,  as  Jackson,  in  the 
consciousness  that  his  two-fold  object  had  been  attained,  was  on  his  return  to 


20  Major  Alexander  Donelson  was  shot  through  the  head  in  the  Battle  of  .Emuekfau. 
27  Coffee  letters  in  the  possession  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  353 

Fort  Strother,  he  was  attacked  by  the  Creeks  at  Enotachopco  with  great  ve- 
hemence. Here,  at  first,  a  portion  of  his  army  was  repulsed,  but  Jackson,  with 
the  same  gallant  and  fearless  bearing  which  Washington  displayed  at  the  battle 
of  Trenton,  rallied  his  fleeing  men,  stopped  the  rout  and  led  his  force  in  a  charge 
which  produced  ultimately  a  change  from  defeat  into  victory.  In  this  move- 
ment he  was  wonderfully  assisted  by  General  Coffee  who,  although  wounded  in 
the  battle  of  Emuckfau,  two  days  previously,  when  the  fight  became  hot  and  the 
tide  was  turning  against  Jackson's  force,  mounted  his  horse,  rushed  into  the 
thickest  of  the  conflict  and,  with  Colonel  Carroll,  aided  their  commander  in 
rallying  his  broken  and  fleeing  columns.  Had  it  not  been  for  Jackson's  firm- 
ness, selfpossession  and  energetic  behavior,  however,  and  his  example  and 
authority,  the  day  would  have  been  lost.  But  "cowards  forgot  their  panic,  and 
fronted  danger,  when  they  heard  his  voice  and  beheld  his  manner ;  and  the 
brave  would  have  formed  round  his  body  a  rampart  with  their  own. ' '  28 

THE  BATTLE  OP  TOHOPEKA  OR  HORSESHOE  BEND 

In  the  battles  of  Emuckfau  and  Enotachopco  the  Indians  had  been  severely 
chastised,  but  probably  the  greatest  good  which  resulted  from  these  conflicts 
was  the  effect  produced  on  the  minds  of  the  people  at  home,  among  whom 
recruiting  was  being  conducted  in  the  effort  to  enroll  a  force  sufficient  to  ter- 
minate the  war. 

It  became  necessary  again  to  assemble  virtually  a  new  army,  because  the 
term  of  service  of  those  who  had  taken  part  in  the  recent  expedition  had  expired 
and  Jackson  had  discharged  them. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Governor  Blount  had  issued  a  call  for  2,500'  men. 
These  were  to  serve  for  three  months.  He  also  required  Gen.  John  Cocke  to 
bring  into  the  field,  under  the  requisition  of  the  secretary  of  war,  the  quota  he 
had  been  instructed  to  raise  at  the  opening  of  the  war.  Cocke  thereupon  mus- 
tered into  service  about  two  thousand  men.  The  Thirty-ninth  Regiment  United 
States  army,  commanded  by  Col.  John  Williams,  under  orders  to  march  to 
New  Orleans,  was  directed  to  proceed  to  Jackson's  headquarters.  Judge  Hugh 
L.  White,  a  member  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was  so  infused  with  the  spirit  of 
patriotism  and  with  the  necessity  of  sustaining  Jackson  in  this  hour  of  need 
that  he  left  the  bench  and  went  to  interview  Jackson  in  the  wilderness;  and, 
having  learned  the  situation  at  first  hand,  he  went,  like  another  Peter  the  Hermit, 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  East  Tennessee,  preaching  the  sermon  of 
patriotism  and  urging  the  people  to  take  up  arms  and  hasten  to  the  aid  of 
General  Jackson. 

When  Jackson  had  been  reinforced  by  these  various  contingents,  he  had  an 
army  of  about  five  thousand  effectives. 

Having,  at  last,  by  strenuous  and  unremitting  exertions,  obtained  such  sup- 
plies as  he  believed  would  be  necessary  to  enable  him  to  take  the  offensive,  and 
having  quelled  mutiny  by  the  execution  of  a  private,  John  Woods,  who  had 
been  sentenced  by  a  court  martial,  Jackson  commenced  the  operations  which 
resulted  in  the  speedy  and  brilliant  termination  of  the  Creek  war.  On  March 
14,  1814,  he  crossed  the  Coosa  River  and,  on  the  twenty-first  arrived  at  the 
mouth  of  Cedar  Creek,  where  he  located  a  fort,  called  Fort  Williams.  After 
detailing  a  sufficient  force  for  the  protection  of  the  fort  and  to  await  the  provi- 


-K  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  p.  145. 


354  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sions  eoming  down  the  Coosa,  he  crossed  the  Hickory  Ground  2!'  to  the  Talla- 
poosa River  and  arrived  at  Tohopeka  on  the  twenty-seventh  with  about  twenty- 
four  hundred  men.  Here,  as  he  had  been  previously  informed,  was  assembled, 
in  a  bend  of  the  river  in  the  shape  of  a  horseshoe,  a  force  of  one  thousand  or 
twelve  hundred  warriors,  besides  about  three  hundred  women  and  children. 

"They  could  have  selected  no  place  better  calculated  for  defense;  for,  in- 
dependent of  the  advantages  bestowed  on  it  by  nature,  their  own  exertions  had 
greatly  contributed  to  its  strength.  Surrounded  almost  entirely  by  the  river, 
it  was  accessible  only  by  a  narrow  neck  of  land,  of  350  yards  width,  which  they 
had  taken  much  pains  to  secure  and  defend,  by  placing  large  timbers  and  trunks 
of  trees  horizontally  on  each  other,  leaving  but  a  single  place  of  entrance.  Prom 
a  double  row  of  port  holes  formed  in  it,  they  were  enabled  to  give  complete 
direction  to  their  fire,  whilst  they  lay  in  perfect  security  behind."30 

Jackson,  however,  perceived  at  a  glance  that  the  Indians  had  merely  penned 
themselves  up  for  slaughtering.  He,  therefore,  sent  General  Coffee,  with  all  the 
mounted  men  and  friendly  Indians,  to  cross  the  river  two  miles  below,  where 
there  was  a  ford,  and  to  occupy  a  position  on  the  opposite  bank,  so  as  to  cut  off 
retreat  should  the  Creeks  attempt  to  escape  in  that  direction.  When  Coffee 
announced  by  a  preconcerted  signal  that  he  had  reached  his  designated  station, 
Jackson  ordered  the  charge.  Meanwhile  he  had  placed  his  cannon  upon  an 
eminence  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the  breastworks  and  had  maintained 
a  fire  for  two  hours  without  doing  any  appreciable  damage  to  the  strong  log 
wall.  The  details  of  the  battle  which  ensued  are  given  in  Jackson's  report31 
to  Governor  Blount,  which  follows : 

Ft.  Williams  31st  March  1814. 
His  Excellencv  Willie  Blount : 

Sir:— 

I  am  just  returned  from  the  expedition  which  I  advised  you  in  my  last  I 
was  about  to  make  to  the  Tallapoosa ;  &  hasten  to  acquaint  you  with  the  good 
fortune  which  attended  it. 

I  took  up  the  line  of  march  from  this  place  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  inst. ; 
&  having  opened  a  passage  of  fifty  two  &  a  half  miles,  over  the  ridges  which 
divide  the  waters  of  the  two  rivers,  I  reached  the  bend  of  the  Tallapoosa,  three 
miles  beyond  where  I  had  the  engagement  of  the  22d  January  &  at  the  southern 
extremity  of  Newyouka,  on  the  morning  of  the  27th.  This  bend  resembles,  in 
its  curvature  that  of  a  horse-shoe,  &  is  thence  called  by  that  name  among  the 
Whites.  Nature  furnishes  few  situations  so  eligible  for  defence ;  &  barbarians 
have  never  rendered  one  more  secure  by  art.  Across  the  neck  of  land  which 
leads  into  it  from  the  North,  they  had  erected  a  breast-work,  of  the  greatest 
compactness  &  strength,  from  five  to  eight  feet  high,  &  prepared  with  double 
rows  of  port-holes  very  artfully  arranged.  The  figure  of  this  wall,  manifested 
no  less  skill  in  the  projectors  of  it,  than  its  construction:  an  army  could  not 
approach  it  without  being  exposed  to  a  double  &  cross-fire  from  the  enemy  who 
lay  in  perfect  security  behind  it.  The  area  of  this  peninsula,  thus  bounded  by 
the  breast-work,  includes,  I  conjecture,  eighty  or  a  hundred  acres. 

In  this  bend  the  warriors  from  Oakfuskee,  Oakchoya,  Newyouka,  Hellabee, 
the  Fish-ponds,  &  Eufaula  towns,  apprised  of  our  approach,  had  collected  their 


29  This  was  the  name  of  the  region  between  the  Coosa  and  the  Tallapoosa  which  had 
always  been  held  sacred  by  the  Indians  and  declared  by  their  prophets  to  be  unconquerable. 

so  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  pp.  158-159. 

si  This  report  was  found  in  the  building  in  Clarksville  in  which  Governor  Blount  had 
an  office.  When  the  building  was  torn  down,  this  report  and  many  other  valuable  papers  were 
found.  This  paper  was  presented  to  his  nephew,  R.  T.  Quarles,  who  in  turn  gave  it  to  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Society.  The  report  is  in  General  Jackson's  handwriting  and  the  map 
is  a   facsimile  of  the  original  map   drawn   by  him. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  355 

strength.  Their  exact  number  cannot  be  ascertained ;  but  it  is  said,  by  the 
prisoners  we  have  taken,  to  have  been  a  thousand.  It  is  certain  they  were  very 
numerous ;  &  that  relying  with  the  utmost  confidence  upon  their  strength,  their 
situation,  &  the  assurance  of  their  prophets,  they  calculated  on  repulsing  us 
with  great  ease. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  having  encamped  the  preceding  night  at 
the  distance  of  six  miles  from  them,  I  detailed  Genl.  Coffee  with  the  mounted 
men  &  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Indian  force,  to  pass  the  river  at  a  ford  about 
three  miles  below  their  encampment,  &  to  surround  the  bend  in  such  a  manner 
that  none  of  them  should  escape  by  attempting  to  cross  the  river.  With  the 
remainder  of  the  forces  I  proceeded  along  the  point  of  land  which  led  to  the 
front  of  their  breastwork ;  &  at  half  past  ten  oclk  A.  M.  I  had  planted  my 
artillery  on  a  small  eminence,  distant  from  its  nearest  point  about  eighty  yards, 
&  from  its  farthest,  about  two  hundred  &  fifty ;  from  whence  I  immediately 
opened  a  brisk  fire  upon  its  centre.  With  the  muscpietry  &  rifles  I  kept  up  a 
galling  fire  whenever  the  enemy  shewed  themselves  behind  their  works,  or 
ventured  to  approach  them.  This  was  continued,  with  occasional  intermissions, 
for  about  two  hours,  when  Capt.  Russell's  company  of  spies  &  a  part  of  the 
Cherokee  force,  headed  by  their  gallant  Chieftain  Col.  Richard  Brown,  &  con- 
ducted by  the  brave  Col.  Morgan,  crossed  over  to  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula 
in  canoes,  &  set  fire  to  a  few  of  their  buildings  which  were  there  situated.  They 
then  advanced  with  great  gallantry  towards  the  breastwork,  &  commenced  firing 
upon  the  enemy  who  lay  behind  it. 

Finding  that  this  force,  notwithstanding  the  determined  bravery  they  dis- 
played, was  wholly  insufficient  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  &  that  Genl.  Coffee  had 
secured  the  opposite  banks  of  the  river,  I  now  determined  upon  taking  posses- 
sion of  their  works  by  storm.  Never  were  men  better  disposed  for  such  an 
undertaking  than  those  by  whom  it  was  to  be  effected.  They  had  entreated  to 
be  lead  to  the  charge  with  the  most  pressing  importunity,  &  received  the  order 
which  was  now  given  with  the  strongest  demonstrations  of  joy.  The  effect  was 
such  as  this  temper  of  mind  foretold.  The  regular  troops,  led  on  by  their  in- 
trepid, &  skillful  commander  Col.  Williams,  &  by  the  gallant  Major  Montgomery 
were  presently  in  possession  of  the  nearer  side  of  the  breast-work ;  &  the  militia 
accompanied  them  in  the  charge  with  a  vivacity  &  firmness  which  could  not 
have  been  exceeded  &  has  seldom  been  equalled  by  troops  of  any  description. 
A  few  companies  of  Genl.  Doherty's  Brigade  on  the  right,  were  led  on  with 
great  gallantry  by  Col.  Bunch — the  advance  guard,  by  the  adjutant  genl.,  Col. 
Eitter,  and  the  left  extremity  of  the  line  by  Capt.  Gordon  of  the  spies,  &  Capt. 
McMurry,  of  Genl.  Johnston's  Brigade  of  West  Tennessee  militia. 

Having  maintained  for  a  few  minutes  a  very  obstinate  contest,  muzzle  to 
muzzle,  through  the  port-holes,  in  which  many  of  the  enemy's  balls  were  welded 
to  the  bayonets  of  our  musquets,  our  troops  succeeded  in  gaining  possession  of 
the  opposite  side  of  the  works.  The  event  could  no  longer  be  doubtful.  The 
enemy  altho  many  of  them  fought  to  the  last  with  that  kind  of  bravery  which 
desperation  inspires,  were  at  length  entirely  routed  &  cut  to  pieces.  The  whole 
margin  of  the  river  which  surrounded  the  peninsula  was  strewed  with  the  slain. 
Five  hundred  &  fifty  seven  were  found  by  officers  of  great  respectability  whom 
I  had  ordered  to  count  them ;  besides  a  very  great  number  who  were  thrown 
into  the  river  by  their  surviving  friends,  &  killed  in  attempting  to  pass  it,  by 
Genl.  Coffee's  men,  stationed  on  the  opposite  banks.  Capt.  Hammonds  who 
with  his  company  of  spies  occupied  a  favourable  position  opposite  the  upper 
extremity  of  the  breastwork,  did  great  execution;  &  so  did  Lieut.  Bean,  who 
had  been  ordered  by  Genl.  Coffee  to  take  possession  of  a  small  Island  fronting 
the  lower  extremity. 

Both  officers  &  men  who  had  the  best  opportunities  of  judging,  believe  the 
loss  of  the  enemy  in  killed,  not  to  fall  short  of  eight  hundred,  &  if  their  number 
was  as  great  as  it  is  represented  to  have  been,  by  the  prisoners,  &  as  it  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  by  Col.  Carrol  &  others  who  had  a  fair  view  of  them  as 
they  advanced  to  the  breastworks,  their  loss  must  even  have  been  more  con- 
siderable— as  it  is  quite  certain  that  not  more  than  twenty  can  have  escaped. 


356 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Among  the  dead  was  found  their  famous  prophet  Monahoee — shot  in  the  mouth 
by  a  grape  shot ;  as  if  Heaven  designed  to  chastise  his  impostures  by  an  appro- 
priate punishment.  Two  other  prophets  were  also  killed — leaving  no  others, 
as  I  learn,  on  the  Tallapoosa. 

I  lament  that  two  or  three  women  &  children  were  killed  by  accident. 

I  do  not  know  the  exact  number  of  prisoners  taken ;  but  it  must  exceed  three 
hundred — all  women  &  children  except  three  or  four. 

The  battle  may  be  said  to  have  continued  with  severity  for  about  five  hours ; 
but  the  firing  &  the  slaughter  continued  until  it  was  suspended  by  the  darkness 
of  the  night.  The  next  morning  it  was  resumed,  &  sixteen  of  the  enemy  slain 
who  had  concealed  themselves  under  the  banks. 

Our  loss  was  twenty  six  white  men,  killed,  &  one  hundred  &  seven  wounded. 
Cherokees,  eighteen  killed,  &  thirty  six  wounded — friendly  Creeks  5  killed  & 
11  wounded. 

The  loss  of  Col.  "Williams'  regt  of  Regulars  is  seventeen  killed  &  fifty  five 
wounded ;  3  of  whom  have  since  died.  Among  the  former  were  Maj.  Mont- 
gomery, Leiut.  Somerville,  &  Leiut.  Moulton,  who  fell  in  the  charge  which  was 
made  on  the  works.    No  men  ever  acted  more  gallantly,  or  fell  more  gloriously. 

Of  the  Artillery  company,  commanded  by  Capt.  Parish,  eleven  were 
wounded;  one  of  whom,  Lieut.  Gaines,  has  since  died.  Lieutenants  Allen  & 
Ridley  were  both  wounded.  The  whole  company  acted  with  its  usual  gallantry. 
Capt.  Bradford,  of  the  17th  U.  S.  Infantry,  who  acted  as  chief  engineer,  & 
superintended  the  firing  of  the  cannon,  has  entitled  himself  by  his  good  conduct, 
to  my  warmest  thanks. 

To  say  all  in  a  word  the  whole  army  who  achieved  this  fortunate  victory, 
have  merited  by  their  good  conduct,  the  gratitude  of  their  country.  So  far  as 
I  saw,  or  could  learn  there  was  not  an  officer  or  soldier  who  did  not  perform  his 
duty  with  the  utmost  fidelity.  The  conduct  of  the  militia  on  this- occasion  has 
gone  far  towards  redeeming  the  character  of  that  description  of  troops.  They 
have  been  as  orderly  in  their  encampment  &  on  their  line  of  march,  as  they 
have  been  signally  brave  in  the  day  of  battle. 

In  a  few  days  I  shall  take  up  the  line  of  march  for  the  Hickory  ground,  & 
have  everything  to  hope  from  such  troops. 

Enclosed  I  send  you  Genl.  Coffee's  Brigade  report. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  great  respect 

Your  obtst 

Andrew  Jackson. 

Major  Genl. 

General.  Coffee,  in  a  letter  to  his  wife  dated  April  1,  1814,  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  his  activities: 

"I  have  to  announce  to  you  one  other  victory  obtained  over  our  enemy,  at 
the  same  bend  of  the  Tallapoosey,  near  where  we  fought  our  last  battles.  We 
attacked  the  enemy,  on  the  27th  of  last  month,  the  enemy  were  about  one  thou- 
sand in  number,  enforted  in  a  bend  of  the  river,  with  very  strong  works.  I 
crossed  the  river  with  700  mounted  men  and  600  Indians  and  took  possession 
of  the  other  bank  to  prevent  them  swimming  over  the  river  and  escaping — all 
was  executed  well,  the  enemy  fought  with  their  usual  desperation  but  we  over- 
powered them,  and  after  cannonading  them  about  two  hours,  we  charged  their 
works  by  storm,  and  put  the  whole  to  death  but  a  few  that  hid  under  the  banks 
of  the  river — the  slaughter  was  great.  We  counted  557  dead  bodies  on  the 
ground  besides  about  300  that  was  shot  and  sunk  in  the  river,  making  in  the 
whole  that  we  killed  from  850  to  900,  and  took  about  500  prisoners,  squaws  and 
children.  We  lost  on  our  part  of  white  men  26  killed  and  106  wounded  besides 
29  friendlv  Indians  and  47  wounded." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


357 


BATTLE  OF  TEHOPISKA. 


1. 

Coffee  Cavalry. 

11. 

2. 

Cherokees. 

12. 

3. 

Indian  Village. 

13. 

4. 

High  Grounds. 

14. 

5. 

Breast  Works. 

15. 

6. 

Island. 

16. 

7. 

Advanced  Guard. 

17. 

8. 

Hill  and  Artillery. 

0. 

9. 

Kegulars. 

0. 

Wagons,   Pack  Horses 

and  Wounded  in 

center. 

Colonel  Copeland. 

B.  Ten.  Militia. 

Col.  Cheatham. 

Eear  Guard. 

Emuckfau — -old  battle  ground. 

New  Youeau — burnt  before. 

High  Hills. 

That  angle  at  which  Montgomery  fell. 


The  frontal  attack  of  Jackson's  men  was  replete  with  deeds  of  daring.  It 
is  said  that  Maj.  L.  P.  Montgomery,32  of  the  Thirty-ninth  Regulars,  was  the 
first  man  to  mount  the  breastworks,  where,  calling  upon  his  men  to  follow  him, 
he  fell  dead  with  a  bullet  in  his  head. 

At  this  critical  moment  Ensign  Sam  Houston  gave  brilliant  proof  of  the  rare 
qualities  of  bravery  and  fortitude  which  characterized  that  remarkable  man. 
As  he  sprang  upon  the  parapet,  he  was  wounded  in  the  thigh  by  an  arrow. 
Nothing  dismayed,  however,  and  disregarding  this  inconvenience,  he  called  upon 
his  comrades  to  follow  him  and  leaped  into  the  midst  of  the  Indians  among 
whom  he  soon  cleared  a  space,  and  his  fellow  soldiers  quickly  surmounted  the 
breastworks  and  drove  the  enemy  before  them.  Houston  then  asked  a  lieutenant 
of  his  company  to  extract  the  arrow.    Two  vigorous  pulls  failed  to  draw  it  out. 

32  Lemuel  Purnell  Montgomery  was  the  son  of  Hon.  Hugh  Montgomery  and  was  a  young 
man  of  rare  promise.  Montgomery,  Alabama,  was  named  in  honor  of  him.  He  was  deemed  a 
model  officer  and  punctilious  gentleman.  He  was  so  attentive  to  the  wants  of  his  men  that 
he  was  looked  upon  almost  with  idolatrous  regard  by  the  soldiers  under  his  command.  He 
was  ardent,  brave  and  patriotic,  and,  before  the  action  said,  "If  I  fall  in  battle,  I  hope  I 
shall  die  gloriously."    Claiborne's  Notes  on  the  War  in  the  South,  p.  41. 


358  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Thereupon,  in  a  transport  of  pain  and  impatience,  Houston  exclaimed,  "Try 
again,  and  if  you  fail  this  time,  I  will  smite  you  to  the  earth."  That  effort 
was  successful,  but  his  flesh  was  so  terribly  mangled  that  he  was  compelled  to 
seek  the  services  of  a  surgeon.  Jackson,  then  coming  up  and  perceiving  his 
condition,  ordered  him  not  to  cross  the  breastworks  again.  Nevertheless,  the 
fiery  young  ensign  promptly  disobeyed  the  command  and  was  soon  again  in  the 
thick  of  the  engagement.  Later  in  the  day  Jackson  called  for  volunteers  to 
dislodge  the  Indians  who  had  taken  refuge  under  the  overhanging  bluffs  along 
the  river.  Houston,  ordering  his  platoon  to  follow  him,  but  not  waiting  for 
them,  rushed  to  the  bank,  received  two  bullets  in  his  right  shoulder  and  was 
borne  away  totalty  disabled. 

In  this  battle  Jackson  captured  the  Indian  boy  Lincoyer,  whom  he  reared  at 
the  Hermitage  and  had  him  taught  a  trade  in  Nashville. 

END   OF  THE  CREEK   WAR 

The  defeat  at  Tohopeka  was  a  disastrous  blow  to  the  Creeks,  whose  power  as 
a  nation  was  completely  broken.  With  their  downfall  commenced  the  wane 
of  the  red  men  of  America.  Never  again  did  the  Creeks  attempt  a  stand ;  for 
their  best  and  bravest  warriors  were  now  slain  and  the  survivors  were  scattered 
and  disheartened. 

Jackson  returned  to  Fort  Williams  and  delivered  to  his  soldiers  a  congratu- 
latory address  of  which  the  first  paragraph  was  as  follows : 

"You  have  entitled  yourselves  to  the  gratitude  of  your  country  and  your 
general.  The  expedition,  from  which  you  have  just  returned,  has,  by  your  good 
conduct,  been  rendered  prosperous,  beyond  any  example  in  the  history  of  our 
warfare :  it  has  redeemed  the  character  of  your  state  and  of  that  description  of 
troops  of  which  the  greater  part  of  you  are." 

Jackson  then  took  the  offensive  again  and  proceeded  to  hunt  them  in  de- 
tail. But  nowhere  would  they  make  a  stand,  and  day  by  day  their  chiefs  came 
in  begging  for  peace  and  friendship.  To  test  them  Jackson  directed  them  to 
bring  in  Weatherford,  confined,  that  he  might  be  dealt  with  as  he  deserved. 
Weatherford  thereupon  proceeded  to  Jackson's  camp  and  made  voluntary  sur- 
render. When  he  had  not  been  recognized,  he  made  himself  known  to  Jackson, 
stood  fearlessly  in  his  presence  and  asked  for  peace  for  himself  and  his  people. 

Jackson  expressed  astonishment  that  a  man  guilty  of  so  many  and  great 
crimes  should  venture  to  appear  before  him  saying,  "I  had  directed  that  you 
should  be  brought  to  me  confined;  and  had  you  appeared  in  this  way,  I  should 
have  known  how  to  treat  you." 

In  reply  Weatherford  33  said  : 

"I  am  in  your  power — do  with  me  as  you  please.  I  am  a  soldier.  I  have 
done  the  white  people  all  the  harm  I  could;  I  have  fought  them  and  fought 
them  bravely :  If  I  had  an  army,  I  would  yet  fight,  and  contend  to  the  last,  but 
I  have  none ;  my  people  are  all  gone.  I  can  now  do  no  more  than  weep  over 
the  misfortunes  of  my  nation." 

sa  William  Weatherford,  the  great  chief  of  the  Alihamons,  the  master  spirit  in  the  Creek 
war,  was  the  son  of  a  trader  who  east  his  fortune  with  the  Creek  Indians  and  who  married  a 
full-blooded  Indian  woman.  William  Weatherford,  their  son,  exhibited  the  shrewdness  of  the 
white  man  and  the  cunning  of  the  Indian.  He  received  a  good  practical  education  in  one  ol 
the  schools  established  by  the  Government  among  the  Creeks.  He  was  tall  and  commanding 
in  appearance,  with  "copper  color,  black  hair,  high  cheek  bones,  thin  lips  and  nose,  cold, 
piercing  black  eyes,  round  bull-dog  jaws,  a  long,  hollow,  thin  foot,  clean,  bony  ankles,  and  a 
leg  and  body  the  perfection  of  the  sculptor's  ideal." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  359 

Jackson  was  favorably  impressed  by  his  manner,  but  said : 

"The  terms  on  which  your  nation  can  be  saved,  and  peace  restored,  have 
already  been  disclosed:  in  this  way,  and  none  other,  can  you  obtain  safety." 

Thereupon  Weatherford  delivered  what  is  considered  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable speeches  ever  made  by  an  Indian,  a  speech  which  indicates  that  he 
was  of  the  same  superior  mind  and  lofty  spirit  which  animated  Logan,  the 
friend  of  the  white  people,  and  Tecumseh,  their  implacable  foe.  Said  Weather- 
ford  : 

"I  may  be  well  addressed  in  such  language  now.  There  was  a  time  when  I 
had  a  choice,  and  could  have  answered  you.  I  have  none  now — even  hope  has 
ended.  Once  I  could  animate  my  warriors  to  battle ;  but  I  cannot  animate  the 
dead.  My  warriors  can  no  longer  hear  my  voice;  their  bones  are  at  Talladega, 
Tallushatchee,  Emuckfaw,  and  Tohopeka.  I  have  not  surrendered  myself 
thoughtlessly.  Whilst  there  were  chances  of  success,  I  never  left  my  post,  nor 
supplicated  peace.  But  my  people  are  gone,  and  I  now  ask  it  for  my  nation, 
and  for  myself.  On  the  miseries  and  misfortunes  brought  upon  my  country,  I 
look  back  with  deepest  sorrow,  and  wish  to  avert  still  greater  calamities.  If  I 
had  been  left  to  contend  with  the  Georgia  army,  I  would  have  raised  my  corn 
on  one  bank  of  the  river,  and  fought  them  on  the  other ;  but  your  people  have 
destroyed  my  nation.  You  are  a  brave  man :  I  rely  upon  your  generosity.  You 
will  exact  no  terms  of  a  conquered  people  but  such  as  they  should  accede  to : 
whatever  they  may  be,  it  would  now  be  madness  and  folly  to  oppose.  If  they 
are  opposed,  you  shall  find  me  amongst  the  sternest  enforcers  of  obedience. 
Those  who  would  still  hold  out,  can  be  influenced  only  by  a  mean  spirit  of 
revenge:  and  to  this  they  must  not,  and  shall  not,  sacrifice  the  last  remnant  of 
their  country.  You  have  told  our  nation  where  we  might  go,  and  be  safe.  This 
is  good  talk,  and  they  ought  to  listen  to  it.     They  shall  listen  to  it."  34 

THE  TREATY  OF  PEACE  WITH  THE  CREEKS 

In  order  to  complete  his  line  of  fortifications  extending  from  Tennessee 
through  the  Indian  country  to  the  Mobile  basin,  Jackson  established  at  the 
junction  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa  rivers  a  fort  which  was  named  Fort  Jack- 
son.35 Here,  on  April  20,  1814,  Gen.  Thomas  Pinckney,  major-general  of  the 
regular  army,  arrived  and  took  command  and  Jackson's  army,  except  such  as 
were  needed  to  garrison  the  forts,  were  marched  to  Fayetteville  and  mustered 
out  of  service. 

On  May  22nd  a  notice  was  sent  to  Jackson  by  the  war  department  apprising 
him  of  his  appointment  as  brigadier-general  and  brevet  major-general  in  the 
regular  army.  About  this  time  Maj.-Gen.  William  H.  Harrison  resigned  from 
the  regular  army,  and  Jackson  was  appointed  major-general  of  the  Seventh 
Military  District  which  included  the  southern  and  western  division.  The  ap- 
pointment of  major-general  reached  Jackson  one  day  after  the  receipt  of  notifica- 
tion of  appointment  as  brigadier-general  and  before  he  had  returned  an  answer 
of  acceptance  or  rejection  of  it. 

Having  been  ordered  by  the  war  department  to  make  a  treaty  with  the 
Creeks,  Jackson  succeeded,  after  some  difficulty,  in  the  execution  of  a  treaty  on 
August  10th  whereby  one-half  of  the  territory  of  the  Creeks  was  exacted  as  an 
indemnity  for  the  expenses  of  the  war.     It  was  also  stipulated  that  the  Creeks 


•'"  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson."  pp.   177-178. 

35  This  was  built  on  the  site  of  Fort  Toulouse  which  was  constructed  in  1714  by  Bienville 
in  order  to  cheek  the  English  and  to  influence  the  Indians.  As  it  was  in  the  Mobile  River 
basin,  it  was  ceded  to  the  British  by  the  French  in  1763,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  French  and 
Indian  war. 


360  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

should  no  more  listen  to  foreign  emissaries,  to  hold  no  communication  with 
British  or  Spanish  garrisons;  to  guarantee  to  the  United  States  the  right  of 
erecting  military  posts  in  their  country  and  the  free  navigation  of  their  waters; 
and  that  no  traders  or  agents  should  be  allowed  to  pass  among  them  without 
the  consent  of  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

Col.  Benjamin  Hawkins  was  appointed  commissioner  to  assist  Jackson. 

CELEBRATION   OF  THE  ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  TOHOPEKA 

On  March  27,  1914,  under  the  auspices  of  an  Alabama  state  commission  a 
preliminary  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  To- 
hopeka  was  held  on  the  field  of  battle ;  and  on  July  4th  of  the  same  year  a  second 
celebration  was  held  with  exercises  lasting  all  day.  Governor  Emmet  O'Neal 
presided  and  delivered  the  address  of  welcome.  Descendants  of  Gen.  John 
Coffee,  Col.  John  Williams,  and  Col.  Gideon  Morgan,  all  of  whom  took  con- 
spicuous parts  in  the  battle,  were  present.  Mrs.  Nora  E.  Miller,  of  Dadeville, 
Ala.,  gave  the  site  for  the  monument. 

John  Trotwood  Moore  read  his  poem  on  Jackson,  entitled  "By  the  Eternal." 
After  the  Treaty  of  Fort  Jackson,  General  Jackson  made  a  congratulatory 
address  to  his  men,  discharged  them  at  Fayetteville  and  immediately  set  out  for 
home.  Along  the  entire  way  he  was  greeted  with  the  enthusiastic  plaudits  of  a 
grateful  people.  At  Nashville,  he  was  conducted  to  the  Courthouse  where  he 
was  welcomed  in  an  eloquent  speech  by  Felix  Grundy,  after  which  he  was  hon- 
ored by  a  public  dinner  and  then  with  heartfelt  joy  turned  to  the  welcome  shades 
of  the  Hermitage. 

THE   NEW   ORLEANS   CAMPAIGN,    1814-1815 

Jackson's  brilliant  campaign  which  closed  the  Creek  war  so  summarily  made 
him  the  idol  of  the  people,  not  only  of  Tennessee  but  also  of  the  nation.  It 
was  reported  that  the  British  were  sending  a  large  expedition  into  the  southern 
waters  with  the  avowed  intention  of  taking  New  Orleans,  overrunning  the  Gulf 
states  and  carrying  their  conquest  up  the  Mississippi  River  and  its  tributaries. 
Jackson's  respite  at  home,  therefore,  was  short. 

Not  daunted  by  these  extensive  preparations,  Jackson  requested  Governor 
Blount  to  send  him  a  brigade  of  volunteers  under  General  Coffee  and  then  hur- 
ried to  Mobile.  He  found  only  the  fragment  of  three  regiments  throughout  the 
entire  Gulf  coast.  With  his  accustomed  tireless  energy  he  asked  for  troops  from 
Louisiana  and  Mississippi  as  well  as  Tennessee  and  made  his  preparations  to 
meet  the  enenry  wherever  he  might  appear.  Pursuant  to  the  call  of  Governor 
Blount  about  two  thousand  men  assembled  at  Fayetteville,  at  the  head  of  whom 
General  Coffee  marched  south  on  October  5,  1814.  He  was  joined  by  800  more 
on  the  journey.  They  reached  St.  Stephens,  about  thirty  miles  above  Mobile, 
on  October  23d.  Coffee  and  his  troops  were  then  ordered  to  Pensacola.  where 
Jackson  punished  the  Spanish  governor  who  was  aiding  the  English  and  giving 
an  asylum  to  the  Creeks  who  had  fled  there  for  refuge.  Coffee's  soldiers  re- 
turned to  Fort  Mims  on  November  13th  and,  within  a  few  days,  left  for  Baton 
Rouge,  La.,  where  Jackson  had  ordered  the  troops  to  be  concentrated  preparatory 
to  their  advance  to  New  Orleans.36 


3«  Martin's  "Louisiana,"  Vol.  II,  p.  321. 


MILL'S  STATUE  OF  GENERAL  ANDREW  JACKSON,  CAPITAL  GROUNDS, 

NASHVILLE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  M'S 

The  capture  of  Pensaeola  by  Jackson  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  char- 
acteristic acts  of  his  life.  Spain  was  supposed  to  be  neutral,  and  yet  was  permit- 
ting the  British  to  use  this  base,  so  near  to  New  Orleans  and  so  convenient  for 
attack  on  any  portion  of  the  Gulf  Coast.  From  Pensaeola  they  could  strike 
anywhere — and  fatally.  Jackson  determined  to  dislodge  them,  neutrality  or  not, 
He  wrote  passionately  and  intensely  to  the  secretary  of  war,  showing  the  impor- 
tance of  the  move  and  asking  permission  to  drive  the  British  out.  Between  the 
lines  anyone  might  read  that  if  he  did  not  receive  instructions  at  once,  he  was 
going  in  any  way. 

From  the  correspondence  it  is  evident  that  the  Federal  authorities  thus 
read  it,  and  nothing  so  plainly  shows  the  weakness  of  the  administration  and 
the  inefficiency  and  lack  of  courage  of  the  secretary  of  war  as  the  fact  that 
though  Jackson 's  letter  was  written  in  September,  the  answer  of  the  secretary 
of  war,  declining  to  permit  the  invasion  of  Florida,  was  not  received  till  after 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans  in  January. 

Its  date  seems  to  show  that  it  had  purposely  been  withheld  until  Jackson  had 
accomplished  his  object. 

Jackson  and  the  authorities  of  New  Orleans  had  been  informed  by  the  pirate 
Lafitte  of  the  movements  of  the  British  fleet,  but  when  Jackson  arrived  on  De- 
cember 2,  1814,  in  that  city  he  found  that  nothing  had  been  done  toward  the 
defense  of  it. 

"Jackson  had  indeed  arrived,  but  never  did  a  defender  find  so  helpless  and 
utterly  unprepared  a  city.  The  city  was  a  bickering,  divided  thing,  not  a 
fortification,  not  a  battery  mounted,  not  an  idea  even,  and  scarcely  any  law. 

"And  scared  stiff. 

"Jackson  was  both  law  and  order,  and  in  twenty-four  hours,  by  his  own  calm 
and  intrepid  bravery,  his  own  self -assurance  and  fierv  determination,  he  had 
the  impulsive  inhabitants  ready  to  fight  to  the  death."37 

The  British  numbered  10,000  or  more  fighting  men,  chiefly  veterans  of  the 
war  m  the  Peninsular,  commanded  by  Sir  Edward  Pakenham,  one  of  the  ablest 
of  the  generals  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  They  were  reputed  to  be  equal  to 
the  best  troops  of  Europe,  and  their  conduct  in  America,  and  afterwards  in  the 
battle  of  "Waterloo,  indicated  that  their  reputation  was  not  undeserved. 

To  make  his  preparations  for  coping  with  such  a  formidable  aggregation  as 
was  now  approaching  the  shores  of  Louisiana,  while  the  people  of  New  Orleans 
were  panic-stricken,  required  all  of  his  decision,  fearless  tranquillity  and  bound- 
less energy.  Such,  however,  was  his  resistless  ardor  and  unbending  determina- 
tion that  within  two  weeks  he  had  overcome  the  apathy  and  had  animated  the 
people  to  rise  for  the  defense  of  their  homes. 

The  temper  of  Jackson's  mind  at  this  time  is  shown  by  the  following  letter 
which  he  addressed  to  Governor  Claiborne.38 

"I  regret  to  hear  of  the  discontents  of  your  people:  they  must  not  exist. 
Whoever  is  not  for  us  is  against  us.  Those  who  are  drafted  must  be  compelled 
to  the  ranks,  or  punished :  it  is  no  time  to  balance :  the  country  must  be  de- 
fended ;  and  he  who  refuses  to  aid,  when  called  on,  must  be  treated  with  severity. 
To  repel  the  danger  with  which  we  are  assailed,  requires  all  our  energies,  and 
all  our  exertions.  With  union  on  our  side,  we  shall  be  able  to  drive  our  invaders 
back  to  the  ocean.  Summon  all  your  energy,  and  guard  every  avenue  with  con- 
fidential patroles,  for  spies  and  traitors  are  swarming  around.     Numbers  will 


S7  John  Trotwood  Moore  in  Trotwood  'a  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  481. 
»8  William  C.  C.  Claiborne,  previously  a  noted  statesman  of  Tennessee. 


364  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

be  flocking  to  your  city,  to  gain  information,  and  corrupt  your  citizens.  Every 
aid  in  your  power  must  be  given  to  prevent  vessels  sailing  with  provisions.  By 
us,  the  enemy  must  not  be  fed.  Let  none  pass;  for  on  this  will  depend  our 
safety,  until  we  can  get  a  competent  force  in  the  field,  to  oppose  attack,  or  to 
become  the  assailants.  We  have  more  to  dread  from  intestine,  than  open  and 
avowed  enemies ;  but,  vigilance  on  our  side,  and  all  will  be  safe.  Remember, 
our  watchword  is  victory  or  death.  Our  country  must  and  shall  be  defended. 
We  will  enjoy  our  liberty,  or  perish  in  the  last  ditch." 

He  now  sought  to  collect  in  sufficient  strength  the  forces  necessary  to  repel 
the  impending  invasion. 

"And  what  a  motley  lot  of  defenders  he  found — about  eight  hundred  new 
troops,  regulars,  raw  and  undrilled;  Planches'  City  Battalion,  500;  two  regi- 
ments of  state  militia,  armed  with  fowling  pieces,  muskets,  old  rifles ;  a  regiment 
of  free  negroes,  or,  as  Jackson  called  them,  'free  men  of  colour,  and  right  well 
did  they  quit  themselves  in  the  fight '• — in  all,  about  2,000  men.  Two  little  men- 
of-war-armed  schooners,  the  Carolina  and  the  Louisiana,  lay  in  the  river. 

"But  Coffee  and  his  Tennesseans  were  coming  from  Pensacola  through  the 
woods,  and  Jackson  sent  courier  after  courier  to  them  saying:  'Don't  sleep  till 
you  reach  me  or  arrive  in  striking  distance.'  "  39 

Carroll,40  with  other  Tennessee  troops  were  now  on  the  Mississippi.  But 
Carroll  had  only  one  gun  to  ten  men  until  he  overtook  a  boatload  of  muskets, 
and  with  these  he  drilled  his  men  on  the  decks  of  his  boat.  To  him  Jackson 
sent  a  steamboat  up  the  river  with  this  message :  "I  am  resolved,  feeble  as 
my  force  is,  to  await  the  enemy  on  his  first  landing,  and  perish  sooner  than  he 
shall  reach  the  city." 

"Two  thousand  Kentuckians  under  Generals  Thomas  and  Adair  were  also 
floating  down  the  Mississippi,  a  ragged,  defenseless  and  almost  gunless  crowd, 
without  blanket  or  tents,  and  only  one  cooking  kettle  to  every  eighty  men. 
And  now  it  was  the  14th  day  of  December,  and  the  British  had  been  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  nearly  a  week." 

"On  the  evening  of  the  17th,  129  miles  from  New  Orleans,  Coffee  received 
Jackson's  note.  His  horses  were  poor,  300  of  his  men  sick,  but  in  three  days  he 
was  there ;  but  only  with  his  picked  men — 800— all  that  could  follow  so  rapid  a 
march.  Here  is  a  description  of  them :  '  Their  appearance  was  not  very  military. 
In  their  woolen  hunting  shirts  of  dark  or  dingy  color  and  copperas-dyed  panta- 
loons, made,  both  cloth  and  garments,  at  home,  by  their  wives,  mothers  and 
sisters;  with  slouching  wool  hats,  some  composed  of  the  skins  of  raccoons  and 
foxes,  with  belts  of  untanned  deerskins,  in  which  were  stuck  hunting  knives  and 
tomahawks,  hair  long  and  unkempt,  and  faces  unshorn.'  "41 

Besides  skirmishes  of  more  or  less  severity,  there  were  three  distinct  en- 
gagements between  Jackson's  army  and  the  British;  the  first  on  the  night  of 
December  23,  1814,  the  second  on  the  morning  of  January  1,  1815,  and  the 
third,  generally  spoken  of  as  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  on  the  morning  of  Jan- 
uary 8,  1815.  In  the  first  two  clashes  the  British  were  severely  punished,  and, 
from  the  violence  of  the  assaults  upon  them,  the  fears  of  the  British  had  been 
greatly  excited.  Historians  are  generally  agreed  that  Jackson's  attack  on  the 
night  of  December  23d,  really  saved  New  Orleans,  for  the  English  had  a  fixed 
idea  that  the  Americans  would  not  fight  except  when  attacked.  But  their  losses 
on  the  twenty-third   induced  caution  and  caused   slower   progress,  since  they 


so  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  pp.  263-264. 

40  "William  Carroll,  on  Jackson 's  promotion  in  the  regular  army,  had  been  appointed 
major-general  of  militia  and  ordered  his  division  to  assemble  at  Nashville  on  November  19, 
1814.     He  embarked  2,500  men  on  boats  for  New  Orleans. 

*i  John  Trotwood  Moore  in  Trotwood  's  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  p.  482. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  365 

were  convinced  that  Jackson  had  a  large  enough  force  to  assume  the  offensive. 
This  lack  of  celerity  in  their  movements  enabled  Jackson  to  construct  a  line 
of  strong  breastworks,  made  of  mud  and  earth  with  a  ditch  in  front,  in  antici- 
pation of  the  crucial  battle  which  he  knew  was  inevitable. 

THE  BATTLE  OP  NEW  ORLEANS 

During  the  week  following  the  engagement  of  January  1st  the  two  armies 
had  lain  facing  each  other  without  any  decided  attempt  being  made  by  either. 
Twice  had  the  British,  fighting  bravely,  attempted  to  carry  out  their  favorite 
plans  of  attack  and  twice  had  they  failed.  Such  a  condition  could  not  be  suf- 
fered long  to  exist.  The  invincible  soldiers  of  Britain,  the  pride  of  England, 
the  boasted  conquerors  of  Europe,  could  not  remain  defeated.  Their  distin- 
guished generals  were  eager  to  announce  to  their  country  and  to  the  world  their 
signal  achievements  and  to  realize  the  high  expectations  held  at  home  of  the 
success  of  this  expedition. 

Jackson's  works  meanwhile  were  strengthened  and  by  the  eighth  of  Jan- 
uary were  completed  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river  where  the  breastworks  ex- 
tended from  the  river  about  one  mile  to  the  swamp.  The  ditch  in  front  was 
flooded  with  five  feet  of  water  from  the  river. 

This  part  of  the  line  was  defended  by  about  three  thousand  men  under  Car- 
roll and  Coffee.  Along  the  breastworks  were  distributed  twelve  cannon  of  dif- 
ferent calibers.  On  the  other  side  of  the  river  were  stationed  fifteen  guns,  with 
entrenchments  occupied  by  some  Louisiana  militia  and  a  strong  detachment  of 
Kentuckians  under  General  Morgan. 

The  memorable  eighth  of  January  found  the  contending  armies  vigilant  and 
determined.  After  having  made  careful  preparations  for  several  days  pre- 
viously, General  Pakenham  had  the  utmost  confidence  in  his  ability  to  carry 
Jackson's  works.  He  believed  that  nothing  could  withstand  the  calm  and  de- 
termined onset  of  his  men. 

Jackson,  too,  had  been  "unremitting  in  exertion,  and  constantly  vigilant, 
his  precaution  kept  pace  with  the  zeal  and  preparation  of  the  enemy.  He 
seldom  slept :  he  was  always  at  his  post,  performing  the  duties  of  both  general 
and  soldier."  42  It  may  be  said  then  that  both  commanders  were  well  prepared 
for  the  terrific  contest  which  was  to  ensue. 

The  morning  of  the  eighth  of  January  had  dawned.  Pakenham,  after  an 
all  night's  strenuous  preparation,  had  dispatched  Colonel  Thornton  with  a  force 
to  attack  the  fortifications  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  and  now  gave  the  signals 
for  concert  of  action  by  the  discharge  of  two  congreve  rockets.  His  whole  re- 
maining force  moved  to  attack  the  works  on  the  east  side,  in  two  columns,  com- 
manded by  Generals  Gibbs  and  Keane,  with  a  front  sixty  or  seventy  feet  deep. 
They  advanced  with  a  firm  and  steady  pace.  "A  thick  fog  that  obscured  the 
morning,  enabled  them  to  approach  within  a  short  distance  of  our  entrench- 
ment, before  they  were  discovered."43  A  dead  silence  prevailed  as  they  ad- 
vanced, broken  only  by  the  thunder  of  a  great  gun  on  the  American  breastworks 
when  the  British  lines  were  descried  through  the  shifting  fog ;  and  again  silence 
as  they  were  again  hid  from  view.  The  fog  lifted  again  and  revealed  both  di- 
visions which   apparently  covered  two-thirds  of  the  plain   of   Chalmette.     As 


+2  Eaton 's  ' '  Life  of  General  Jackson, ' '  p.  365. 
43  Eaton's  "Life  of  General  Jackson,"  p.  366. 


366  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

soon  they  they  came  within  range  of  the  batteries  an  incessant  fire  was  opened 
upon  them.  Yet  they  continued  to  advance  in  excellent  order,  closing  up  their 
ranks  as  fast  as  they  were  rent  by  the  American  guns,  until  they  came  within 
reach  of  the  muskets  and  rifles  of  Carroll's  and  Coffee's  Tennesseans,  when  so 
dreadful  was  the  destruction  that  the  British  troops,  with  all  their  discipline 
were  instantly  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion.44  When  the  order  to  fire  was 
given, 

"the  breastworks  behind  which  the  Tennesseans  stood  crackled  with  a  wither- 
ing Maine.  From  left  to  right  it  rolled,  and  back  again,  as  the  rear  ranks  passed 
loaded  guns  to  the  firing  line,  and  at  every  volley  the  massed  British  went  down 
by  platoons.     On  they  came,  up,  up  to  the  very  ditch,  and  then — 

"  'The  ladders!    Where  are  the  ladders?' 

"Nearly  every  officer  but  Gibbs  was  down.  For  a  moment  they  stood  under 
the  fearful  hail,  stricken,  awed,  undecided.  The  flesh  and  blood  could  stand  it 
no  longer.  Back  they  began  to  rush,  Gibbs  following,  begging,  commanding." 
'They  will  not  follow  me,'  he  shouted,  as  he  met  Pakenham.  'Shame!  Turn 
about!    This  is  the  road  to  take!'  as  he  spurred  into  the  flames  in  front. 

"They  gathered  around  him.  His  right  arm  hung  loose — shattered.  His 
horse  fell  dead.  Scrambling  up  he  mounted  a  Creole  pony;  and,  forgetting  his 
shattered  arm,  led  them  to  the  charge,  Gibbs  gallantly  leading  his  end  of  the 
line.     There  was  nothing  but  death  and  a  fiery  furnace  in  front. 

"  'Hurrah,  brave  Highlanders!'  he  shouted  to  the  Highlanders  as  they  came 
up.  He  was  waving  his  hat  in  his  left  hand.  A  charge  of  the  grape  struck 
him,  and  horse  and  rider  went  down  again.  In  the  next  instant  Gibbs,  too,  fell 
writhing  in  agony,  and  Dale  lay  dead  at  the  head  of  his  regiment. 

' '  Gibbs '  column  rushed  stricken  to  the  rear,  or  hugged  ditch  and  tree  and 
bush  for  life.  On  the  right  it  was  almost  a  repetition  of  the  left.  The  columns 
of  Keane  swept  everything  before  them,  stormed  and  took  the  breastwork  just 
in  the  lines,  only  to  die  to  a  man  as  the  Americans  poured  their  fire  into  the 
redoubt.  Keane  fell,  shot  in  the  neck  and  thigh,  and  gallant  'Wilky,'  Lavack 
and  twenty  men  floundered  through  the  ditch,  mounted  the  breastworks  and  fell 
riddled  on  the  top. 

"From  one  end  of  the  mile  of  American  breastworks  to  the  other,  it  was  a 
galling,  ceaseless,  crackling  blaze  of  little  tongues  of  fire,  save  when  larger, 
deeper  and  bursting,  roaring  flames  shot  out  from  batteries  between.  Not  a 
man  behind  those  breastworks  wavered,  and  they  shot  down  men  as  unerringly 
and  coolly  as  they  had  before  shot  beasts. 

"It  was  all  over  in  twenty-five  minutes.  Seven  hundred  stone  dead  and 
1,400  wounded  British  lay  on  the  plain,  500  more  captured,  and  the  heart  of  the 
rest  of  them  had  died  in  their  bosoms."  45 

Monette  says: 

"A  carnage  so  dreadful,  considering  the  length  of  time  and  the  numbers 
engaged,  has  seldom  been  recorded  in  history.  Two  thousand,  at  the  lowest 
estimate,  pressed  the  earth,  besides  such  of  the  wounded  as  were  able  to  escape. 
The  whole  number  of  killed  and  wounded  from  the  British  forces  in  front  of 


*•»  For  many  years  there  has  been  a  tradition  that,  before  the  battle,  Jackson  issued  orders 
that  his  men  should  withhold  their  fire  until  they  could  see  the  whites  of  the  enemies'  eyes. 
The  Tennessee  Division  of  History  of  the  Department  of  Education  now,  however,  has  evi- 
dence that  this  order  was  given.  This  evidence  is  a  part  of  a  statement  written  by  Miss 
Jennie  Williamson,  granddaughter  of  James  Fentress  (Speaker  of  the  Tennessee  House  of 
Representatives,  1814-1823)  and  is  as  follows:  "My  grandfather,  the  said  James  Fentress, 
was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  was  on  General  Jackson's  staff  and  with  him  at  the 
battle  of  New  Orleans.  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  Fentress  say  he  was  close  at  General 
Jackson's  side,  and  heard  the  General  say,  'Don't  fire  until  you  can  see  the  whites  of  their 
eyes.'  Then  he  said,  'Fight  on,  my  brave  boys.  In  fifteen  minutes  the  battle  will  be  ours; 
all  hell  can't  stop  us.'  " 

45  John  Trotwood  Moore  in  Trotwood's  Monthly,  Vol.  II,  pp.  539-540. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  367 

Jackson's  lines,  on  the  8th  of  January,  was  fully  three  thousand  men.    The  loss 
of  the  Americans  was  seven  killed  and  six  wounded."40 

WAS   THE  BATTLE  OF   NEW  ORLEANS   A   BARREN   VICTORY? 

On  December  24,  1814,  a  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain  was  signed  at  Ghent,  in  Belgium,  by  representatives  of  the  two 
countries ;  but  knowledge  of  this  important  event  did  not  reach  New  York  until 
February  11,  1815,  nor  did  President  Madison  know  of  it  until  three  days  later, 
more  than  a  month  after  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  The  English  had  had 
inserted  in  the  treaty  a  clause  to  the  effect  that  they  did  not  admit  Bonaparte's 
construction  of  the  law  of  nations;  that  they  couldn't  accept  it  with  regard 
to  any  purchase  or  sale  of  territory  that  he  had  made.  They  calculated  that 
their  expedition  would  be  successful  and  their  forces  in  possession  of  New  Or- 
leans before  news  of  the  treaty  could  reach  America.  And  had  they  captured 
New  Orleans,  they  would  have  repudiated  Napoleon's  sale  of  Louisiana  to  the 
United  States  in  1804,  and  all  the  broad  region  west  of  the  Mississippi  known 
as  the  "Louisiana  Purchase"  would  have  been  England's,  not  ours. 

GENERALS    GAINES    AND    WINCHESTER 

"While  General  Jackson  was  gaining  deserved  applause  in  the  South,  Gen. 
Jas.  Winchester  and  Gen.  Edmund  Pendleton  Gaines  were  adding  to  the  mili- 
tary fame  of  Tennessee  in  the  North.  General  Gaines  made  a  notable  and  gal- 
lant defense  of  Fort  Erie,  in  1814,  and  was  promoted  brevet  major-general  and 
received  a  gold  medal  and  the  thanks  of  Congress.  General  Winchester's  fame, 
however,  was  somewhat  dimmed  by  his  reverse  and  capture  at  the  River  Raisin, 
in  1813. 


4r>  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  Vol.  II,  p.  510.  For  other  good  accounts  of 
the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  see  Martin's  "Louisiana,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  375  et  seq.-;  Eaton's  "Life 
of  General  Jackson, ' '  pp.  365  et  seq. ;  Guild 's  ' '  Old  Times  in  Tennessee, ' '  pp.  205-209 ; 
Heiskell's  "Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History."  pp.  517-521. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  JOSEPH  McMINN,  1815-1821 

THE  SEMINOLE  WAR — THE  CHICKASAW  TREATY — OPENING  OF  WEST  TENNESSEE — 
ESTABLISHMENT  OF  MEMPHIS — THE  STATE  BOUNDARY  LINES — TENNESSEE  DES- 
PERADOES. 

After  the  successful  termination  of  the  second  war  with  England,  the  gov- 
ernorship of  the  state,  which  had  heretofore  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  three 
deservedly  popular  men  without  a  contest,  except  the  memorable  contest  be- 
tween Sevier  and  Roane,  became  a  political  prize  deemed  most  desirable.  In 
1815  there  were  no  less  than  five  aspirants  for  this  office,  viz. :  Jesse  Wharton, 
Robert  C.  Foster,  Robert  Weakley,  Thomas  Johnson  and  Joseph  McMinn. 

Wharton  was  a  United  States  senator,  having  been  appointed  in  1815,  to 
succeed  George  W.  Campbell,  who  had  resigned  to  become  secretary  of  the 
treasury  in  Madison's  cabinet.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Senate  a  short  time 
before  the  gubernatorial  election.  He  was  an  able  man,  a  lawyer  of  standing, 
but  objectionable  to  the  friends  of  Sevier,  because  of  his  attitude  during  the 
Sevier  investigation. 

Robert  C.  Foster  had  been  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  several 
times,  was  a  man  of  irreproachable  reputation,  capable  of  adorning  any  high 
position. 

Robert  Weakley  was  one  of  the  very  early  pioneers,  had  frequently  been 
a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  once  a  member  of  Congress.  Thomas 
Johnson  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  Nickajaek  Expedition  and  in  the  Creek  war, 
a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1796  and  a  member  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

The  successful  candidate  was  Joseph  McMinn,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania 
and  came  to  Hawkins  County,  Tenn.,  before  the  organization  of  the  Territorial 
government  in  1790.  In  1807  he  was  speaker  of  the  Senate.  He  was  a  plain 
man,  without  display  and  announced  his  candidacy  only  about  a  month  before 
the  election,  and  then  in  response  to  a  "call"  signed  "your  fellow  citizens," 
who  asked  him  not  to  follow  the  usual  custom  of  candidates  in  issuing  a  cir- 
cular, and  asserting  "the  modern  practice  of  every  office-hunter  sticking  up 
his  own  name  as  a  candidate  to  be  inconsistent  with  the  genuine  principles  of 
republicanism." 

McMinn  was  twice  reelected  governor,  having  defeated  Robert  C.  Foster  in 
1817,  and  Enoch  Parsons  in  1819. 

The  principal  events  of  McMinn 's  three  administrations  may  be  summarized 
as  follows: 

The  General  Assembly  convened  at  Nashville  on  September  18,  1815,  and 
adjourned  on  November  17,  1815.  Governor  McMinn  was  inaugurated  on  Sep- 
tember 27th.  On  November  29th  Parry  W.  Humphreys  was  appointed  commis- 
sioner for  Tennessee  to  settle  the  boundary  line  between  Tennessee  and  Ken- 
tucky. On  December  18th  George  W.  Campbell  and  John  Williams  were  com- 
missioned to  treat  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  relative  to  the  extinguishment  of 

368 


CRAGFONTE,  HOME  OF  GENERAL  JAMES  WINCHESTER, 
ONE  OF  THE  FOUNDERS  OF  MEMPHIS 


OLD  MAGEVNEY   SCHOOL  HOUSE   WHICH   ONCE   STOOD  IN   COURT   SQUARE 
Its   hewn   logs   are   now    covered   with    boards   and    it    is    a    residence    on    Overton    avenue, 

Memphis 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  371 

their  claims  to  the  lands  in  the  chartered  limits  of  Tennessee.  Joseph  Ander- 
son was  made  comptroller  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 

On  August  30,  1816,  Andrew  Jackson  was  appointed  commissioner  to  treat 
with  the  Cherokees  and  the  Chickasaws  relative  to  the  extinguishment  of  their 
claims  to  the  lands  in  the  chartered  limits  of  Tennessee. 

In  1817  the  first  session  of  the  Twelfth  General  Assembly  convened  at  Knox- 
ville,  on  the  fifteenth  of  September  and  adjourned  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  No- 
vember. About  two  hundred  acts  were  passed  of  which  the  most  important 
seem  to  be  an  act  "more  effectually  to  suppress  the  vice  of  gaming"  and  an  act 
authorizing  the  justices  of  the  quarter  sessions  to  elect  a  quorum  from  their 
own  body  to  hold  the  county  courts.  The  Sixth  Judicial  District  was  established, 
and  the  state  was  divided  into  ten  solicitorial  districts.  Ten  banks  were  in- 
corporated. Gen.  John  Cocke  was  appointed  commissioner  and  James  S.  Gaines, 
mathematician  to  run  the  line  between  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  conjointly  with 
similar  officers  appointed  by  Georgia.  The  Seminole  war  broke  out  and  was 
conducted  by  General  Jackson. 

On  October  19,  1818,  by  a  treaty  made  by  General  Jackson  and  Isaac  Shelby, 
then  governor  of  Kentucky,  with  the  Chickasaws,  all  territory  claimed  by  them 
east  of  the  Mississippi  River  and  north  of  thirty-five  degrees  of  latitude  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States.  In  the  spring  of  1818  the  first  steamboat  arrived 
at  Nashville.  It  was  named  "General  Jackson"  and  was  owned  by  William  Car- 
roll. 

On  September  20,  1819,  the  first  session  of  the  Thirteenth  General  Assembly 
met  at  Murfreesboro  for  the  first  time,  and  adjourned  on  November  30,  1819. 
Governor  McMinn  was  the  first  governor  who  recommended,  on  September  20th, 
that  a  state  penitentiary  be  established.  Yet  he  mentioned  a  fact,  worthy  of 
consideration  at  the  present  time,  "that  during  a  lapse  of  nearly  four  years  only 
three  sentences  of  death  had  occurred  in  the  state,  and  only  one  execution." 
Felix  Grundy  and  W.  L.  Brown  were  appointed  commissioners  for  Tennessee 
to  determine  the  boundary  line  between  this  state  and  Kentucky  in  conjunc- 
tion with  like  commissioners  of  Kentucky.1  The  Seventh  Judicial  Circuit  and 
the  Eleventh  Solicitorial  District  were  established.  James  Brown  and  James 
Winchester  ran  the  boundary  line  between  Tennessee  and  Mississippi.  On  June 
6th  President  Monroe  visited  Nashville.  On  June  19th  the  banks  of  the  state 
suspended  specie  payments.  On  October  19th  the  Tennessee  Antiquarian  So- 
ciety was  organized  with  Judge  Haywood  as  president. 

By  the  census  taken  in  1820  the  population  of  Tennessee  was  found  to  be 
422,813,  of  whom  80,097  were  slaves  and  2,739  were  free  persons  of  color.  The 
second  session  of  the  Thirteenth  General  Assembly  convened  at  Murfreesboro 
on  June  26th.  Legislation  had  largely  to  do  with  financial  difficulties.  On 
July  25th  an  act  was  passed  to  establish  The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Tennessee 
in  Nashville  with  a  branch  in  Knoxville  with  a  capital  not  to  exceed  $1,000,000. 
This  session  adjourned  on  July  31st. 

THE   SEMINOLE    WAR 

By  reason  of  his  brilliant  victory  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  and  his  ex- 
peditions and  successful  operations  at  Pensacola,  Mobile  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  Orleans  prior  to  the  battle,  the  fame  of  Andrew  Jackson  could  no  longer 


'Sec  papers  in  "Tennessee   Archives. 


372  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

be  circumscribed  by  the  narrow  boundaries  of  a  state,  but  he  became  a  national 
figure,  indeed  a  nation's  hero.  The  ability  he  had  shown  in  military  move- 
ments placed  him  in  the  very  front  rank  of  American  commanders  of  all  times. 
As  Roosevelt  said  of  him : 

"The  American  soldiers  deserve  great  credit  for  doing  so  well;  but  greater 
credit  still  belongs  to  Andrew  Jackson,  who,  with  his  cool  head  and  quick  eye, 
his  stout  heart  and  strong  hand,  stands  out  in  history  as  the  ablest  general  the 
United  States  produced  from  the  outbreak  of  the  Revolution  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Great  Rebellion."2 

It  was  only  natural,  then,  that,  when  the  Seminole  war  broke  out  in  1817, 
General  Jackson  should  be  sent  to  conduct  it.  He  was  authorized  to  call  on  the 
neighboring  states  for  such  troops  as  he  might  need,  but  the  only  volunteers  he 
took  with  him  were  1,000  Tennesseans. 

For  some  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  previous  to  this  time  members  of  the 
Creek  Confederacy  had  been  withdrawing  to  the  wilds  of  Florida  and,  for  this 
reason,  had  received  the  name  of  Seminole,  which  means  separatist  or  renegade. 
Their  numbers  were  largely  augmented  by  the  accession  of  fugitives  of  the  war 
party  who  fled  from  the  Creek  country  after  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson.  They 
were  protected  by  the  Spanish  governor  of  Florida  and  by  the  English  and  were 
constantly  causing  trouble  along  the  borders. 

Immediately  following  the  treaty  of  Fort  Jackson  settlers  entered  the  ceded 
lands,  and,  by  the  year  1817  several  thousand  were  located  on  them,  many  be- 
ing near  the  Florida  line.  Between  these  settlers  and  the  Indians  there  were 
constant  clashes,  caused  by  forays  made  by  the  Indians  in  which  it  was  charged 
that  they  were  aided  and  abetted  by  the  English  agent,  Col.  Edward  Nicholls. 
Gen.  E.  P.  Gaines,  who  was  the  United  States  commander  on  the  southwestern 
frontier,  was  kept  busy  in  his  efforts  to  restrain  the  Indians  and  not  transgress 
international  law.  One  of  his  activities  was  the  sending  of  a  summary  com- 
mand that  the  chief  of  Fowltown,  suspected  of  being  concerned  in  atrocities 
committed,  should  appear  before  him.  Fowltown  was  on  lands  claimed  by  the 
United  States.  When  the  chief  refused,  General  Gaines  sent  out  a  detachment 
which  captured  the  village  and  killed  four  Indians.  Proof  having  been  made 
that  the  Fowltown  Indians  were  in  league  with  the  Florida  Indians,  Gaines  gave 
orders  that  the  village  be  burned.  The  assertion  has  been  made  that  this  was 
the  cause  of  the  Seminole  war.3  It  was  rather  the  occasion  of  the  war,  not  the 
cause,  which  was  in  the  relentless  hatred  which  the  renegade  and  fugitive 
Indians  bore  toward  the  white  people.  Nine  days  later  a  terrible  act  of  retalia- 
tion took  place.  Lieutenant  Scott,  one  of  General  Gaines'  officers,  with  forty- 
seven  persons,  soldiers,  women  and  children  in  a  large  open  boat  on  the  Appa- 
lachicola.  near  the  junction  of  the  Flint  and  the  Chattahoochie  was  attacked 
from  ambush  and  all,  except  six  men  who  escaped,  were  killed  or  captured ; 
and  the  prisoners  were  later  butchered  in  wantonly  savage  ways. 

On  receipt  of  this  news  the  Government  sent  orders  to  General  Jackson  to 
repair  to  Fort  Scott,  which  was  near  the  border,  to  summon  troops,  if  needed, 
from  the  neighboring  states  and  to  pursue  the  enemy,  if  necessary,  across  the 
Florida  line.  In  March,  1818,  Jackson  was  on  the  border  with  his  faithful 
Tennesseans  and  drove  the  Seminoles  before  him.  Jackson  was  alive  to  the 
situation.     He  believed  the  time  was  propitious  for  seizing  Florida.     He  had 


2  Naval  War  of  1812,  p.  492. 
sNiles  Eegister,  XVI,  p.  85. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  373 

already,  on  January  6,  1818,  before  he  left  the  Hermitage,  suggested  as  much 
to  President  Monroe.    In  that  letter  was  the  following  significant  paragraph : 

"Let  it  be  signified  to  me  through  any  channel  (say  Mr.  J.  Rhea4)  that 
the  possession  of  the  Floridas  would  be  desirable  to  the  United  States,  and  in 
sixty  days  it  will  be  accomplished." 

Jackson  said  that  he  received  the  expected  assurance  from  Rhea  5  and  he 
acted  accordingly.  Monroe,  however,  later  denied  having  given  the  assurance, 
and  the  controversy,  winch  subsequently  arose  over  Jackson's  conduct  in  the 
war,  finally  led  to  an  estrangement  between  Jackson  and  John  C.  Calhoun, 
who  was  secretary  of  war  at  this  time. 

Jackson,  however,  believing  that  he  had  the  authority  from  the  President, 
with  his  faithful  Tennesseans,6  a  few  regulars,  a  few  Georgia  troops  and  a 
handful  of  Indians,  crossed  the  line,  driving  the  Seminoles  before  him.  In  a 
few  weeks  the  war  was  at  an  end.  Meanwhile  Jackson  seized  St.  Mark's,  then 
proceeded  to  Fort  Gadsden  where  he  learned  that  a  force  of  500  Indians  were 
at  Pensacola  fed  by  the  governor,  that  these  Indians  had  murdered  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  Paying  no  attention  to  the  warning  of  the  Spanish  governor, 
he  entered  Pensacola  on  May  24th  and  the  next  day  attacked  Fort  Barrancas, 
where  the  governor  had  taken  refuge.  In  two  days  he  captured  it  and  the  Span- 
ish officers,  civil  and  military,  were  transported  to  Havana.  Jackson  then  set 
up  a  new  government  there. 

At  St.  Mark 's  Jackson  captured  Alexander  Arbuthnot  and  Robert  Ambrister, 
had  them  tried  by  court  martial  as  emissaries  of  Great  Britain  in  Florida  to 
stir  up  trouble  for  the  United  States,  and,  on  their  being  found  guilty,  had 
them  executed.  This  action  on  his  part  caused  criticism  of  Jackson  which  has 
not  ceased  even  to  the  present  day.  Fair  minded  historians,  however,  can  hardly 
hold  Jackson  guilty  of  wrongdoing.  He  was  merely  doing  his  duty,  as  he  saw 
it,  thoroughly  and  conscientiously  and  vigorously  as  was  his  wont.7 

THE   CHICKASAW    TREATY  s 

The  settlements  of  East  Tennessee  and  of  Middle  Tennessee,  as  we  have  seen, 
had  been  established  with  difficulty  at  the  expense  of  time,  of  privation,  of  hard- 
ship, of  danger  and  of  death.  Fortunately  "West  Tennessee  was  opened  up 
and  settled  under  more  pleasant  and  auspicious  conditions.  What  is  now  known 
as  West  Tennessee  is  that  part  of  the  state  between  the  Tennessee  and  Mississippi 
rivers  and  the  northern  and  southern  boundaries.  When  it  was  first  opened 
for  settlement,  it  was  called  the  Western  District,  because  theretofore  the  mid- 
dle portion  had  been  called  West  Tennessee.  It  was  not  long  after  this,  how- 
ever, before  the  three  grand  divisions  of  the  state  received  their  present  desig- 
nations of  East  Tennessee,  Middle  Tennessee  and  West  Tennessee. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  1806  Congress  passed  an  Act  establishing  the 
so-called  Congressional  Reservation,  the  title  to  all  the  lands  in  which  was  vested 
in  the  United  States,  with  the  proviso  or  agreement  that  if  there  should  not  be 


*  John  Rhea,  a  member  of  Congress  from  Tennessee,  and  a  devoted  friend  of  Jackson. 

6  John  Overton,  whose  word  is  not  to  be  doubted,  says  that  he  saw  the  Rhea  letter. 

6  These  Jackson  had  enlisted  on  his  own  responsibility  in  the  absence  of  the  governor. 
See  Lacock  Report,  Mil.  Affairs,  I,  740. 

1 0n  Feb.  22,  1819,  Spain  ceded  the  Floridas  to  the  United  States  and  Jackson  was 
made  governor  by  President  Monroe  who  had  fully  approved  Jackson's  course  in  Florida, 
including  the  Arbuthnot  and  Ambrister  episode.  Jackson  resigned  this  position  within  a 
few  months. 

8  For  details  of  this  treaty  see  Chapter  XII,  paragraph  headed  "Great  Chickasaw  Ces- 
sion." 


374  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

land  enough  north  and  east  of  the  Congressional  Line  to  satisfy  the  land  war- 
rants issued  by  North  Carolina,  in  accordance  with  a  reservation  in  her  deed 
of  cession,  made  in  1790,  then  such  excess  might  be  satisfied  out  of  the  Con- 
gressional Reservation.  By  the  year  1818  it  was  clearly  ascertained  that  there 
were  not  enough  unoccupied  lands  suited  to  agricultural  purposes  north  and 
east  of  this  line  to  satisfy  the  outstanding  claims  of  North  Carolina.  Congress, 
thereupon,  passed  an  Act  on  April  4,  1818,  authorizing  the  State  of  Tennessee 
to  issue  grants  and  perfect  titles  to  lands  south  and  west  of  the  Congressional 
Line  in  settlement  of  these  claims.9 

Possession  of  these  lands,  however,  could  not  be  secured  until  the  title  thereto 
of  the  Chickasaw  Indians,  who  claimed  possession  of  them,  had  been  extinguished. 
While  the  Chickasaws  claimed  possession,  they  actually  occupied  very  little  of 
these  lands,  using  them  mostly  for  hunting  grounds.  With  the  exception  of  a 
brief  period  soon  after  the  settlers  came  to  the  Cumberland  in  1780,  when  they 
became  hostile  on  account  of  the  fact  that  George  Rogers  Clark  had  built  Fort 
Jefferson  on  the  Mississippi  River,  a  little  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  on 
land  claimed  by  them,  they  had  uniformly  been  friendly  to  the  white  people 
of  the  United  States  and  had  proven  their  friendship  on  numerous  occasions. 
Hence,  it  was  not  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  arrangement  with  them. 
The  Government  appointed  Isaac  Shelby,  then  governor  of  Kentucky,  and 
Andrew  Jackson  to  treat  with  them.  After  negotiations  a  treaty  was  signed  on 
October  19,  1818,  whereby  the  United  States  purchased  from  the  Chickasaws 
the  title  to  all  their  land  north  of  the  southern  boundary  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, west  of  the  Tennessee  River,  south  of  the  Ohio  River  and  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  The  purchase  price  was  $300,000,  payable  in  fifteen  annual 
installments.  This  section  has  since  been  called  variously  "The  Purchase," 
"The  Chickasaw  Purchase,"  "The  Western  Purchase,"  and  "Jackson's  Pur 
chase. ' ' 

THE   OPENING   OF   WEST   TENNESSEE 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  the  newly  acquired  lands  the  Legis- 
lature passed  an  Act  on  October  23,  1818,  only  a  few  weeks  after  the  treaty,  the 
caption  of  which  Act  reads : 

"An  Act  making  provision  for  the  adjudication  of  North  Carolina  land 
claims,  and  for  satisfying  the  same,  by  an  appropriation  of  the  vacant  land 
south  and  west  of  the  congressional  reservation  line,  and  for  other  purposes." 

The  comprehensiveness  of  this  Act,  which  was  the  first  Act  passed  by  the 
Thirteenth  General  Assembly,  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  it  occupies  twenty- 
five  printed  pages.  Besides  this,  another  Act  was  passed  at  the  same  session 
covering  details  not  provided  for  in  the  first  Act.  This  Act  established  rigid  and 
detailed  requirements  with  regard  to  the  laying  off  of  the  lands  recently  ac- 
quired from  the  Chickasaws  into  ranges  and  sections  and  making  proper  pro- 
visions for  obtaining  title  to  the  lands.  It  provided  for  reservation  of  lands  to 
satisfy  the  North  Carolina  warrants.  All  the  rest  was  to  be  thrown  open  to 
sale. 

Emigrants  immediately  began  to  pour  in  from  every  direction.  Most  of 
them  came  from  Middle  Tennessee  and  East  Tennessee,  some  from  North  Caro- 


»  United  States  at  Large,  \k  416. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  375 

Ima,  some  down  the  Mississippi  River,  entering  it  from  the  west.  Adam  R. 
Alexander  settled  in  what  is  now  Madison  County  and  established  a  town  called, 
at  first,  after  himself,  Alexandria,  but  later  named  Jackson.  It  was  for  some 
time  the  leading  town  of  West  Tennessee,  and  even  now  is  second  only  to  Mem- 
phis. Jesse  Benton,  brother  of  Senator  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  settled  at  a  place 
called  Randolph,  when  it  was  established  in  1827.  It  is  situated  in  Tipton 
County,  on  the  Second  Chickasaw  Bluff,  a  little  below  the  mouth  of  Big  Hatchie 
River  and,  for  many  years,  was  a  commercial  rival  of  Memphis.  David  Crockett 
settled  on  the  Obion  River  and  made  the  whole  district  famous  because  of  his 
incomparable  success  in  bear  hunting  and  his  political  contests  with  Joel  Estes, 
Adam  Huntsman,  William  Fitzgerald  and  Adam  R.  Alexander.  Many  other 
noted  men  settled  in  West  Tennessee  in  these  days,  such  as  Jacob  Tipton,  Henry 
Rutherford,  David  Porter,  Ezekiel  Polk,  Joshua  Haskell  and  others. 

ESTABLISHMENT    OP   MEMPHIS 

Among  the  choice  sections  sought  by  the  newcomers  was  the  extreme  south- 
western corner  of  the  state.  Here,  in  1819,  Shelby  County  (named  in  honor  of 
Isaac  Shelby)  was  erected.  This  was  the  first  county,  lying  wholly  in  West 
Tennessee,  which  was  carved  out  of  the  Chickasaw  purchase.  The  situation  was 
ideal.  The  land  along  the  Mississippi  River  was  found  to  be  twenty  to  thirty 
feet  above  flood  water,  and  the  inland  country  was  fertile  and  healthful,  an 
excellent  country  for  the  support  of  the  large  city  which  far-sighted  persons 
predicted  would  be  located  at  this  point.  There  are  four  Chickasaw  bluffs  along 
the  Mississippi.  Here  was  the  fourth  or  lower  Chickasaw  bluff,  the  largest  and 
most  pleasing  site  between  St.  Louis  and  Natchez.  From  very  early  times  it 
had  attracted  attention.  When  DeSoto  arrived  there  in  1541,  he  found  the 
place  occupied  by  a  fierce  and  warlike  tribe  of  Indians,  headed  by  the  "cacique" 
Chisca.  The  next  mention  of  this  place  in  history  is  when  the  French  made  their 
first  explorations  along  the  Mississippi  River.  In  1682  La  Salle  made  his 
famous  voyage  down  this  river  and  named  the  country,  through  which  it  runs, 
Louisiana,  after  King  Louis  XIV.  It  is  said  that  he  erected  a  fort  at  the  mouth 
of  Wolf  River  and  named  it  Fort  Prudhomme,  after  a  member  of  his  company.10 

In  August,  1739,  Jean  Baptiste  Le  Moyne  de  Bienville  built  a  large  fort 
adjoining  the  spot  where  is  now  the  eastern  abutment  of  the  Harrahan  bridge 
and  called  it  Fort  Assumption.  The  upper  end  of  this  fort  north  and  adjoining 
the  Harrahan  bridge  was  afterwards  also  the  site  of  Fort  Pickering,  built  by 
Capt.  Zebulon  M.  Pike  in  1801. 

In  1795  Governor  Don  Manuel  Gayoso  de  Lemos  built  a  fort  near  the  mouth 
of  Wolf  River  called  Fort  Ferdinand  de  Barrancas. 

In  1797  Gen.  James  Wilkinson  built  another  fort  named  Fort  Adams  on  the 
site  of  Fort  Barrancas  which  had  been  razed. 

The  French,  the  Spanish  and  the  United  States  all  saw  the  military  ad- 
vantages of  this  point.  Afterwards  its  equally  important  commercial  advantages 
were  seen  by  far-sighted  men  long  in  advance  of  the  establishment  of  Memphis. 
Foremost  among  these  was  John  Overton,  of  Nashville,  who,  as  far  back  as  1794 
bought  the  Rice  grant  for  5,000  acres  on  the  fourth  Chickasaw  bluff,  covering 


io  The  location  of  this  fort  is  a  matter  of  historical  controversy.  There  is  rather  strong 
evidence  that  it  was  located  on  the  first  Chickasaw  bluff.  See  "Fort-  Prudhomme:  Was  It 
the  First  Settlement  in  Tennessee?"  in  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  II,  pp.  235  et  seq. 


376  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

a  large  part  of  the  present  site  of  the  City  of  Memphis.  This  grant  was  issued 
to  John  Rice  by  the  North  Carolina  land  office  known  as  John  Armstrong's 
office.  Upon  his  deatli  n  it  became  the  property  of  his  brother,  Elisha  Rice, 
who  sold  it  to  John  Overton  for  $500.  Overton  conveyed  a  half  interest  in  this 
grant  to  Andrew  Jackson,  who  in  turn  sold  his  interest  before  the  property  was 
developed.  On  this  tract  John  Overton12  laid  out  the  City  of  Memphis  in 
1819,  and  for  this  reason  has  been  called  the  father  of  Memphis. 

But  there  existed  still  another  and  equally  important  grant  of  land  upon 
the  great  bluffs  known  as  the  Ramsey  Grant.  In  1783  John  Ramsey  entered  a 
tract  of  5,000  acres  of  North  Carolina  western  lands.  The  year  following  a 
warrant  was  issued  to  him.  Some  time  subsequent  to  this  he  assigned  a  small 
interest  in  this  warrant  to  John  Overton,  and  in  1823  grant  No.  190  was  issued 
to  John  Ramsey  and  John  Overton,  for  a  certain  5,000-acre  tract  of  land, 
beginning  at  the  southwest  corner  of  John  Rice's  5.000  acres,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Mississippi  River.  The  Rice  grant  was  registered  in  the  recorder's  office 
of  Shelby  County  in  1820,  but  for  some  reason  never  satisfactorily  explained, 
the  Ramsey  grant  was  not  recorded  until  1872. 13 

It  is  said  that  the  name  Memphis  was  suggested  by  Gen.  James  Winchester, 
to  whom  Andrew  Jackson  sold  a  part  of  his  interest,  the  reason  doubtless  being 
that  the  new  town  and  indubitably  to  be  metropolis  was  located  on  a  lordly 
river  similar  in  many  respects  to  the  Nile  on  which  the  ancient  metropolis  of 
Egypt  was  situated. 

And  indeed,  the  new  town  did  develop  by  leaps  and  bounds.  In  Morris' 
Tennessee  Gazetteer,  published  in  1834  is  found  the  following  item : 


n  John  Bice  was  killed  by  a  party  of  Indians  under  Doublehead  on  January  16,  1792,  as 
he  and  some  other  young  men  were  on  their  way  from  Sevier's  Station  on  the  Cumberland 
near  Clarksville,  to  Nashville.  At  the  same  time  they  killed  three  sons  of  Col.  Valentine 
Sevier,  a  brother  of  John  Sevier,  and  John  Curtis.     See  Ramsey's  Annals,  p.  597. 

12  John  Overton  was  born  in  Louisa  County,  Va.,  April  9,  1766.  He  began  the  practice 
of  law  in  Kentucky  after  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  in  1789  moved  to  Nashville.  Judge 
John  M.  Lea  in  "Proceedings  of  the  Tennessee  Bar  Association,"  1891,  p.  170,  says  that 
he  reached  Nashville  in  the  same  month  in  which  Andrew  Jackson  arrived  from  East  Ten- 
nessee to  which  he  had  recently  come  from  North  Carolina.  Between  him  and  Jackson  was 
contracted  a  friendship  which  continued  unabated  throughout  their  lives,  as  beautiful,  un- 
selfish and  strong  as  the  famous  friendship  of  Damon  and  Pythias,  or  of  David  and  Jonathan, 
or  of  Caesar  and  Anthony.  They  occupied  the  same  office  and  were  partners  in  business 
matters,  although  not  in  law,  and  this,  too,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that,  at  this  time,  Over- 
ton was  a  federalist  and  Jackson  an  uncompromising  republican. 

When  he  came  to  Nashville,  Overton  already  had  achieved  the  beginning  of  a  fortune  and 
of  professional  reputation,  which  in  the  next  fifteen  years  he  largely  increased.  He  recognized 
from  the  first  the  innate  greatness  of  Jackson  and  lie  applied  himself  sedulously  to  the  for- 
warding of  Jackson  's  interests.  He  wrote  for  the  press,  exerted  his  influence  with  legislatures, 
made  speeches  and  drew  resolutions  in  behalf  of  his  friend;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  lie  started  Jackson  on  his  brilliant  career  and  throughout  it  contributed  indispensably 
to  its  success.  And  all  these  things  he  did  of  his  own  volition,  without  saying  one  word  to 
Jackson. 

He  succeeded  Jackson  on  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  in  1804  and  made  a  remarkable 
reputation  as  a  judge.  He  seems  not  to  have  been  unusually  learned,  nor  even  a  brilliant 
man,  hut  he  excelled  in  sound  common  sense.  His  superiority  was  not  academic,  but  was 
most  manifest  in  dealing  with  practical  affairs.  He  did  the  state  a  special  service  by 
preparing  and  publishing  two  volumes  of  "Reports  of  the  Opinions  of  the  Supreme  Court," 
the  first  reported  cases  in  the  state.  He  especially  rendered  invaluable  service  in  shaping  the 
land  laws  of  Tennessee.  His  earnings  were  largely  invested  in  wild  lands,  which  have  pro- 
duced fortunes  for  his  descendants. 

About  the  year  1820  he  began  active  efforts  to  make  Andrew  Jackson  president  of  the 
United  States.  He  worked  at  this  task  with  patience  and  determination  and  when  Jackson 
was  elected  president,  in  1828,  he  rejoiced  and  was  satisfied.  Whenever  Jackson  needed  a 
friend,  he  was  always  available,  clear-headed,  discreet  and  wise.  From  his  death-bed  April 
12,  1833,  he  sent  Jackson  a  message  of  friendship  and  admiration.  See  Caldwell's  "Bench 
&  Bar  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  77-82. 

"Phelan's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  317. 


JUDGE  JOHN  OVERTON,   1776-3833 
Judge  of  Superior  Court  and  Founder  of  Memphis 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  379 

"Memphis,  a  post  town  in  Shelby  County,  situated  on  the  east  bank  of 
Mississippi  River,  one  mile  above  the  site  of  old  Fort  Pickering  at  one  of  the 
Chickasaw  bluffs  on  the  river,  commanding  a  fine  view  of  the  surrounding  coun- 
try, and  from  its  relative  position  to  the  Western  District,  and  the  late  Chicka- 
saw purchase,  it  must  undoubtedly  become  the  emporium  of  one  of  the  finest 
agricultural  districts  in  the  western  country.  Already  it  is  a  place  of  con- 
siderable business,  and  is  improving  faster  than  any  town  in  the  state." 

THE  STATE   BOUNDARY    LINES 

The  fixation  of  the  present  boundary  lines  of  Tennessee  has  required  a  long 
period  of  time,  has  occasionally  been  inextricably  confused,  particularly  in 
certain  portions  of  the  perimeter,  and  for  the  solution  of  controverted  points 
has  employed  the  ability  and  experience  of  some  of  the  most  noted  men  of 
several  states.  The  history  of  these  lines  extends  from  1665  to  1816.  In  the 
former  named  year  Charles  II  made  a  grant  in  which  the  line  between  Carolina 
and  Virginia  was  designated  as  "about  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes 
northern  latitude,  and  so  west  in  a  direct  line,  as  far  as  the  South  Seas."  In 
1710  an  abortive  effort  to  mark  the  line  was  made.  In  1728  a  part  of  it  was 
marked.  Some  time  between  1771  and  1775  Col.  John  Donelson  still  further 
extended  the  line.  In  1771  Anthony  Bledsoe  ran  a  line  by  which  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  settlers  of  Northeast  Tennessee  would  be  in  North  Carolina 
upon  the  extension  of  the  boundary  line.  In  1778,  North  Carolina  passed 
"An  Act  for  extending  the  boundary  line  between  Virginia  and  North  Caro- 
lina" and  in  1779,  "An  Act  for  extending  the  boundary  line  between  this  state 
and  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia."  The  Virginia  Assembly  elected  Dr. 
Thomas  Walker  and  Daniel  Smith  as  commissioners.  North  Carolina  appointed 
five  commissioners,  of  whom  three  might  act.  The  three  were  Richard  Hender- 
son, William  Bailey  Smith  and  John  Williams. 

THE   WALKER   LINE 

Walker,  Daniel  Smith  and  Richard  Henderson  were  the  best  known  of  the 
commissioners  and  Walker  was  a  veteran  in  affairs  of  the  West.  After  the 
commissioners  of  the  two  states  had  agreed  upon  a  point  of  commencement  and 
had  made  some  progress  westward,  a  lack  of  agreement  in  regard  to  the  ob- 
servations upon  which  the  running  of  the  line  necessarily  depended  arose  between 
the  two  sets  of  commissioners.  Consequently  "the  two  commissions  separated, 
running  parallel  lines  about  two  miles  apart,  the  line  of  the  Carolina  commis- 
sioners, generally  known  as  Henderson's  Line,  being  north  of  the  line  of  the 
Virginia  commissioners,  commonly  called  Walker's  Line.  The  Carolina  com- 
missioners continued  their  line  as  far  as  Cumberland  Mountain.  At  this  point 
they  abandoned  the  work,  after  sending  a  letter  of  protest  against  Walker's 
Line.  The  Virginia  commissioners  continued  to  Tennessee  River,  leaving  an 
unsurveyed  gap  from  Deer  Fork  14  to  the  first  or  east  crossing  of  Cumberland 
River,  a  distance  which  they  estimated  to  be  109  miles."15 

Walker  and  Smith  made  a  report  to  the  House  of  Delegates  of  Virginia 
which  is  printed  in  Henning's  Statutes.      Henderson   and   his  fellow   commis- 


i*  This  should  he  Clear  Fork.  Haywood  and  some  historians  who  followed  him  have 
made  the  same  error. 

15  W.  R.  Garrett,  in  the  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  p.  26.  Henning, 
Statutes,  Vol.  9  (1821),  pp.  562  565,  note. 


380  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sioners  made  a  report  to  the  governor  of  their  state,  which  report  is  published 
in  the  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  14,  pp.  353-355.  The  Virginia 
Commissioners'  report  is  based  largely  upon  Daniel  Smith's  Journal.16 

In  1792  William  Blount,  territorial  governor,  attempted  to  repudiate  Wal- 
ker's Line  which  had  been  adopted  by  both  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  and 
announced  his  intention  of  maintaining  Henderson's  line.  Nothing  further, 
however,  was  done  until  1802  when  John  Sevier,  Moses  Fisk  and  George  Rut- 
ledge  were  appointed  commissioners  for  Tennessee.  This  commission  fixed  a 
line  midway  between  Walker's  Line  and  Henderson's  Line  and  this  compromise 
line  was  ratified  by  both  states  and  is  the  true  boundary  between  the  two  states. 
In  1859  the  line  was  re-marked  by  a  joint  commission  whose  acts  were  rejected  by 
Virginia  in  1860  and  never  confirmed  by  Tennessee.  In  1872  Tennessee  refused 
to  comply  with  the  request  of  Virginia  to  reopen  the  boundary  line  question. 

THE  TENNESSEE-KENTUCKY  LINE 

After  the  controversy  with  Virginia  had  been  settled  in  1803,  Tennessee 
found  a  still  more  annoying  problem  to  solve  in  the  adjustment  of  the  line 
between  these  two  states;  for  Kentucky,  having  ascertained  that  Walker's  Line 
had  been  run  several  miles  north  of  36°  30',  and  that  Governor  Blount  had 
repudiated  it,  said,  "We  have  no  dividing  line  except  the  old  imaginary  line 
of  36°  30'.  Let  us  move  down  South,  and  locate  it."  Although  both  states 
passed  various  acts  concerning  this  line  in  session  after  session  no  common 
agreement  was  arrived  at,  and,  in  1819,  Kentucky  sent  her  surveyors,  Alexander 
and  Munsell,  to  run  and  mark  a  line  on  36°  30'  between  the  Mississippi  and 
Tennessee  rivers.  This  line,  if  continued,  would  have  run  south  of  the  City 
of  Clarksville  and  would  have  lost  to  Tennessee  a  large  territory  and  thousands 
of  citizens,  besides  embarrassing  land  titles. 

In  this  exigency,  following  a  message  of  Governor  McMinn,  the  Legislature 
selected  Felix  Grundy  and  William  L.  Brown  as  commissioners  to  visit  the 
Kentucky  Legislature  and  gave  them  by  act  the  power  to  consummate  an  agree- 
ment.17    The  second  section  of  the  act  in  question  is  as  follows: 

"Sec.  2.  Be  it  enacted,  That  whatever  may  be  agreed  on  by  the  persons 
hereby  empowered  on  the  part  of  this  state,  shall  be  as  valid  and  binding,  as 
(if)  the  same  had  been  agreed  to  by  the  General  Assembly  of  this  state,  and 
shall,  upon  the  ratification  of  the  same  by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky,  forever 
thereafter,  be  considered  and  held  the  true  line  of  boundary  and  separation 
between  said  states  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky." 

Clothed  with  these  powers  the  two  distinguished  commissioners  entered  upon 
their  difficult  task.  Their  ability  and  address  were  never  more  needed  and 
never  more  conspicuously  shown.  They  actually  persuaded  a  hostile  Legislature 
to  appoint  a  commission,  consisting  of  John  J.  Crittenden  and  Robert  Trimble, 
two  of  her  ablest  men.  "A  compromise  was  effected  February  2,  1820.  *  *  * 
The  boundary  was  to  be  Walker's  Line  to  the  Tennessee  River:  thence  up  and 


is  This  journal  and  the  map.  accompanying  it  are  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  I,  pp.  48-65.  The  first  entry  is  August  14,  1779,  and  the  last  August  7,  1780. 
The  original  manuscripts  are  among  the  Draper  Manuscripts  in  the  possession  of  the  State 
Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin.  To  the  student  who  wishes  all  possible  light  in  detail  upon 
this  survey,  Daniel  Smith 's  Journal  and  Map  are  indispensable. 

"  This  is  chapter  67,  pp.  104-105  of  the  Acts  of  1819,  passed  November  25,  1819. 


6 


ft 

or 


re 


§^3  |  5 


Vol.  1—2  5 


382  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEEE  STATE 

with  said  river  to  Alexander  and  Munsell's  Line;  thence  with  said  line  to  the 
Mississippi ;  this  line  to  be  hereafter  marked  when  demanded  by  either  state."  18 
While  these  negotiations  were  pending  and  for  some  time  before  and  after 
them,  the  utmost  interest  in  the  controversy  prevailed  throughout  Tennessee. 
This  "nit crest  extended  particularly  to  the  Walker  Line.  A  few  years  previous 
to  this  time  Gen.  Daniel  Smith  had  written  a  letter  in  regard  to  it,  and,  in 
response  to  an  insistenl  demand,  the  editor  of  the  Nashville  Gazette  published 
it  in  the  issue  of  that  paper  dated  March  1,  1820.  It  has  never  before  appeared 
in  any  Tennessee  history.  The  editor  precedes  the  letter  of  General  Smith  with 
the  following  explanation: 

"Since  the  return  of  our  commissioners  from  Kentucky,  and  the  conclusion 
of  our  treaty  of  limits,  several  references  have  been  made  to  the  letter  of  Gen. 
Daniel  Smith,  and  frequent  enquiries  addressed  to  this  office  for  it.  We  have 
been  successful  in  our  endeavors  to  procure  a  copy  of  it,  and  today  lay  it  before 
our  readers. ' ' 

Sumner  County,  Dee.  8th,  1815. 

SIR — You  have  asked  of  me  all  the  information  I  can  give  you  respecting 
the  line  run  in  177!)  and  1780,  by  Dr.  Walker  and  myself,  between  the  state  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  I  have  no  unwillingness  to  communicate  the 
same. 

We  began  at  or  very  near  the  place  where  Messrs.  Fry  and  Jefferson  left 
off  theirs  in  the  year  1748  or  1749  on  steep  rock  creek,  a  branch  of  Holston 
river;  I  say  at  or  very  near  the  place  because  close  to  the  creek,  whatever  marks 
they  made  had  become  obliterated  by  the  encamping  of  hunters  or  other  per- 
sons at  the  place — I  did  myself,  follow  their  old  marked  line  from  the  top  of 
the  next  mountain  east  of  this  creek,  distant  I  think,  8  or  10  miles,  to  within  a 
mile  and  a  half  of  the  creek.  The  commissioners  from  North  Carolina  were 
Col.  Richard  Henderson,  Col.  John  AYilliams  and  Major  William  Baily  Smith. — 
We  were  all  agreed  that  the  place  of  beginning  was  right  and  that  we  set  out 
on  the  proper  course,  and  as  far  as  1  know,  continued  of  that  opinion  until  we 
arrived  in  Carter's  valley,  on  the  west  side  of  the  North  Fork  of  Holston.  Then 
the  North  Carolina  gentlemen  expressed  a  belief  that  we  were  in  an  error.  And 
shortly  after,  (from  what  cause  I  cannot  be  positive)  left  lis  and  run  another 
line  as  I  suppose,  somewhat  more  than  two  miles  north  of  ours,  and  which  they 
first  assented  to. 

As  much  the  greater  part  of  the  expense  of  marking  this  line  had  accrued, 
and  as  it  appeared  to  us  very  material  that  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Vir- 
ginia military  donation  land  should  be  ascertained,  because  the  country  on  the 
Cumberland  river  about  the  place  called  the  French  Lick,  was  rapidly  filling  up 
with  settlers,  we  concluded  to  continue  the  line  as  we  thought  right.  When  we 
had  extended  it  to  the  clear  fork  of  Cumberland  river,  the  winter  sat  in  so  cold, 
&  the  country  we  had  to  pass  through  was  so  mountaneous  and  barren,  that  we 
believed  subsistence  could  not  be  procured  for  ourselves  and  pack  horses :  We 
therefore  left  this  tract  of  country  and  travelled  down  the  Cumberland  River 
to  a  place,  a  little  below  the  mouth  of  Fishing  creek,  where  we  built  canoes  in 
the  very  hard  weather  to  transport  our  baggage :  after  the  winter  moderated  a 
little  we  descended  the  river  to  the  proper  latitude,  a  little  above  the  mouth  of 
Obed's  river.  From  this  place,  while  Dr.  Walker  went  down  the  river  with  the 
baggage ;  accompanied  by  our  surveyor,  I  continued  on  the  line,  and  after  giving 
the  surveyor  proper  directions  at  the  trace  leading  from  Kentucky  to  the  French 
Lick,  I  parted  with  him  to  meet  Dr.  Walker  as  we  had  appointed  at  the  said 
lick.  Then  we  proceeded  down  the  river  and  met  the  surveyor  on  its  banks 
about  two  miles  south  of  the  true  line,  owing  as  we  believed  to  a  change  in  the 
variation  of  the  needle,  caused  by  large  quantities  of  iron  ore  in  the  neighbor- 
hood.    We  went  into  the  proper  latitude,  and  continued  west  to  the  Tennessee 


is  W.  E.  Garrett  in  the  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  p.  33. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  383 

river,  then  returned  back  to  the  Cumberland  where  we  had  left  it,  and  continued 
the  line  east,  intending  to  pursue  that  course  until  it  should  touch  the  line  run 
by  our  surveyor  at  the  place  I  parted  with  him.  But  rinding  the  country  one 
vast  extent  of  open  barrens,  not  furnishing  trees  to  mark,  we  relinquished  the 
line  and  commenced  our  journey  home. 

On  our  arrival  at  the  French  lick  we  received  a  letter  from  the  Governor  of 
Virginia,  directing  us,  as  the  Spanish  Governor  Galvez  was  then  conquering  the 
Natchez  country  and  the  adjacent  parts  from  the  British,  to  go  to  the  Palls  of 
Ohio  to  Col.  Clark,  and  apply  to  him  for  a  guard ;  descend  the  Ohio  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers  to  the  proper  latitude  and  there  make  marks  and  give  all  the  pub- 
licity we  could  to  the  claim  of  Virginia  that  far  south.  This  duty  we  performed 
and  then  returned  home.  On  our  way,  we  fell  in  with  Col.  Henderson,  &c.  who 
told  us  more  than  once  that  North  Carolina  would  sanction  what  we  had  done. — 
Whether  he  made  report  to  that  state,  and  to  what  purport,  we  have  not  been 
informed.  Our  report,  Dr.  Walker  handed  to  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  which 
I  understood  was  properly  received  and  deemed  quite  satisfactory.  This  was  in 
the  height  of  the  revolutionary  war  with  Great  Britain,  when  business  of  this 
kind  was  deemed  of  far  less  consequence  than,  by  every  exertion  to  repel  the 
enemy  from  the  country.  This  enemy  came  afterwards  to  Richmond  and  as 
I  have  understood  destroyed  many  of  the  public  papers  and  records. 

I  cannot  but  observe,  that  through  the  Holston  part  of  the  country,  it  has 
been  supposed  by  many,  we  had  run  the  line  too  far  to  the  southward,  and  from 
a  magnanimous  spirit  of  accommodation,  Virginia  relinquished  her  claim  to 
about  a  mile  of  Territory.  Through  the  Cumberland  country  we  have  been  sus- 
pected of  running  the  line  too  far  to  the  northward.  Why  such  suspicions 
should  arise,  I  know  not.  Our  only  desire  I  well  know  was  to  run  the  line  in  the 
proper  latitude. 

I  am  sir, 

With  great  respect,  &c. 

Daniel   Smith. 
(A  Copy.) 

In  1821  Wm.  Steele,  for  Kentucky,  and  Absalom  Looney,  representing 
Tennessee,  surveyed  and  marked  the  gap  in  Walker's  Line  and  their  acts  were 
confirmed  by  both  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

As,  from  time  to  time,  disputes  in  regard  to  the  boundary  line  continued  to 
arise,  enactments  were  passed  by  both  states,  in  1858,  creating  a  joint  commis- 
sion to  place  stone  posts  on  the  line  five  miles  apart  and  to  make  other  permanent 
landmarks.  In  1859  this  commission  made  a  survey  and  placed  the  markers 
definitely  indicating  the  line  which  gave  Tennessee  some  territory  north  of 
36°  30'.19  Yet,  the  state  constitution  of  1870  adheres  to  the  old  northern  bound- 
ary of  36°  30',  although  it  safeguards  it  with  the  following  clause: 

"Provided  that  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  this  state  shall  extend  to  any 
other  land  and  territory  now  acquired  by  compact  or  agreement  with  other 
states,  or  otherwise,  although  such  land  and  territory  are  not  included  within 
the  boundaries  hereinbefore  designated."  When  the  next  state  constitution  is 
adopted,  the  error  should  be  corrected. 

THE    NORTH    CAROLINA-TENNESSEE    BOUNDARY    LINE 

The  eastern  boundary  line  has  been  the  subject  of  prolonged  controversy, 
one  section  of  it  having  been  decided  by  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  as 
recently  as  April  3,  1916.  When  North  Carolina  ceded  her  western  lands  to 
the  Pnited  States,  the  cession  act  (Chapter  3  of  the  Acts  of  1789)  gave  a 
description  of  the  boundary  line  between  North  Carolina  and  the  western  ter- 

I'-'The   acts   of   this   commission   were   confirmed,    in    18(50,   by    both    Kentucky    and    Ten 
tiessee.     The  field  notes  and  maps  are  in  the  Tennessee  Archives. 


384  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ritory,  which  in  a  few  months  became  the  territory  of  the  United  States  south 
of  the  River  Ohio  (1790-1796),  afterwards  (1796)  the  State  of  Tennessee.  The 
deed  made  by  the  senators  of  North  Carolina,  in  pursuance  of  the  cession,  gives 
the  same  description,  and  so  does  the  Constitution  of  1796  (Article  11,  Sec- 
tion 32). 

Soon  after  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1796,  North  Carolina 
appointed  a  commission  to  run,  mark  and  permanently  establish  the  boundary 
line  in  connection  with  commissioners  from  Tennessee.  The  Legislature  of 
Tennessee,  however,  took  no  action  in  this  matter  and  the  commissioners  of 
North  Carolina  proceeded  alone,  in  1799,  to  locate  the  line  from  the  Virginia 
state  line  to  Paint  Rock  on  the  French  Broad  River. 

A  certified  copy  of  their  report  was  asked  by  Governor  Archibald  Roane  in 
a  letter  to  Governor  James  Turner,  of  North  Carolina,  under  date  of  December 

30,  1802,  and  on  July  10,  1803,  the  secretary  of  state  of  North  Carolina  trans- 
mitted a  copy.20 

In  1805  the  Tennessee  Legislature  passed  an  act  (Chapter  47,  Acts  of  1805) 
stating  that  the  North  Carolina  commissioners  had  not  run  the  line  correctly  in 
accordance  with  the  true  intent  of  the  cession  act,  and  appointing  two  commis- 
sioners in  locating  the  true  line.  Neither  state,  however,  took  any  steps  in  the 
matter  at  that  time. 

On  July  28,  1820,  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act  (Chapter  22. 
Acts  of  1820)  the  first  section  of  which  is  as  follows: 

"Sec.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
That  the  Governor  shall  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized,  to  appoint  three  Com- 
missioners who  have  been  or  may  be  appointed  by  the  state  of  North  Carolina, 
at  such  time  and  place,  as  may  by  the  said  Commissioners,  or  by  a  majority  of 
those  representing  the  respective  states  be  agreed  on,  and  with  them  to  settle, 
run  and  remark  the  boundary  line  between  this  state  and  the  state  of  North 
Carolina,  agreeably  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  said  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  entitled  'an  act  for  the  purpose 
of  ceding  to  the  United  States  of  America,  certain  western  lands  therein  de- 
scribed,' commonly  called  the  cession  act." 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  A.  Smith,  Isaac  Allen  and 
Simeon  Perry  were  appointed  commissioners  of  Tennessee.  James  Mebane, 
M.  Stokes  and  R.  Love,  were  appointed  commissioners  of  North  Carolina.  These 
joint  commissioners  made  the  survey  and  submitted  a  joint  report  dated  August 

31,  1821,  which  report  is  in  the  Tennessee  State  Archives.21  The  total  expense 
of  Tennessee  was  $1,556,  according  to  the  original  statement  signed  by  the 
commissioners,  which  statement  is  in  the  State  Archives. 

The  report  of  the  joint  commissioners  was  approved  by  act  of  the  Tennessee 
Legislature  (Chapter  XXXV  of  the  Acts  of  1821)  passed  on  November  9,  1821. 
It  would  seem,  then,  that  the  unanimous  report  of  the  joint  commission  should 
be  conclusive,  yet  in  1832  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  a  resolution  re- 
questing  the   governor   to   open    correspondence    with    the    governor    of   North 


-"  This  copy  is  in  the  State  Archives  of  Tennessee. 

-1  In  1904  Robert  T.  Quarles,  then  State  Archivist  of  Tennessee,  found  in  the  basement 
of  the  Capitol  at  Nashville  two  maps,  one  showing  the  survey  made  in  1799  from  the  Vir- 
ginia line  to  the  Big  Pigeon  River  in  Tennessee;  the  other  from  the  Big  Pigeon  River  to  the 
Georgia  line,  surveyed  in  1821.  These  are  the  original  maps  made  by  the  Commissioners 
and  are  now  in  the  state  archives.  The  former  named  map  was  discovered  in  a  barrel  of 
disinfectant  and  seed  cotton.  He,  also,  found  the  field  notes  of  the  survey  made  in  1799, 
signed  by  all  the  commissioners,  but  not  the  field  notes  for  the  survey  of  1821.  However, 
the  map  of  the  survey  of  1821  is. signed  by  the  commissioners  and  surveyors  of  the  two  states. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  385 

Carolina  with  reference  to  the  error  mentioned  in  the  Act  of  1805  (Chapter  47), 
but  nothing  was  done  at  that  time.  Indeed,  nothing  further  seems  to  have  been 
done  until  1885  when  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  (Chapter  80  of  the  Acts 
of  1885)  appointing  William  E.  Tilson,  Frank  H.  Hannum  and  David  White, 
all  of  Unicoi  County,  to  act  in  conjunction  with  commissioners  of  North  Carolina 
to  mark  the  true  line.  The  two  sets  of  commissioners  of  the  two  states,  however, 
could  not  agree,  the  commission  of  North  Carolina  contending  that  the  survey 
of  1799  made  by  the  commissioners  of  North  Carolina  was  correct  and  the  com- 
mission of  Tennessee  that  it  was  incorrect. 

"This  failure  to  reach  an  agreement  gave  rise  to  a  prolonged  litigation  in 
regard  to  the  true  location  of  the  state  line,  the  dispute  being  over  a  wedge-like 
strip  of  land  setting  in  at  and  lying  south  of  the  Nolachucky  river  gorge."22 

This  litigation  was  finally  settled  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  in 
1915,  in  the  case  of  McCarty  vs.  Carolina  Lumber  Company,  134  Tenn.  35.  The 
decision  sustained  the  survey  made  by  the  commission  in  1799. 

There  remained  but  one  short  section  of  the  line  between  the  two  states  still 
in  dispute  and  that  was  settled  in  the  United  States  Court  in  the  case  entitled 
The  State  of  North  Carolina,  Complainant  vs.  The  State  of  Tennessee,  in  Equity. 
The  decision  in  this  case  was  rendered  on  April  3,  1916,  and  recites  the  fact 
that  the  Supreme  Court,  in  1914,  had  appointed  D.  B.  Burns,  of  Asheville,  N.  C, 
W.  D.  Hale,  of  Maryville,  Tenn.,  and  Joseph  Hyde  Pratt,  of  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C, 
commissioners  to  mark  permanently  and  set  monuments  on  the  line  in  con- 
troversy ;  also  that  the  commissioners  had  made  their  report,  which  was  attached, 
together  with  notes  and  map.  The  attorneys  for  both  states  concurred  in  this 
report  which  was  confirmed.  This  report,  with  notes  and  map,  is  in  the  Ten- 
nessee State  Archives. 

SOUTHERN   BOUNDARY   LINE   OF   TENNESSEE 

The  State  of  Tennessee,  having  experienced  already  some  difficulties,  per- 
plexities and  disputes  in  the  endeavor  to  establish  her  true  boundary  lines  on 
the  east  and  north,  sought,  in  1817,  to  forestall  controversies  concerning  her 
southern  boundary  line.  Accordingly  the  General  Assembly  on  November  10, 
1817,  passed  an  act  (Chapter  LXVII,  Acts  of  1817)  entitled  "An  act  to  run 
and  establish  the  boundary  line  between  this  state,  and  the  State  of  Georgia." 
The  preamble  of  this  act  is: 

"Whereas  it  would  greatly  tend  to  the  prevention  of  disputes,  to  have  the 
boundary  line  between  this  state  and  the  state  of  Georgia  ascertained,  run  and 
marked,  before  settlements  are  made  on  or  near  said  line  by  individuals  under 
the  authority  of  either  state — Therefore"  etc. 

This  act  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to  be  composed  of  a 
mathematician  and  a  commissioner  to  ascertain,  in  conjunction  with  a  commis- 
sion of  the  State  of  Georgia,  the  true  line  between  these  two  states  and  to  cause 
it  "to  be  plainly,  distinctly  and  notoriously  marked." 

On  December  16,  1817,  the  Georgia  Legislature  passed  a  similar  act  and 
appointed  commissioners.  In  1818  the  two  sets  of  commissioners  met  and  ran 
the  line  as  accurately  as  they  were  able  and  furnished  a  map  and  diagram  of 

22  Judge  S.  C.  Williams'  article  "North  Carolina-Tennessee  Boundary  Survey  (1799)" 
in  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  pp.  46-57. 


366  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  Line  agreed  upon  and  made  their  reports  to  their  respective  governors. 
The  report  of  Tennessee  commissioners  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature  on 
October  30,  1819. 2:!  Attached  to  this  correspondence  is  the  report  of  John 
Cocke,  who  was  appointed  the  Tennessee  commissioner.  This  line  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  run  on  the  true  parallel  of  35°  of  north  latitude  as  found 
by  Camak  and  Gains,  mathematicians  representing  the  two  states.  They  began 
at  the  top  of  Niekajack  Mountain,  at  the  supposed  corner  of  the  states  of 
Georgia,  Alabama  and  Tennessee  and  ran  east  to  the  point  where  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina  join  each  other. 

On  December  18,  1819,  the  report  and  maps  were  adopted  by  the  Georgia 
Legislature  (Acts  of  Georgia,  1810-1819,  p.  1217). 

Mr.  Camak,  the  mathematician  of  the  Georgia  commission,  made  further 
observations  and  surveys  of  the  Tennessee-Georgia  line  in  1826  and  reported 
that  the  line  of  1818  was  too  far  south.  Yet,  for  nearly  seventy  years  after 
that  time,  Georgia  made  no  effort  to  dispute  the  boundary  line  adopted  in  1818. 

On  October  5,  1887,  the  Georgia  Legislature  (Acts  of  1887,  p.  105)  declared 
that  grave  doubts  existed  as  to  the  location  of  the  state  line  between  Georgia 
and  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  directed  the  governor  to  communicate  with  the 
governor  of  Tennessee  to  the  end  that  a  joint  survey  might  be  made.  On  June 
1,  1923,  Governor  Hardwick  of  Georgia,  wrote  Governor  Peay  of  Tennessee,  to 
the  effect  that  Georgia  wished  a  joint  commission  appointed  to  determine  the 
line  along  a  part  of  the  boundary. 

On  April  8,  1889,  the  General  Assembly  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act  (Acts  of 
1889,  p.  499)  similar  to  that  passed  in  1887  by  Georgia,  except  that  in  the  act 
of  Tennessee  a  provision  was  inserted  that  the  survey  should  begin  at  the  corner 
point  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  The  joint  commission,  however,  did  not  act  and 
the  line  to  this  day  is  according  to  the  report  adopted  in  1818. 

THE    CONTROVERSY   WITH    MISSISSIPPI 

By  the  treaty  made  with  the  Chickasaws  in  1818  the  southern  boundary  of 
Tennessee  was  stated  to  be  the  thirty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude  and  the 
southern  line  of  the  purchase  is  described  as  follows: 

"Beginning  on  the  Tennessee  river,  about  thirty-five  miles  by  water  below 
Colonel  George  Colbert's  ferry,  where  the  35th  degree  of  north  latitude  strikes 
the  same ;  thence,  due  west  with  said  degree  of  north  latitude,  to  where  it  cuts 
the  Mississippi  river,  at  or  near  the  Chickasaw  bluffs." 

By  the  fifth  article  of  the  treaty,  the  two  contracting  parties  agreed  that 
the  line  of  the  south  boundary  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  should  be  ascertained 
and  marked  by  the  commissioners  to  be  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  Gen.  James  Winchester  made  the  official  survey  in  1819.  A  few  months 
previously  an  official  survey  had  been  made  by  James  Brown,  who  began  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Alabama  and  ran  his  line  to  the  lower  end  of  President's 
Island,  about  four  miles  below  Fort  Pickering.  Later  the  claim  was  made  that 
the  Winchester  line  had  been  incorrectly  run.  The  people  of  Mississippi,  espe- 
cially, thought  that  the  line,  if  correctly  run,  would  show  that  Memphis  was  in 
the  State  of  Mississippi.     Even  as  late  as  1832  the  Encyclopedia  Americana 

23  In  the  Tennessee  Archives  are  copies  of  the  correspondence  between  Gov.  Joseph 
McMinn,  of  this  state,  and  Gov.  Wm.  Rabun,  of  Georgia,  showing  how  the  legislation  and 
the  actions  related   were  brought  about. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  387 

spoke  of  Memphis  as  "a  town  in  the  northwestern  angle  of  Mississippi,  upon  a 
high  bluff  which  used  to  be  called  Fort  Pickering."24 

Under  date  of  August  7,  1830,  Governor  Gerard  C.  Brandon,  of  Mississippi, 
wrote  Col.  William  Carroll,  of  Tennessee,  a  letter  in  which,  besides  other  things, 
he  says:  "It  is  believed  by  many  well-informed  persons  that  the  present  line 
between  the  two  states  is  several  miles  south  of  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  north 
latitude,  which  is  the  true  boundary."25 

On  February  21,  1831,  Governor  Brandon  again  wrote  Governor  Carroll 
regarding  the  boundary  line  and  enclosed  a  copy  of  a  resolution  passed  by  the 
Legislature  of  Mississippi  authorizing  their  governor  "to  employ  some  suitable 
person  to  ascertain  at  what  point  on  the  Mississippi  River  the  thirty-fifth  degree 
of  north  latitude  crosses  the  same."-0 

Thereupon,  John  Thompson  made  a  survey  for  Tennessee  in  connection  with 
which  he  secured  the  services  of  John  D.  Graham,  "an  experienced  and  ac- 
curate surveyor,  with  two  assistants."  In  his  report  dated  November  28,  1831, 
he  said  that  "the  present  Mississippi  line  was  found  distant  from  Memphis 
*  *  *  a  little  more  than  six  miles  and  a  half,"  which  line  he  further  stated 
was  too  far  north.  27 

On  December  2,  1831,  Governor  Carroll  in  a  message  to  the  Legislature  said: 

"In  October  last  the  Governor  of  Mississippi  appointed  a  gentleman  to  ascer- 
tain and  designate  the  point  on  the  Mississippi  River,  where  the  thirty-fifth 
degree  of  north  latitude  crosses  the  same,  who  found  it  to  be  about  four  miles 
south  of  the  line  run  by  the  commissioner28  of  the  United  States  in  the  year 
eighteen  hundred  and  nineteen.  Since  then  the  same  service  has  been  performed 
in  behalf  of  this  State,  by  Mr.  John  Thompson,  late  Professor  of  Mathematics 
m  the  Nashville  University,  the  result  of  whose  observations  nearly  agree  with 
that  of  the  gentleman  from  Mississippi."20 

In  1833,  a  report  of  the  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  a 
report  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate  on  the  boundary  line  between  Tennessee 
and  Mississippi  were  made  but  accomplished  nothing.  The  controversy  was 
finally  settled  and  a  line  run  and  marked  by  commissioners30  of  the  two  states 
working  conjointly  in  1837.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  a  letter31  written  by 
Governor  McNutt,  of  Mississippi,  to  Governor  Newton  Cannon,  of  Tennessee, 
which  explains  the  action  which  closed  the  dispute: 

Executive  Department 
Jackson,  Miss..  Feby.  10th.  1838. 
His  Excellency 
Newton  Cannon 

Sir 
1  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communication  of  the 
1st  instant — 

Enclosed  you  will  receive  a  copy  of  the  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Mississippi,  duly  attested,  confirming  and  establishing  the  boundary  line 
between  the  states  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  as  run  and  marked  by  the  Com- 
missioners of  those  States  last  year. 

-A  Phelan's  "History  of  Tennessee,''  p.   315. 

25  Carroll  Correspondence  in   Tennessee   Archives,  State  Line   Papers. 

-«  Tennessee  Archives,  State  Line  Papers. 

27  Tennessee  Archives,  State  Line  Papers. 

28  General  James  Winchester. 

29  Tennessee  Archives,  State  Line  Papers. 

so  The  personnel  of  the  commission  was:     R.  A.  Ludlow,  D.  M.  Connely  and  M.    Petrie, 
for  Mississippi,  and  J.  I).  Graham   and   Austin  Miller,  for  Tennesscv. 
si  The  original  is  in  the  Tennessee  Archives,  State  Line  Papers. 


388  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

I  avail  myself  of  this  opportunity  of  congratulating  your  excellency  on  the 
final  settlement  of  this  matter,  and  trust  that  it  will  meet  with  the  approbation 
of  the  People  of  both  states. 

With  Great  Respect 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 
Your  Exlys  obt  servt 

A.  G.  McNutt. 

Tennessee  Desperadoes:    The  Harps,  Tom  Mason,  John  A.  Murrell, 

Daniel  Crenshaw 

Among  the  rugged  and  honest  pioneers  whose  sterling  qualities  of  rectitude 
we  are  fond  of  admiring,  there  crept  in  from  time  to  time  disorderly  and 
criminal  elements  which  disturbed  social  and  business  relations  for  a  time, 
until  they  were  suppressed  with  strong  hand.  In  this  class  there  have  been  a 
few  whose  deeds  were  so  strikingly  notorious  and  so  long  and  shockingly  affected 
the  inhabitants  of  portions  of  Tennessee  that  some  mention  of  them,  even 
though  a  brief  one,  should  be  made. 

the  harps 

ProbaVy  the  most  monstrous  of  these  villains  were  the  Harps,  whose  deeds 
of  cold-blooded  murder,  not  so  much  for  spoil  or  plunder  as  for  the  gratification 
of  a  thirst  for  killing,  and  a  fiendish  delight  in  the  infliction  of  human  woes, 
caused  a  thrill  of  horror  to  be  felt  at  the  mere  mention  of  their  names,  at  the 
time  of  their  dreadful  exploits.  They  appear  in  history  for  the  first  time  in 
1797  or  1798  in  Knox  County  to  which  they  came  from  Georgia,  as  they  repre- 
sented. One  of  them,  Micajah  Harp,  was  a  very  large  man  with  a  most  vicious 
and  ferocious  countenance.  Because  of  his  size  he  was  called  Big  Harp.  The 
other,  named  Wiley,  was  much  smaller  and  was  called  Little  Harp.  Big  Harp 
brought  with  him  a  woman,  who  he  said  was  his  wife.  But  some  time  after 
they  came  Big  Harp  took  another  woman  named  Roberts  to  live  with  him  at 
the  same  time  as  his  wife.  Little  Harp  married  a  woman  named  Sarah  Rice 
who  came  from  Sevier  County  or  Blount  County. 

The  Harps  had  been  living  in  their  home  in  Knox  County,  four  or  five  miles 
from  Knoxville,  a  year  or  more  when  they  began  to  steal  hogs  and  sheep  from 
their  neighbors  and,  for  some  time,  were  undetected.  Finally,  however,  they 
fell  under  suspicion,  and  when  some  fine  horses  had  been  stolen  from  Edward 
Tiel,  who  resided  near  Knoxville,  Tiel  and  his  friends  went  to  the  house  of  the 
Harps,  ascertained  that  they  were  absent,  followed  and  captured  them.  On  the 
return  the  Harps  escaped,  and  thereupon  entered  upon  a  career  of  inhuman 
and  ruthless  murder,  which  they  pursued  to  an  extent  wThich  alarmed  the  in- 
habitants of  that  entire  section.  In  their  relentless  and  furious  rage  they  spared 
neither  old  nor  young,  nor  sex  nor  color. 

They  murdered  a  young  man  named  Coffey  in  Knox  County;  then  a  man 
named  Johnson,  supposed  to  be  a  resident  of  Hawkins  County.  These  tragic 
deeds  aroused  the  whole  community  and  search  for  the  Harps  was  made  in 
every  direction.  They  were  not  at  once  found,  and  meanwhile  they  murdered 
a  man  named  Ballard,  thinking,  it  was  believed,  that  they  were  killing  Hugh 
Dunlap,  who  was  very  vigilant  in  trying  to  arrest  them. 

Companies  were  now  raised  and  pursued  them  vigorously  through  wild  and 
uninhabited  regions,  and  rewards  were  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  them. 


OLD    COUNTY  JAIL,   MEMPHIS 


1      *k*i  l»  Oil 


CITY   HALL,   MEMPHIS 


lp\Jft«Y 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  391 

Taking  their  women  with  them  the  Harps  fled  through  the  mountainous  regions 
along  the  line  between  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  occasionally  breaking  into  the 
settlements  and  committing  horrible  and  bloody  murders  as  they  went.  Having 
passed  into  Kentucky  through  Cumberland  Gap,  they  murdered  a  peddler 
named  Peyton  and  took  his  horse  and  goods.  Soon  afterwards  they  murdered  a 
traveller,  named  Langford,  whose  body  was  found  a  few  days  later  by  some 
drovers.  The  Harps  were  pursued,  arrested  and  carried  to  Danville.  They 
broke  jail,  however,  and  escaped,  through  the  connivance  of  the  jailor  it  was 
suspected. 

The  Harps  then  went  to  a  new  region  along  the  Tennessee-Kentucky  state 
line  where  they  renewed  their  atrocities  on  a  still  more  extensive  scale.  They 
murdered  all  classes  and  both  sexes  without  distinction,  not  alone  for  plunder 
which  they  sometimes  secured,  but  apparently  from  pure  wantonness  and  love  of 
shedding  human  blood.  It  will  probably  never  be  known  how  many  human 
lives  they  took.  Yet  the  catalogue  of  the  murders  it  is  known  that  they  com- 
mitted is  a  long  one.  They  went  back  and  forth  between  Tennessee  and  Ken- 
tucky, killing  as  they  went.  Finally,  they  killed  in  its  cradle  the  infant  of  a 
Mr.  Stegall  and  then  its  mother  who  had  prepared  breakfast  for  them.  The 
alarm  was  given  by  a  man  named  Williams  who  had  been  at  Stegall 's  house, 
but  who  escaped  and  Stegall,  a  rough  character  himself,  was  soon  informed. 
He.  Williams,  and  Thomas  Leiper  and  others  began  an  immediate  pursuit,  caught 
up  with  the  Harps,  fired  upon  them  and  wounded  Big  Harp.  Both  the  Harps 
fled  in  different  directions,  abandoning  their  women.  The  pursuing  party, 
being  small,  followed  Big  Harp.  Leiper,  having  a  superior  horse,  soon  ascer- 
tained that  he  could  overtake  him  but  proceeded  cautiously  until  he  was  sure 
Harp's  gun  was  not  loaded.  He  then  dashed  upon  him,  fired  and  wounded 
Harp.  While  he  was  talking  to  Harp,  Stegall  came  up  and  cut  off  Harp's 
head,3-  took  it  to  the  nearest  justice  of  the  peace  and  then  to  the  nearest  cross 
roads  where  they  affixed  it  to  the  top  of  a  lofty  pole.  Little  Harp  fled  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Natchez  where  he  joined  Tom  Mason  and  his  gang. 

TOM   MASON 

Mason,  or  Meason,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  with  whose  band  Little  Harp 
associated  himself,  was  well  known  in  the  southwestern  country  as  a  desperate 
villain.  Before  going  to  Natchez,  in  about  1802,  he  had  lived  for  several  years 
near  Cross  Plains,  in  Robertson  County.  His  gang  consisted  of  himself,  his  two 
sons,  Tom  and  John,  and  seven  or  eight  other  men.  Mason's  band  was  a  great 
terror  to  the  boatmen  and  travelers  who  went  through  the  Indian  country, 
by  the  capture  of  whose  supplies  Mason  and  his  men  secured  ample  provisions 
for  themselves.  Mason  doesn't  seem  to  have  been  a  bloodthirsty  man.  As  he 
said,  "Money  is  all  I'm  after.  If  I  can  get  that  without  taking  life,  I  will  cer- 
tainly shed  no  blood." 

Among  Mason's  first  robberies  was  that  of  a  party  of  Kentucky  boatmen 
returning  home  from  Natchez.     It  was  a  common  occurrence  for  parties  to  go 


a-  Brazeale,  in  "Life  As  It  Is,"  pp.  146-147  says:  "Stegall  took  Harp's  own  butcher 
knife,  which  Leiper  had  compelled  him  to  deliver  up,  and  taking  Harp  by  the  hair  of  the 
head,  drew  the  knife  slowly  across  the  back  of  the  neck,  cutting  to  the  bone;  Harp  staring 
him  full  in  the  face,  with  a  grim  and  fiendish  countenance,  and  exclaiming,  'you  are  a  G — d 
d — d  rough  butcher,  but  cut  on  and  be  d — d. '  Stegall  then  passed  the  knife  around  his  neck, 
cutting  to  the  bone;  and  then  wrung  off  his  head,  in  the  same  manner  a  butcher  would  t lint 
of  a  hog. " 


392  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

down  the  Cumberland  or  Tennessee,  down  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  to 
Natchez,  sell  their  cargoes  and  boats  and  return  by  the  Natchez  Trace.  This 
road  led  through  the  Choctaw  and  Chickasaw  countries  which,  not  being  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Federal  and  state  officers  for  a  large  part  of  the  way,  be- 
sides being  sparsely  settled,  was  a  favorite  habitat  and  scene  of  operations  for 
Mason  and  his  men.  The  robbery  of  the  party  of  Kentuckians  caused  a  great 
sensation,  which  was  shortly  afterwards  intensified  by  the  robbery  of  a  Colonel 
Baker,  also  from  Kentucky,  and  a  man  of  wealth  and  prominence.  He  was 
robbed  of  a  large  sum  of  money  and  organized  a  pursuit  of  Mason  and  his  gang, 
but  abandoned  it  when,  on  overtaking  the  outlaws,  they  ascertained  that  they 
could  not  successfully  cope  with  them. 

Rendered  bold  by  their  success  in  the  exploits  related  above,  Mason  and  his 
men  committed  many  other  robberies  and  outrages  upon  travelers  through  the 
wilderness  and  rendered  journeys  in  that  section  so  hazardous  that  Governor 
"Williams,  of  Mississippi,  offered  a  reward  of  $1,000  in  gold  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Mason,  dead  or  alive.  Immediately  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to 
arrest  Mason;  but,  having  hid  his  money  he  crossed  the  Mississippi  River  and 
made  his  escape.  Nevertheless  two  men,  calling  themselves  Sutton  and  May. 
stimulated  by  the  reward  offered,  brought  into  Natchez  the  head  of  a  man  rep- 
resenting it  to  be  that  of  Mason  and  claimed  the  reward.  Those,  however,  who 
were  well  acquainted  with  Mason  said  that  the  head  was  not  his  and  thereupon 
the  two  men  were  arrested,  tried  and  hanged.  At  the  time  of  the  hanging  two 
men  from  Knox  County,  Tenn.,  recognized  May  as  Wiley  (Little)  Harp  and 
identified  him  by  a  scar  on  his  breast.33 

After  Mason's  band  had  been  dispersed,  other  desperadoes  and  outlaws 
tried  to  emulate  his  example,  but  none  of  them  was  so  successful  as  Mason  had 
been  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  road  could  be  traveled  with  safety. 

JOHN   A.    MURRELL 

After  the  passing  of  Mason  and  his  imitators  Tennessee  was  as  free  from 
outlaws  as  could  well  be  expected  of  a  new  and  border  state  until  after  the  open- 
ing to  settlement  of  the  Chickasaw  Reservation  when  the  field  for  brigandage  was 
peculiarly  favorable  in  "West  Tennessee  which  was  being  rapidly  populated. 

"The  state  of  society  was  generally  rough,  and  the  newly  introduced  laws 
frequently  failed  to  command  respect.  The  thief,  the  robber,  the  horse-stealer, 
the  negro-runner,  the  highwayman,  the  burglar  and  the  counterfeiter  profited 
by  the  opportunity,  and  a  reign  of  lawlessness  began.  But  it  was  frequently 
tempered  by  lynch-law,  and  was  overridden  at  times  by  superior  force.  It  was 
the  glory  and  the  boast  of  a  native  Tennessean  to  have  organized  these  scat- 
tered elements  of  recklessness  and  crime  into  a  'noble  band  of  valiant  and  lordly 
bandits,'  as  Murrell  styled  his  following."34 

Of  the  early  life  of  Murrell  little  is  known.  It  is  known,  however,  that  he 
was  born  in  Middle  Tennessee,  and  perhaps  in  "Williamson  County.  At  any 
rate  he  lived  in  that  county  not  far  from  Bethesda,  about  ten  miles  from  Frank- 
lin, to  which  place  he  moved  prior  to  the  year  1827.  About  this  year  he  left 
for  other  fields  of  activity.  His  father  was  a  Methodist  preacher  of  good  moral 
character. 


;  The    statement    made   in    some   accounts    that   he   was   identified    by   a    missing    toe   is 
erroneous.     Guild's  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  p.  99. 
■t+Phelan's  "History   of  Tennessee,"  p.  347. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  393 

After  leaving  Williamson  County  Murrell  lived  for  some  time  in  what  is 
now  Chester  Countjr,  "West  Tennessee.  There  is  a  wide  divergence  of  opinion 
as  to  what  part  Murrell  played  in  the  depredations  and  outrages  which  were 
committed  by  the  band  with  which  he  was  identified  from  this  time  until  it  was 
broken  up  in  1834-1835.     Phelan  says: 

"The  distinguishing  feature  of  his  methods  was  their  thoroughness.  After 
the  commission  of  an  offense,  nothing  was  stickled  at  to  prevent  detection.  He 
knew  no  degrees  in  crime,  and  regarded  murder  as  in  no  wise  more  heinous  or 
repugnant  than  the  theft  of  a  watch."35 

Yet  Mr.  Park  Marshall  says :  36 

"Murrell  always  positively  denied  that  he  or  his  'gang'  ever  committed  a 
murder.  No  charge  of  murder  in  any  definite  form  was  ever  brought  to  his 
door."  *  *  *  "Yet  the  prevailing  belief  in  the  minds  of  the  people  in 
many  parts  of  the  country,  and  to  a  great  extent  locally  at  the  present  time,  is 
that  Murrell  and  Crenshaw- — particularly  Murrell — were  the  leaders  of  the 
greatest  band  of  highwaymen  the  country  has  ever  known,  and  could  with 
justice  be  described  as  'the  great  land  pirates  of  the  Southwest.' 

•"This  mistaken  notion  had  its  origin  in  a  highly  fictional  and  long  since 
discredited  story  contained  in  a  small  book  published  by  one  Vergil  A.  Stewart, 
which  owing  to  its  sensational  character  had  a  large  sale  and  of  course  a  very 
large  number  of  readers." 

Notwithstanding  the  divergence  of  the  views  with  regard  to  Murrell  per- 
sonally and  his  methods  and  the  character  of  his  crimes,  it  is  a  certainty  that 
he  and  his  gang  kept  "West  Tennessee,  North  Mississippi  and  Eastern  Arkansas 
in  a  ferment  of  alarm  and  distress  for  several  years,  especially  with  the  favorite 
operations  of  horse-stealing  and  negro-running.  "While  these  hectic  affairs  were 
being  carried  on  Murrell  married  and  settled  down,  apparently  at  least,  on  a 
farm  which  he  bought  near  Denmark  in  Madison  County,  Tenn.  In  reality  it 
is  supposed  that  he  was  carrying  on  the  most  extensive  schemes  of  rapine  and 
plunder  through  a  sort  of  committee  called  the  Grand  Council  of  the  Mystic 
Clan,  including,  it  was  thought,  many  men  of  standing  and  influence  and  the 
ramifications  of  which  were  widely  spread. 

He  was  living  at  Denmark  when,  through  the  influence  of  Vergil  A.  Stewart, 
he  was  arrested.  It  is  believed  that  Stewart  was,  at  one  time,  associated  with 
Murrell  and  that  he  endeavored  to  bring  Murrell  to  justice  to  gratify  his  desire 
for  revenge.  Be  that  as  it  may,  he  failed  to  give  the  grand  jury  the  name  of 
any  prominent  man  connected  with  Murrell.  Nevertheless  Murrell  was  con- 
victed of  negro-stealing  in  court  at  Jackson,  and  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary 
where  he  remained  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  pardoned  on  ac- 
count of  his  failing  health.  He  went  to  Pikeville  and  died  near  there  not  long 
afterward. 

In  his  "Historic  Blue  Grass  Line,"  page  33,  Douglas  Anderson  tells  of 
Murrell  having  been  tried  in  Nashville  on  a  change  of  venue,  on  May  25,  1825, 
on  the  charge  of  having  stolen  a  horse  from  a  widow  in  "Williamson  County. 

"The  verdict  and  judgment  was  that  Murrell  should  serve  twelve  months' 
imprisonment ;  be  given  thirty  lashes  on  his  bare  back  at  the  public  whipping 
post :  that  he  should  sit  two  hours  in  the  pillory  on  each  of  three  successive 


3?  Phelan 's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  347. 

3«  In   article   entitled   "John   A.  Murrell   and   Daniel   Crenshaw"   in  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  VI,  p.  4. 


394  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

days;  be  branded  on  the  left  thumb  with  the  Letters  "II.  T."  in  the  presence 
of  the  ('unit,  and  be  rendered  infamous." 

Mr.  Anderson  describes  the  branding  from  the  statement  of  an  eye-witness 
as  follows: 

"At  the  direction  of  the  sheriff  Murrell  placed  his  hand  on  the  railing-  around 
the  judge's  bench.  With  a  piece  of  rope  Ilorton  then  bound  Murrell's  hand  to 
the  railing.  A  negro  brought  a  tinner's  stove  and  placed  it  beside  the  sheriff. 
Ilorton  took  from  the  stove  the  branding  iron,  glanced  at  it,  found  it  red  hot, 
and  put  it  on  Murrell's  thumb.  'The  skin  fried  like  meat.'  Horton  held  the 
iron  on  Murrell's  hand  until  the  smoke  rose  two  feet.  Then  the  iron  was  re- 
moved. Murrell  stood  the  ordeal  without  flinching.  When  his  hand  was 
released  he  calmly  tied  a  handkerchief  around  it  and  went  back  to  the  jail." 

DANIEL   CRENSHAW 

As  a  young  man,  Crenshaw  was  an  associate  of  Murrell  in  Williamson  County, 
and,  contrary  to  the  accepted  belief,  seems  to  have  been  the  leader  in  the  va- 
rious escapades  in  which  both,  from  time  to  time,  were  engaged.  According 
to  Park  Marshall,  in  the  article  previously  referred  to,  Crenshaw  lived  on  land 
belonging  to  the  mother  of  Thomas  H.  Benton  and  a  large  spring  near  one  of 
the  corners  of  this  land  was  known  as  Crenshaw's  Spring. 

Like  Murrell,  Crenshaw  seems  not  to  have  practiced  murder  in  carrying  out 
his  designs,  either  alone  or  in  connection  with  Murrell.  He  was  guilty  of  various 
offenses  and  crimes.  In  April,  1826,  he  was  convicted  of  stealing  a  horse  from 
R.  C.  Foster,  of  Williamson  County,  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  six  months 
and  was  branded.  It  is  said  that  after  Crenshaw  was  branded  and  was  still 
standing  on  the  block  he  bit  the  letters  from  his  hand. 

John  Bell,  afterwards  the  eminent  senator  in  Congress  and  candidate  for 
President  in  1860,  was  Crenshaw's  attorney  and,  after  his  client  had  been  con- 
victed in  the  case  spoken  of,  he  withdrew  his  plea  of  not  guilty  in  two  other 
cases  against  Crenshaw  and  filed  in  each  case  a  plea  of  "benefit  of  clergy"  by 
which  device  Crenshaw  secured  immunity  from  the  penalties  in  a  case  of  for- 
gery and  in  one  of  the  horse-stealing  cases. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  CARROLL,  HOUSTON  AND  HALL 

THE   ADMINISTRATIONS   OP   WILLIAM    CARROLL,    1821-1827 THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF 

SAM    HOUSTON,    1827-1829 THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    HALL,    APRIL    TO 

OCTOBER,    1829 — THE    ADMINISTRATIONS    OF    WILLIAM    CARROLL,    1829-1835 THE 

CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1834. 

Iii  1821,  William  Carroll,  who  had  gained  great  distinction  as  a  general 
officer  in  the  "War  of  1812,  and  especially  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  was 
overwhelmingly  elected  governor  over  Col.  Edward  Ward,  his  competitor,  Car- 
roll having  received  31,029  votes  and  Ward  7,294  votes.  Carroll  was  inaugurated 
at  Murfreesboro  on  October  1st,  and,  in  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature  sat- 
isfied the  public  that  the  confidence  reposed  in  his  ability  had  not  been 
misplaced.  He  recommended  rigid  economy  and  retrenchment  in  domestic  rela- 
tions as  a  relief  from  financial  embarrassment  instead  of  legislative  interposi- 
tion between  debtor  and  creditor,  the  establishment  of  a  separate  Court  of 
Chancery,  the  establishment  of  a  penitentiary  and  the  abolishment  of  the  pil- 
lory, whipping,  branding  and  other  barbarous  punishments. 

The  Fourteenth  General  Assembly  met  at  Murfreesboro  on  September  21, 
1821.    Among  the  acts  passed  were: 

"To  regulate  proceedings  in  forcible  entry  and  detainer";  "Right  to  sue 
under  the  pauper's  oath";  "Confirming  the  boundary  line  between  North 
Carolina  and  Tennessee";  "Confirming  the  line  between  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee by  William  Steele  and  Absalom  Looney";  "Concerning  champerty  and 
maintenance." 

In  1821  Sam  Houston's  ability  and  popularity  began  to  be  recognized,  and 
he  was  appointed  major-general  of  the  Second  Division.  The  Nashville  Whig 
and  the  Nashville  Clarion  were  both  established.  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  was 
appointed  territorial  governor  of  Florida.  The  Assembly  adjourned  on  No- 
vember 17,  1821. 

In  1822,  the  second  session  of  the  Fourteenth  General  Assembly  convened 
at  Murfreesboro  on  July  22d  and  adjourned  on  August  24th.  The  reason  for 
this  session  was  that  the  state  might  be  laid  off  into  nine  congressional  districts 
on  account  of  the  increase  in  population  and  changes  in  habitation.  The  first 
act  passed  at  this  session  made  the  division  desired.  Another  judge,  William  L. 
Brown,  was  added  to  the  Supreme  Court.  Swords  were  voted  to  General  Jack- 
son and  General  Gaines  for  gallantry  in  the  War  of  1812. 

In  1823,  Carroll  was  reelected  governor  without  opposition.  The  Fifteenth 
General  Assembly  met  at  Murfreesboro  on  September  15th  and  adjourned  on 
November  29th.     The  following  important  acts  were  passed : 

"To  preserve  the  purity  of  elections,  providing  that  any  person  treating 
with  spirituous  liquors  or  betting  on  elections  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  mis- 

395 


396  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

demeanor";  "An  act  providing-  for  the  registration  of  wills";  "An  act  for 
removing  the  county  seat  of  McMinn  County  from  Calhoun  to  Athens";  "Fix- 
ing the  permanent  seat  of  justice  for  Henry  County  at  Paris,  and  incorporating 
the  same." 

The  Pioneer,  the  first  newspaper  published  in  West  Tennessee,  was  estab- 
lished at  Jackson.  Andrew  Jackson  was  elected  United  States  senator  over  the 
incumbent,  Col.  John  Williams. 

In  1824,  the  governor  issued  a  call  for  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature 
for  the  purpose,  principally,  of  correcting  a  mistake  in  the  act  providing  for 
the  election  of  President  and  vice  president,  and  the  mistake  was  corrected  in 
the  first  act  passed  at  this  session,  passed  on  September  30.  1824.  This  session 
convened  on  September  20th  and  adjourned  on  October  22d.  Other  acts  of 
this  session  provided  for  the  erection  of  new  counties,  and  the  incorporation  of 
towns;  also  an  act  "incorporating  a  turnpike  from  Murfreesboro  to  Nashville," 
and  a  joint  resolution  to  entertain  General  Lafayette  2  at  public  expense. 

In  1825,  Carroll  was  again  reelected  governor  without  opposition.  The  first 
session  of  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly  was  held  at  Murfreesboro  from  Sep- 
tember 19th  to  December  7th.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  personnel  of 
the  Legislature  consisted  of  thirty-eight  farmers,  twelve  lawyers,  five  doctors 
and  five  merchants.  On  October  2d  a  resolution  passed  the  Legislature  recom- 
mending Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  for  President  of  the  United  States.3  On  Oc- 
tober 14th  both  Houses  received  General  Jackson  in  ceremonious  form.  On 
October  18th  he  resigned  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and  Hugh  L. 
White  was  elected  senator  in  his  stead.  John  Haywood  and  Robert  L.  Cobb 
were  appointed  to  revise  the  statutes  of  the  state.  A  resolution  was  adopted  to 
remove  the  seat  of  government  to  Nashville.  The  following  important  acts  were 
passed : 

"Striking  attorneys  from  the  roll  for  failure  to  pay  over  funds  collected 
by  them";  "Providing  that  jurors  for  the  trial  of  slaves  shall  consist  of  slave- 
holders only."  The  Nashville  and  Columbia  Turnpike  Company  was  incor- 
porated. 

In  1826,  the  second  session  of  the  Sixteenth  General  Assembly  was  held  at 
Nashville  from  October  16th  to  December  11th.4  During  this  session  a  sword  was 
voted  to  Gen.  William  Carroll  for  distinguished  services  during  the  War  of 
1812.5  The  following  important  acts  were  passed:  "To  incorporate  the  Nash- 
ville Insurance  Company";6  "to  incorporate  Hiwassee  Canal  Company."  The 
Memphis  Advocate,  the  first  newspaper  in  Memphis,  was  established.     A  duel 


-  Of  the  historic  public  reception  of  Lafayette,  Anson  Nelson,  recording  secretary  of  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Society  said:  "General  Lafayette,  son  and  suite,  arrived  here  on  the 
4th  of  May,  1825,  and  were  received  with  the  greatest  demonstrations  of  joy.  An  immense 
procession  was  formed,  the  streets  were  decorated  with  arches  of  evergreens,  and  patriotic 
mottoes  were  inscribed  upon  them.  The  General  landed  on  the  grounds  of  Maj.  Wm.  B. 
Lewis,  above  the  waterworks  where  General  Jackson  and  a  number  of  citizens  received  him, 
and  Governor  Carroll  addressed  him  in  behalf  of  the  state,  tendering  him  a  welcome  to 
Tennessee. ' ' 

Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  in  ' '  Old  Times  in  Tennessee, ' '  p.  446,  says :  ' '  About  twenty-five 
thousand  people,  embracing  the  beauty  and  chivalry  of  the  state,  assembled  at  Nashville 
mi  the  4th  of  May,  to  welcome  the  nation's  guest,  and  right  royally  did  they  extend  to  him 
the  old-fashioned  hospitality  of  Tennessee." 

a  By  a  union  of  the  forces  of  Clay  and  Adams,  he  was  defeated. 

*  Since  this  time  the  Legislature  has  always  met  in  Nashville.  In  1843  Nashville  was 
selected  as  the  permanent  capital  of  the  state. 

s  This  sword  is  now  in  the  state  's  historical  museum. 

15  This  was  the  first  insurance  company  established  in   Tennessee. 


SAM  HOUSTON 

Governor   of   Tennessee,   1827-1829;    Liberator   of   Texas    and   President    of    Texas 


twt 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  399 

was  fought  between  Sam  Houston  and  Gen.  William  White,  in  which  General 
White  was  badly  wounded. 

In  Carroll's  three  terms  as  governor,  from  1821  to  1827,  he  conducted  the 
affairs  of  the  state  on  sound  business  principles.  He  caused  the  finances  of  the 
government  to  be  put  on  a  sound  footing  by  having  the  affairs  of  the  banks 
thoroughly  examined  and  requiring  them  to  resume  specie  payments. 

THE   ADMINISTRATION    OF    SAM    HOUSTON 

In  August,  1827,  Sam  Houston  was  elected  governor  of  Tennessee.  His 
great  popularity  at  that  time  is  attested  by  the  fact  that  he  received  a  majority 
of  nearly  eight  thousand  over  Newton  Gannon  and  Willie  Blount,  two  men  of 
deservedly  high  standing.  Carroll,  having  served  three  successive  terms,  was 
ineligible.  Houston's  popularity  was  so  great  that  it  is  said  on  his  accession 
to  the  gubernatorial  chair  he  had  not  a  single  opponent  in  the  Legislature. 

Houston  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  state  judiciously  along  the  general  lines 
which  had  proven  so  salutary  in  the  administration  of  his  immediate  predecessor, 
and  Tennessee  continued  to  grow  and  prosper. 

The  Seventeenth  General  Assembly  was  held  from  September  17th  to  Decem- 
ber 15th.     Houston  was  inaugurated  on  October  1,  1827. 

A  branch  bank  of  the  United  States  was  established   in  Nashville  in  1827. 

In  1828  Andrew  Jackson  defeated  John  Quincy  Adams  for  the  presidency 
of  the  United  States  by  an  overwhelming  majority. 

In  1829,  Houston  became  a  candidate  for  reelection  and  was  opposed  by 
General  Carroll  who  had  become  eligible.  This  contest  was  between  two  popular 
heroes  of  the  War  of  1812,  both  men  of  ability  and  good  speakers ;  both  had  hosts 
of  friends  and  the  result  of  the  election  was  considered  doubtful.  The  canvass 
opened  in  April,  1829.  In  January  previous  Governor  Houston  had  married 
Miss  Eliza  H.  Allen,  a  daughter  of  John  Allen,  of  Sumner  County.  Her  family 
was  wealthy  and  influential.  Her  brothers,  Campbell  Allen  and  Col.  Robert 
Allen,  had  distinguished  themselves  in  the  War  of  1812  under  General  Jackson. 
Col.  Robert  Allen  had  commanded  a  regiment  in  the  Creek  war,  and  served  in 
Congress  with  distinction.  He  was  later  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
framed  the  constitution  in  1834.  Governor  Houston's  wife  was  a  most  estimable 
lady,  yet  domestic  troubles  which,  for  many  years  were  shrouded  in  insoluble 
mystery  caused  Houston  to  separate  from  her  soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
campaign  for  governor.  Two  days  later  he  resigned  the  office  of  governor  and 
went  into  voluntary  exile  among  the  Cherokee  Indians,  the  friends  of  his  youth 
who  had  moved  from  East  Tennessee  to  Arkansas.  A  few  years  later  he  emerged 
to  become  the  leader  and  the  popular  hero  of  Texas,  whose  independence  he  won 
at  the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  April  21,  1836. 

Shortly  after  the  separation  of  Governor  Houston  and  his  wife,  Houston  wrote 
his  father-in-law  a  letter  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy : 

"Dear  Sir — The  most  unpleasant  and  unhappy  circumstance  has  just  taken 
place  in  the  family,  and  one  that  was  entirely  unnecessary  at  the  time.  What- 
ever had  been  my  feelings  or  opinions  in  relation  to  Eliza  at  one  period,  I  have 
been  satisfied,  and  it  is  now  unfit  that  anything  should  be  adverted  to.  Eliza 
will  do  me  the  justice  to  say  that  she  believes  I  was  really  unhappy.  That  I 
was  satisfied,  and  believed  her  virtuous,  I  had  assured  her  last  night  and  this 
morning;  this,  however,  should  have  prevented  the  facts  coming  to  your  knowl- 


400  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

edge  and  that  of  your  wife.  I  would  not  for  millions  that  it  had  been  known 
to  you.  But  one  human  being  knew  anything  of  it  from  me,  and  that  was  by 
Eliza's  consent  and  wish.  I  would  have  perished  first;  and  if  mortal  man  had 
dared  to  charge  my  wife,  or  say  aught  against  her  virtue,  I  would  have  slain 
him.  That  I  have  and  do  love  Eliza  none  can  doubt,  and  that  I  have  ever 
treated  her  with  affection  she  will  admit ;  that  she  is  the  only  earthly  object 
dear  to  me  God  will  bear  witness.  The  only  way  that  the  matter  can  now  be 
overcome  will  be  for  us  all  to  meet  as  though  it  had  never  occurred,  and  this 
will  keep  the  world,  as  it  should  ever  be,  ignorant  that  such  thoughts  ever  were. 
"Eliza  stands  acquitted  by  me.  I  have  received  her  as  a  virtuous,  chaste 
wife,  and  as  such  1  pray  God  1  may  ever  regard  her,  and  I  trust  I  ever  shall. 
She  was  cold  to  me,  and  I  thought  did  not  love  me ;  she  owns  that  such  was  one 
cause  of  my  unhappiness.  You  can  think  how  unhappy  I  was  to  think  that  I 
was  united  to  a  woman  who  did  not  love  me.  That  time  is  now  past,  and  my 
future  happiness  can  only  exist  in  the  assurance  that  Eliza  and  myself  can  be 
more  happy,  and  that  your  wife  and  yourself  will  forget  the  past,  forget  all, 
and  find  your  lost  peace — and  you  may  rest  assured  that  nothing  on  my  part 
shall  be  wanting  to  restore  it.    Let  me  know  what  is  to  be  done. 

"Your  most  obedient, 

Sam  Houston." 

The  real  cause  of  the  separation  of  Governor  Houston  and  his  wife,  which, 
for  so  many  decades,  has  been  the  subject  of  much  speculation  and  of  many  un- 
founded interpretations  8  has  at  last  been  ascertained  and  is  given  by  John  Trot- 
wood  Moore  as  follows : 

I  was  born  in  Marion,  Alabama,  and  grew  up  there.  My  family  were  in- 
timate friends  of  the  Leas.  Margaret  Lea  was  the  2nd  wife  of  General  Sam 
Houston.  I  have  been  told  that  General  Houston  married  her  in  '49  or  the 
early  fifties.  I  think  that  at  this  time  he  was  United  States  Senator  from  the 
newly  formed  state  of  Texas.  His  marriage  to  Margaret  Lea  was  a  great  social 
event  in  the  history  of  our  little  town.  I  have  been  told  by  my  father,  the  late 
Judge  Jno.  Moore,  that  he  was  at  the  wedding  and  that  the  following  instance 
occurred  there : 

Margaret  Lea  had  two  brothers,  Colonel  Sumpter  Lea  and  John  Lea.  Colonel 
Sumpter  Lea  became  a  very  celebrated  lawyer  in  Alabama  and  was  also  a 
colonel  in  the  Confederate  Army.  John  Lea  was  a  prosperous  farmer  and  died 
at  the  old  Lea  place  near  Marion  at  a  good  age.  He  was  a  good  man  but  much 
given  to  running  things  his  own  way  and  assuming  charge  of  situations  relating 
to  other  people.  After  the  guests  were  all  assembled  for  the  wedding  and  just 
before  the  ceremony,  John  Lea  took  General  Houston  off  alone  to  a  room  and 
told  him  that  now  that  the  General  was  to  be  a  member  of  the  family  the  family 
would  appreciate  it  if  he  would  tell  them  why  he  left  his  first  wife.  General 
Houston  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height  and  told  Mr.  Lea  that  if  this  wed- 
ding depended  on  his  telling  what  he  had  never  told  anyone  and  never  expected 
to  tell  that  he  "might  call  his  fiddlers  off."  Later  I  learned  why  General 
Houston  left  his  first  wife  as  follows : 

After  the  war  Colonel  Sumpter  Lea  moved  to  Birmingham,  Alabama,  to 
practice  law.  About  1887  I  was  there  on  a  visit  to  my  cousin,  Judge  William 
W.  Wilkerson,  afterwards  a  very  distinguished  judge  who  died  on  the  Alabama 
bench  about  1902.  In  discussing  this  matter  with  Judge  Wilkerson,  who  was 
interested  in  historical  questions,  he  told  me  that  lately  he  had  had  a  talk  with 
Colonel  Sumpter  Lea,  brother  of  General  Houston's  second  wife  Margaret  Lea 
and  that  Colonel  Sumpter  Lea  gave  him  the  details  why  Houston  left  his  first 
wife,  Eliza  Allen  and  that  Colonel  Sumpter  Lea  said  his  sister,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Lea  Houston  told  him  this  after  General  Houston's  death,  and  told  him  that 
General  Houston  told  it  to  her.  He  said  that  General  Houston  said  that  after 
being  elected  Governor  of  Tennessee  in  1829  he  married  Eliza  Allen  of  Gallatin 


s  Guild's  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  pp.  269-274. 


Prom   painting   i 


DAVID  CEOCKETT 


ofihe 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  403 

and  brought  her  as  his  bride  to  Nashville  to  live.  That  several  months  after  his 
marriage  he  had  occasion  to  go  to  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs  in  West  Tennessee,  which 
is  now  the  city  of  Memphis,  to  transact  some  business  relating  to  the  Chickasaw 
Indian  claims ;  that  he  had  returned  to  Nashville  sooner  than  he  expected  and 
thought  he  would  surprise  his  wife.  He  hitched  his  horse  in  the  rear  of  his 
dwelling  and  went  up  the  back  stairs  to  her  room.  He  found  her  sitting  at  a 
table  weeping  and  reading  old  love  letters  which  she  had  failed  to  destroy, 
written  to  her  by  Dr.  Douglas,  whom  he  knew  to  be  an  old  sweetheart  of  Mrs. 
Houston's.  From  this  circumstance  and  her  admission  to  the  fact  that  she  did 
not  love  him,  he  sent  her  back  to  her  father,  resigned  his  office  of  Governor  and 
went  off  to  live  with  the  Indians. 

Judge  Wilkerson  told  me  that  Colonel  Sumpter  Lea  had  told  him  this  and 
if  I  would  go  with  him  to  Colonel  Lea's  office  he  would  have  him  repeat  it  to 
me.  This  we  did,  but  I  regret  to  say  the  Colonel  was  out.  In  a  few  years  both 
he  and  Judge  Wilkerson  died. 

WILLIAM    HALL,    GOVERNOR    BY    SUCCESSION 

When  Sam  Houston  resigned  the  office  of  governor,  on  April  16,  1829,  Gen. 
William  Hall,  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  succeeded  to  the  governorship  by  reason 
of  constitutional  provision.  At  the  August  election,  Gen.  William  Carroll 
was  again  elected  governor  without  opposition.  At  the  same  time  a  very  strong 
delegation  of  congressmen  from  Tennessee  was  elected  consisting  of  John  Bell, 
John  Blair,  David  Crockett,  Robt.  Desha,  Jacob  C.  Isaacs,  Cave  Johnson,  Pryor 
Lea,  James  K.  Polk  and  James  Standifer.  The  United  States  Senators  were 
Hugh  L.  White  and  Felix  Grundy.  From  this  time  on  to  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  war  no  state  had  a  stronger  representation  in  Congress  than  Tennessee 
possessed. 

The  first  session  of  the  Eighteenth  General  Assembly  convened  on  Septem- 
ber 21,  1829.  Governor  Hall  in  his  message  alluded  to  the  unexpected  resigna- 
tion of  Governor  Houston.  He  recommended  revision  of  the  penal  code,  the 
establishment  of  a  penitentiary,  a  modification  of  punishments,  consideration  of 
internal  improvements,  education,  the  unstable  currency  and  usury. 

Carroll's  second  series  of  administrations 

Governor  Carroll  was  inaugurated  on  October  1,  1829.  In  his  message  lie 
recommended  the  closing  of  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  of  the  State,1"  an  amend- 
ment of  the  criminal  law,  establishment  of  a  penitentiary,  systems  of  general 
education  and  internal  improvements.  Important  laws  were  enacted  on  most  of 
these  subjects.  The  penitentiary  bill  was  passed  and  a  penitentiary  built  in 
1830-1831. n  An  act  was  passed  organizing  a  board  of  internal  improvement 
and  appropriating  $150,000  of  which  $60,000  was  for  East  Tennessee,  $60,000 
was  for  Middle  Tennessee  and  $30,000  for  West  Tennessee.  The  beginning  of 
the  public  schools  system  12  of  Tennessee  dates  from  the  adoption  of  an  act  at 
this  session. 

In  1830  the  population  of  Tennessee  as  shown  by  the  Federal  census  was 
684,870.  A  great  sensation  was  caused  this  year  by  the  defalcation  of  Joel  Par- 
rish,  cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee,  in  the  sum  of  $200,000.     In  1829-1830 


111  See  chapter  on  Tennessee  in  the  Bunking  Business. 

ii  This  was  built  in  Nashville  about  one-half  mile   west  of  the   Capitol.      It  cost  a  little 
less  than  $50,000. 

12  See  chapter  on  Education  in  Tennessee. 


404  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

physicians  commenced  using  quinine  in  fevers.  Dr.  Felix  Robertson 13  is 
credited  with  having  first  introduced  it  into  Tennessee. 

In  1831  Carroll  was  reelected  governor  without  opposition.  The  Nineteenth 
General  Assembly  convened  on  September  19th.  In  his  message  the  governor 
recommended  the  winding  up  of  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  and  the 
use  of  a  part  of  that  capital  in  the  improvement  of  roads.  An  act  was  passed 
abolishing  imprisonment  for  debt.  The  insurrection  of  negroes  in  Virginia 
caused  a  rigorous  statute  to  be  passed  in  relation  to  slaves  and  free  persons  of 
color.  Free  persons  of  color  were  not  permitted  to  enter  Tennessee  and  owners 
of  slaves  were  forbidden  to  emancipate  them,  unless  they  were  immediately  re- 
moved from  the  state. 

In  1832  the  governor  called  the  General  Assembly  in  extra  session  on  Septem- 
ber 3d,  for  the  purpose  of  dividing  the  state  into  congressional  districts.  The 
growth  of  the  state  made  necessary  thirteen  of  these  districts. 

The  charter  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  revoked  and  the  Union  Bank  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee  was  chartered  with  a  capital  of  three  million  dollars.14  The 
vote  in  Tennessee  for  president  of  the  United  States  was:  Jackson,  28,740;  Clay, 
1436.  Tennessee  was  greatly  aroused  in  this  year  over  nullification.  Calhoun's 
position  on  this  subject  had,  indeed,  created  excitement  throughout  the  country. 
A  great  union  meeting  was  held  in  Nashville  on  December  29,  1832,  and  Gov- 
erner  Carroll  presided.  Strong  and  pointed  resolutions  were  adopted.  An  act 
was  passed  in  this  year  for  the  establishment  of  an  asylum  for  the  insane.15 

In  1833  Carroll  was  again  reelected  governor  without  opposition.  His  popu- 
larity was  such  that  other  aspirants  realized  the  futility  of  making  a  contest 
with  him.  In  this  year  a  vote  was  taken  upon  the  question  of  calling  a  convention 
to  revise  the  constitution  of  the  state.  There  were  90,781  votes  given  for  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly,  and  53,639  for  a  convention,  being  a  majority  of 
8,122.  A  census  of  the  free  white  males  above  twenty  years  of  age  was  taken. 
The  first  session  of  the  Twentieth  General  Assembly  was  held  from  September 
16th  to  December  2nd.  On  account  of  the  proximity  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention but  few  general  laws  were  passed  at  this  session.  Among  them  were: 
"Calling  a  Constitutional  Convention  to  meet  at  Nashville  in  1834;"  several 
important  railroad  companies  and  several  banks  were  incorporated. 

THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION   OF   1834 

The  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1834  marks  the  end  of  the  second  distinct 
period  in  the  history  of  Tennessee.  The  era  of  the  long  hunter,  of  the  heroic  con- 
tender against  the  savage  Indian,  of  the  primitive  pioneer  in  dire  need  of  every- 
thing contributing  to  civilized  life  ended  with  the  adoption  of  the  constitution 
of  1796.     Then  followed  the  period  of  the  old  frontier  civilization,  gradually 


is  Dr.  Felix  Robertson  was  a  son  of  Gen.  James  Robertson,  and  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  Nashville,  was  mayor  of  Nashville  and  an  eminent  physician. 

J*  The  state  took  $500,000  of  the  stock  of  this  bank  and  issued  therefor  500  five  per  cent 
bonds  of  $1,000  each. 

is  This  was  located  about  one  mile  from  Nashville  and  was  the  first  charitable  institution 
established  and  maintained  by  the  state.  It  was  ready  for  the  reception  of  inmates  in 
1840;  but  soon  proved  to  be  inadequate.  Due  to  the  inspiration  of  that  eminent  philanthropist, 
Dorothea  Lynde  Dix,  it  was  decided  that  a  new  asylum  be  erected,  of  ample  proportions,  on 
a  new  and  better  site.  In  1847  the  state  asylum  commissioners  purchased  a  farm  about 
eight  miles  from  Nashville,  on  the  Murfrcesboro  Pike  and  erected  a  large  and  well  arranged 
asylum,  which  was  opened  in  1852.  It  is  known  as  the  Central  Asylum  for  the  Insane.  The 
state  has  also  erected  the  East  Tennessee  Asylum  for  the  Insane  near  Knoxville  and  the 
West  Tennessee  Asylum  for  the  Insane,  near  Bolivar. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  405 

changing  from  its  simple  and  inartificial  conditions,  as  the  state  increased  in 
population  and  wealth.  The  area  of  cultivation  expanded ;  the  log  cabin  gave 
place  to  the  comfortable  home,  settlements  widened ;  hamlets  became  towns, 
towns  became  cities,  new  counties  were  erected,  schools,  churches  and  courthouses 
were  built. 

Manufactures  and  commerce,  too,  were  beginning  Jo  flourish,  wealth  accumu- 
lated and  ambitious  plans  for  private  enterprise  and  public  improvement  were 
projected,  but  were  impeded  by  the  clumsy  machinery  of  state  government.  The 
constitution  of  1796  was  outgrown,  and  by  the  time  of  Carroll's  second  series  of 
administrations  the  demand  for  a  new  constitution  suited  to  the  times  became 
insistent  and  finally  irresistible.  To  William  Carroll  is  due  the  credit  of  usher- 
ing in  what  may  be  called  the  beginning  of  the  modern  period. 

A  new  constitution  was  demanded  especially  to  improve  the  methods  of  levy- 
ing taxes,  electing  state  officers,  avoiding  conflicts  between  the  different  courts 
and  to  promote  a  good  system  of  internal  improvements  by  permitting  the  state 
to  assist.  The  constitution  of  1796  had  made  taxes  lighter  in  proportion  upon 
the  large  land  owners  than  upon  the  small  ones.  This  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
a  large  part  of  the  framers  of  that  instrument  were  large  land  owners  and 
speculators,  as  were  most  of  the  prominent  leaders  of  that  day.  Under  that 
constitution,  too,  only  the  governor  and  the  members  of  the  Legislature  were 
elected  by  the  people.  Carroll  and  others  advocated  a  change  in  the  constitution 
to  effect  reforms  in  these  and  in  other  matters  in  the  government  of  the  state. 
And  Carroll  was  a  particularly  warm  advocate  of  internal  improvements,  de- 
manding that  Tennessee  should  take  that  commanding  position  in  the  march  of 
progress  to  which  she  was  entitled  by  her  vast  resources. 

In  pursuance  of  ' '  An  act  to  provide  for  the  calling  of  a  Convention, ' '  passed 
on  the  27th  of  November,  1833,  an  election  was  held  on  the  first  Thursday  and 
Friday  in  March,  1834,  and  the  following  persons  were  elected  as  members: 

Carter  County — William  B.  Carter. 

Washington  County — Matthew  Stephenson. 

Sullivan  County — Abraham  McClellan. 

Greene  County — Robert  J.  McKinney. 

Hawkins  County — John  A.  McKinney. 

Jefferson,  Grainger,  Claiborne  and  Campbell  Counties — Calloway  Hodges, 
Richard  Bradshaw  and  Gray  Garrett. 

Cocke  and  Sevier  Counties — William  C.  Roadman. 

Knox  County — Bradley  Kimbrough. 

MeMinn  County — John  Neal. 

Roane  County — James  I.  Greene. 

Anderson  and  Morgan  Counties — John  Whitson. 

Rhea  and  Hamilton  Counties — William  T.  Senter. 

Bledsoe  and  Marion  Counties — John  Kelly. 

Washington,  Greene,  Sevier,  Cocke,  Blount,  Monroe  and  MeMinn  Counties — 
John  McGauhey. 

Overton  and  Fentress  Counties — Hugh  C.  Armstrong. 

Jackson  County — James  W.  Smith. 

White  County — Richard  Nelson. 

Warren  and  Franklin  Counties — William  C.  Smartt. 

Smith  and  Sumner  Counties — John  J.  White,  Robert  Allen  and  Isaac  Walton. 

Wilson  County — Burchett  Douglass  and  Robert  M.  Burton. 

Rutherford  County— William  Ledbetter  and  Henry  Ridley. 

Bedford  County— Jos.  Kincaid  and  Jonathan  Webster. 

Lincoln  and  Giles  Counties — James  Fulton,  A.  A.  Kincannon  and  Thos.  C. 
Porter. 


406  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Davidson  County — Francis  B.  Fogg  and  Robert  Weakley. 
Williamson  County — Newton  Cannon  and  William  G.  Childress. 
Maury  County — Terry  H.  Cahal  and  Robert  L.  Cobb. 
Robertson  County — Richard  Cheatham. 
Montgomery  County — Willie  Blount. 

Dickson,    Stewart   and    Humphreys    Counties — Jas.    Gray    and    John    Mont- 
gomery. # 

Hickman,  Wayne  and  Lawrence  Counties — Boling  Gordon  and  Henry  Sharp. 

Henry  County — Peter  Kendall. 

Carroll  County — Ennis  Cry. 

Henderson  County — John  Purely. 

Perry,  Hardin  and  McNairy  Counties — James  Scott  and  Maclin  Cross. 

Madison  County — Adam  Huntsman. 

Hardeman  County — Julius  C.  N.  Robertson. 

Fayette  County — West  H.  Humphreys. 

Shelby  County — Adam  R.  Alexander. 

Gibson  and  Dyer  Counties — Nelson  I.  Hess. 

Weakley  and  Obion  Counties — George  W.  L.  Marr. 

Haywood  and  Tipton  Counties — William  H.  Loving. 

The  delegates  assembled  on   Monday,  May   19,   1834.     General  William  B. 

Carter  16   was  elected  president,   Colonel  William  K.   Hill,   secretary,    and   Dr. 

William  I.  I.  Morrow,  assistant  secretary.  After  a  laborious  session  of  104  days 
the  constitution  was  adopted.17 


is  Gen.  W.  B.  Carter  was  the  son  of  Lanclon  Carter  who  was  secretary  of  the  Jonesboro 
convention  which  led  to  the  State  of  Franklin,  and  Speaker  of  the  Senate  of  the  State  of 
Franklin.  He  was  the  grandson  of  John  Carter,  Chairman  of  the  Court  of  Five  of  the 
Watauga  Association  and,  as  such,  the  first  judge  in  Tennessee.  Intellectually  and  physically 
William  B.  Carter  was  one  of  the  striking  figures  of  the  time  in  Tennessee.  He  served  ac- 
ceptably three  terms  in  Congress. 

17  For  the  three  constitutions  adopted  by  Tennessee,  see  Appendix. 


PERIOD  III 


THE  PERIOD  OP  INTERNAL  PROGRESS 
1834-1870 

CHAPTER  XIX 

FROM  CANNON  TO  JONES 

THE    ADMINISTRATIONS    OP    NEWTON    CANNON,    1835-1839 THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF 

JAMES    K.    POLK,    1839-1841 THE    ADMINISTRATION    OF    JAMES    C.    JONES,    1841- 

1845 — THE    FLORIDA    WAR — THE    ORIGIN    AND    PROGRESS    OF    THE    WHIG    PARTY — 
HISTORY  AND  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  CAPITOL REMOVAL  OF  THE  CHEROKEES. 

The  new  constitution  was  submitted  to  the  people  in  an  election  held  on 
March  5th  and  6th,  1835,  and  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  42,666  to  17,691.  It  should 
be  noted,  in  passing,  that  in  the  ordinance  passed  by  the  Convention  x  for  the 
vote  on  the  new  constitution,  it  was  provided  that  only  those  could  vote  who  were 
included  in  the  first  section  of  the  fourth  article  as  amended.  The  effect  of  this 
action  was  to  disfranchise  the  free  negroes  before  the  adoption  of  the  new  con- 
stitution.   The  free  negroes  would  have  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 

In  1835  William  Carroll  who  was  completing  his  second  series  of  three  suc- 
cessive administrations,  six  years,  as  governor,  and  would  have  been  ineligible, 
had  the  old  constitution  been  in  force,  offered  himself  for  a  fourth  successive 
term.  He  was  opposed  by  Newton  Cannon,  whom  Sam  Houston  had  defeated 
for  governor  in  1827.  Cannon  had  already  had  a  highly  honorable  career, 
although  he  had  been  somewhat  criticized  for  having  returned  home  from  the 
Creek  war  before  it  was  concluded.  Nevertheless,  he  was  chosen  to  succeed 
Felix  Grundy  in  Congress  in  1814  and  continued  as  a  member  of  the  national 
House  of  Representatives  until  he  voluntarily  retired  in  1825,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  one  term,  1817-1819. 

At  this  time  the  political  lines  in  Tennessee  were  drawn  taut  for  or  against 
Hugh  L.  White,  between  whom  and  Andrew  Jackson  there  was  friction.  Can- 
non had  never  been  on  cordial  footing  with  Jackson  and  now  came  out  openly 
in  favor  of  White.  Carroll,  however,  had  always  been  an  ardent  Jackson  parti- 
san. But,  notwithstanding  Carroll's  great  personal  popularity,  his  remarkable 
record  as  governor  and  his  backing  by  Jackson,  the  current  of  public  sentiment 
in  favor  of  Judge  White  was  too  strong  to  be  stemmed  and  Cannon  was  elected 
by  a  plurality  of  more  than  11,000  votes. 

The  spirit  of  progress  which  had  been  in  evidence  in  the  years  immediately 
preceding  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution  was  more  vivid  than  ever  now 
that  this  instrument  provided  a  means  for  more  facile  and  rapid  progress.  This 
spirit  was  reflected  in  the  large  number  of  important   acts  passed  at  the  first 


i  J  ii  the  state  archives  is  the  original  journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convent  ion  of  ls:'.4, 
written  with  pen  and  ink.  It  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation,  being  substantially 
bound.  It  is  one  of  the  many  precious  records  in  the  archives  which  ought  to  he  saved  per- 
manently by  being  printed. 

407 


408  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

session  of  the  Twenty-first  General  Assembly  which  was  held  from  October  5, 
1835,  to  February  22,  1836.     Among  these  acts  were : 

"To  fix  the  first  Thursday  in  August  as  the  day  for  holding  elections  for 
Governor,  Representatives  in  Congress,  and  members  of  the  General  Assembly"; 
"Establishing  a  Supreme  Court  of  three  Judges";  "Laying  off  the  state  into 
three  chancery  divisions,  called  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western";  "Establish- 
ing eleven  judicial  circuits";  "Fixing  the  jurisdiction  of  Justices  of  the 
Peace";  "To  encourage  internal  improvements  in  the  State";  "To  create  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools  for  the  State,  consisting  of  the 
Treasurer,  Comptroller,  and  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction";  "To  pro- 
vide for  the  election  of  Treasurer  of  the  State  by  the  Legislature";  "To  pro- 
hibit lotteries  and  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets";  "To  fix  the  legal  rate  of  interest 
at  six  per  cent";  "To  appoint  an  Attorney-General  for  the  State,  to  be  elected 
by  the  Legislature  for  six  years";  also  a  joint  resolution  "Recommending  Hugh 
L.  White  for  President."  There  were  many  acts  incorporating  railroads;  many 
new  counties  were  created ;  and  many  cities  incorporated. 

Tennessee  was  not  represented  in  the  convention  which  nominated  Van  Buren 
at  Baltimore  in  1835.  But  the  vote  of  the  state,  in  the  absence  of  a  delegation, 
was  cast  by  a  man  named  Rucker,  which  fact  gave  rise  to  the  political  expression 
"to  Ruckerize. " 

In  this  year  James  K.  Polk  defeated  John  Bell,  the  incumbent,  for  Speaker 
of  the  National  House  of  Representatives,  and  was  reelected  in  1837. 

The  second  session  of  the  Twenty-first  General  Assembly  was  called  by  Gov- 
ernor Cannon  for  the  purpose  principally  of  making  "an  appropriation  to  de- 
fray, in  part,  the  expense  of  making  the  necessary  examinations  and  surveys,  in 
order  to  ascertain  the  most  eligible  route  through  our  State,  for  the  contemplated 
Louisville,  Cincinnati  and  Charleston  Rail  Road."  It  met  on  October  3d  and 
adjourned  on  October  26,  1836.  The  "Pennsylvania  Plan"  was  adopted  for  the 
construction  of  railroads.  This  plan  provided  for  the  state  to  take  one-third  of 
the  stock,  for  which  bonds  were  to  be  issued  after  two-thirds  were  furnished 
by  individuals. 

In  1837,  Newton  Cannon  was  elected  governor  by  a  majority  of  17,494  over 
Gen.  Robert  Armstrong,  who  had  recently  returned  from  the  Seminole  war  in 
which  he  commanded  the  troops  from  Middle  Tennessee  and  in  which  he  deserv- 
edly gained  a  high  military  reputation.  Nevertheless,  he  was  a  Jackson  man,  a 
democrat,  and  the  whigs  were  in  the  numerical  majority.  Hence,  in  the  election, 
his  personal  popularity  went  for  naught. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twenty-second  General  Assembly  met  on  October  2, 
1837,  and  adjourned  on  January  27,  1838.  Three  additional  judicial  circuits 
were  established,  making  fourteen  in  all.  The  following  important  acts  were 
passed : 

"Repealing  the  law  granting  license  to  sell  liquor  in  less  quantities  than  a 
quart";  "Defining  the  line  run  between  Tennessee  and  Mississippi"  by  com- 
missioners on  the  part  of  the  two  states;  "Establishing  Register's  office  at  Cleve- 
land for  the  Ocoee  Land  District";  "Suppressing  the  Sale  of  Bowie  Knives"; 
"Establishing  a  uniform  system  of  public  schools  in  the  state."  New  counties 
were  erected  and  many  cities  were  incorporated.  Also  a  number  of  turnpikes, 
railroads  and  academies  were  incorporated. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  action  taken  at  this  session  was  the  issuance  of 
a  charter  to  the  Bank  of  Tennessee,3  together  with  legislation  in  connection  there- 
with.    The  capital  stock  of  the  bank  was  five  million  dollars  raised  from  the  state 


;;  See    chapter   on    Tennessee   in   the   Banking    Business. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK 
Eleventh  President  of  the  United  States,  1845-1849 


THt  ii6*ARy 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  411 

school  fund.  The  governor  was  directed  to  issue  bonds  aggregating  $2,500,000 
and  $1,000,000  of  these  bonds  were  sold  at  par  in  New  York.  "Post  notes," 
redeemable  in  specie  either  before  or  after  maturity  were  authorized.  The  presi- 
dent of  the  bank  was  William  Niehol,  the  cashier  was  Henry  Ewing.  The  prin- 
cipal bank  was  established  at  Nashville  and  there  were  two  branch  banks  in  each 
grand  division  of  the  state.  A  very  strong  board  of  directors  was  selected  and  it 
was  thought  that  the  financial  problem  of  the  state  had  been  solved.  Nevertheless 
a  great  panic  took  place  this  year  throughout  the  United  States,  and  Tennessee 
siiffered  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  country.  In  this  state  specie  payments 
by  the  banks  were  suspended  and  there  was  considerable  depression  in  real  estate 
and  in  other  values.  There  was  some  removal  of  citizenship,  also,  particularly 
to  Texas  which  was  regarded  with  great  favor  by  those  who  were  dissatisfied 
with  their  homes  for  whatever  reason.  A  majority  of  those  who  moved  were  in 
debt,  some  insolvent  and  all  hoped  to  better  their  condition. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  BETWEEN  CANNON   AND  POLK 

The  whigs  had  been  successful  in  the  two  gubernatorial  campaigns  of  1835 
and  1837,  and  had  supported  Hugh  Lawson  White  for  president  in  1836,  carry- 
ing the  state  for  him  against  Martin  Van  Buren  by  a  majority  of  nearly  10,000. 
Hence,  the  democrats  determined  to  make  a  supreme  effort  to  recover  the  state 
in  1839.  As  most  of  the  newspapers  in  the  state  had  become  whig  papers,  the 
democrats  enlarged  the  Nashville  Union  into  a  tri-weekly  paper  and  made 
Jeremiah  George  Harris,  previously  a  New  Englander,  editor  of  it.  They  also 
established  E.  G.  Eastman,  another  New  Englander,  as  editor  of  the  Knoxville 
Argus.  Both  of  these  men  were  experienced  and  brilliant  political  promoters  and 
writers  and  were  no  small  factors  in  achieving  victory  over  strong  odds.  The 
most  important  factor,  of  course,  was  the  candidate,  James  K.  Polk,  who  was 
considered  the  strongest  man  whom  the  democrats  could  have  selected.  He  was 
at  the  time  serving  his  second  term  as  Speaker  of  the  National  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. He  was  a  man  of  boundless  energy ;  of  great  ability,  and  of  spotless 
character.  As  soon  as  Congress  adjourned,  he  entered  upon  the  canvass  and, 
in  joint  debate  with  Cannon  stumped  Tennessee  "from  Carter  to  Shelby."  Polk 
was  probably  the  greatest  stump  speaker  whom  Tennessee  has  produced  with  the 
possible  exception  of  Isham  G.  Harris  and  Andrew  Johnson.  Cannon  was  no 
match  for  him,  was  not  a  popular  speaker  and  alienated  many  whigs  by  his 
hesitation  in  declaring  for  Clay  against  Van  Buren.  Polk  was  elected  by  a 
majority  of  2,616,  exclusive  of  the  vote  of  Shelby  County  which  was  not 
returned. 

The  principal  acts  of  the  Twenty-third  General  Assembly,  which  was  held 
from  October  7,  1839,  to  February  1,  1840,  were  the  following: 

"To  repeal  all  laws  authorizing  the  state  to  take  stock  in  internal  improve- 
ment companies";  "Amending  the  school  law";  also  acts  were  passed  erecting 
several  new  counties  and  chartering  several  cities,  and  several  turnpike  com- 
panies, railroad  companies  and  academies.  A  resolution  was  adopted  to  fix 
the  state  capital  at  Murfreesboro,  but  no  appropriation  was  made  to  cover  the 
expense  of  removal  from  Nashville. 


A  joint  resolution  was  adopted  instructing  the  United  States  senators  f 
Tennessee  to  vote  against  bills  to  charter  national  banks,  but  to  vote  in  favor 
the  sub-treasury  bill.     After  the  passage  of  this  resolution  Hugh  Lawson  Whit 
and  Ephraim  H.  Foster,  Tennessee's  senators,  who  felt  that  they  could  not  coi 


rim] 
or  of 

e 


412  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

scientiously  carry  out  these  instructions,  resigned  and  Alex.  Anderson  was 
appointed  in  place  of  White  and  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson  in  place  of  Felix  Grundy, 
recently  deceased,  who  had  been  elected  in  place  of  Foster.  White  died  on  April 
10,  1840. 

In  1840,  a  "Great  Whig  Convention"  met  at  Nashville,  over  which  Ephraim 
H.  Foster  presided  and  Henry  Clay  4  made  a  speech.  Much  to  the  disappoint- 
ment of  Andrew  Jackson  the  state  went  for  Harrison  and  Tyler  by  more  than 
12,000  majority. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  BETWEEN  POLK  AND  JONES 

In  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1841  Newton  Cannon  was  eliminated  by 
death,  although  it  is  doubtful  if  he  would  have  been  chosen  in  any  event  to  carry 
the  banner  of  the  whigs.  In  this  emergency  the  whigs  put  forward  as  their 
nominee  James  C.  Jones,  a  young  man,  who  had  spent  most  of  his  life  on  the  farm 
and  whose  political  experience  was  limited  to  one  term  in  the  lower  house  of  the 
Legislature.  In  the  national  campaign  of  1840,  however,  he  was  a  candidate  for 
elector  on  the  Harrison  and  Tyler  ticket  and  made  a  canvass  of  his  district  which 
gave  him  considerable  reputation  as  a  "rough  and  tumble"  stump  speaker.  He 
was  by  no  means  the  equal  of  Polk  in  knowledge  of  political  questions,  history 
or  general  information ;  but  he  was  more  than  Polk 's  equal  in  the  character  of 
wit,  humor  and  burlesque  which  he  employed  and  which  appealed  strongly  to 
his  audiences.  Hence,  as  the  state  at  that  time  was  normally  whig,  he  won  over 
Polk  in  1841  and  again  in  1843, 5  his  majority  in  each  election  being  a  little  more 
than  3,000. 

"the  immortal  thirteen"" 

In  1841-1842  the  Twenty-fourth  General  Assembly  was  held  from  October 
4,  1841,  to  February  7,  1842.  The  most  sensational  occurrence  at  this  session 
was  the  refusal  of  the  democrats  of  the  Senate  to  meet  with  the  House  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  United  States  Senators.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Senators 
Foster  and  White  resigned  because  they  could  not  conscientiously  obey  the  in- 
structions of  the  Legislature.  The  appointments  of  Anderson  and  Nicholson 
expired  with  the  incoming  Legislature.  In  the  House  the  whigs  had  a  small 
majority.  In  the  Senate  there  were  thirteen  democrats  and  twelve  whigs.  On 
joint  ballot  the  whigs  would  have  had  a  majority.  The  refusal  of  the  thirteen 
democrats  (called  the  "Immortal  Thirteen")  led  by  Andrew  Johnson  and 
Samuel  H.  Laughlin,  to  meet  with  the  House  caused  Tennessee  to  be  unrepre- 
sented in  the  national  Senate  from  1841  to  1843,  as  Governor  Jones  did  not  make 
appointments  to  fill  these  vacancies. 

Acts  were  passed  at  this  session  "To  suppress  illegal  voting"  and  "to  en- 


*  At  Nashville  a  multitude  which  no  man  might  number,  composed  of  the  old  adherents 
of  Clay,  hung  upon  his  accents,  and  as  he  denounced  the  principles  and  measures  of  Jackson- 
ism,  rent  the  air  with  thundershouts  of  applause  which  invaded  even  the  peace  of  the 
Hermitage.    Baldwin's  "Party  Leaders,"  p.  344. 

s  More  will  be  said  about  these  and  other  gubernatorial  campaigns  under  the  head  of 
' '  The  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Whig  Party ' '  in  this  chapter. 

6  The  names  of  "The  Immortal  Thirteen"  were:  Jno.  P.  Hardwicke,  John  A.  Gardner, 
Andrew  Johnson,  Samuel  H.  Laughlin,  Sackfield  Maclin,  Barclay  Martin,  Thos.  J.  Matthews, 
John  Miller,  Robt.  W.  Powell,  Wm.  T.  Ross,  Richard  Waterhouse,  Richard  Warner  and 
Speaker  Samuel  Turney. 


TOMB  OF  PRESIDENT  JAMES  K.  POLK  OX  CAPITOL  GROUNDS,  NASHVILLE 


HOME   OF   PRESIDENT   JAMES   K.    POLK,   NASHVILLE,   AS    IT    WAS    BEING   DIS- 
MANTLED IN   1901 
Vol.  1—27 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  415 

courage  domestic  manufacturing."  Resolutions  were  passed  in  favor  of  the 
annexation  of  Texas  and  for  the  repeal  of  the  national  bankrupt  law. 

In  1843,  the  Twenty-fifth  General  Assembly  was  held  from  October  2,  1843, 
to  January  31,  1844.  Acts  were  passed  "Establishing  Nashville  as  the  per- 
manent seat  of  government;"  "To  provide  for  thirteen  electoral  districts,  and 
two  electors  for  the  state  at  large  for  President  and  Vice-president  to  be  voted 
for  by  the  whole  state  on  a  general  ticket;"  "Appointing  Wm.  Carroll,  Wm. 
Nichol,  John  M.  Bass,  Samuel  D.  Morgan,  James  Erwin,  and  Morgan  W.  Brown, 
Commissioners  of  Construction,  and  providing  for  the  erection  of  the  eapitol." 
Some  acts  were  also  passed  providing  for  the  erection  of  new  counties  and  for 
the  chartering  of  cities. 

In  1844,  James  Knox  Polk  was  nominated  at  Baltimore  on  the  ninth  ballot 
by  the  democratic  convention  and,  in  the  fall,  elected  president  of  the  United 
States.  The  great  whig  convention  of  1844  was  held  at  Nashville  and  S.  S. 
Prentiss  and  Albeit  Pike  were  the  principal  orators.  Henry  Clay  carried  Ten- 
nessee over  Polk  by  113  votes. 

SCHOOL   FOR  THE  BUND 

One  of  the  most  worthy  and  successful  of  the  public  institutions  of  Ten- 
nessee is  the  School  for  the  Blind,  located  at  Nashville.  The  genesis  of  this  great 
institution  was  in  a  little  school  for  the  blind  established  by  Rev.  James  Chanip- 
lin7  at  Nashville  after  he  had  himself  received  instruction  in  the  Ohio  Asylum 
for  the  Blind  which  he  entered  in  1842.  In  order  to  enlist  an  interest  in  his  work 
he  gave  exhibitions  in  methods  of  instructing  the  blind,  one  of  which  was  before 
the  Legislature,  which  was  so  impressed  that  it  decided  to  adopt  his  school  as  the 
nucleus  of  a  state  institution  for  the  blind  and,  on  January  29,  1844,  made  an 
appropriation  for  its  support.8 

THE  FLORIDA   WAR 

During  the  second  administration  of  President  Jackson  and  the  governor- 
ship of  Cannon,  trouble  arose  with  the  Seminole  Indians  who  were  making 
depredations  upon  the  people  of  Florida  and  of  Georgia.  Tennessee  was  called 
on  by  the  secretary  of  war  to  furnish  a  brigade  of  volunteers  to  assist  in  punish- 
ing the  savages.  Two  regiments  were  enlisted  in  Middle  Tennessee,  the  first 
regiment  being  composed  of  two  companies  each  from  Maury  and  Giles  counties, 
and  one  each  from  Rutherford,  Williamson,  Franklin,  Lincoln,  Madison  and 
Gibson  counties;  and  the  second  regiment  consisting  of  one  company  each  from 
Smith,  Wilson,  Robertson  and  Dickson  counties,  and  three  companies  each  from 
Sumner  and  Davidson  counties.  These  troops  were  commanded  by  Gen.  Robert 
Armstrong.  The  troops  from  East  Tennessee  were  commanded  by  Gen.  R.  G. 
Dunlap.  In  all,  Tennessee  was  asked  to  furnish  2,000  troops  and  more  than  4,000 
volunteered. 

The  troops  made  rendezvous  at  Fayetteville  in  June,  1836,  completed  their 
organization  and  set  out  for  Florida  on  July  4th.     The  head  of  the  revoll   was 


7  In  his  book  entitled  "Early  Biography,  Travels  and  Adventures  of  Rev.  James  Champ- 
lin,  Who  Was  Born  Blind,  Written  by  Himself,"  he  relates  the  fact  that  he  was  one  of 
ten  children,  five  of  whom,  including  himself,   were  born  blind. 

8  History  and  Prospectus,  Tennessee  School  for  the  Blind,  by  J.  V.  Armstrong,  Super- 
intendent,  pp.  44-45. 


416  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Osceola,  a  young,  dashing  chief,  a  half-breed,  athletic  and  of  remarkable  resource 
and  address,  who  made  the  occasion  of  the  war  by  treacherously  causing  the 
assassination  of  General  Thompson,  the  United  States  Agent  in  connection  with 
the  removal  of  the  Seminoles  to  the  Indian  reservation  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Tennessee  troops  fought  with  great  gallantry  in  several  pitched  battles 
with  the  Indians,  including  the  battle  of  Wahoo  Swamp.  This  was  their  last 
battle  for  the  reason  that  their  term  of  service  expired  shortly  after  it,  and  they 
returned  home.  The  war,  however,  was  virtually  over  because  the  spirit  of  the 
Indians  was  broken  and  they  had  retired  far  within  the  Everglades,  although 
they  continued  hostilities  sporadically  until  1842. 

Judge  Jo   C.  Guild,  who  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in  this  war,  says  :° 

"Although  the  campaign  had  not  been  a  brilliant  one,  because  of  the  un- 
favorable territory  in  which  we  had  to  operate,  yet  a  more  patriotic,  courageous 
brigade  never  left  the  State  of  Tennessee.  The  soldierly  bearing  of  the  men 
was  conspicuous  both  on  the  march  and  in  battle.  By  their  great  courage,  their 
bold  and  peerless  charges,  they  drove  the  Indians  into  the  Everglades,  far  re- 
moved from  the  white  settlements,  which  gave  a  security  to  life  and  property 
the  people  of  Florida  had  not  enjoyed  for  a  long  period.  The  vigorous  manner 
in  which  the  Tennessee  volunteers  waged  war  contributed  very  much  toward 
inducing  upwards  of  two  thousand  of  the  Indians  to  come  in  and  surrender  to 
General  Jesup  in  1837,  and  to  go  to  the  reservation  provided  for  them  west  of 
the  Mississippi." 

Guild  also  gives  the  following  list  of  prominent  men  of  Tennessee  who  served 
with  marked  distinction  in  this  war:  Neill  S.  Brown,  William  Trousdale,  Wil- 
liam B.  Campbell,  Gen.  Robt.  Armstrong,  Gen.  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer,  Russell 
Houston,  Judge  Terry  H.  Cahal,  Judge  Nathaniel  Baxter,  Gen.  J.  B.  Bradford, 
Oscar  F.  Bledsoe,  Col.  John  H.  Savage,  Col.  J.  H.  McMahon.  Gen.  Lee  Reed  and 
Jesse  Finley,  and  says:  "The  brigade  has  furnished  the  country  four  congress- 
men, eight  legislators,  three  governors,  two  chancellors,  three  judges,  one  mem- 
ber of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1870,  and  two  ministers  to  foreign 
governments. ' ' 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY 

At  the  time  of  the  admittance  of  Tennessee  into  the  Union  there  were  in  this 
state  the  followers  of  the  two  distinct  schools  of  national  statesmanship,  the 
Federalists  who  adhered  to  the  doctrines  of  Alexander  Hamilton  and  the  re- 
publicans who  adhered  to  those  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  In  Tennessee  the  number 
of  Federalists  was  negligible;  in  the  nation  they  were  supreme.  After  the  ad- 
ministration of  John  Adams,  however,  the  Federalist  Party  had  virtually  no 
national  power,  and  even  the  existence  of  Federalists  as  a  restraining  influence, 
except  in  the  New  England  states,  was  removed  by  the  causes  and  events  of  the 
second  war  with  England,  which  they  said  was  due  to  the  instigations  of  "Madi- 
son, Grundy,  and  the  Devil."  Grundy  had  been  elected  to  Congress  as  a  war 
republican  and  correctly  represented  all  the  people  of  Tennessee,  who  were 
very  strongly  republican. 

From  this  time  on  there  was  no  organized  opposition  to  the  republican  (or, 
as  it  was  called  generally  in  Jackson's  regime  and  altogether  since  that  time,  the 
democratic)  party,  until  after  the  rivalry  arose  between  Jackson  and  Clay  and 


s  Old  Times  in  Tennessee,  p.  138. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  417 

the  latter  had  announced  his  American  system.  Yet  in  Tennessee  the  democrats 
held  undisputed  sway  long  after  Clay's  national  political  secession. 

The  genesis  of  the  whig  party  in  Tennessee  was  in  the  opposition  to  Andrew 
Jackson.10  Every  man  whom  Jackson  had  ever  opposed  in  Tennessee,  except 
Carroll,  eventually  became  a  whig.  For  many  years  the  opposition  to  Jackson, 
feeble  at  first,  was  developing.  Between  the  War  of  1812  and  Jackson's  second 
term  as  president,  his  influence  was  paramount  in  Tennessee  and  virtually  so  in 
the  nation  for  a  long  period  of  time.  During  this  period  he  accumulated  many 
strong  enemies  as  well  as  strong  and  devoted  friends.  His  positive  character 
tended  to  make  men  his  friends  or  his  enemies.  "When  he  became  president, 
naturally  he  put  his  friends  into  the  available  offices,  and,  equally  naturally, 
those  ambitious  men  who  were  not  in  harmony  with  him,  such  as  Cannon,  Bell, 
Foster,  Gentry,  Crockett  and  Williams,  were  keen  to  wrest  from  him  the  control 
of  state  politics.  In  the  estrangement  between  Jackson  and  Hugh  Lawson  White 
they  saw  their  opportunity.  Jackson  was  approaching  the  end  of  his  second 
term  as  president  and  felt  himself  under  a  weight  of  obligation  to  Martin  Van 
Buren,  whom  he  desired  to  be  his  successor.  Many  of  Jackson's  friends  were 
opposed  to  Van  Buren,  among  them  Hugh  Lawson  White.  Up  to  this  time  a 
beautiful  friendship  had  existed  between  Jackson  and  White.  Next  to  Jackson, 
White  was  the  most  popular  man  in  Tennessee.  He  was  the  son  of  Gen.  James 
White,  the  founder  of  Knoxville,  and  had,  as  we  have  seen,  rendered  material 
help  to  Jackson  in  the  Creek  war,  had  been  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Tennessee,  and  had  been  unanimously  elected  United  States  senator  when 
Jackson  resigned  that  position  in  1825.  Such  was  White's  popularity  that  a 
movement  was  set  on  foot  to  make  him  a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  Jack- 
son became  very  angry  at  this  movement  and  sought  to  placate  White's  opposi- 
tion to  Van  Buren  by  making  him  a  member  of  his  cabinet,  then  by  offering  him 
a  position  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and,  finally, 
by  suggesting  that  he  become  a  candidate  for  vice  president  on  the  ticket  with 
Van  Buren.  White  firmly  declined  all  these  overtures.  Then  Jackson  made  the 
fatal  mistake  of  threatening  "to  make  White's  name  odious,"  if  he  should  con- 
sent to  be  a  candidate  in  opposition  to  Van  Buren.  White  was  not  a  man  who 
could  be  dictated  to  even  by  a.  friend,  and  still  less  could  he  be  cowed  by  a 
threat.  He  immediately  gave  his  consent.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  whig 
party  in  Tennessee. 

John  Bell  directed  White's  campaign  and  called  his  followers  the  "undis- 
ciplined militia  of  the  party."  These  were  the  recalcitrants  who  voted  for  Har- 
rison and  Tyler  in  1840  and  for  all  the  whig  candidates,  state  and  national,  as 
long  as  there  was  a  whig  party.  It  was  at  this  time  that  they  began  to  be  called 
White  Whigs,  although  White  never  accepted  the  name  for  himself. 

The  period  beginning  at  that  time  and  ending  with  1860  represented  the  very 
zenith  of  the  greatness  of  Tennessee.  Due  to  the  liberal  laws  permitted  by  the 
new  constitution  Tennessee  progressed  in  population  and  wealth  until,  in  a  few 
years,  it  became  one  of  the  greatest  and  richest  states  in  the  Union.  Its  political 
prestige,  influence  and  leadership  were  also  acknowledged  and  kept  pace  with 
its  material  development.  The  political  sky  throughout  this  period  was  illumi- 
nated by  the  most  brilliant  stars.  Although  that  rare  incomparable  luminary. 
Andrew  Jackson,  was  retiring  from  active  political  life  and  died  in  1845,  his  in- 


1,1  Those  opposed  to  Jackson  were  not  called  whigs  until  1834.     Previously  they  were  in 
what  was  known  as  the  national  republican  party. 


118  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

fluence  was  strongly  felt  throughout  this  period.  Hugh  Lawson  Wliite  and 
Felix  Grundy,  who  both  died  in  1840,  influenced  affairs  remarkably,  but  even  be- 
fore their  demise  there  was  appearing  on  the  scene  a  younger  set  of  men  scarcely 
inferior  to  the  titans  just  mentioned,  who  formed  a  galaxy  remarkable  both  for 
brilliancy  and  for  sound  statesmanship  and  not  equalled  in  numbers  by  any  other 
state  in  the  Union  during  the  same  period. 

While  the  Whigs  were  defeated  in  the  national  elect  inn  in  1836,  White  carried 
Tennessee  by  a  handsome  majority;  and  the  Whigs  carried  every  other  national 
election  from  this  time  to  1856,  with  the  exception  of  1844,  when  Polk  was 
elected.  Even  in  that  year  the  Whigs  carried  Tennessee.  The  most  outstanding 
of  the  great  men  who  fought  the  amazing  political  battles  of  this  period  in  Ten- 
nessee were:  James  K.  Polk,  John  Bell,  Ephraim  H.  Poster,  Bailie  Peyton. 
Spencer  Jarnagin,  Cave  Johnson,  Aaron  V.  Brown,  James  C.  Jones,  John  Catron, 
Gustavus  A.  Henry,  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  Emerson  Etheridge, 
William  T.  Haskell,  Andrew  Johnson,  Isham  G.  Harris,  Thomas  A.  R.  Nelson. 
William  T.  Senter,  John  Netherland,  Landon  C.  Haynes,  William  Trousdale, 
William  B.  Campbell,  Xeill  S.  Brown,  Robert  Hatton  and  Horace  Maynard.11 

The  Whigs,  elated  with  their  vote  for  White  in  1836  and  the  victories  of  Can- 
non in  1835  and  1837  went  into  the  campaign  of  1839  with  great  enthusiasm  and 
confidence.  Great  was  their  disappointment  when  Polk  won  over  Cannon  in  the 
last  named  year.  Nevertheless,  infected  with  the  confidence  which  throughout 
the  Union  animated  the  followers  of  Harrison  and  Tyler,  the  whigs  of  Tennessee 
made  their  preparations  for  the  campaign  of  1840. 

About  the  middle  of  June  it  was  heralded  broadcast  that  a  Whig  delegation 
from  Indiana  would  soon  arrive  in  Nashville  with  an  Indian  canoe  as  a  present 
to  the  Tippecanoe  Club  of  this  city.  This  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  great 
political  rally  by  the  Whigs.  This  was  the  precursor  of  many  political  functions, 
which,  together  with  the  activities  of  the  democrats,  kept  excitement  up  to  an 
extraordinary  degree.  As  soon  as  the  returns  came  in,  great  was  the  rejoicing 
of  the  Whigs  and  the  depression  of  the  democrats. 

The  great  victory  achieved  by  Polk  over  Cannon  in  1839  had  made  him  a 
prominent  candidate  for  vice  president  in  1840  and  he  had  been  indorsed  for  this 
position  by  Tennessee  and  several  other  states ;  but  the  Democratic  National  Con- 
vention, which,  in  that  year,  was  presided  over  by  Gen.  William  Carroll,  of  Ten- 
nessee, made  no  choice  for  that  office,  and  most  of  the  democratic  electoral  votes 
were  cast  for  Richard  M.  Johnson,  of  Kentucky. 

The  result  of  the  national  election  in  1840,  in  which  Harrison  and  Tyler 
carried  Tennessee  by  a  rousing  majority,  encouraged  the  Whigs  to  believe  that 
they  might  defeat  Polk  for  the  governorship  in  1841.  The  only  candidate  they 
had  available  was  James  C.  Jones,  who  had  made  some  reputation  as  a  speaker 
in  the  presidential  campaign  in  the  preceding  year. 

It  is  said  that  Polk  was  the  first  candidate  in  Tennessee  who  suggested  that 
the  nominees  hold  joint  debates.  He  made  an  ideal  debater.  He  was  handsome, 
with  clear-cut  features,  pale  complexion,  rather  dark,  had  raven-black  hair  and 
piercing,  steel-gray  eyes.  His  manner  was  composed  and  his  style  of  oratory 
attractive.  He  was  grave  and  thoughful,  yet  quick  at  repartee  and  keen  in  dis- 
covering weaknesses  in  an  opponent.  Moreover,  he  was  full  of  humorous  anec- 
dotes and  pointed  illustrations  and  possessed  a  power  of  ridicule  seldom  equalled. 
How,  then,  could  Jones  win  against  so  doughty  an  antagonist  ?     Opinions  differ. 


ii  Sketches  of  all  these  appear  in  that  part  of  this  history  which  is  devoted  to  biography. 


EPHRAIM    H.    FOSTER,    1794-184? 

Celebrated    orator,    lawyer    and 

statesman 


JOHN   BELL 

Eminent     statesman    and    candidate 

for  President  in  I860 


FELIX  GRUNDY,  1777-1840 
Attorney  General  under  Van  Buren 


JUDGE  JOHN  CATRON,  1778-1865 

Chief  Justice  of  Tennessee.    Member 

of  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 


"the  u««*" 

OV  THE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  421 

Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  speaks  of  the  Polk-Joues  debate  as  follows ; 

"Governor  Polk  argued  all  the  questions  before  the  people  with  his  usual 
great  ability,  but  was  promptly  met  by  his  wiry  and  witty  opponent  every- 
where. The  Governor  had  a  happy  faculty  of  illustrating  his  arguments  before 
the  people  with  telling  anecdotes,  pat  and  to  the  point,  and  Colonel  Jones  took 
great  pride  in  anticipating  and  turning  all  the  jokes  in  his  own  favor,  which 
always  elicited  popular  applause."12 

Judge  0.  P.  Temple  gives  a  more  partial  view  of  Jones.  In  part  he  says  of 
him: 

"Jones  had  great  humor,  great  power  of  ridicule,  great  facility  in  turning 
a  point  against  an  adversary,  imperturbable  good  temper,  strong  confidence  in 
himself,  a  graveyard  solemnity  of  voice  and  face,  and  apparent  consciousness 
of  mastery  in  his  victory.  He  was  not  a  statesman  in  knowledge  nor  intellect. 
Yet,  on  the  contrary,  he  was  not  a  mere  political  puppet,  a  clown  nor  a  mounte- 
bank, amusing  his  audience  with  tricks  and  grimaces.  He  had  respectable 
ability,  and  in  a  certain  sense  very  superior  ability,  and  could  discuss,  and  did 
discuss,  the  questions  of  the  day  with  clearness  and  force.  His  presentation  of 
them  was  in  the  most  plain,  plausible,  and  fascinating  manner.  As  before 
stated,  but  few  public  speakers  I  have  heard  had  such  an  impressive,  delightful 
voice,  and  none  a  better  one,  except  Mr.  Clay  and  possibly  Mr.  Gentry.  He 
spoke  with  ardor,  enthusiasm,  and  with  immense  earnestness.  He  fired  his  words 
with  great  rapidity,  and  precision,  and  with  a  distinct  enunciation.  As  they 
flowed  from  his  lips  there  was  no  hesitation,  no  halting,  the  words  and  sentences 
following  each  other  without  a  break  or  a  pause  in  their  rapid  current.  His 
voice,  at  all  times  clear  and  distinct,  swelled  with  grandeur  when  the  dignity 
of  the  subject  demanded  it.  He  was  emphatically  a  clashing,  captivating  orator, 
indeed  wonderfully  so."13 

But  when  all  has  been  said,  it  clearly  remains  that  the  authorities  have  en- 
tirely missed  the  real  cause  of  the  victories  of  Jones  over  Polk  in  1841  and  1843. 
The  real  cause  was  the  fact  that,  in  those  years,  there  were  more  Whigs  than 
democrats  in  Tennessee.  Naturally  Polk  was  defeated.  Polk  probably  polled 
more  votes  than  any  other  democrat  in  Tennessee  could  have  polled  at  that  time. 

THE  NATIONAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1844 

After  the  death  of  President  Harrison,  it  was  the  general  expectation  of  the 
whigs  that  Tyler  would  be  controlled  by  Clay ;  but  his  independent  attitude 
resulted  in  a  battle  royal  between  Clay  and  Tyler,  and  rendered  fruitless  the 
Whig  victory  of  1840.  All  along  Clay  was  looked  to  as  the  undoubted  presiden- 
tial candidate  of  his  party  in  1844.  There  were  two  issues  of  prime  importance 
before  the  country  at  that  time,  the  Oregon  boundary  line  and  the  annexation 
of  Texas.  To  the  southern  people  the  annexation  of  Texas  was  well-nigh  vital 
and  it  was  supposed  that  Mr.  Clay  was  sound  on  that  question.  Many  years 
before  he  had  inveighed  bitterly  against  Monroe  because  he  had  in  1819  made  a 
treaty  with  Spain  in  which  the  boundary  line  of  Texas  was  placed  at  the  Sabine 
River  instead  of  the  Rio  Grande  River  as  Clay  contended  should  have  been  done. 
Besides  Clay  was  a  southern  man  and  slaveholder. 

The  southern  democrats,  too,  demanded  for  a  candidate  a  man  who  would 


"Old  Times  in  Tennessee,  p.  159. 
"Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,  pp.  250-251. 


422  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

favor  the  immediate  annexation  of  Texas.  Martin  Van  Bnren  and  Lewis  Cass 
were  the  leading  candidates  tor  the  presidency  and  James  K.  Polk  and  R.  M. 
Johnson  for  the  vice  presidency.  Van  Buren  had  the  backing  of  Andrew  Jack- 
son, which,  although  Jackson  had  retired  to  the  Hermitage,  was  very  powerful. 
A  coterie  of  southern  men,  however,  having  no  confidence  in  Van  Buren 's  sound- 
ness on  the  question  of  the  annexation  of  Texas,  was  secretly  exerting  efforts  to 
bring  about  the  nomination  of  Polk  for  President.  Polk  himself  was  committed 
to  Van  Buren. 

On  May  3,  1844,  Mr.  Clay's  famous  letter  taking  ground  against  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  arrived  at  Nashville.14  This  astounding  letter15  was  followed  al- 
most immediately  by  Mr.  Van  Buren 's  letter  taking  the  same  ground  as  Mr. 
Clay.  Both  letters  were  published  in  eleven  columns  of  the  Nashville  Union, 
of  May  7,  1844.  Both  were  very  decidely  against  annexation,  Clay's  stand 
being  particularly  bold.  Van  Buren  was  opposed  until  certain  temporary  re- 
strictions were  removed.  The  sentiments  of  both  were  alike  obnoxious  to  both 
parties  in  Tennessee.  When  Jackson  was  first  told  of  Van  Buren 's  letter  he 
exclaimed:  "It  is  forgery,  it  must  he.  Mr.  Van  Buren  never  wrote  such  a  let- 
ter." Nevertheless,  he  did  write  it  and  lost  Jackson's  support.  In  the  national 
democratic  convention  held  at  Baltimore  on  May  27,  1844,  Van  Buren 's  oppo- 
nents succeeded  in  securing  the  adoption  of  a  rule  requiring  the  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  delegates  to  secure  the  nomination.  The  effect  of  this  rule  was  to 
kill  Van  Buren 's  chances  as,  after  the  publication  of  his  letter  against  the  annex- 
ation of  Texas,  he  had  no  support  from  the  southern  delegates  and  he  could  not 
command  two-thirds  of  all  without  them.  Still  less  could  Lewis  Cass,  the  next 
prominent  candidate  do  so.  Therefore,  after  balloting  for  these  two  fruitlessly 
for  seven  times,  Polk's  name  was  presented,  according  to  previous  arrange- 
ment,10 and  his  nomination  was  put  through  with  a  rush.  George  M.  Dallas,  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  nominated  for  the  vice  presidency. 

Immediately  after  the  Baltimore  convention  the  campaign  was  opened  in 
Tennessee.  All  the  electors  and  speakers  on  both  sides  lined  up  for  the  moment- 
ous struggle.    Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  says  of  it : 

"The  hardest-fought  political  battle,  the  greatest  straggle  ensued  that  ever 
took  place  in  any  state  in  the  Union.  The  battle-cry  of  the  Democracy  was 
Polk,  Dallas,  and  Texas,  and  Texas  was  'the  biggest  man'  of  the  trio.  The 
state  was  ablaze  with  political  excitement  throughout  its  length  and  breadth. 
Barbecues  and  great  gatherings  of  the  people  in  each  county  in  the  state  were  of 


nln  a  letter  to  Cave  Johnson,  dated  May  4,  1844,  Polk  wrote:  "Clay's  anti-Texas 
letter  reached  Nashville  last  night.  If  Van  Buren  will  now  take  ground  for  annexation,  as  I 
hope  and  believe  he  will,  and  the  convention  shall  make  a  proper  nomination  for  the  Vice,  the 
democracy  will  certainly  and  beyond  all  doubt  be  again  in  the  ascendancy  in  this  state." 
Polk-Johnson  Letters. 

is  This  has  been  called  the  Raleigh  letter,  as  it  was  written  at  Raleigh  shortly  before 
Clay 's  nomination.  Later  on,  in  what  was  called  his  Alabama  letter,  with  a  view  of  recon- 
ciling his  friends  in  the  South,  he  modified  his  position,  saying  that  he  would  be  glad  to  see 
Texas  annexed,  provided  it  could  be  accomplished  without  war  with  Mexico  and  without  na- 
tional dishonor.    That  letter  did  much  to  defeat  him. 

i«  Gen.  Gideon  J.  Pillow  claimed  the  chief  if  not  indeed  the  sole  credit  for  the  maneuvers 
by  which  Polk,  the  first  "dark  horse,"  was  nominated.  A  similar  claim  was  made  by  George 
Bancroft,  of  Massachusetts,  the  historian,  afterwards  a  member  of  Polk's  cabinet.  But 
Polk's  letters  to  Cave  Johnson,  written  in  May,  1844,  and  published  in  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  I,  pp.  238-244,  show  that  the  possibility  of  Polk's  securing  the  nomination 
for  president  was  discussed  at  the  Hermitage,  and  that  this  suggestion  was  transmitted  by 
Polk  to  his  most  confidential  friend,  Cave  Johnson.  Pillow,  also  a  friend  of  Polk,  seems  to 
have  attended  to  practical  details  and  brought  the  scheme  to  fulfillment. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  423 

common  occurrence.    It  was  a  struggle  for  the  vote  of  the  state  worthy  the  men 
who  made  that  canvass  little  less  than  immortal."17 

The  greatest  galaxy  of  orators  that  ever  stumped  the  state  took  part.  Among 
them  was  John  Bell,  whose  enmity  to  Polk,  because  of  the  latter 's  twice- 
won  victory  over  the  former  for  speaker  of  the  lower  house  in  Congress,  was 
fierce  and  unrelenting.  Another  was  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  known  as  the  "Eagle 
Orator,"  which  sobriquet  he  won  in  this  campaign.  Others  were  Neill  S.  Brown, 
elected  governor  in  1847;  William  T.  Haskell,  an  orator  of  wit,  sarcasm,  fiery 
invective  and  flowery  perorations,  moreover,  one  of  the  greatest  intellects  of  his 
time;  Ephraim  H.  Foster,  who  said  of  the  interest  in  East  Tennessee  that  "the 
mountains  were  on  fire;"  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  of  whom  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
said  that  very  few  "possessed  so  much  political  knowledge,  or  were  so  ready  in 
debate."  All  these  and  many  more  spoke  for  Clay.  On  the  democratic  side 
were :  Cave  Johnson,  Aaron  V.  Brown,  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  Andrew  Johnson, 
who  all  became  still  more  distinguished  subsequently,  and  many  others. 

In  August,  1844,  both  parties  held  at  Nashville  what  were  called  in  those 
days  conventions,  popular  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  developing  party  fervor 
and  drawing  into  the  ranks  the  undecided. 

The  Democratic  Convention  was  held  on  August  17th,  and  its  avowed  purpose 
was  to  protest  against  the  "disunion  of  Texas."  Its  proceedings  were  charac- 
terized by  great  deliberation  and  dignity. 

The  Whig  Convention  was  held  on  August  21st  and  was  the  most  elaborate  in 
detail  that  had  ever  been  held  in  Tennessee  up  to  that  time.  Indeed,  it  sur- 
passed anything  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  the  Southwest.  As  Phelan  says:  "It 
was  a  tournament  from  the  pages  of  Froissart,  adapted  to  modern  times  and 
republican  conditions."18  The  procession  formed  upon  the  public  square  and 
moved,  a  vast  parade  of  approximately  six  thousand  people  to  Walnut  Grove, 
a  popular  convention  place  northwest  of  Nashville.  There  were  mounted  men, 
men  in  costumes  of  the  red,  white  and  blue  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  beautiful 
banners,  coons,  liberty-poles,  bands  of  music,  and  ladies  wearing  sashes  of  blue 
and  white  in  open  carriages.  There  were  delegations  from  virtually  all  the 
neighboring  states.  Wilson  County  drew  the  prize  for  sending  the  largest 
delegation. 

Besides  the  Tennessee  orators  on  this  occasion  there  were  two  speakers  who 
are  among  the  most  remarkable  men  in  the  entire  history  of  this  country.  These 
were  Albert  Pike  and  S.  S.  Prentiss.  Pike's  life  and  career  were  tinged  with 
the  romance  and  adventure  of  the  early  days  in  the  Southwest.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  lawyers  of  his  day  and  one  of  the  most  learned  of  men.  In 
both  prose  and  verse  his  writings  were  received  with  appreciation  even  in  Eng- 
land. Prentiss,  in  the  estimation  of  Webster  the  most  brilliant  of  American 
orators,  was  at  his  best  and  his  so-called  "courthouse  speech"  was  long  regarded 
as  the  most  remarkable  effort  of  oratory  ever  delivered  in  the  Southwest.  When, 
suffering  from  an  indisposition  to  which  he  was  subject,  he  sank  fainting,  at  the 
close  of  his  speech,  into  the  arms  of  Governor  Jones,  the  latter,  overcome  with 
emotion,  exclaimed  "Die,  Prentiss,  die.  You  will  never  have  a  more  glorious 
opportunity." 

Nevertheless,  the  efforts  of  the  Whigs  were  in  vain.  Clay  was  defeated,  al- 
though he  carried  Tennessee  by  113  votes. 


i  ~  Old  Times  in  Tennessee,  p.   166. 

1S  Phelan 's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  419. 


424  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

GRADUAL  DECADENCE  OP  THE  WHIGS 

After  the  defeat  of  Clay  in  3844  and  the  great  reduction  of  the  Whig  plural- 
ity in  that  election  in  Tennessee,  the  forces  of  that  party  were  never  again  so 
strong  nor  their  fervor  so  consuming  as  they  had  been  during  the  preceding 
five  or  six  years,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  whigs  were  victorious  in  the 
gubernatorial  races  of  1847  and  1851,  which  were  the  only  ones  that  they  subse- 
quently won.  Indeed,  both  the  whig  and  the  democratic  campaigns  of  1845 
indicated  a  reaction  against  the  fierce  partisan  zeal  of  previous  years. 

In  1845  the  contestants  for  the  governorship  were  Aaron  V.  Brown,  who  had 
been  nominated  by  the  democrats  and  Ephraim  H.  Foster,  the  nominee  of  the 
Whigs.19  Brown  had  been  the  law  partner  and  warm  friend  of  James  K.  Polk, 
had  been  a  member  of  the  Legislature  and  a  representative  in  Congress  from 
1839  to  1845.  He  was  an  orator  and  a  public  speaker  of  a  very  high  order.  He 
was  justly  popular  in  his  party  which  rallied  to  his  standard  with  zeal  and.  as  the 
sequel  showed,  with  success. 

Foster,  however,  was  no  mean  antagonist.  He  was  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent and  successful  members  of  the  bar  which  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  in  the  annals  of  Tennessee  at  which  Felix  Grundy,  Francis  B.  Fogg, 
Henry  A.  Wise  and  Bailie  Peyton  were  members.  His  partner  was  William  L. 
Brown,  who  has  been  called  the  "greatest  legal  intellect  in  Tennessee."  Foster 
had  also  been  United  States  senator,  a  colleague  of  Hugh  Lawson  White.  He 
accepted  the  nomination  when  no  other  prominent  Whig  would  have  it,  and  he 
made  a  brilliant  race,  weighed  down,  though  he  was,  with  the  charge  of  incon- 
sistency on  the  tariff  and  on  the  Texas  question.  The  position  of  the  Democratic 
party  on  the  annexation  of  Texas,  which  still  agitated  the  people,  was  more 
popular  than  that  of  the  Whig  party.  Besides,  during  the  contest,  Sam  Houston 
made  a  visit  to  Tennessee  and  still  fui'ther  influenced  the  voters.  Brown  was 
elected  by  a  majority  of  1,623. 

It  was  in  this  campaign  that  Brown  delivered  his  famous  Mount  Pisgah 
speech,  in  which  he  said : 

' '  Go  up  with  me  in  imagination  and  stand  for  awhile  on  some  lofty  summit 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Let  us  take  one  ravishing  view  of  this  broad  land  of 
liberty.  Turn  your  face  toward  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  what  do  you  behold?  In- 
stead of  one  lone  star  faintly  shining  in  the  far-distant  South,  a  whole  galaxy 
of  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  are  bursting  on  your  vision,  and  shining  with  a 
bright  and  glorious  effulgence.  Now  turn  with  me  to  the  West — where  the 
setting  sun  dips  her  broad  disk  in  the  western  ocean.  Look  down  through  the 
misty  distance  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  with  all  its  bays  and  harbors  and 
rivers.  Cast  your  eyes  as  far  as  the  Russian  possessions,  in  latitude  fifty-four 
degrees  and  forty  minutes.20  What  a  new  world  lies  before  you !  How  many 
magnificent  states  to  be  the  future  homes  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  freedom ! 
*  *  *  When  did  mental  vision  ever  rest  on  such  a  scene?  Moses,  when 
standing  on  the  top  of  Mount  Pisgah,  looking  over  the  promised  land,  gazed  not 
on  a  scene  half  so  lovely.  0  let  us  this  day  vow  that  whatever  else  we  may  do. 
by  whatever  name  we  may  be  called,  we  will  never  surrender  one  square  acre 
of  this  goodly  heritage  to  the  dictation  of  any  king  or  potentate  on  earth. 
Swear  it !    Swear  it,  my  countrymen,  and  let  heaven  record  the  vow  forever."  21 


19  See  biographical   sketches  of  the  two  candidates. 

-n  This  was  a  reference  to  Oregon,  claimed  by  the  English  as  far  as  the  Columbia  Eiver. 
but  which  the  Democratic  party  declared  the  United  States  would  hold  as  far  as  ' '  fifty-four, 
forty,   or  fight. ' ' 

2i  "Speeches  of  Aaron  V.  Brown."  pp.  202-203. 


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TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  427 

In  1847  the  Whigs  were  again  victorious.  Aaron  V.  Brown  was  a  candidate 
for  reelection  and  the  Whigs  nominated  Neill  S.  Brown  to  oppose  him.2-  The 
Mexican  war  had  not  yet  been  ended  and  Neill  S.  Brown  criticised  the  conduct 
of  the  war  by  President  Polk,  the  placing  of  the  Oregon  boundary  line  at  forty- 
nine  degrees,  instead  of  "fifty-four,  forty  or  fight,"  and  Governor  Aaron  V. 
Brown's  Mount  Pisgah  speech.  The  election  was  close  and  hotly  contested,  and 
was  won  by  Neill  S.  Brown  22  by  a  majority  of  1,368. 

In  1849  the  tables  were  again  turned  when  William  Trousdale  "the  war 
horse  of  Sumner  County,"  returned  from  the  Mexican  war  loaded  with  honors, 
and  was  made  the  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  to  oppose  Neill  S.  Brown, 
who  was  a  candidate  for  reelection  and  had  made  a  good  governor.  General 
Trousdale's  services  had  been  too  recent  to  be  forgotten  and  too  brilliant  to  be 
ignored,  and  he  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  1,390. 

Again,  in  1851,  the  tables  were  reversed.  In  that  year  William  B.  Camp- 
bell who  had  been  the  colonel  of  "The  Bloody  First"  regiment  in  the  Mexi- 
can war  was  nominated  by  acclamation  in  the  Whig  convention.  Campbell 
was  one  of  the  noblest  characters  in  the  history  of  Tennessee.  He  was  modest, 
brave,  honest,  faithful,  prudent  and  wise.  He  was  elected  over  Trousdale  by 
1,660. 

Campbell  was  the  last  of  the  Whig  governors.  The  Whigs,  however,  put  up 
candidates  in  1853,  1855,  1857  and  1859,  but  the  Whig  party  was  fast  disinte- 
grating and  the  democratic  party  had  become  exceedingV  strong  in  Tennessee. 
Indeed,  many  who  had  formerly  been  stanch  Whigs,  including  ex-Governor 
Jones  and  James  Williams,  went  over  to  the  democratic  party. 

HISTORY    AND    DESCRIPTION    OP    THE   STATE    CAPITOL 

In  the  Constitution  of  1834  provision  was  made  for  the  establishment  of  a 
permanent  state  capitol  by  the  insertion  of  the  following  section : 

"The  General  Assembly  which  shall  sit  after  the  first  apportionment  of 
representation  under  the  new  constitution,  to-wit,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-three,  shall,  within  the  first  week  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  designate  and  fix  the  seat  of  government ;  and  when  so 
fixed,  it  shall  not  be  removed  except  by  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  first  and  second  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly  under  this  Constitution  shall  be  held  at  Nashville."23 

The  matter  was  brought  up  in  the  Senate  at  the  evening  session  of  the  very 
first  day,  October  2,  1843.  As  many  misstatements  have  been  made  concern- 
ing the  selection  of  Nashville  for  the  permanent  capital  of  the  state,  it  is  well 
to  give  the  real  history  of  this  interesting  and  important  historical  event : 

The  Senate  voted  on  the  permanent  site  bill  (Senate  Bill  No.  1)  on  the 
4th  of  October  and,  after  having  voted  for  many  places,  finally  selected  Kings- 
ton, by  a  vote  of  14  to  13  and  sent  the  bill  to  the  House.  On  the  6th  the 
House  took  up  Senate  Bill  No.  1  and,  after  having  voted  for  many  places  in 
substitution  for  Kingston  finally  settled  on  Nashville  and  sent  the  bill  back 
to  the  Senate  so  amended.  On  October  7th  the  Senate  finally  concurred  in 
the  amendment  adopted  by  the  House  and  Nashville  thus  became  the  per- 
manent seat  of  the  government  of  Tennessee.     A  very  strong  fight,  however, 


22  Botli  Aaron  V.  Brown  and  Neill  S.  Brown  lived  in  Pulaski,   Tennessee,  but   were   not 
related.     John  C.  Brown,  a  younger  brother  of  Neill  S.  Brown,  was  elected  governor  in  1870. 

22  See   biographical   sketch. 

23  Section  2  of  Schedule  of  Constitution  of  1834. 


428  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

was  made  by  the  proponents  and  opponents  of  Nashville.  No  less  than  twenty- 
five  places  were  voted  for  by  either  the  House  or  the  Senate  and  most  of  them 
by  both  branches.  These  places  were :  Knoxville,  Nashville,  Kingston,  Ham- 
ilton (Sumner  County),  Jackson,  Carthage,  Savannah,  Manchester,  Murfrees- 
boro,  Lebanon,  Sparta,  Paris,  Chattanooga,  Carrollsville  ("Wayne  County),  Tay- 
lorsville  (Johnson  County),  McMinnville,  Columbia,  Franklin,  Harrison 
(Hamilton  County),  Charlotte,  Monticello  (Putnam  Comity),  Reynoldsburg, 
Shelbyville,  Smithville,  and  Woodbury.  Some  historians  have  asserted  that 
Kingston  was  chosen  and  then  reconsidered,  and  that  Nashville  secured  the 
prize  by  only  one  vote.  Neither  of  these  assertions  is  true.  Kingston  was  se- 
lected by  the  Senate  but  rejected  by  the  House.  Murfreesboro,  Columbia  and 
McMinnville  were  severally  selected  by  the  House  and  later  the  vote  on  each 
of  them  was  reconsidered.  Nashville  was  the  onlj-  place  agreed  upon  by  both 
houses  and  the  vote  in  the  Senate  was  17  for  Nashville  and  8  against  on  the 
final  ballot.26 

The  City  of  Nashville  bought  for  the  site  of  the  new  capitol  what  was  then 
known  as  Campbell's  Hill  and  paid  for  it  $30,000.  On  December  11,  1843, 
George  W.  Campbell  transferred  it  to  the  corporation  and,  on  the  same  date, 
the  City  of  Nashville,  by  its  mayor,  Powhatan  W.  Maxey,  transferred  it  to  the 
State  of  Tennessee.  These  transfers  were  beautifully  executed  on  a  single 
large  sheet  of  parchment.27  An  interesting  anecdote  is  told  in  connection  with 
this  property. 

"Many  years  previous  Judge  Campbell  had  sold  a  cow  and  a  calf  to  a 
neighbor,  who  subsequently,  determining  to  remove  from  the  country,  notified 
his  creditor  that  a  rifle  gun  and  that  cedar  hill  was  all  he  had  to  give  for  the 
debt  he  owed.  The  Judge  accepted  the  property,  thinking  that  the  sum  he 
might  be  able  to  sell  the  gun  for  would  be  all  he  would  realize  for  his  cow  and 
calf."28 

On  January  30,  1844,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  (chapter  CCV  of  Acts 
of  1843-1844)   as  follows: 

An  act  to  appoint  commissioners  to  superintend  the  construction  of  the 
State  House,  to  direct  the  labor  of  the  Penitentiary  to  the  erection  of  the  same, 
and  thereby  save  the  people  of  the  state  from  taxation. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
That  the  following  persons,  to-wit:  William  Carroll,  William  Nichol,  John  M. 
Bass,  Samuel  D.  Morgan,  James  Erwin  and  Morgan  W.  Brown,  be,  and  they 
are  hereby  appointed  commissioners,  any  three  of  whom  shall  be  a  quorum,  to 

26  Knoxville  was  the  first  capital  of  the  state  and  so  continued  until  1807  when  the 
Seventh  General  Assembly  met  at  Kingston,  but  adjourned  to  Knoxville  after  the  first  day. 
Knoxville  remained  the  capital  until  1813  when  the  Legislature  met  at  Nashville  for  the 
first  time.  Nashville  continued  to  be  the  capital  until  1817  when  the  Legislature  met  at 
Knoxville.  From  1819  to  1825  Murfreesboro  was  the  capital.  Beginning  with  1826  Nashville 
lias  Ifeen  continuously  the  capital.  In  1813  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  were  held  in  what 
was  called  the  ' '  old  capitol ' '  located  on  a  part  of  the  present  site  of  the  Hume-Fogg  High 
School.  At  the  time  when  Nashville  was  made  the  permanent  capital,  the  Legislature  was 
holding  its  sessions  in  the  Davidson  County  Courthouse. 

27  In  1921  this  sheet  of  parchment  was  found  in  the  center  of  a  box  of  trash  in  the 
Archives  of  the  State,  having  apparently  been  thrown  away  as  a  worthless  scrap  of  paper, 
which  it  appeared  to  be.  Upon  being  opened  the  treasure  was  discovered.  It  was  then 
cleaned,  the  wrinkles  pressed  out,  put  in  a  frame  and  is  now  one  of  the  valuable  articles 
in  the  state  historical  museum. 

28  Guild's  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  pp.  480-481. 

Governor  Jones  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  1845,  said:  "The  corporation  of 
Nashville,  with  a  liberality  that  has  ever  distinguished  it,  tendered  the  state  the  beautiful 
eminence  near  the  heart  of  the  city,  known  as  'Campbell's  Hill,'  as  the  spot  on  which  the 
capitol  might  be  erected.  The  Legislature,  appreciating  the  spirit  in  which  the  tender  was 
made,  readilv  accepted  the  offer  and  the  ground  has  been  accordingly  conveyed  to  the  state." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  429 

transact  business  pertaining  to  the  erection  of  the  State  House,  and  other 
necessary  buildings,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  commissioners,  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Executive  and  with  his  approval,  to  employ  a  suitable 
Architect,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  procure  from  other  States  by  visiting  them 
or  otherwise,  the  best  and  most  approved  plans  for  the  building  of  a  Capitol ; 
said  Architect  shall  then  lay  down  a  plan  for  the  building  of  said  Capitol  for 
this  State,  which  shall  be  approved  of  by  the  commissioners  and  the  Governor, 
and  a  copy  of  said  plan  shall  be  deposited  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 

Section  2.  Be  it  enacted,  That  the  Capitol  is  hereby  directed  to  be  built  of 
smooth  hewn  or  cut  stone,  according  to  the  plan  which  may  be  designated  and 
approved  as  aforesaid ;  and  in  order  to  prepare  the  materials  for  that  purpose, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Agent,  or  Inspectors  of  the  Penitentiary,  under  the 
superintendence  and  approval  of  the  commissioners,  to  procure  by  purchase  a 
Quarry  of  stone,  as  convenient  to  the  Penitentiary  as  may  be,  having  a  due 
regard  to  the  quality  of  the  material. 

Section  3.  Be  it  enacted,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Agent  and  In- 
spectors of  the  Penitentiary  to  employ,  under  the  direction  of  said  Board  of 
Commissioners,  in  the  work  of  constructing  the  Capitol,  as  many  convicts  in  the 
Penitentiary  as  can  be  employed  without  danger  of  making  the  establishment 
a  charge  upon  the  Treasury  of  the  State. 

Section  4.  Be  it  enacted,  That  the  Agent  and  Inspectors  of  the  Penitentiary, 
shall  proceed  to  collect  as  soon  as  practicable,  all  the  debts  due  the  establish- 
ment and  also  to  sell  all  the  manufactured  articles,  now  on  hand  therein,  and 
pay  over  all  sums  of  money  that  may  thereby  come  into  their  hands,  into  the 
Treasury  of  the  State,  and  that  out  of  said  sums,  there  be  and  is  hereby  ap- 
propriated the  amount  of  ten  thousand  dollars  subject  to  the  order  of  the 
commissioners,  to  aid  in  the  construction  of  said  Capitol;  Provided,  the  Peni- 
tentiary be  not  thereby  made  a  charge  upon  the  Treasury  of  the  State. 

Section  5.  Be  is  enacted,  That  said  Board  of  Commissioners  shall  make  a 
full  statement  of  all  their  official  acts,  to  the  General  Assembly  during  the  first 
week  of  each  regular  session  of  that  Body,  and  that  the  members  of  said  Board 
shall  serve  without  compensation,  and  that  all  vacancies  occurring  in  said 
Board,  shall  be  filled  by  appointments  made  by  the  Governor. 

Section  6.  Be  it  enacted.  That  the  ornamental  portion  of  the  work  may  be 
constructed  of  Tennessee  Marble,  under  the  direction  and  at  the  discretion  of 
the  commissioners. 

D.  L.  Barringeb, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
J.  M.  Anderson, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 

On  May  14,  1844,  James  Woods,  Joseph  T.  Elliston  and  Allen  A.  Hall  were 
added  to  the  board  of  commissioners.  As  some  members  died  and  some  re- 
signed, the  vacancies  were  filled  by  the  governor.  John  M.  Bass  was  made  the 
first  chairman  of  the  board  and,  on  March  31,  1849,  was  appointed  president 
of  the  board.  He  held  this  position  until  March  31,  1854,  when  he  resigned 
and  Samuel  D.  Morgan  -■>  was  appointed  president  and  held  the  position  until 
the  completion  of  the  capitol. 

"Upon  the  first  appointment  of  the  Commissioners,  they  were  extremely 
fortunate  in  securing  the  services  of  so  distinguished  an  architect  as  Mr.  Wm. 
Strickland,30  of  Philadelphia,  than  whom  no  man  of  his  profession  in  the 
country  had  a  wider  or  more  merited  fame."  31 

In  1855,  George  Dardis,  writing  of  the  state  capitol,  said : 

29  He  died  June  10,  1880,  and  was  entombed  in  the  wall  of  the  south  portico  of  the  capitol. 

30  Strickland  began  his  noted  career  as  an  architect  on  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  under 
La  Trobe.  He  had  already  been  the  superintendent  of  the  erection  of  many  public  buildings 
in  America  and  had   visited  the  most  renowned  edifices  in  Europe. 

si  Nashville  City  Directory  of  1860-61. 


430  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"The  site  for  this  building  is,  perhaps,  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world. 
Imagine  a  hill  within  the  center  of  a  city,  rising  in  every  direction  to  the  height 
of  197  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Cumberland  River,  at  Nashville ;  four  feet  of 
its  crest  being  removed  and  leaving  a  plateau  of  solid  limestone  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  building.  You  look  down  upon  the  city  beneath  your  feet,  and  the 
prospect  beyond,  on  all  sides,  presents  a  distinct  amphitheatre  of  mountain 
ranges." 

Work  was  begun  on  the  clearing  of  the  site  on  January  1,  1845,  and  Mr. 
Strickland  submitted  his  plans  on  May  20,  1845.  With  some  changes  they  were 
accepted.  The  most  important  change  was  in  the  erection  of  the  tower.  The 
architect's  conception  was  a  Grecian  temple,  consisting  of  a  Doric  basement, 
supporting  on  its  four  fronts,  porticos  of  the  Ionic  order,  taken  from  the  ex- 
ample of  the  Erecthenm  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens.  The  building  of  the 
tower  was  a  concession  to  the  commissioners  and,  in  it,  Strickland  carried  out 
still  the  design  and  character  of  the  classic  Grecian  architecture,  for  he  made 
it  after  the  order  of  the  famous  Choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates.3- 

On  Friday,  July  4,  1845,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  the  building.  That  was  a  gala  day  in  the  history  of  the  capitol.  The  exer- 
cises began  with  services  in  the  Baptist  Church  in  charge  of  the  students  of 
Nashville  University.  A  little  after  11  o'clock  people  and  organizations  con- 
gregated in  the  public  square  for  the  parade.  There  were  the  military  com- 
panies, societies,  denominations,  fraternities,  state  officers,  prominent  citizens, 
and  the  band.  Arrived  at,  the  capitol,  Hon.  Edwin  H.  Ewing,  of  Murfreesboro, 
one  of  the  best  speakers  in  the  state,  delivered  the  oration,  after  which  an  ode 
was  sung.  Then  the  Masons  took  charge  with  impressive  ceremonies.  The 
corner-stone  is  a  perfect  cube  weighing  several  tons.  In  a  square  cavity  hol- 
lowed in  it  were  deposited  a  parchment  scroll  upon  which  is  written  a  brief 
synopsis  of  important  events  in  the  history  of  Tennessee.  The  following  named 
articles  were  also  deposited :  An  engraved  likeness  of  Andrew  Jackson,  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  a  map  of 
the  City  of  Nashville,  Morris'  Tennessee  Gazetteer,  the  American  Almanac  for 
1845,  Statistics  of  Nashville,  prepared  by  Anson  Nelson,  the  coins  of  the  United 
States,  from  the  cent  to  the  eagle,  copies  of  Nashville  newspapers,  a  jar  con- 
taining printed  matter  pertaining  to  the  Odd  Fellows,  a  silver  plate  on  which 
was  engraved  a  "Statistical  account  of  the  Steamboats  in  the  New  Orleans  and 
Nashville  trade,  A.  D.,  1845." 

A  square  slab,  made  to  fit  the  space,  served  as  a  lid  to  secure  all  the  contents 
and  cement  was  insinuated  around  the  edge  to  seal  the  stone  completely. 

The  work  was  carried  on  steadily,  although  slowly,  until  the  time  of  Mr. 
Strickland's  death,33  April  7,  1854.  The  greater  part  of  the  work  had  been 
completed  and  his  son,  F.  W.  Strickland,  carried  on  the  rest  of  the  work.  The 
last  stone  of  the  tower  was  laid  on  July  21,  1855,  and  the  last  stone  of  the  lower 
terrace  on  March  18,  1859.  The  building  was  first  occupied  by  the  General 
Assembly  October  3,  1853,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  new  capitol  was  attended 
with  imposing  ceremonials. 

"The    appropriations    for    building   the    capitol,   made   from   1844   to    1859 


32  The    Century    Dictionary    calls    this    "the    finest    surviving   example    of    this    class    of 
Greek  monuments." 

33  His  funeral  exercises  were  conducted  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  and 
he  was  entombed  in  a  recess  of  the  wall  of  the  north  portico. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  431 

aggregate  $900,500,  but,  as  the  work  was  done  mainly  by  convict  labor,  the  real 
cost  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  and  a  half  million  dollars."34 

The  principal  dimensions  of  the  capitol  can  be  seen  at  a  glance  by  an  in- 
spection of  the  following  table: 

Feet  Inches 

Length 239  3 

Length,  including  terrace  at  each  end,  17  feet  wide,  and  projecting 

steps,  16  feet,  10  inches 306  8 

Width  at  each  end 112  5 

Width  at  each  end,  including  terrace  17  feet  wide,  at  each  side ....   146  5 

Width  at  the  center,  including  side  porticos,  each  13  feet  wide.  .  .  .   138  5 

Height  op  Building 

Lower  terrace,  or  pavement 2  0 

Upper  terrace  8  9 

From  upper  terrace  to  top  of  entablature  of  capitol 64  8 

End  pediments   13  0 

Stonework  of  tower,  above  roof  of  building 79  2 

Iron  finial  ornament,  together  with  tower  roof 34  0 

Total  height    201         7 

On  each  step  buttress,  on  each  front  of  the  building  is  a  column,  around 
which  are  three  youthful  figures,  representing  Morning,  Noon  and  Night,  the 
feminine  figures  representing  Morning  and  Night  and  the  youth  holding  a  torch 
representing  Noon. 

The  material  of  the  building  is  stratified  limestone  impregnated  with  fossils, 
generally  very  hard.  It  was  taken  from  a  quarry,  opened  by  the  state,  on  the 
grounds  of  Samuel  Watkins  about  half  a  mile  northwest  of  the  capitol.  The  in- 
terior decorative  material  is  East  Tennessee  marble.35 

On  the  capitol  grounds  are  Clark  Mills'  famous  equestrian  statue  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  unveiled  in  1880,  President  Polk's  tomb,  removed  there  in  1893,  and 
the  monument  of  Sam  Davis,  Tennessee's  hero  in  the  War  between  the  States, 
unveiled  in  1909. 

REMOVAL    OP    THE   CHEROKEES 

At  one  time  the  Cherokees  laid  claim  to  a  vast  extent  of  country,  including 
all  of  Kentucky,  all  of  Tennessee  except  the  part  west  of  the  Tennessee  River, 
the  mountainous  parts  of  North  Carolina  and  of  South  Carolina,  and  the 
northern  parts  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  By  treaty  they  were  gradually  stripped 
of  most  of  their  extensive  domain,  to  much  of  which,  indeed,  their  title  was  very 
tenuous,  and,  at  the  time  of  the  great  removal,  they  could  claim  and  were 
occupying  only  the  southeastern  part  of  Tennessee,  beginning  at  the  site  of  Fort 
Loudon,  about  one-sixth  of  Georgia,  in  the  northern  part,  and  a  small  tract  in 
northeastern  Alabama.  And  at  all  times,  as  far  as  records  and  tradition  extend 
into  the  past,  this  was  the  residence  of  the  Cherokees. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  toward  the  Indians  was  always  to  take  from 
them  their  lands.  This  policy  was  frank  and  open  and,  at  limes,  not  too 
scrupulous.     As  the  white  population  increased,  the  necessity  became  more  and 


3*  In  the  State  Archives  are  the  accounts  and  expenditures  pertaining  to  the  entire 
works;  also  "descriptions  of  the  plan,  structure  and  apartments  of  the  State  Capitol  of 
Tennessee";   also  the  full  text  of  the  speech  delivered  by  Edwin  H.  Ewing. 

35  Roberts'  "Nashville  and  Her  Trade,"  1870,  pp.  349-356. 


432  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

more  apparent  that  the  Indians  must  be  removed  to  dwelling  plaees  farther 
west.  The  end  was  finally  sought  to  transfer  them  all  to  the  Indian  territory 
west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  The  problem  began  in  the  administration  of 
Jefferson  and  ended  with  the  removal  of  the  Cherokees  during  Van  Buren's 
administration. 

In  1805  President  Jefferson,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  spoke  of  the  neces- 
sity of  teaching  the  Indians  agricultural  pursuits,  as  they  could  not  longer 
maintain  themselves  by  hunting. 

In  his  first  annual  message,  Dei-ember  2,  1817,  President  Monroe  said: 

"From  the  Cherokee  tribe  a  tract  has  been  purchased  in  Georgia  and  an 
arrangement  made  by  which,  in  exchange  for  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi,  a 
great  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  land  belonging  to  that  tribe  eastward  of 
that  river  in  the  states  of  North  Carolina,  Georgia  and  Tennessee,  and  in  the 
Alabama  Territory  may  be  acquired." 

In  his  second  inaugural  address,  March  5,  1821,  President  Monroe  also 
spoke  of  the  need  for  Congress  to  provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  Indians ;  and, 
on  March  30,  1824,  he  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress  on  this  subject.  On 
January  27,  1825,  he  sent  a  second  message  to  Congress  on  the  same  subject. 

President  John  Quincy  Adams  also  sent  a  special  message  to  Congress  on 
February  5,  1827,  in  which  he  wrote  sympathetically  concerning  the  necessity 
that  the  Government  keep  faith  with  the  Indians.  Both  he  and  President  Jeffer- 
son were  well  disposed  toward  the  Indians,  but  neither  of  these  presidents,  nor 
any  of  the  other  presidents  accomplished  anything  constructive  relative  to  the 
final  disposition  of  the  red  men.  It  remained  for  Andrew  Jackson  to  do  what 
others  had  failed  to  do.  He  was  frankly  opposed  to  the  Indians.  He  didn't 
like  them  at  all ;  and  he  clearly  saw  that  the  only  solution  of  the  problem  was 
the  removal  of  them  to  some  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  where  all  of  them 
might  be  localized,  where  they  would  have  good  hunting  grounds  and  not  be 
in  close  touch  with  the  whites,  and  yet  where  the  United  States  troops  could 
watch  them.  Beginning  with  December  8,  1829,  Jackson  sent  eight  annual 
messages  to  Congress  in  which  he  emphasized  this  policy. 

On  July  8,  1817,  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  Governor  Joseph  McMinn  and  Gen. 
David  Meriwether  made  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees  whereby  a  number  of  these 
Indians,  estimated  at  six  thousand,  emigrated  to  lands  on  the  Arkansas  River. 
The  rest  of  the  Cherokees,  a  large  majority,  refused  to  abandon  the  abodes  of 
their  fathers.  From  this  time  until  their  final  deportation  the  removal  of  the 
Cherokees  was  a  cause  of  strife  among  themselves,  of  acrimonious  debate  in 
Congress,  of  annoyance  to  Tennessee  and  almost  civil  war  in  Georgia. 

The  Cherokees  were  the  most  advanced  in  civilization  of  all  the  Indians. 
They  had  a  written  language,  schools,  churches,  live  stock  and  many  good  houses, 
cultivated  fields  and  agricultural  implements.  They  assumed  the  attitude  of 
an  independent  nation,  and,  as  such,  sought  to  treat  with  the  United  States  and 
to  ignore  the  local  laws  of  Tennessee  and  Georgia.  The  State  of  Georgia  was 
very  vehement  and  insistent  in  its  efforts  to  assert  its  governmental  require- 
ments and  prerogatives  over  the  Cherokees  in  its  limits  and  matters  were  fast 
approaching  a  condition  of  chaos  when  in  February,  1835,  two  delegations  went 
to  Washington,  each  asserting  its  rights  to  represent  the  Cherokee  nation.     One 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  433 

delegation  was  headed  by  John  Ross,30  who,  for  many  years  had  been  the 
principal  chief.  The  other  was  headed  by  Maj.  John  Ridge,  who  favored  the 
removal  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  fatal  for  the  Cherokees  longer  to  oppose 
the  demands  of  Georgia  and  of  the  United  States.  Ross,  also,  seeing  the  futility 
of  further  opposition,  entered  into  negotiations  with  the  United  States.  Finally 
a  treaty  was  effected  in  1833  and,  in  1838-1839,  the  Cherokees  took  up  their 
march  from  their  ancestral  homes  to  the  western  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi 
River.  Gen.  Winfield  Scott,37  of  the  United  States  Army,  conducted  the  re- 
moval. Nearly  seventeen  thousand  Cherokees  made  the  journey  to  the  West, 
some  by  boat  down  the  Tennessee  to  the  Ohio  and  thence  down  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Mississippi  whence  the  rest  of  the  journey  was  made  by  land.  The  larger 
part,  however,  proceeded  overland.  They  assembled  at  Charleston,  Tenn.,  and 
thence  proceeded  south  of  Pikeville,  through  McMinnville  to  Nashville ;  thence 
to  Hopkinsville,  Ky.  They  crossed  the  Ohio  near  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland 
and  then  traveled  through  Southern  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi  River.  Thence 
they  proceeded  southwest  through  Missouri  into  the  Indian  Territory.  They 
left  Tennessee  in  October,  1838,  and  reached  their  destination  in  March,  1839, 
having  suffered  much  in  this  hegira,  the  deaths  numbering,  it  was  estimated, 
sixteen  hundred. 


sK  John  Ross  (Kooweskoowe)  was  born  in  Northern  Georgia  about  1790.  His  home  was 
at  Rossville,  named  after  him,  and  his  house  still  stands  about  two  hundred  yards  south  of 
the  Tennessee  state  line.  Chattanooga,  of  which  Rossville,  Ga.,  is  commercially  a  part,  was 
previously  known  as  Ross'  Landing.  He  was  educated  at  Kingston.  From  his  father,  a 
white  man,  he  inherited  ability  and  trustworthiness  and  inclinations  toward  civilized  life.  He 
was  a  friend  of  John  Howard  Payne  who  was  his  guest  for  a  time,  and  of  many  white  men 
of  the  highest  standing.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  Creek  war  in  the  service  against  those 
Indians  and  became  principal  chief  of  the  nation  in  1828.  At  all  times  he  vehemently  pro- 
tested against  the  removal  of  the  Cherokees.  He  served  in  the  Civil  war  on  the  side  of  the 
Confederacy  and  died  in  Washington  in  1866. 

37  In  the  Tennessee  Archives  is  an  autograph  letter  of  Gen.  Winfield  Scott  calling  upon 
the  governor  of  Tennessee  to  furnish  a  quota  of  troops  to  assist  in  the  removal. 


CHAPTER  XX 
FROM  AARON  V.  BROWN  TO  WILLIAM  B.  CAMPBELL 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  AARON  V.  BROWN — THE  GREAT  COMMERCIAL  CONVENTION  AT 
MEMPHIS — THE  MEXICAN  WAR — THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  NEILL  S.  BROWN — THE 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  WILLIAM  TROUSDALE — THE  NASHVILLE  CONVENTION — THE 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  WILLIAM   B.    CAMPBELL INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  session  of  1845-1846  of  the  Twenty-sixth  General  Assembly  was  held  at 
Nashville  from  October  6,  1845,  to  February  2,  1846.  Among  the  important 
acts  passed  were  the  following:  "To  incorporate  the  School  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  at  Knoxville";  "To  incorporate  the  Tennessee  School  for  the  Blind  at 
Nashville";  acts  to  incorporate  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad,  the 
Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad  and  the  Mississippi  Railroad  Company ;  sev- 
eral new  counties  were  erected  and  many  towns  incorporated. 

THE    GREAT    COMMERCIAL    CONVENTION    AT    MEMPHIS 

Although  the  meetings  at  Memphis  in  1845  are  generally  spoken  of  as  com- 
mercial conventions,  their  proceedings  were  mostly  concerned  with  transpor- 
tation problems.  Again,  there  were  two  of  these  meetings,  one  held  on  July  4, 
1845,  the  other  on  November  12,  1845.  Reference  is  generally  made  to  the  lat- 
ter as  the  "great  convention." 

The  call  for  the  meeting  of  July  4,  1845,  was  in  the  name  of  the  "Western 
and  Southwestern  Convention."  Delegates  appeared  from  Tennessee,  Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana,  Arkansas,  Illinois  and  Pennsylvania.  "The  matters  proposed 
were  (1)  the  removal  of  the  snags  in  the  great  western  rivers  and  the  building 
of  lighthouses  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  (2)  the  connection  of  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Mississippi  by  a  ship  canal  to  be  built  by  the  general  Government,  (3) 
a  general  system  of  defenses  for  the  Southwest  and  the  Northwest  with  the 
requisite  number  of  ship  yards  and  naval  stations,  besides  the  navy  yard  and 
depot  at  Memphis,  (4)  the  completion  by  the  Federal  Government  of  the  mili- 
tary road  from  Memphis  through  Arkansas  to  the  frontier,  (5)  the  establish- 
ment of  a  general  system  of  levees,  (6)  certain  and  speedy  mail  conveyance 
utilizing  steamboats  and  ships  of  war,  (7)  the  maintenance  of  marine  hospitals.1 

These  and  some  other  subjects  were  discussed  and  the  proceedings  were 
commented  on  widely  by  the  press  of  the  country.2  But  it  was  agreed  that  by 
reason  of  the  imperfect  notice  given  for  the  July  meeting,  another  session  should 
be  called  for  November  12  and  that  all  the  western  and  southwestern  states,  and 
Western  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  should  be  represented.  Invitations  were 
issued  to  many  prominent  men,  among  them  John  C.  Calhoun,  who  was  chosen 
president  of  the  convention  and  took  a  conspicuous  part  in  its  deliberations. 


i  St.  George  L.  Sioussat's  "Memphis  as  a  Gateway  to  the  West"  in  the  Tennessee  His- 
torical  Magazine,  Vol.  Til,  p.   83. 

-Notwithstanding  this  fact  and  the  fact  that  Niles'  Register  gave  a  summary,  historians 
generally  have  nothing  to  say  concerning  this  meeting  and  the  still  more  important  one  of 
Nov.  12,  in  the  same  year. 

434 


AAEON  V.  BEOWN 
Governor   of  Tennessee,   1845-1847 


NEILL   S.    BROWN 
Governor   of  Tennessee,    1847-1849 


JUDGE    JOHN    McNAIRY 
Pioneer   builder   of  the   state 


JOHN  HAYWOOD,  1753-1826 
"Father  of  Tennessee  History" 


THE  LIBRARY 
OF  THE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  437 

According  to  notice  the  convention  assembled  on  November  12,  1845,  in  the 
Methodist  Church  in  Memphis.  It  far  surpassed  the  meeting  of  Jul\-  4,  both 
in  personnel  and  in  the  number  of  states  represented.  Before  adjournment  it 
was  believed  that  nearly  seven  hundred  delegates  were  present.  The  states  and 
territories  represented  were :  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Illinois,  Iowa  Territory,  In- 
diana, Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Penn- 
sylvania, South  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Texas,3  and  Virginia. 

The  address  of  Calhoun  stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be  the  develop- 
ment of  the  resources  of  the  western  and  southwestern  states.  He  and  the 
other  speakers  touched  upon  the  then  delicate  topic  of  how  far  the  general  Gov- 
ernment could  go  in  internal  improvements.  The  discussion  which  followed 
covered  the  entire  range  of  subjects  concerning  the  transportation  and  commer- 
cial problems  of  the  West  and  Southwest  and  of  improvements  that  ought  to 
be  undertaken.  Twenty  resolutions  covering  these  subjects  and  objects  were 
finally  adopted. 

As  the  result  of  the  convention  Sioussat  says : 

"After  it  had  clone  its  work  there  appeared  all  over  the  Southwest  a  re- 
newed activity  in  the  building  of  railroads.  Nashville  held  a  railroad  meeting 
within  ten  days  after  that  of  November  at  Memphis,  and  the  Assembly  gave  a 
charter  for  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad.  Other  cities  to  the  south- 
ward were  stimulated  to  like  activity,  particularly  Natchez,  Vicksburg,  and  New 
Orleans.  To  these  as  to  Memphis,  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  territory 
gained  by  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo  4  extended  the  possibility  of  put- 
ting into  effect  the  connection  with  the  Pacific  coast. ' '  5 

THE    MEXICAN    WAR  6 

Although  President  Polk  did  not  wish  war  and  thought  there  would  be  no 
war  with  Mexico,  nevertheless  the  annexation  of  Texas  and  the  perfidy  of  Santa 
Ana  precipitated  the  conflict.  In  Tennessee  the  enthusiasm  for  the  war  knew 
no  bounds.  On  May  26,  1847,  Governor  Brown,  upon  notice  from  the  war  de- 
partment called  for  three  regiments  of  volunteers,  one  of  cavalry  and  two  of 
infantry,  comprising  2,800  men.  Thirty  thousand  volunteers  responded.  Be- 
cause of  the  large  number  of  volunteers  and  their  eagerness  to  serve,  rules  were 
laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  the  four  major-generals  of  the  state  in  deciding 
what  companies  should  be  received  from  their  respective  divisions.  The  Union 
and  Planters'  Banks  advanced  the  funds  necessary  for  financing  the  muster- 
ing in  of  the  troops.  By  June  3  twelve  companies  had  been  organized  into  one 
regiment  and  formed  the  First  Regiment  of  Tennessee  Volunteers.  They  in- 
cluded the  "Harrison  Guards"  and  the  "Nashville  Blues,"  two  famous  com- 
panies. Gen.  William  B.  Campbell,  of  Smith  County,  was  elected  colonel ;  Gen. 
Samuel  R.  Anderson,  of  Sumner  County,  lieutenant-colonel ;  R.  B.  Alexander, 
of  Sumner  County,   first   major  and  Major   Farquharson,   of  Lincoln   County, 


s  The  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United  States  had  been  ratified  by  the  Texas  Con- 
vention on  July  4,   1845. 

*  The  treaty  made  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
Mexican  war. 

5  St.  George  L.  Sioussat  'a  "Memphis  as  a  Gateway  to  the  West"  in  Tennessee  Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  113. 

6  In  the  state  archives  are  very  complete  rosters  of  most  of  the  regiments  from  Tennessee 
which  took  part  in  the  Mexican  war.  Capt.  C.  E.  Myers,  of  Cookeville,  ninety-two  years  old 
at  this  time  (1922),  is,  so  far  as  known,  the  only  surviving  soldier  of  this  war  living  in 
Tennessee. 


138  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

second  major.  The  rendezvous  for  the  troops  of  Middle  Tennessee  was  Camp 
Taylor,  about  two  miles  down  the  Cumberland  River  from  Nashville. 

The  senior  class  of  the  Nashville  Female  Academy,  of  which  Dr.  C.  D.  El- 
liott was  the  principal,  presented  a  splendid  flag7  to  the  regiment  in  the  pres- 
ence of  an  immense  concourse  of  people.  This  flag  went  through  the  war  and 
was  the  first  American  flag  hoisted  as  a  signal  of  victory  on  the  heights  of 
Monterey.  Upon  its  return  riddled  with  bullets  it  was  returned  to  the  academy 
as  a  trophy.  Some  years  subsequently  Doctor  Elliott  presented  the  flag  to  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Society  in  the  presence  of  an  immense  throng  at  Watkins 
Park,  Nashville.  This  regiment  is  known  as  the  "Bloody  First"  because  of  its 
gallantry  and  the  heavy  losses  it  sustained.  The  survivors  of  this  regiment  re- 
turned in  June,  1847.s 

In  1847  President  Polk  commissioned  William  Trousdale !)  colonel  of  in- 
fantry in  the  United  States  Army.  He  was  assigned  to  the  Third  Division  of 
the  army,  commanded  by  Maj.-Gen.  Gideon  J.  Pillow,1"  another  gallant  Ten- 
nessean.  He  was  in  all  of  the  engagements  fought  by  General  Scott  from  Vera 
Cruz  to  the  City  of  Mexico  and,  for  "gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  in  the 
battle  of  Chapultepee''  was  made  brevet  brigadier-general  by  President  Polk. 

In  1847  another  call  was  made  on  Tennessee  for  more  troops  and  the  re- 
sponse was  again  generous.  Two  more  full  regiments  and  a  battalion  of  six 
companies  were  enrolled  from  Tennessee.  They  went  by  river  to  New  Orleans, 
thence  to  Vera  Cruz  by  sea.  They  were  formed  into  a  brigade  and  marched  to 
Mexico  City  after  it  had  been  captured.  G.  R.  McClellan  was  the  colonel  of  the 
Fifth  Tennessee  Regiment,  which  was  mustered  into  service  November  10,  1847, 
and  discharged  July  20,  1848,  at  Memphis. 

Many  Tennesseans  n  of  all  ranks  distinguished  themselves  and  it  may  be 
justly  said  that  the  reputation  of  this  state,  already  the  very  highest  in  mili- 
tary annals,  was  still  further  enhanced  by  the  heroic  achievements  of  its  sons 
in  the  Mexican  war.12 

ADMINISTRATION    OP    NEILL   S.   BROWN  13 

In  1843,  Aaron  V.  Brown  defeated  Neill  S.  Brown  for  Congress,  but  the 
canvass  made  at  that  time  by  the  two  Browns,  both  from  Pulaski,  but  not  re- 


"  This  flag  bore  the  motto  "Weeping  in  solitude  for  the  fallen  brave  is  better  than  the 
presence  of  men  too  timid  to  strike  for  their  country. ' ' 

s  In  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I,  pp.  129-167,  are  published  the  Mexican 
War  Letters  of  William  Bowen  Campbell  which  gave  an  excellent  account  of  his  experiences 
and  those  of  his  valiant  men.  Colonel  Campbell's  simple  command  which  became  famous  was, 
"Boys,  follow  me." 

9  Colonel  Trousdale  was  twice  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Chapultepee  yet  would  not  leave 
the  field. 

i"  General  Pillow  distinguished  himself  at  the  siege  of  Vera  Cruz  and  was  one  of  the 
commissioners  appointed  to  receive  the  surrender.  He  was  wounded  both  at  Cerro  Gordo 
and  at  Chapultepee.  His  trial  and  acquittal  on  the  charge  of  insubordination  and  his 
powerful  speech  in  his  own   defense  aroused  national  interest. 

n  Capt.  Wm.  B  Allen,  a  young  man  of  high  standing  and  bright  future,  was  killed  at 
the  battle  of  Monterey.  At  Lawrenceburg  stands  a  monument  erected  in  his  memory  and 
of  those  other  heroes  who  lost  their  lives  in  Mexico. 

Lieut.  Col.  John  A.  Savage  was  wounded  while  leading  an  attack  upon  the  Mexican  forti- 
fication at  Molino-del-Rey. 

Col.  Wm.  T.  Haskell  and  Col.  B.  F.  Cheatham  were  also  conspicuous  for  daring,  brilliant 
and  meritorious  conduct. 

'^  The  American  army  was  withdrawn  when,  on  July  4,  1848,  President  Polk  issued  a 
proclamation  of  peace. 

13  See  biographical  sketch. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  439 

lated,  made  them  famous,  and  each  became  a  leader  in  his  party.  In  1845  Aaron 
V.  Brown  defeated  Ephraim  H.  Foster,  the  whig  candidate,  for  governor.  As 
the  state  election  of  1847  approached,  there  was  active  rivalry  for  the  whig  nomi- 
nation between  Meredith  P.  Gentry,  Gustavus  A.  Henry  and  Neill  S.  Brown. 
Finally  Brown  w%s  chosen  for  the  race  and  secured  revenge  for  his  defeat  for 
Congress  in  1843.  The  race,  however,  was  close,  his  majority  over  Aaron  V. 
Brown,  the  democratic  candidate,  being  only  1,015  votes. 

The  Twenty-seventh  General  Assembly  held  its  session  of  1847-1848  from 
October  4,  1847,  to  February  7,  1848.    The  following  important  acts  were  passed: 

"To  incorporate  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad";  "To  incorporate  the  East 
Tennessee  and  Virginia  Railroad";  "To  incorporate  the  Tennessee  Central 
Railroad";  "To  establish  the  State  Hospital  for  the  Insane"  (now  the  Central 
Hospital  for  the  Insane)  ;  "To  incorporate  the  New  Orleans  and  Ohio  Tele- 
graph Company. ' ' 14 

By  act  of  the  Legislature  (Chapter  169,  p.  273,  of  the  Acts  of  1847-1848), 
the  governor  was  required  to  indorse  bonds  of  the  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia 
Railroad  Company.  This  was  the  beginning  of  state  aid  to  railroads  in  Ten- 
nessee. 

In  1848,  Zachary  Taylor,  whig,  carried  Tennessee  over  Lewis  Cass,  demo- 
crat, by  a  majority  of  6,288  votes. 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    WILLIAM    TROUSDALE  15 

The  elections  of  1848  and  1849  showed  clearly  the  effects  of  the  popular  en- 
thusiasm for  the  heroes  of  the  Mexican  war.  Zachary  Taylor,  a  whig,  was 
elected  President  in  1848.  Yet,  in  Tennessee,  Trousdale,  a  democrat,  was  elected 
governor,  over  Governor  Neill  S.  Brown,  whig,  a  candidate  for  reelection,  who 
had  made  a  good  executive,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  two  parties 
were  of  approximately  even  strength  in  the  state. 

General  Trousdale,  known  familiarly  as  "the  War  Horse  of  Sumner  County," 
had  a  notable  military  career.  While  yet  a  boy,  he  had  left  school  to  enlist 
in  the  Creek  war  in  which  he  bore  himself  bravely  and  well.  He  served  in  the 
Florida  war,  of  1836,  in  which  he  added  to  his  excellent  reputation.  He  was 
one  of  the  veritable  heroes  of  the  Mexican  war.  Yet  he  did  not  care  for  military 
glory.  He  went  into  service  only  to  serve  state  and  nation.  His  purity  of  char- 
acter and  innate  modesty,  together  with  his  deeds  of  valor  16  made  him  an 
irresistible  candidate  even  though  he  could  not  cope  as  a  speaker  with  the  bril- 
liancy which  characterized  Governor  Neill  S.  Brown,  with  whom  he  canvassed 
the  state  in  joint  debate.  After  an  exciting  contest,  Trousdale  was  elected  by 
a  majority  of  1,390  votes.  He  made  a  good  governor  and,  during  his  incum- 
bency, Tennessee  grew  in  population  and  wealth  and  steadily  pushed  forward 
her  public  improvements. 

The  Twenty-eighth  General  Assembly  held  its  session  of  1849-1850  from 
October  4,  1849,  to  February  11,  1850.  The  following  important  acts  were 
passed : 


n  The  first  telegraph  company  chartered  in  Tennessee.  The  first  telegraph  dispatch 
received  in  Tennessee  announced  the  result  of  the  presidential  vote  in  1848. — Miller's  Manual, 
p.  37. 

15  See  biographical  sketch. 

is  In  this  campaign  he  was  affectionately  named  "the  veteran  of  three  wars." — Nashville 
Union,  April  20,  1849. 


440  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"To  establish  branches  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  at  Clarksville,  Columbia, 
and  Chattanooga";  "To  incorporate  the  Nashville  and  Louisville  Railroad"; 
"To  incorporate  the  MeMinnville  and  Manchester  Railroad";  "To  incorporate 
the  Henderson  and  Nashville  Railroad." 

The  incorporation  of  these  railroads  and  of  turnpikes  shows*  the  continuously 
beneficial  influence  of  the  state's  aid  and  influence  in  internal  improvements. 
Neill  S.  Brown  was  appointed  minister  to  Russia. 

THE  NASHVILLE   CONVENTION  OP   1850 

The  admission  of  Texas  into  the  Union  and  the  new  territory  acquired  from 
Mexico  by  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo  presented  in  acute  form  for  im- 
mediate determination  the  ever  recurring  question  of  the  extension  of  slavery. 
The  activities  of  the  abolitionists  which  began  about  1820,  but  which  did  not 
assume  threatening  proportions  for  twenty  or  twenty-five  years  thereafter,  had 
now  become  a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  or  soon  would  be.  Hence,  the  pro- 
slavery  men  of  the  South  deemed  it  advisable,  before  it  might  be  too  late,  to 
take  counsel  together  for  the  protection  of  their  interests.  Under  the  leadership 
of  Calhoun  the  defenders  of  slavery  and  of  the  principles  of  states  rights  with 
the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  right  of  secession  had,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Union- 
ists, assumed  a  sinister  attitude.  This  was  clearly  stated  in  a  letter  written  by 
Cave  Johnson  to  James  Buchanan,  on  January  20,  1850,  shortly  before  the 
Nashville  Convention.    In  it  were  the  following  significant  sentences : 

"I  begin  to  fear  that  there  is  a  settled  determination  with  the  extreme  men 
of  both  the  great  political  parties  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  it  will  require  much 
prudence  and  wisdom  among  the  moderate  men  to  resist  successfully  their 
nefarious  projects.  I  have  been  shocked  of  late  to  hear  cool  calculation  entered 
into  to  show  the  great  advantage  which  the  South  and  Southwest  would  obtain 
by  the  establishment  of  a  Southern  Confederacy  and  securing  free  trade  with 
England  *  *  *  Unluckily  since  the  death  of  Jackson  and  Polk  we  have 
none  in  the  South  with  influence  and  courage  enough  to  oppose  it.  Our  legis- 
lature, it  is  understood,  will  sanction  the  convention  and  support  or  authorize 
the  appointment  by  the  governor  of  delegates  and  pass  strong  resolutions,  not 
less  strong  than  those  of  Virginia."17 

On  April  13,  1850,  a  call  was  issued  by  the  Nashville  Union  for  a  meeting 
to  be  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  May  to  elect  delegates  to  represent  Davidson 
County  at  the  convention.  Among  the  signatures  was  that  of  Maj.  A.  J.  Donel- 
son  who  had  just  returned  from  his  service  as  minister  to  Prussia.  At  the  meet- 
ing in  May,  Donelson  was  chosen  president,  doubtless  for  the  purpose  of  off- 
setting the  use  of  Andrew  Jackson's  name  in  hostility  to  the  convention.  The 
whigs,  however,  gained  control  of  the  meeting  and  a  resolution  opposing  the 
convention  was  adopted. 

Nevertheless,  Nashville  was  selected  as  the  meeting  place  for  the  convention 
which  was  scheduled  to  be  held  on  June  3,  1850.  It  was  attended  by  about  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  delegates  from  seven  of  the  southern  states  18  and 
assembled  in  McKendree  Church.  The  meeting  was  presided  over  by  Judge 
W.  L.  Sharkey  and  continued  in  session  from  June  3  to  June  12,  inclusive.19 


17  Johnson-Buchanan  letters  in  the  possession  of  the  Pennsylvania  Historical  Society. 

is  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Mississippi  and  Tennessee. 

is  The  Republican  Banner  and  Nashville  Whig,  the  Daily  Union  and  the  Nashville  Amer- 
ican furnished  daily  stories  from  which  almost  all  subsequent  accounts  have  been  made  up.  Of 
these  Herndon's  "The  Nashville  Convention  of  1850"  is  one  of  the  best. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  441 

On  Saturday,  the  eighth,  resolutions  and  an  address  were  adopted  favoring 
the  Compromise  Bill  then  pending  before  Congress,  which  both  whigs  and  demo- 
crats interpreted  according  to  their  own  predilections. 

When  the  Compromise  Bill  passed  in  August,  the  southern  intransigents 
decided  that  the  action  of  Congress  justified  a  second  session  of  the  conven- 
tion. Accordingly  they  reassembled  on  November  11,  1850,  shorn  of  numbers 
and  strength  and  in  an  atmosphere  decidedly  hostile.  The  meetings,  which  con- 
tinued for  seven  days,  were  held  in  the  Christian  Church  and  were  in  the  con- 
trol of  the  South  Carolinians.  One  of  the  delegates,  Cheves,  urged  immediate 
secession,  but  the  conservative  elements,  including  the  Tennesseans  especially, 
succeeded  in  moderating  the  resolutions,  which,  nevertheless,  expressed  force- 
fully the  southern,  pro-slavery,  states  rights  view  of  the  national  dilemma.  The 
session,  notwithstanding,  was  a  failure.  Not  even  the  South  was  yet  ready  for 
secession.20 

THE    ADMINISTRATION    OP    WILLIAM    B.    CAMPBELL  21 

William  Bowen  Campbell  was  a  man  whose  name  and  fame  deserve  to  be 
kept  in  perpetual  remembrance.  Meredith  P.  Gentry  said  of  him  in  a  public 
speech : 

"Although  Tennessee  is  rich  in  noble  sons,  though,  like  the  mother  of  the 
Gracchi,  she  can  proudly  point  to  her  children  and  say  with  truth,  'these  are 
my  jewels';  yet,  in  my  opinion,  she  has  not  within  her  broad  limits  a  nobler 
son  than  William  B.  Campbell.  In  integrity  and  honor,  in  nobility  and  truth, 
in  courage  and  patriotism ;  in  all  that  constitutes  a  high,  noble  and  manly  char- 
acter, he  has  no  superior. ' ' 

In  1851,  Campbell  was  nominated  by  acclamation  by  the  whigs  as  their  can- 
didate for  governor.     In  accepting  the  nomination,  Campbell  said : 

"I  accept  with  a  pledge  to  my  friends  of  a  heart  devoted  to  the  union  of 
these  United  States,  and  to  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  my  native  State." 

Although  Governor  Trousdale  was,  at  that  time,  the  most  popular  and  in- 
fluential man  of  the  democratic  party  in  Tennessee,  Campbell  defeated  him  by 
a  majority  of  1,660  votes.  In  this  campaign  he  was  signally  aided  by  Thomas 
A.  R.  Nelson,  the  brilliant  speaker  from  East  Tennessee,  one  of  the  greatest 
orators  whom  this  state  has  produced.  As  a  governor,  Campbell  was  able,  firm, 
impartial  and  honest.  At  the  end  of  his  term  he  was  asked  to  be  a  candidate 
again  but  declined.    He  was  the  last  Whig  governor  of  Tennessee. 

During  his  incumbency  the  General  Assembly  was  in  session  from  October 
16,  1851,  to  March  1,  1852.    The  following  important  acts  were  passed : 

"To  establish  a  branch  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  at  Athens";  "to  regulate 
the  business  of  banking  (the  free  banking  Act)";  "To  submit  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution  to  provide  for  the  election  of  judges  and  attorneys-general 
by  the  people";  "To  provide  for  twelve  electors  for  president  and  vice-presi- 


-"  The  Nashville  convention  was  of  much  greater  importance  than  has  generally  been 
realized,  because  of  its  influence  on  the  politics  of  both  state  and  nation.  The  student  who 
wishes  to  make  a  more  thorough  investigation  than  is  here  afforded  is  referred  to  St.  George 
L.  Sioussat's  article  entitled  "Tennessee,  the  Compromise  of  1850,  and  the  Nashville  Con- 
vention," originally  published  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  Historical  Eeview  for  December, 
1915,  and  reprinted  in  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  for  December,  1918. 

si  See  biographical  sketch. 


442  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

dent";  "To  establish  a  system  of  internal   improvement."22  The  following 

railroads    were    incorporated:      The    Louisville    and    Nashville,  Nashville    and 

Northwestern,    Memphis,    Clarksville    and   Louisville,   and   the  Edgefield    and 
Kentucky. 

In  1852,  the  whigs  carried  Tennessee  in  the  presidential  election  by  a  ma- 
jority of  1,880  votes.  On  August  10  of  this  year  a  duel  was  fought  between 
John  L.  Marling,  editor  of  the  Nashville  Union  and  Gen.  Felix  K.  Zollieoffer, 
editor  of  the  Nashville  Banner,  both  being  wounded. 

INTERNAL    IMPROVEMENTS 

State  aid  to  private  corporations  engaged  in  the  work  of  promoting  internal 
improvements  was  a  popular  idea  in  Tennessee  from  the  years  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  admittance  of  the  state  into  the  Union  until,  in  reconstruction  times, 
the  state  debt  had  become  so  large  and  onerous  that  this  form  of  economic  scheme 
was  stopped  by  provision  2:i  of  the  constitution  of  1870.  There  are  four  forms 
of  improvements  which  have  received  aid  from  the  state,  viz.:  public  roads, 
waterways,  turnpikes  and  railroads.  Of  these  by  far  the  greatest  amounts  of 
money  have  been  expended  in  aid  of  railroads.24 

Even  as  far  back  as  the  year  1787,  when  Tennessee  was  a  part  of  North 
Carolina,  that  state  provided  for  a  lottery  to  be  held  at  Hillsboro,  the  proceeds 
to  be  applied  to  cutting  a  way  from  the  south  end  of  Clinch  Mountain  (later 
in  Hawkins  County)  to  Bean's  Lick.  Also,  on  October  26,  1799,  the  Legis- 
lature passed  an  act  to  mark  out  the  Walton  Road 25  over  the  Cumberland 
Mountains  from  Southwest  Point  (now  Kingston)  to  the  mouth  of  Caney  Fork 
where  Carthage  now  stands.  The  Legislature  provided  the  money  to  do  the 
work.  Afterwards,  in  1801,  the  Legislature  required  the  governor  to  incor- 
porate an  association  of  citizens  under  the  name  of  the  Cumberland  Turnpike 
Company  to  keep  the  road  in  repair  and  with  authority  to  collect  tolls.  This 
was  the  first  charter  granted  by  the  state  for  individual  profit. 

With  a  rapidly  increasing  population  facilities  to  travel  were  a  necessity 
in  this  new  country.  Hence,  in  1804,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  State  Legis- 
lature to  empower  the  county  courts  to  lay  off  public  roads,  establish  ferries 
and  determine  where  bridges  should  be  built. 

RIVER    NAVIGATION 

The  action  of  New  York  in  providing  for  the  Erie  Canal  gave  a  tre- 
mendous impetus  throughout  the  country  for  waterway  transportation.  In 
Tennessee  it  stimulated  efforts  for  two  great  projects,  one  a  scheme  of  Governor 
McMinn  to  unite  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  and  Mobile  rivers  by  a  canal 
eleven  miles  in  length,  from  the  Hiwassee  River  to  the  Conasauga,  the  latter 
being  the  only  stream  in  Tennessee  whose  waters  reach  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
without  passing  through  the  Mississippi  River.  The  other  was  a  plan  advocated 
bv  Governor  Cannon  to  save  several  hundred  miles  bv  uniting  the  waters  of  the 


-'-  This  was  known  as  the  Omnibus  Bill. 

23  Article  II,  Sec.  31,  reads:  "The  credit  of  this  state  shall  not  be  hereafter  loaned  or 
given  to  or  in  aid  of  any  person,  association,  company,  corporation,  or  municipality;  nor 
shall  the  state  become  the  owner,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  any  bank,  or  a  stockholder  with  others 
in  any  association,  company,  corporation,  or  municipality." 

-*  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  total  state  debt  exclusive  of  the  Confederate  loan, 
was  $20,408,000  of  which  $14,841,000  had  been  incurred  by  issuance  of  bonds  to  railroads. 

25  Named  for  Capt.  Wm.  Walton. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  443 

Tennessee  and  the  Mississippi  rivers  by  a  canal  about  thirty  miles  long  from 
the  Tennessee  to  the  head  of  navigation  of  the  Big  Hatehie.  Neither  scheme 
was  carried  out,  but  the  latter  was  alive  as  late  as  1893,  when  a  report  of  the 
route  surveyed  was  made  to  Governor  Turney.  "In  1825  Robert  H.  Dyer  was 
loaned  $3,000  for  three  years  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  a  canal  from  the  Forked 
Deer  to  the  Mississippi."  20 

TURNPIKES 

Efforts  in  regard  to  internal  improvements,  however,  prior  to  the  adoption 
of  the  constitution  of  1834,  were  for  the  most  part  sporadic,  although,  when 
Carroll,  who  was  a  friend  to  such  efforts,  became  governor  in  1821,  more  sys- 
tematic endeavors  were  made.  In  1823  a  standing  committee  on  internal  im- 
provements was  appointed  by  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  However, 
the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  carrying  into  operation  the  general  desire  for 
internal  improvements  were  well-nigh  insuperable.  Even  the  attempt  to  en- 
courage private  investment  in  turnpike  stock  at  this  time  failed. 

But  when  John  Loudon  Macadam,  the  Scotch  engineer,  invented  his  system 
of  macadamizing  roads,  a  new  impetus  was  given  to  the  previous  almost  abortive 
attempts  for  the  improvement  of  the  transportation  of  the  state.  This  impetus 
began  to  be  felt  in  Tennessee  in  1829,  when  the  Legislature  chartered  the 
Franklin  Turnpike  Company  2T  to  receive  subscriptions  to  the  amount  of  $75,000 
to  build  a  turnpike  from  Nashville  to  Franklin.  This  was  the  first  of  a  number 
of  turnpikes  incorporated  at  that  session.  The  ambition  for  good  roads  which 
had  been  aroused  can  be  understood  from  the  fact  that  on  January  14,  1830, 
a  resolution-8  was  passed,  the  first  sentence  of  which  reads:  "The  State  of 
Tennessee  has  it  in  contemplation  to  make  a  state  turnpike  road  on  the  M  Adam 
(sic)  plan,  from  the  Virginia  line  to  the  Mississippi  River,  provided  she  can 
obtain  the  adequate  funds."  It  goes  on  also  to  express  the  hope  that  aid  might 
be  extended  by  the  United  States. 

THE  PLAN  OF  1829 

On  January  2,  1830,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an  act  -1'  providing,  for 
the  first  time,  for  a  systematic  plan  of  internal  improvements  in  Tennessee. 
This  act  provided  for  the  appointment  of  six  commissioners,  "two  east  of  the 
Cumberland  Mountain,  two  west  of  said  mountain,  and  two  west  of  the  Ten- 
nessee River."  For  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  act  $150,000  of  the 
unappropriated  funds  from  the  sale  of  the  lands  in  the  Hiwassee  district  were 
set  apart.  It  was  apportioned  as  follows:  $60,000  for  East  Tennessee,  $60,000 
for  Middle  Tennessee,  $30,000  for  the  Western  District.  In  1831  another  com- 
missioner was  added  to  those  for  East  Tennessee  and  the  three  were  made  a 


26Phelan's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  278.  In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  1829, 
Governor  Carroll  said :  "In  many  parts  of  our  country  the  great  work  of  internal  im- 
provements is  advancing  with  astonishing  rapidity.  The  New  York  canal  is  in  successful 
operation.  The  Pennsylvania  Canal,  400  miles  long,  is  nearly  finished.  The  Baltimore  Kail- 
road,  the  Chesapeake  Canal,  the  canal  uniting  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the 
river  Ohio,  and  numerous  other  improvements  of  less  magnitude,  but  of  great  value  to  the 
internal  trade  of  the  country,  are  in  a  state  of  vigorous  progression,  and  will  in  a  few  years 
be  entirely  completed.  With  these  bright  examples  before  us  does  it  become  Tennessee  to  be 
idle  ? ' ' 

2"  Chapter  CCV  of  the  Acts  of  1829,  p.  159,  passed  December  31,  1829. 

zs  Number  XXI,  Acts  of  1829,  p.  299. 

29  Chapter  LXXV  of  the  Acts  of  1829,  p.  103. 


444  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

separate  board  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  navigation  in  the  Tennessee 
and  Holston  rivers  and  their  tributaries.  Also,  in  the  same  year  a  board  of 
improvement  was  established  for  the  mountain  section,30  of  Middle  Tennessee ; 
and  the  county  courts  of  the  counties  west  of  the  Tennessee  River  31  were  di- 
rected to  appoint  three  persons,  residents  of  the  individual  counties,  to  be  boards 
of  county  commissioners  of  internal  improvement. 

The  plan  of  1829,  however,  fell  far  short  of  what  had  been  hoped  of  it. 
Contrary  to  general  expectation  but  comparatively  little  support  was  extended 
by  private  citizens  and  some  local  jealousies  were  aroused. 

INTERNAL   IMPROVEMENTS   FOLLOWING   THE   ADOPTION    OF   THE    CONSTITUTION 

OF  1834 

There  was  inserted  in  the  Constitution  of  1834  a  section  ",2  which  proved 
most  stimulating.     It  reads  as  follows : 

"A  well  regulated  system  of  internal  improvement  is  calculated  to  develop 
the  resources  of  the  State  and  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  her 
citizens;  therefore  it  ought  to  be  encouraged  by  the  General  Assembly." 

The  building  of  a  few  miles  of  railway  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad 
which  was  begun  in  1828  turned  the  attention  of  progressives  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  to  the  possibilities  of  rail  transportation.  Tennessee  was  not  back- 
ward. In  1831  the  General  Assembly  seems  to  have  chartered  the  "Memphis 
Railroad  Company,"  although  it  does  not  appear  among  the  acts  of  that  year, 
because  in  1833  an  act33  was  passed  entitled,  "An  act  to  amend  an  act  passed 
on  December  17,  1831,  entitled  'an  act  to  incorporate  the  Memphis  Railroad 
Company,  to  that  of  the  Atlantic  and  Mississippi  Railroad  Company,  and  foi 
other  purposes.'  "  34 

In  1831,  also,  the  enthusiasm  of  Tennessee  for  railroads  was  stimulated  by 
a  convention  held  at  Abingdon,  Va.,  in  August,  for  the  purpose  of  considering 
the  feasibility  of  constructing  a  railroad  from  Lynchburg  to  Knoxville,  con- 
cerning which  Gen.  Richard  G.  Dunlap,  chairman  of  the  house  committee  on 
internal  improvement  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature  reported  favorably  in 
December. 

THE  PENNSYLVANIA  PLAN 

On  February  19,  1836,  was  passed  an  act35  entitled,  "An  act  to  encourage 
internal  improvement  in  the  state,"  which  is  commonly  known  as  the  "Penn- 
sylvania Plan.  * '  The  outstanding  features  of  this  plan  are  stated  in  the  initial 
part  of  the  first  section  of  this  act  as  follows : 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, That  in  all  cases  where  any  joint  stock  company  has  been  or  may  here- 
after be  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  for  the  purpose  of 
constructing  any  work  or  works  of  Internal  Improvement,  by  means  of  railroads 
or  McAdamized  turnpike  roads,  within  the  limits  of  the  same,  and  two-thirds 

so  Chapter  XLIII,  Acts  of  1831,  p.  62. 
si  Chapter  XLIV,  Acts  of  1831,  p.  64. 

32  Article  XI,  Miscellaneous  Provisions,  Sec.  9. 

33  Chapter  XLIX,  Acts  of  1833,  p.  56. 

3<  The  date  when  this  act  was  passed  is  omitted,  but  the  act  preceding  it  was  passed 
November  4,  1833,  and  the  act  following  it  was  passed  on  November  30,  1833.  This  railroad 
was  to  run  from  Memphis  to  Pulaski,  there  to  connect  with  another  road  to  be  built  from 
Florence,  Ala. 

ss  Chapter  XXII  of  the  Acts  of  1836,  p.  108. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  445 

of  the  capital  stock  of  such  company  or  companies  shall  have  been  subscribed 
by  individuals  or  other  incorporated  companies,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Governor,  Comptroller,  Treasurer  and  Secretary  of  State,  shall  be  well  secured, 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  subscribe,  on  behalf  of  the  State,  for 
the  remaining  third  of  such  capital  stock,  and  to  execute  bonds  of  the  State, 
with  the  Seal  of  the  State  affixed,  and  payable  twenty-five  years  after  the 
execution  thereof  to  the  President  and  Directors  of  such  companies,  or  their 
assignees,  bearing  an  interest  of  five  and  one-quarter  per  cent  per  annum." 

By  act  36  of  the  Legislature  passed  January  19,  1838,  the  state  was  required 
to  subscribe  for  one-half  of  the  stock  of  railroad  and  turnpike  companies.  By 
section  25  of  this  act  the  aggregate  liability  of  the  state  is  limited  to  $4,000,000. 
"Under  the  operation  of  this  law,  $66,666.66%  were  issued  to  the  Nashville, 
Murfreesboro,  and  Shelbyville  Turnpike  Company,  $125,000  to  the  La  Grange 
and  Memphis  Railroad  Company  3T  with  a  lateral  branch  to  Somerville,  $45,000 
to  the  Gallatin  Turnpike  Company."38  By  the  first  section  of  this  same  act 
' '  The  Bank  of  Tennessee ' '  39  was  chartered.  This  was  the  strongest  banking 
institution  ever  conducted  in  the  state  and  its  purpose  was  "to  raise  a  fund 
for  internal  improvements,  and  to  aid  in  a  system  of  education." 

The  first  actual  railroad  construction  in  Tennessee  was  the  work  done  by  the 
Hiwassee  Railroad  Company  which  secured  a  charter  in  1836  to  build  a  railroad 
from  Knoxville  to  the  southern  boundary  of  the  state.40  This  road41  was  sur- 
veyed and  ground  broken  in  1837.  In  1848  the  charter  was  amended  and  the 
name  of  the  corporation  changed  to  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia  Railroad  Com- 
pany. It  was  completed  from  Chattanooga  to  Knoxville  in  1856  and  to  Bristol 
in  1858.  It  was  afterwards  known  as  the  East  Tennessee,  Virginia  and  Georgia 
Railroad.     It  is  now  a  part  of  the  Southern  Railway  system. 

By  the  year  1839  it  was  realized  that  charters  of  incorporation  involving 
state  aid  had  been  too  readily  granted  and  that  projects  of  no  importance  to 
the  state  at  large  had  sometimes  been  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
state  aid.  Therefore,  on  January  25,  1840,  an  act42  was  passed  "That  all 
laws  authorizing  the  governor  of  this  state  to  subscribe  for  stock  on  behalf  of 
the  state  in  any  company,  incorporated  or  to  be  incorporated  for  the  purpose 
of  constructing  any  works  of  internal  improvement,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby 
repealed."  A  board  of  commissioners  was  provided  for  in  the  bill  to  pass  upon 
the  completion  of  the  work  already  begun.  All  such  companies  were  rigidly 
investigated  for,  as  Governor  Polk  said  in  his  message  in  1841:  "Indeed,  our 
whole  internal  improvement  system,  as  at  present  organized,  is  so  very  defective 
as  to  demand  your  anxious  and  unremitting  consideration." 

Nevertheless,  while  the  state  was  wrestling  with  this  problem,  railroads,  as 
a  means  of  transportation,  had  passed  beyond  the  experimental  period  and  the 
popular  desire  for  progress,  both  in  state  and  nation  turned  with  enthusiasm 
more  and  more  towards  railroads  and  less  towards  canals  and  the  navigation 
of  rivers.  The  main  lines  of  railroads  which  were  subjects  of  discussion  in  the 
newspapers   and   in   financial   circles   were,    a    road   from   Nashville,   one    from 


so  Chapter  CVII,  Acts  of  1837-1838,  See.  21,  p.  163. 
3"  This  road  was  not  completed. 

38  Phelan  's  ' '  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  282. 

39  The  Fourth  Bank  of  Tennessee.     See  chapter  on  Tennessee  in  the  Banking  Business. 

40  In  the  archives  of  the  state  are  the  reports  of  the  railroad  companies  and  turnpike 
companies  extending  through  the  years  when  they  were  aided  by  the  state  and   subsequently. 

41  This  project  was  put  on  foot  through  the  influence  of  Senator  John  A.  Reagan,  after- 
wards postmaster-general  of  the  Confederacy  and  later  one  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens 
and  officials  of  Texas.     He  was  born  in  Sevier  County,  Tenn. 

"Chapter  I,  Acts  of  1839-1840,  p.  1. 
Vol.  1—29 


446  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Memphis  to  some  poinl  in  Virginia,  one  from  Memphis  to  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  one  from  Charleston,  through  East  Tennessee  to  Cincinnati  and  Louisville. 

The  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad  was  the  first  railroad  operated  in 
Tennessee.  To  Dr.  James  Overton,  more  than  to  any  other  man,  should  the 
credit  he  given  for  establishing  this  vitally  important  road.  After  he  had 
become  thoroughly  informed  on  the  subject  of  railroads,  he  called  a  public 
meeting  at  the  courthouse  in  Nashville  and  communicated  the  fire  of  his  own 
enthusiasm  to  his  auditors.  At  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1845  he  brought 
up  the  subject,  and  Robt.  Y.  Hayne,  the  great  orator  of  South  Carolina,  who 
was  visiting  in  Nashville,  was  invited  to  address  the  General  Assembly  on  the 
importance  of  connecting  Nashville  with  the  South  Atlantic.  His  speech  was 
eloquent  and  impressive  and  the  Legislature  granted  a  most  liberal  charter  to 
the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad  Company.  The  City  of  Nashville 
endorsed  the  bonds  of  the  company  to  the  amount  of  $500,000  and  many  large 
individual  subscriptions  to  its  stock  were  made.  Under  the  able  management 
of  its  president,  Vernon  K.  Stevenson,  it  was  completed  in  1853.43 

The  most  ambitious  and  conspicuous  of  the  railroad  schemes  in  which  the 
people  of  Tennessee  became  interested  in  those  days  was  the  Charleston,  Cin- 
cinnati and  Louisville  Railroad.  For  several  years  it  was  a  matter  of  interstate 
negotiation  and,  while  the  governor  was  directed  to  subscribe  $650,000  to  the 
enterprise  in  behalf  of  the  state,  and  $32,000  in  bonds  were  issued,  nothing 
came  of  it  except  added  enthusiasm  for  railroad  construction.  Eventually,  most 
of  the  bonds  were  returned  and  the  subscription  cancelled. 

The  great  commercial  convention  at  Memphis  in  1845,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  still  further  intensified  the  "railroad  mania,"  and  the  immediate  out- 
growth of  this  meeting  was  the  projection  and  construction  of  the  Memphis  and 
Charleston  Railroad.  The  most  prominent  men  of  Tennessee,  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina  became  the  earnest  advocates  of  this  road.  Among  them  John  C.  Cal- 
houn, of  South  Carolina,  and  ex-Governor  James  C.  Jones,  of  Tennessee,  who 
for  a  year  had  canvassed  with  brilliant  success  the  territory  through  which  the 
road  was  to  run  and  who  became  president  of  the  company.  The  City  of 
Memphis  subscribed  $500,000.  Contracts  for  building  the  road  were  let  in 
1851  and  the  first  track  was  laid  on  April  1,  1852.  Through  the  arduous  efforts 
of  Sam  Tate  who  had  been  persuaded  to  accept  the  presidency  the  road  was 
completed  on  March  27,  1857.  A  great  celebration  in  honor  of  the  completion 
of  the  road  was  held  at  Memphis  at  which  the  so-called  "marriage  of  the  Atlantic 
and  Mississippi"  took  place.  This  ceremony  consisted  of  pouring  a  barrel  of 
water  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  into  the  Mississippi  River.  The  completion  of 
this  road  was  an  almost  epochal  event  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  and  the  entire 
Southwest  and  the  stimulating  effect  of  it  on  commerce  and  industry  was  im- 
mediate, great  and  far-reaching. 

By  act  44  of  the  Legislature  passed  on  February  4,  1848,  the  governor  was 
required  to  endorse  and  guarantee  the  bonds  of  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga 
Railroad  Company  and  of  the  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia  Railroad  Company. 
But,  as  this  plan  was  not  satisfactory,  its  provisions  were  repealed  so  far  as 
the  East  Tennessee  and  Georgia  Railroad  Company  was  concerned  by  act45 
passed  on  January  30,  1850,  providing  that  the  state  should  issue  its  bonds  to 


*s  The  first  passenger  train  on  this  road  was  run  as  far  as  Antioeh  on  April  13,  1851, 
and  the  first  throna-h  train  to  Chattanooga  on  January  18,  1853. 

44  Chapter  CLXIX,  of  Acts  of  1847-1848,  Sections  2  and  8,  pp.  272  and  273. 
48  Chapter  XLIT,  of  Acts  of  1849-1850,  Sec.  11. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  447 

pay  for  rails  and  equipment  as  sections  were  completed.  The  principal  dis- 
advantage of  these  plans  was  that  the  state  was  not  properly  nor  conveniently 
protected.  Hence,  an  act  4li  was  passed  on  February  11,  1852,  which  was  com- 
prehensive, applied  to  all  the  railroad  companies  and,  at  the  same  time  would 
protect  the  state.  This  act  was  entitled  "An  act  to  establish  a  system  of  internal 
improvements  in  the  state,"  but  it  applied  to  railroads  only.  Under  the  opera- 
tion of  this  act  the  greater  part  of  the  state  debt  was  contracted.  By  its  pro- 
visions the  railroads  with  bona  fide  subscriptions  were  entitled  to  $8,000  of  the 
6  per  cent  bonds  of  the  state  for  each  mile  of  road,  to  cover  cost  of  rails  and 
equipment,  when  they  should  have  prepared  certain  sections  of  the  roadbed. 
These  bonds  constituted  a  first  lien  or  mortgage  on  the  road  and  its  franchises 
and  equipment.  This  act  worked  well  and,  but  for  the  war  and  the  conduct  of 
the  so-called  "Brownlow  regime"  would  have  resulted  in  great  advantage  to 
the  entire  state.  Under  this  act  and  its  amendments  the  amount  of  bonds  issued 
to  railroads  was  approximately  $14,000,000.  The  total  amount  of  bonds  issued 
to  railroads  before  the  war  was  $14,841,000.  Between  April,  1866,  and  December, 
1868,  $14,393,000  of  bonds  were  issued  for  railroads,  and  $113,000  for  turnpikes. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1870,  which,  as  has  already  been  said, 
put  a  stop  to  state  aid  of  internal  improvements,  the  burden  of  such  works 
devolved  mostly  upon  private  enterprise,  for  the  constitution  also  contains  the 
following  safeguard :  47 

"But  the  credit  of  no  county,  city  or  town  shall  be  given  or  loaned  to  or  in 
aid  of  any  person,  company,  association  or  corporation,  except  an  election  be 
first  held  by  the  qualified  voters  of  such  county,  city,  or  town,  and  the  assent 
of  three-fourths  of  the  votes  cast  at  said  election  secured ;  nor  shall  any  county, 
city,  or  town  become  a  stockholder  with  others  in  any  company,  association  or 
corporation,  except  upon  a  like  election,  and  the  assent  of  a  like  majority." 

THE  STATE  HIGHWAY  DEPARTMENT 

Although  the  provision  in  the  Constitution  of  1870,  already  referred  to, 
put  a  quietus  upon  state  aid  to  projectors  of  internal  improvements,  interest 
in  them  has  never  been  abated.  Especially  has  the  need  for  good  roads  been 
deemed  of  paramount  importance.  Some  counties  have  been  extremely  diligent 
in  their  efforts  for  good  roads ;  others  inexcusably  negligent  of  them.  Long  ago 
it  was  realized  that  the  state  ought  to  have  a  good  system  of  roads  throughout 
all  sections ;  but  it  was  as  recently  as  1913  that  a  start  in  this  matter  was  made 
by  the  passage  of  an  act48  entitled  "A  General  Enabling  Act  authorizing 
counties  in  this  state,  through  their  quarterly  courts,  to  issue  bonds  for  highway 
purposes,"  etc. 

The  beneficial  effects  of  this  act  were  immediately  apparent,  but  it  could 
not  work  speedily  enough  nor  generally  enough,  so,  in  1915,  an  act  49  was  passed 
establishing  a  state  highway  department.  The  importance  and  comprehensive- 
ness of  this  act  are  indicated  by  its  caption  which  reads: 

"A  Bill,  to  be  entitled,  An  Act  establishing  a  Highway  Department,  creat- 
ing a  State  Highway  Commission  prescribing  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
State  Highway  Commission,  providing  for  the  designation  and  adoption  of  a 
State  Highway  plan  of  the  State,  creating  a  highway  fund,  and  apportioning 

*«  Chapter  CLI,  of  the  Acts  of  1851-1852,  p.  204. 

«  Article  II,  Section  29. 

48  Chapter  26  of  the  acts  of  the  first  extra  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  191.'!. 

*9  Chapter  100  of  the  Acts  of  1915,  p.  256,  passed  May  11,  1915. 


448  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  proceeds  thereof  to  the  respective  counties  and  the  Highway  Department, 
and  applying  the  proceeds  of  the  registration  of  motor  vehicles,  amending 
Section  6,  of  Senate  Bill  296,  Chapter  8,  of  the  Acts  of  the  59th  General  As- 
sembly 5()  and  acquiring  rights  of  way  therefor,  by  exercising  of  the  power  of 
eminent  domain." 

In  1917,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act51  entitled  "An  Act  to  authorize  the 
Treasurer  and  Comptroller  to  receive  certain  funds  from  the  United  States 
Treasury  to  credit  same  to  certain  projects  and  to  disburse  same  through  the 
State  Highway  Department  when  ordered  by  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture. ' ' 

At  the  same  session  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  28  52  was  passed  stating 
"The  state  highway  commission  is  hereby  requested  and  directed  to  map  out 
and  formulate  a  system  of  state  and  federal  highways  and  report  same  back  to 
the  next  regular  session  of  the  General  Assembly." 

In  1919  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  53  amending  the  Act  of  1913,  enabling 
counties  to  receive  state  aid  for  roads  and  bridges  in  the  proportion  of  one- 
third  to  be  furnished  by  the  state  highway  department  to  two-thirds  to  be  fur- 
nished by  the  county. 

On  April  15,  1919,  a  still  more  comprehensive  act 54  was  passed,  creating  a 
state  highway  department,  to  be  composed  of  three  persons  to  be  chosen  by  the 
secretary  of  state,  state  comptroller  and  state  treasurer  by  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  governor,  one  from  each  grand  division  of  the  state  and  prescribing  the 
duties  of  this  department  and  its  officers  and  the  rules  and  regulations  by  which 
it  must  be  guided. 

In  1921,  section  18  of  this  act,  referring  to  dealers  and  service  vehicles,  was 
amended,55  but  with  this  exception  the  act  adopted  on  April  15,  1919,  is  the 
statute  from  which  the  state  highway  department  derives  its  powers  and  per- 
forms its  duties. 

One  important  part  of  its  functions  is  its  cooperation  with  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  "in  conformity  to  an  act  of  the  Sixty-fourth  Con- 
gress, approved  July  11,  1916,  entitled,  'An  act  to  provide  that  the  United 
States  shall  aid  the  state  in  the  construction  of  rural  post  roads  and  for  other 
purposes.'  " 

The  following  statistics  of  its  activities  have  been  furnished  by  Hon.  W.  T. 
Testerman,  secretary  of  the  state  highway  department :  * 

SUMMARY  OF  STATUS   OF  FEDERAL  AID   ROAD  AND  BRIDGE 
CONSTRUCTION  IN  TENNESSEE  TO  AUGUST  15,  1922. 

1.  Total  Federal  Aid  allotted  to  Tennessee,  1917-1922 $  7,875,830.22 

2.  Total  value  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  Contracts  let  to 

June   20,   1922    (including   10%   Engineering  and  Contin- 
gencies)      $15,453,000.00 

3.  Total  value  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  Projects  submitted 

to  U.   S.    Government,   Bureau  of  Public  Roads,  to   June 

20,  1922,  but  not  contracted   $  1,036,000.00 


so  That  of  1915. 

si  Senate  Bill  No.  123,  Chapter  No.  58,  of  the  Acts  of  1917,  p.  127,  passed  March  27,  1917. 

52  Acts  of  1917,  p.  568. 

53  Chapter  175,  Senate  Bill  No.  692,  of  the  Acts  of  1919,  p.  643. 
5*  Chapter  149,  Senate  Bill  No.  442,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  546. 

55  By  Chapter  165,  of  the  Acts  of  1921,  p.  434,  passed  on  April  9,  1921. 

*  After  the  passage  of  the  Reorganization  Bill  by  the  Legislature  in  1923,  Governor 
Peay  appointed  J.  G.  Creveling,  Jr.,  Commissioner  of  the  Department  of  Highways  and  Public 
Buildings. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  449 

4.  Total  value  of  all  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  projects  sub- 

mitted to  U.  S.  Government,  Bureau  of  Public  Roads,  con- 
tracted and  not  contracted   $16,464,866.72 

5.  Total  value  completed  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  contracts, 

including  10%  Engineering  and  Contingencies $  4,205,473.49 

6.  Total  value  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  contracts  not  com- 

pleted, including  10%  Engineering  and  Contingencies $10,572,390.26 

7.  Total  value  completed  work  in  uncompleted  Federal  Aid  Road 

and  Bridge  contracts,  including  10%  Engineering  and  Con- 
tingencies   $  4,431,739.86 

8.  Total  value   of   all   construction   on   Federal   Aid   Road  and 

Bridge  work  to  date,  including  10%  Engineering  and  Con- 
tingencies   $  8,637,213.35 

9.  Total  number  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  Contracts  let 77 

10.  Total  number  Federal  Aid  Road  and  Bridge  Contracts  completed.  .  .   23 

11.  Total  mileage  Federal  Aid  Road  contracts  let 596.58 

12.  Total  mileage  Federal  Aid  Road  contracts  completed  to  June  20,  1922. .147. 6 

13.  Total  mileage  completed  road  in  unfinished  Federal  Aid  Road  con- 

tracts,  June   20,    1922    80.23 

14.  Total  mileage  completed  Federal  Aid  road,  June  20,  1922 227.83 

15.  Percentage  completion  uncompleted  Federal  Aid   Road   and  Bridge 

projects,  June  20,  1922   47 


CHAPTER  XXI 

TENNESSEE   IN  THE  BANKING  BUSINESS 

This  chapter  was  written  by  Judge  Robert  L.  Morris,  of  Ridgetop,  Tenn. 
It  is,  so  far  as  known,  the  only  complete  and  comprehensive  exposition  of  this 
most  difficult,  complicated,  important  and  least  understood  phase  of  the  history 
of  this  state.  Judge  Morris  is  the  highest  living  authority  on  this  subject,  as 
he  has  made  a  long  and  deep  study  of  it,  involving  much  research,  and  was 
the  especial  chancellor  called  upon  to  try  much  of  the  important  litigation 
which  concerned  the  winding  up  of  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee. 

At  the  time  the  State  of  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Federal  Union, 
June  1,  1796,  in  the  gradual  evolution  of  the  banking  business,  a  convertible 
paper  currency  had  come  to  be  the  accepted  theory  of  finance. 

This  evolution  had  been  slow  and  halting  and  made  progress  only  as  inter- 
course among  nations  grew  and  the  demands  of  commerce  and  travel  became 
insistent  for  a  money  token  or  medium  of  exchange. 

Prior  to  about  600  B.  C,  trade  in  the  ancient  world  was  almost  entirely 
barter.  About  that  time  in  Lydia,  a  gold  producing  country  in  the  west  of 
Asia  Minor,  the  first  recorded  coins  were  minted. 

Britain,  in  the  time  of  Caesar,  used  iron  bars  of  fixed  weight  for  coin. 

Finally  with  the  advance  of  civilization  and  the  growth  of  commerce  and 
trade  the  Bank  of  Sweden,  in  1640,  invented  the  bank  note,  then  and  up  to 
the  adoption  of  our  constitution  known  and  designated  as  bills  of  credit.  In 
1694  the  Bank  of  England  was  founded  and  grew  out  of  a  government  loan ; 
its  present  charter  dating  from  the  "Peel  Act"  of  1844.  It  was  from  the  be- 
ginning a  bank  of  issue  and  has  two  branches  in  the  City  of  London  and  nine 
in  the  "provinces." 

The  finances  of  France  and  Germany  were  all  likewise  organized  on  the 
central  bank  idea  with  branches.  The  Banque  De  France  was  founded  in  1800 
by  Napoleon.  The  German  central  bank  is  the  Reichsbank.  These  banks  are 
in  large  measure  privately  owned,  but  governmentally  controlled  and  chartered 
for  given  periods  of  time ;  but  unlike  our  own  experiments  in  a  central  national 
bank,  their  charters  are  always  renewed. 

Banking  in  Tennessee  and  in  other  states  of  the  Union  were  so  intercorrelated 
and  interwoven  with  each  other  and  with  the  finances  of  the  general  govern- 
ment that  it  becomes  necessary  at  times  to  make  mention  of  matters  pertaining 
to  the  banking  business  in  the  United  States  and  the  several  states. 

The  money  of  our  Federal  Constitution  was  gold  and  silver,  the  unit  of  value 
being  the  dollar.  But  this  instrument  denied  to  the  several  states  the  right  to 
coin  money  or  issue  bills  of  credit  in  their  own  names,  although  the  constitution 
itself  did  not  in  so  many  words  provide  that  the  national  Government  might 
do  so. 

With  the  establishment  of  the  general  Government  there  immediately  arose 

450 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  451 

two  schools  of  finance,  one  favoring  a  bank  of  the  United  States,  national  in 
character  and  extent,  which,  with  the  branches  would  furnish  a  uniform  cur- 
rency for  the  people  and  generally  do  the  banking  business  of  the  country  and 
that  of  the  Government. 

The  other  denied  the  right  of  Congress  under  the  constitution  to  charter  a 
bank  with  power  to  issue  a  paper  currency  and  insisted  the  United  States  alone 
had  such  authority  and  could  much  better  provide  a  currency  for  general  use; 
that  the  attempt  of  the  general  Government  to  do  so  was  an  invasion  of  the 
state  rights,  and  tended  to  the  formation  of  a  strong  central  Government  which 
was  not  intended  or  desired. 

Under  the  first  federal  compact  a  very  few  state  banks  of  issue  had  been 
founded  which  were  not  interfered  with  by  the  adoption  of  the  constitution; 
but  among  members  of  the  federalist  party,  particularly  by  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, the  first  secretary  of  the  treasury,  they  were  regarded  as  undesirable  and 
experimental. 

Burdened  with  the  necessity  of  providing  revenues  for  the  new  Government 
and  the  proper  adjustment  of  its  tangled  finances  the  outgrowth  of  a  long  wax, 
Mr.  Hamilton  immediately  took  steps  for  the  creation  of  a  Bank  of  the  United 
States. 

In  an  able  paper  he  reported  to  Congress  the  necessity  for  such  a  bank  and 
recommended  the  enactment  of  a  law  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  one. 

Such  a  bill,  after  some  debate,  was  duly  enacted  by  Congress  and  sent  to 
President  Washington  for  his  approval.  He  referred  it  to  his  attorney  general, 
Edmund  Randolph,  for  his  opinion  as  to  its  constitutionality.  He  decided  that 
Congress  had  no  constitutional  right  to  enact  such  a  bill,  but,  notwithstanding 
this  opinion,  after  due  deliberation  President  Washington  approved  it. 

It  began  operation  in  1791.  Its  charter  was  limited  to  twenty  years  and 
was  allowed  to  elapse  in  1811,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  those  desirous  of 
establishing  state  banks  of  issue.  Coincident  with  the  lapse  of  the  charter  of 
the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  State  of  Tennessee  by  act  of  its  General 
Assembly  November  11,  1811,  created  a  state  bank  under  the  name  and  style 
of  "The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Tennessee"  and  located  it  at  Knoxville,  with 
authority  to  establish  branches  at  Clarksville,  Columbia  and  Jonesborough,  and 
other  places  if  desired,  also,  to  consolidate  with  the  Nashville  Bank  and  make 
that  a  branch.  This  latter  was  the  first  bank  established  in  Tennessee  with 
authority  to  issue  a  paper  currency  and  was  chartered  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
state  on  November  26,  1807,  but  not  without  opposition  from  those  who  favored 
the  idea  of  a  central  United  States  Bank,  and  who  succeeded  in  limiting  its 
charter  to  January  1,  1818,  its  capital  stock  $200,000,  in  shares  of  $50  each, 
and  a  provision  that  its  assets  at  no  time  should  exceed  $400,000,  inclusive  of 
its  capital  stock.  It  was  likewise  restricted  to  one-half  of  one  per  cent  on  loans 
and  discounts  for  thirty  days,  and  a  refusal  to  pay  its  notes  in  current  coin  of 
the  United  States  subjected  it  to  suit  and  recovery  of  a  penalty  equal  to  one- 
half  of  the  debt  as  damages,  and  the  cost  of  the  suit. 

The  state  was  allowed  for  a  period  of  two  years  to  subscribe  for  300  shares 
of  its  capital  stock,  of  which  privilege  it  seems  never  to  have  availed  itself. 

The  first  board  of  directors  of  this  bank  consisted  of  George  M.  Deaderick, 
Wm.  Tait,  W.  Jackson,  John  H.  Smith,  George  Poyzer,  Wm.  Eastin,  Alex. 
Porter,  Sr.,  Joseph  Park  and  Wm.  Wright. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  punishment  for  the  first  offense  of  counterfeiting 


452  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

notes  of  this  bank  was  a  fine  of  not  less  than  $50,  thirty-nine  lashes  on  his 
bare  back,  not  less  than  three  hours  in  the  pillory,  and  to  be  imprisoned  not 
less  than  twelve  months.  For  the  second  offense  he  was  to  suffer  death  without 
the  benefit  of  clergy.  This  latter  benefit  no  inhuman  Legislature  would  now  think 
of  denying  to  a  criminal  condemned  for  any  offense  whatsoever. 

The  charter  of  this  bank  was  renewed  from  time  to  time,  it  was  allowed  to 
establish  its  branches,  was  authorized  to  consolidate  with  the  first  Bank  of 
Tennessee  on  the  joint  vote  of  the  two  boards  of  directors,  which,  however,  was 
never  done ;  was,  by  act  of  November  16,  1813,  allowed  to  increase  its  capital 
to  $400,000  and  the  charter  was  extended  to  the  end  of  1838.  By  1845  it  had 
ceased  to  do  business.  By  act  of  November  17,  1813,  the  treasurers  of  East  and 
West  Tennessee  were  authorized  to  invest  moneys  derived  from  sales  of  public 
lands  south  of  the  French  Broad  and  Hoist  on  rivers  in  the  stocks  of  the  Nash- 
ville Bank  and  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  and  faithfully  keep  the  principal  and 
interest  for  the  use  of  the  colleges  and  academies  of  the  state.  By  a  later  act 
moneys  derived  from  the  sales  of  public  lands  between  the  Big  Pigeon  and 
the  Tennessee  River  were  likewise  added. 

At  a  very  early  date  the  state  began  to  accumulate  a  school  fund  which  was 
freely  used  in  the  banking  business.  Thus  by  Act  of  1809  three  commissioners, 
namely  Thomas  Emmerson,  John  Crozier  and  Thomas  McCory,  were  instructed 
to  take  college  and  academy  funds  and  loan  them  out  at  a  rate  not  exceeding 
15  per  cent  nor  less  than  6  per  cent,  but  the  policy  of  investing  this  school  fund 
in  bank  stock  was  further  extended  by  act  of  November  22,  1817,  which  compelled 
the  treasurers  of  East  Tennessee  and  West  Tennessee  to  collect  and  to  invest  all 
college  and  academy  moneys  in  the  stock  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee,  or  preferably 
to  buy  the  stock  on  the  market  at  par.  The  aggregate  of  these  funds  at  that 
time  did  not  exceed  $10,000. 

The  capital  of  the  "Bank  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,"  so  called,  wras  fixed 
at  $400,000  in  shares  of  $50  each  and  the  state  was  authorized  to  subscribe  to 
an  amount  not  exceeding  $20,000,  with  the  right  reserved  to  sell  it  after  ten 
years.  The  bank  was  forbidden  to  issue  notes  for  a  less  denomination  than 
$5.  Its  charter  was  for  a  period  of  thirty  years.  Its  indebtedness  was  limited 
in  amount  to  double  that  of  its  paid-in  stock,  but  most  singularly  money  placed 
on  deposit  was  not  to  be  regarded  as  part  of  this  debt.  Still  another  provision 
required  that  any  indebtedness  in  excess  of  the  legal  limit  thus  fixed  should  in 
case  of  insolvency  be  paid  by  the  board  of  directors  permitting  such  excess. 

In  order  to  reduce  competition  in  the  banking  business  within  the  confines 
of  the  state  and  to  reserve  the  field  for  the  use  of  its  own  banks  of  issue,  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  shut  out  all  foreign  banking  corporations  by  incorporating 
in  its  Revenue  Law,  passed  November  17,  1815,  a  privilege  tax  of  $50,000  each 
year  they  continued  to  do  business,  while  state  banks  were  required  to  pay  only 
10  cents  on  every  $100  of  stock  actually  paid  in.  This  act  was  subsequently 
repealed. 

Owing  to  the  difficulties  of  finance  growing  out  of  the  war  with  England 
and  acting  under  the  leadership  of  President  Madison,  Congress,  in  April, 
1816,  rechartered  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $35,- 
000,000,  of  which  the  Federal  treasury  held  $11,000,000.  Of  its  twenty-five  di- 
rectors the  President  of  the  United  States  appointed  five.  The  Government 
received  in  return  for  the  charter  thus  granted  the  sum  of  $1,500,000.  It  was 
permitted  to  issue  a  paper  currency  equal  to  the  amount  of  its  capital  which  was 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  453 

made  receivable  by  the  United  States  for  all  debts  and  redeemable  in  specie  on 
demand.  Congress  pledged  itself  to  create  no  other  bank  while  its  charter 
lasted.  It  was  due  to  expire  in  1836.  The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  the  case  of  McCullock  vs.  Maryland  (1819),  sustained  the  authority  of  Con- 
gress to  charter  the  bank,  holding  that,  while  the  constitution  gave  no  express 
authority  to  do  so,  there  was  such  authority  by  implication. 

The  courts  at  an  early  date  also  decided  that  the  several  states  could  charter 
private  banks  authorized  to  issue  bills  of  credit  not  necessarily  redeemable  in 
specie,  and  that  the  state  itself  could  become  a  stockholder  in  such  banks  by 
use  of  public  funds.  On  the  score  of  constitutional  authority  and  legality  of 
action  by  the  Federal  and  state  governments  on  the  chartering  of  banks  of  issue 
there  was  a  practical  stand-off  but  the  question  as  to  whether  a  more  uniform 
and  desirable  currency  could  be  better  handled  by  the  general  Government  or 
by  the  several  states  was  still  an  open  one  and  bitterly  contested. 

In  fact,  during  the  entire  nineteenth  century,  economic  thought  as  related 
to  finance  was  in  a  state  of  flux.  Says  Mr.  H.  Parker  Willis  in  his  history  of 
"American  Banking,"  "the  nineteenth  century  was  a  rich  period  of  banking 
experience  and  an  immense  number  of  banking  systems  were  tried,  theory  after 
theory  was  taken  up,  applied  and  discarded.  In  matters  of  practical  banking, 
methods  were  almost  revolutionized." 

The  currency  question  was  a  matter  of  frequent  debate  in  Congress  and  out 
of  it. 

Several  distinct  systems  of  banking  were  tried  out  in  the  first  half  century 
of  our  national  life.  Among  others,  the  New  England  system  coupled  with  its 
' '  Suffolk  System  of  Redemption ' ' ;  the  bond-secured  system  of  New  York ;  the 
State  Bank  system,  of  banks  owned  and  operated  by  state  governments  and  a 
so-called  credit  system  of  banking. 

Of  these  Tennessee  tried  out  the  free  banking,  or  bond-secured  system,  and 
that  of  banks  owned  and  operated  by  the  state,  of  which  mention  will  be  made 
later. 

The  states  of  South  Carolina,  Ohio  and  Indiana,  like  Tennessee,  had  the 
central  bank  system  in  imitation  of  the  United  States  Bank;  of  these  that  of 
Indiana,  established  in  1834,  was  the  most  successful,  as  the  parent  bank  did 
not  itself  issue  any  currency  but  supervised  and  regulated  the  issues  of  its 
branches.  The  public  men  of  Tennessee  and  its  delegates  in  Congress  were  not 
laggards  in  the  consideration  and  discussion  of  these  principles  of  finance  and 
banking.  While  the  Second  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  running  its  ill- 
starred  course,  the  several  states  of  the  Union  were  busy  experimenting  in  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  banking  systems  "the  result  of  all  which  was  the  accumulation 
of  a  great  fund  of  experience  as  to  the  best  way  in  which  not  to  conduct 
banking. ' ' 

Tennessee  up  to  1817  had  chartered  as  many  as  fifteen  banks  of  issue  with  an 
aggregate  capital  of  $5,800,000,  which  included  that  of  the  Bank  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee.  These  banks  were  authorized  to  issue  $10,000,000  in  paper  for 
a  population  of  300,000  people  then  composing  the  state.  Other  states  were 
pursuing  a  like  course  causing  undue  expansion  of  credit  and  great  speculation, 
with  the  necessary  sequence  in  the  panic  of  1817-1819,  and  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments  by  all  the  banks,  except  those  of  some  of  the  New  England 
states. 

The  Bank  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  suspended  specie  payment  on  June  29, 


454  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

1819,  the  Nashville  Bank  on  June  22,  1819,  all  other  banks  of  the  state  doing 
likewise.  Owing  to  financial  troubles  and  the  general  collapse  in  business  the 
country  over,  Governor  Joseph  McMinn  convened  the  Legislature  of  the  state 
in  extraordinary  session  at  Murfreesboro,  the  then  seat  of  government,  to  con- 
sider the  situation  of  affairs  and  adopt  such  measures  of  relief  as  might  be  proper 
and  necessary. 

In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  he  dwelt  upon  "the  calamities,  distresses 
and  embarrassments  of  the  people"  and  made  several  recommendations  of  a 
somewhat  radical  character,  among  others  the  following :  The  establishment  of 
a  central  loan  office  with  branches  in  each  county  of  the  state  to  handle  $300,000 
of  state  treasury  certificates.  In  accordance  with  the  recommendation  a  bill 
was  forthwith  introduced  in  the  Legislature  to  carry  it  into  effect.  It  had  run 
the  gauntlet  of  the  Senate  and  House  committees  and  been  passed  on  its  third 
reading  in  spite  of  a  long  and  very  able  paper  of  protest  against  its  passage 
signed  by  Pleasant  M.  Miller,  Henry  Bradford,  and  others. 

Things  were  in  this  situation  when  public  remonstrance  arose  against  its 
passage.  The  citizens  of  Davidson  and  Sumner  counties,  through  their  repre- 
sentatives, presented  memorials  against  its  passage  and  one  point  made  and 
stressed  was  that  the  proposed  state  treasury  certificates  would  be  "bills  of 
credit"  in  the  sense  of  the  United  States  Constitution  and  consequently  a  vio- 
lation of  its  interdict  against  any  state  of  the  Union  being  permitted  to  issue 
such ;  also  that  its  provisions  were  inexpedient  and  would  be  ruinous  in  their 
consequences.  The  memorial  from  Davidson  County  set  out  in  haec  verba  the 
oath  taken  by  each  member  of  the  Legislature  to  support  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  as  well  as  that  of  the  state,  and  that  to  vote  for  the  bill  as  pre- 
sented would  be  a  violation  of  this  oath  and  an  act  of  perjury.  This  memorial 
was  signed,  among  others,  by  General  Jackson  and  his  protege,  Col.  Edward 
Ward,  on  the  motion  of  Adam  Huntsman  and  David  Wallace,  members  of  the 
House.  This  memorial  was  sought  to  be  laid  on  the  table  until  January  1,  1821. 
They  alleged  that  General  Jackson  and  Colonel  Ward  had  been  active  in  get- 
ting it  up,  that  its  language  was  not  sufficiently  decorous  and  proper ;  that  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  at  Nashville  and  in  the  presence  of  members  of  the  Legislature, 
had,  "in  the  most  indecorous  manner,  stated  that  any  member  who  voted  for 
it  would  perjure  himself,  that  if  it  was  made  a  law  twelve  honest  jurymen  upon 
oath  would  convict  those  who  voted  for  the  measure  of  perjury." 

These  vehement  protests,  nevertheless,  had  their  due  effect ;  a  redraft  of  the 
measure  was  made  and  the  first  exclusively  state-owned  central  bank  and 
branches  was  established  in  Tennessee  under  the  name  of  the  "Bank  of  the 
State  of  Tennessee."  This  act  passed  July  26,  1820.  Its  preamble  recites  that 
"whereas,  it  is  deemed  expedient  and  beneficial  to  the  state  and  the  citizens 
thereof  to  establish  a  bank  on  the  funds  of  the  state  for  the  purpose  of  reliev- 
ing the  distresses  of  the  community  and  improving  the  revenue  of  the  state, 
therefore,"  etc. 

The  main  or  present  bank  was  located  at  Nashville  with  a  branch  at  Knox- 
ville  with  4/10  of  the  capital.  The  capital  stock  was  placed  at  $1,000,000  and 
authority  given  the  bank  to  issue  notes  from  $1  up  to  $100  in  denomination.  The 
control  and  direction  of  affairs  of. this  bank  by  the  Legislature  of  the  state  was 
of  the  most  intimate  character  even  to  the  dictation  of  individual  loans  in  a  few 
instances,  as  was  also  that  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee,  established  in  1838,  and 
fully  justifies  the  assertion  of  Mr.  Wilson  in  his  "History  of  the  American  Peo- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  455 

pie,"  that  "the  state  banks  were  everywhere  notoriously  tainted  with  political 
partisanship  and  recognized  engines  of  party  supremacy." 

Wm.  Carroll,  who  followed  McMinn  as  governor  of  the  state,  belonged  to  that 
school  of  finance  which  favored  a  uniform  national  currency,  the  issue  of  a 
central  United  States  Bank,  and  was  opposed  to  the  use  of  the  state  funds  in 
the  banking  business,  and  so  warned  the  Legislature  in  his  message.  He  pro- 
posed an  investigation  of  the  affairs  of  the  recently  established  state  bank  and 
sought  to  curtail  its  activities  as  much  as  possible.  By  an  act  of  1826,  passed 
at  his  instance,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  allowed  to  establish  a  branch 
in  Tennessee,  which  it  did  in  1827,  at  Nashville. 

The  charter  of  this  First  State  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  due  to  expire  the 
first  day  of  January,  1843,  but  it  did  not  live  so  long.  By  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  November  13,  1821,  each  bank  in  the  state  except  the  Bank  of  Tennes- 
see, was  required  to  resume  specie  payment  on  or  before  the  first  Monday  in 
April,  1824,  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  its  charter.  None  of  these  banks  had 
been  required  to  maintain  a  specie  reserve  and  the  security  of  the  note-holders 
was  most  inadequate.  The  Bank  of  Tennessee,  owned  by  the  state,  by  act  of 
November  15,  1821,  was  authorized  to  issue  paper  money  in  multiples  less  than 
$1.     This  was  known  as  shin-plaster  currency. 

The  period  of  banking  in  Tennessee  for  the  decade  of  1816-1826  was  a  most 
unhappy  one.  Shin-plasters,  of  course,  drove  out  the  use  of  silver  change.  It 
was  charged  that  some  of  the  banks  sold  their  gold  and  silver  at  a  premium  of 
30  per  cent  while  their  own  notes  were  at  40  per  cent  discount.  If  true,  a  most 
palpable  swindle.  In  1828  the  notes  of  the  Fayetteville  Bank  and  the  Farmers 
&  Mechanics  Bank  at  Nashville  were  worth  only  25  cents  on  the  dollar.  This 
condition  of  affairs  ultimately  led  to  the  chartering  of  two  banks ;  one,  the 
Planters'  Bank,  the  other,  the  Union  Bank,  each  with  large  capital,  and  in  each 
of  which  the  state  became  a  large  stockholder.  They  were  authorized  to  estab- 
lish branch  banks  in  various  towns  of  the  state.  In  their  charters  greater  pre- 
cautions were  taken  to  guard  the  interests  of  the  note  holder  and  they  were 
required  to  report  periodically  to  the  Legislature. 

The  Union  Bank  was  chartered  October  18,  1832,  with  a  capital  of  $3,000,- 
000,  shares  $100  each,  the  state  subscribing  for  5,000  shares  for  which  it  paid  in 
the  bonds  of  the  state  at  par  and  the  state  was  given  five  directors  out  of  fif- 
teen. Under  Governor  Carroll's  administration,  by  an  act  passed  at  a  called 
session  of  the  Legislature,  1832,  the  affairs  of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Tennes- 
see were  required  to  be  wound  up  and  any  money  remaining  after  payment  of 
its  debts  to  be  deposited  in  the  Union  Bank.  This  latter  bank  began  operations 
in  March,  1833,  and  paid  dividends  at  the  rate  of  8  per  cent  up  to  January  1, 
1836,  and  for  the  year  1836  paid  12  per  cent,  but  in  common  with  other  banks 
of  the  country  suspended  specie  payments  in  May,  1837,  though  still  solvent. 

By  Chapter  34  of  the  called  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1833,  the  Planters' 
Bank  was  chartered  with  a  capital  of  $2,000,000  and  the  state  became  a  large 
stockholder.  By  act  of  February  19,  1836,  the  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction was  required  to  redeem  all  notes  then  outstanding  of  the  Bank  of 
Tennessee,  established  in  1820.  This  first  venture  of  the  state  in  a  bank  all  its 
own,  as  appears  from  the  report  of  a  joint  committee  of  the  Senate  and  House 
made  to  the  Legislature,  December  8,  1837,  resulted  in  a  loss  to  the  state  of 
$505,641.88.  The  state  had  first  and  last  paid  in  as  capital  of  the  bank  $1,119,- 
387.54. 


4f>6  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

In  the  meantime  while  the  State  of  Tennessee  was  busy  trying  to  solve  its 
financial  and  economic  problems  one  of  its  greatest  citizens,  Gen.  Andrew  Jack- 
son, was  busy  at  the  seat  of  general  Government  finding  ways  and  means  to  put 
out  of  existence  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  which  had  been  rechartered  in 
1816  under  President  Madison,  and  whose  secretary  of  the  treasury  at  a  later 
date  was  another  honored  son  of  Tennessee,  Geo.  W.  Campbell. 

General  Jackson  may  be  said  to  have  been  ultra  "states  right"  in  his  views. 
He  was  against  all  internal  improvements  by  the  general  Government  as  he 
was  opposed  to  its  doing  a  banking  business  and  issuing  a  paper  currency. 
Whether  right  or  wrong,  his  action  in  seeking  to  destroy  the  United  States  Bank 
was  destined  to  have  a  most  lasting  influence  upon  the  currency  of  the  country 
and  upon  the  life  and  general  welfare  of  all  the  people.  The  effect  of  destroy- 
ing this  bank  was  to  place  upon  the  states  the  whole  burden  of  providing  a 
stable  and  uniform  currency.  That  he  was  right  in  seeking  to  destroy  a  great 
central  banking  institution  that  even  then  was  wielding  a  wide  political  in- 
fluence almost  all  will  agree.  Especially  so,  as  an  enlightened  and  wholly  ef- 
ficient banking  system  now  demonstrates  that  no  such  institution  is  needed. 
That  he  was  wrong  in  thinking  the  states  could  of  themselves  provide  a  satis- 
factory, stable,  and  uniform  currency  for  the  people  all  will  agree.  No  one 
expresses  this  idea  better  than  Daniel  Webster,  possibly  the  greatest  statesman 
of  the  nineteenth  century — who,  in  a  speech  in  the  United  States  Senate  on  the 
sub-treasury  bill  and  one  to  reestablish  a  United  States  Bank,  delivered,  Sep- 
tember 28,  1837,  said,  among  other  things : 

"The  office  of  paper  currency  is,  1st,  the  supplying  of  a  sound  and  con- 
venient currency  of  equal  credit  all  over  the  country  and  everywhere,  equivalent 
to  specie.  2nd,  giving  important  facilities  to  the  operations  of  exchange.  Gov- 
ernment exists  not  for  its  own  ends  but  for  the  public  utility.  It  is  an  agency 
established  to  promote  the  common  good  by  common  counsels,  its  chief  duties  are 
to  the  people.     Money  is  a  hinge  on  which  commerce  turns." 

Following  in  a  later  address  made  March  12th,  1838,  he  argued  that  Jack- 
son's veto  of  the  bill  for  extending  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  "was  the  original  source  of  all  the  disorders  of  the  currency."  In  the 
speech  in  September,  1837,  concerning  a  suitable  currency  he  said,  "State 
banks  could  not  perform  a  national  part  in  the  operation  of  commerce  *  *  * 
they  may  be  very  useful  in  their  spheres  but  you  ean  no  more  cause  them  to 
perform  the  duties  of  national  institutions  than  you  can  turn  a  satellite  into 
a  primary  orb,  they  cannot  maintain  a  currency  of  equal  credit  all  over  the 
country.  We  may  erect  banks  on  all  the  securities  which  the  wit  of  man  may 
devise,  we  may  have  capital,  we  may  have  funds,  we  may  have  bonds  and 
mortgages,  we  may  have  the  faith  of  the  state,  we  may  pile  Pelion  on  Ossa, 
they  will  be  state  institutions  after  all  and  will  not  be  able  to  support  a  na- 
tional circulation. ' ' 

In  this  same  address  he  announced  a  fundamental  principle  of  banking 
that,  if  the  states,  particularly  Tennessee,  had  heeded  and  made  it  a  part  of 
her  banking  laws,  would  have  saved  numerous  disasters  and  consequent  loss 
and  suffering  to  her  people — namely,  "the  true  criterion  by  which  to  decide 
the  excess  on  a  convertible  paper  currency  is  the  amount  of  that  paper  com- 
pared with  the  gold  and  silver  in  bank  *  *  *  that  a  certain  fixed  propor- 
tion between  specie  and  circulation  should  be  maintained  without  regarding 
deposits  on  one  hand  or  notes  payable  on  the  other." 

It  is  not  correct  or  true  to  say  that  Jackson's  veto  of  the  bill  renewing  the 
charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  the  order  withdrawing  the  deposits 
of  the  Government  from  that  bank,  or  his  specie  circular  were  the  primary  or 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  457 

efficient  causes  of  the  panic  of  1837  that  prevailed  over  the  entire  country. 
The  workings  of  fundamental  economic  laws  were  the  primary  and  efficient 
cause.  Such  panics  were  periodical  in  the  history  of  the  country  and  usually 
occurred  at  intervals  of  twenty  years.  These  panics  "in  part  were  due  to  un- 
wise banking  and  the  undue  extension  of  credits,  upon  improper  or  inadequate 
security. ' ' 

A  widely  diffused  and  uncontrolled  system  of  banking  necessarily  invited 
and  permitted  great  speculation  and  improper  extension  of  credits. 

The  resultant  depression  in  trade  and  business  following  the  panic  of  1837 
producing  great  distress  and  hardships  with  the  people,  many  broken  banks, 
and  the  wiping  out  of  values  as  is  usual  in  such  periods,  brought  to  the  sur- 
face many  financial  doctors,  some  of  them  with  quack  remedies  which  utterly 
ignored  the  fundamental  laws  of  supply  and  demand,  and  of  hard  labor  and 
close  economy. 

New  York  State  answered  the  call  by  the  enactment  in  1838  of  its  "Free 
Banking"  or  bond  system  of  banking  which  subsequently  became  the  model  for 
the  National  Banking  system  of  the  United  States,  which,  coupled  with  a  pre- 
vious law  called  the  Safety  Fund  System,  requiring  each  bank  to  pay  in  3  per 
cent  of  its  capital  as  a  joint  fund  to  make  good  the  liabilities  of  any  insolvent 
bank — afterwards  modified  to  take  care  only  of  notes  in  circulation,  made  a 
most  excellent  system  of  banking  with  the  exception  of  a  lack  of  elasticity  in 
times  of  stress. 

Out  of  the  welter  of  collapsed  business;  suspension  of  specie  payments  by 
the  banks ;  and  liquidation  of  others,  the  State  of  Tennessee  answered  the  call 
by  again  embarking  on  the  tempestuous  sea  of  finance  with  a  state  owned  and 
politically  controlled  central  state  bank,  and  branches,  which  in  the  evolution 
of  time  and  untoward  circumstance  proved  to  be  her  last  and  final  venture  of 
that  character.  The  General  Assembly  of  1837-38,  by  act  of  January  19,  1838, 
chartered  this  new  bank  and  recited  as  follows : 

"That  a  bank  shall  be  and  is  hereby  established  in  the  name  and  for  the 
benefit  of  the  State  to  be  known  under  the  name  and  style  of  'The  Bank  of 
Tennessee,'  and  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  state  are  hereby  pledged  for  the 
support  of  said  bank  and  to  supply  any  deficiency  in  the  funds  hereinafter 
specifically  pledged,  and  to  give  indemnity  for  all  losses  arising  from  such 
deficiency." 

The  act  creating  this  bank  was  entitled  "an  act  to  establish  a  state  bank  to 
raise  a  fund  for  the  internal  improvements  and  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of'  a 
system  of  education,"  for  both  of  which  due  provision  was  made  in  the  act 
itself.  The  new  constitution  of  1834  had  declared  in  favor  of  a  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements  in  the  state,  and  for  a  permanent  school  fund  that  was  to 
be  inviolate  under  all  conditions  and  circumstances  as  to  both  principal  and 
interest. 

The  limitations  of  this  article  do  not  permit  of  a  detailed  history  of  this 
bank  nor  of  the  numerous  acts  of  the  Legislature  subsequently  passed  in  regard 
thereto. 

Its  capital  was  placed  at  $5,000,000;  to  provide  for  one-half  of  this  the  state 
issued  $2,500,000  of  bonds  bearing  interest  at  6  per  cent.  The  other  half  was 
made  up  of  the  whole  of  the  common  school  fund,  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  "The 
Ocoee  lands,"  the  surplus  revenue  allotted  to  the  several  states  under  an  act 
of  Congress,  and  for  the  balance,  in  the  language  of  the  act,  "A  sum  shall  be 


458  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

raised  in  specie  or  funds  convertible  into  specie,  at  par  value,  on  the  faith  of 
lie  state,  sufficient  to  make  the  whole  capital  $5,000,000." 

For  the  common  school  fund  thus  used  either  slate  bonds  or  a  certificate  of 
indebtedness  was  to  be  issued  to  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  The 
governor  was  authorized  to  nominate  and  appoint  twelve  directors,  one-third 
of  whom  were  in  no  case  to  be  merchants,  subject  to  the  confirmation  by  the 
General  Assembly.  The  charter  nominally  ran  for  thirty  years,  or  until  the 
first  of  January,  1868.  The  directors  were  to  hold  for  two  years  only  and  until 
their  successors  were  nominated  and  confirmed.  Under  this  arrangement  the 
management  and  policies  of  the  bank  were  controlled  by  the  Legislature  and 
that  in  turn  by  the  political  party  that  happened  to  be  in  power.  The  total 
amount  of  indebtedness  was  limited  to  double  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock 
exclusive  of  money  on  deposit.  The  notes  of  the  bank  were  made  receivable 
by  all  tax  collectors  and  other  public  officers  in  all  payments  for  taxes  or  other 
moneys  due  the  state.  The  bank  was  required  to  furnish  monthly  statements 
of  the  condition  of  the  parent  bank  and  branches  to  the  comptrollers  and  pub- 
lish quarterly  in  some  newspaper  in  the  state  the  condition  of  the  bank  and  its 
branches.  Its  discounts  were  to  be  distributed  as  far  as  practicable  among  the 
several  counties  of  the  state  according  to  their  voting  population. 

Notwithstanding  its  political  control,  the  bank  seems  to  have  had,  on  the 
whole,  able  management.  Its  first  president  was  Wm.  Nichol,  a  retired  merchant 
and  capitalist  of  Nashville.  The  first  cashier  was  Henry  Ewing.  A  most  able 
and  capable  president  and  manager  was  the  Hon.  Cave  Johnson,  of  Clarksville, 
Tenn.,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  clash  with  the  State  Legislature  upon  some  of  its 
measures. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  war  of  1861-5,  Granville  C.  Torbatt  was  the 
bank's  president. 

The  Union  and  Planters  banks  were  prosperous  and  very  ably  managed  at 
all  times  and  their  notes  were  at  par.  In  1837  Matthew  Watson,  an  excellent 
financier,  was  president  of  the  Planters  Bank  while  John  M.  Bass  was  presi- 
dent of  the  Union  Bank.  A  branch  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  was  main- 
tained at  Nashville  up  to  1835  and  later. 


JVp  Nashville,  /I    >  &<S^  ^3/ 

OFFICE  OF  DISCOUNT  AND  DEPOSlTE  li.  U.  S.  AT  NASHVILLE, 

_ __ or  Bearer, 


II    __      ZJ-  DoUs.iJTts.  (^W?  ^^ 


Matters  in  the  banking  business  ran  pretty  smoothly  for  some  time  after 
1843.  When  the  banks  in  Tennessee  resumed  specie  payment,  great  progress 
was  made  in  trade  and  commerce  and  values  of  every  sort  in  Tennessee  grew 
and  expanded.  Currency  was  in  abundance  to  support  every  legitimate  enter- 
prise.   The  provisions  of  the  charter  of  1838  regarding  the  capital  of  the  Bank 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  459 

of  Tennessee  were  never  in  fact  carried  out.  The  first  report,  in  1839,  showed 
the  capital  to  be  $2,148,706.  The  report  to  the  Legislature  of  1859  showed  the 
capital  stock  to  be  $3,186,421.65.  The  first  report  showed  the  state  had  only 
issued  $1,000,000  of  bonds  instead  of  the  $2,500,000  as  promised.  Governor 
Harris'  message  to  the  Legislature  of  1857-8  showed  that  after  nineteen  years 


V  WW  WV*>  VVW  WWVW*  MMVVM  WW,  W»  V 


Nashville,  G/lL-a^^g 183  2_ 

Office,  ijant;  Ot  tilt  ©Hlftm  State**,  Nashville, 

Dollars  jg? 


of  operation  the  bank  had  realized  less  than  6  per  cent  upon  the  actual  cash 
capital.  It  was  the  opinion  of  the  Hon.  Cave  Johnson,  sometime  president  of 
the  bank,  who,  except  during  the  panic  of  1857,  favored  the  winding  up  of  the 
affairs  of  the  bank,  that  the  state  should  either  do  all  the  banking  done  in  the 
state,  or  none  at  all.  The  Legislature  of  1857-8  added  its  stock  in  the  Union 
Bank,  $664,494,  and  its  stock  in  the  Planters  Bank,  $232,700,  to  the  capital  of  the 
Bank  of  Tennessee. 

On  February  12,  1852,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  passed 
"An  act  to  authorize  and  regulate  the  business  of  Banking."  This  act  was 
known  as  the  Free  Banking  System  or  bond  system  and  was  modeled  largely  on 
the  Free  Banking  Laws  of  New  York.  Banks  organized  under  this  were  allowed 
to  issue  paper  currency  after  first  placing  in  the  hands  of  the  comptroller  of 
the  state,  state  bonds  or  bonds  endorsed  by  the  state,  worth  100  cents  on  the 
dollar  in  gold  or  silver  if  sold.  The  currency  thus  issued  not  to  exceed  the  value 
of  the  bonds  so  deposited.  Three-fourths  of  all  bonds  deposited  to  be  state 
bonds.     This  provision  was  later  modified. 

This  act  was  amended  by  the  Legislature  of  1855-56 ;  among  other  things, 
it  was  provided  that  should  the  bonds  deposited  as  security  for  circulation  de- 
cline below  par  in  the  City  of  New  York,  as  shown  by  the  sales  of  the  stock,  and 
remain  so  for  thirty  days,  additional  bonds  were  to  be  deposited  to  make  good 
the  par  value  of  those  already  deposited. 

By  an  act  of  March  1,  1856,  it  was  provided  the  circulation  of  no  bank 
or  any  of  its  branches  should  exceed  its  discounts  more  than  $2,000  within  any 
six  months  computing  from  January  1st  and  July  1st.  The  Bank  of  Tennessee 
was  excepted  from  this  provision. 

By  an  act  of  January  28,  1858,  the  Free  Banking  System  was  repealed  so 
far  as  to  deny  any  future  organizations  under  it.  By  the  same  act  banks  which 
had  suspended  specie  payments,  as  they  all  had  during  the  panic  of  1857,  in- 
cluding the  Bank  of  Tennessee,  were  required  to  resume  on  or  before  November 
1,  1858,  and  all  banks  and  brokerage  concerns  were  forbidden  under  heavy 
penalty  to  pay  out  for  circulation  the  notes  of  any  bank  not  chartered  by  the 
State  of  Tennessee.     The  banks  were  also  forbidden  to  sell  or  dispose  of  any 


460  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

gold  or  silver  at  a  premium,  or  the  notes  of  any  bank  whatsoever  at  either  a 
premium  or  discount,  or  while  suspended  to  sell  exchange  upon  any  place  in 
the  United  States  for  a  higher  premium  than  two  per  cent,  or  to  pay  any  divi- 
dends. The  banks  were  required  to  accept  these  and  other  provisions  under 
penalty  of  having  their  charters  forfeited.  It  was  also  declared  that  the  busi- 
ness of  trading  and  trafficking  in  the  notes  of  other  suspended  banks  was  not 
a  privilege  possessed  by  any  bank  and  was  a  violation  of  its  charter. 

By  section  7  it  was  forbidden  that  any  bank  or  its  branches  should  issue, 
emit  or  pay  out  any  bank  note  not  on  its  face  payable  upon  demand  at  the 
counter  where  issued,  emitted  or  paid  out. 

This  act  was  an  aftermath  of  the  panic  of  1857  and  a  sharp  challenge  to  the 
banks  against  practices  thought  inimical  to  trade  and  business,  and  the  good  of 
the  people. 

Section  7  above  quoted  was  no  doubt  intended  to  correct  a  practice  of  the 
Planters  and  Union  banks,  which,  at  that  time,  made  the  bulk  of  their  circula- 
tion payable  in  the  City  of  New  Orleans  and  a  small  part  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  intending  thereby  to  facilitate  the  use  of  bills  of  exchange  in  the  cotton, 
sugar  and  molasses  trade.  The  late  Joseph  W.  Allen,  of  Nashville,  handled  the 
business  of  these  banks  for  several  years  in  New  Orleans  where  an  office  was 
maintained. 

These  bank  reforms  made  by  the  Legislature  of  1857-58  did  have  the  effect  of 
improving  the  credit  of  the  state.  Its  bonds,  which  had  been  selling  as  low  as 
65  to  70  cents  on  the  dollar,  were  brought  up  to  90  and  92  cents  on  the  dollar. 

A  further  aftermath  growing  out  of  conditions  in  banking  developed  by  the 
panic  of  1857  was  seen  in  the  race  between  Isham  G.  Harris,  the  candidate  of 
the  democratic  party  for  governor,  and  John  Netherland,  the  candidate  of  the 
whig  party.  The  democrats  insisted  upon  additional  bank  reforms  to  those  of 
1857-58 : 

"1st,  That  a  specie  basis  should  be  provided  for  bank  circulation 

"2nd,  That  in  all  bank  charters  the  power  to  change,  modify,  or  abolish 

should  be  reserved 
"3rd,  That  stockholders  shall  be  made  individually  liable  for  all  debts  of  the 

bank  just  as  persons  in  mercantile  and  other  pursuits  are." 

The  whig  party  in  banking  business  usually  held  to  the  principles  of  the  old 
federalist  party. 

The  lowering  clouds  of  an  approaching  civil  war  probably  prevented  the 
democratic  party  from  carrying  into  effect  some  of  these  reforms,  but  the 
Thirty-third  General  Assembly  of  1859-60,  which  was  the  last  to  assemble  be- 
fore the  storm  broke,  did  make  some  genuine  reforms  in  the  banking  business, 
built  upon  an  experience  of  fifty  years  and  more.  A  general  statute  on  the 
subject  was  enacted  on  February  6,  1860,  whereby  it  was  provided  that  banks 
might  be  organized  with  a  capital  not  less  than  $300,000  nor  more  than  $3,000,- 
000,  all  of  which  capital  was  to  be  paid  in  specie  "without  evasion  or  defalca- 
tion." They  were  not  allowed  to  exceed  in  currency  circulation  two  for  one, 
the  aggregate  of  its  specie  funds  consisting  of  coin,  the  notes  of  specie  paying 
banks  and  sight  exchange,  to  keep  a  registry  of  the  numbers,  denomination  and 
amount  of  notes  intended  for  circulation,  to  pay  ^  of  1  per  cent  on  capital  as 
taxes.  A  supervisor  of  banking  was  provided  for  at  a  salary  of  $3,000  to  be  paid 
by  the  banks,  who  was  to  be  nominated  by  the  governor  and  confirmed  by  the  Sen- 
ate, for  a  term  of  two  years. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  461 

John  W.  Richardson,  senator  from  Rutherford  and  Williamson  counties, 
on  March  7,  I860,  introduced  a  hill  to  repeal  the  act  establishing  the  Bank  of 
Tennessee  and  to  wind  up  its  affairs,  which,  had  it  passed,  would  have  saved  the 
state  probably  two  millions  of  dollars  and  more.  He  supported  the  bill  with  a 
very  able  address  showing  the  bad  effects  of  the  political  management  that  had 
been  given  it,  and  that  no  set  of  officials  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  bank 
only  to  the  extent  of  their  salaries,  could  or  would  manage  it  successfully.  He 
reviewed  the  entire  history  of  the  state  banking  in  Tennessee  and  showed  how 
they  had  never  answered  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  intended  and  cre- 
ated, etc. 

The  bill  failed  of  passage  by  a  vote  of  15  to  7. 

Distress,  poverty  and  a  general  stagnation  in  business  following  the  recent 
panic,  bore  heavily  upon  the  people,  and  their  complaints  were  audible.  An 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  was  convened.  Governor  Harris,  in  his  message, 
January  7,  1861,  said: 

"The  idea  of  freeing  a  people  from  pecuniary  distress  by  legislation  is  to 
my  mind  an  impossibility." 

Nevertheless,  much  legislation  was  enacted  looking  to  that  end.  The  banks 
were  allowed  to  suspend  specie  payment  without  penalties  until  July  1,  1862. 
The  stay  law  on  money  judgments  was  increased  to  twelve  months. 

To  relieve  the  pecuniary  distress  of  the  people  as  stated  by  an  act  of  Janu- 
ary 31,  1860,  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  "instructed"  and  the  Planters  and 
Union  banks  "requested"  in  extending  their  lines  of  discount  to  equalize  their 
accommodations  to  all  sections  of  the  population  proportionately  in  each  bank- 
ing district  of  the  state. 

Following  the  opening  gun  of  the  great  Civil  war  at  Fort  Sumter,  Governor 
Harris  again  convened  his  Legislature  in  a  second  extra  session  and  sent  in 
his  message  April  25,  1861.  By  act  of  June  27,  1861,  it  was  enacted  that  "if 
in  the  opinion  of  the  governor  and  military  and  financial  board  it  was  deemed 
expedient,"  treasury  notes  to  the  amount  of  $3,000,000  were  authorized  to  be 
issued  as  a  fund  to  assist  the  state  in  her  military  operations.  By  act  of  July  1, 
1861,  the  banks  of  the  state  were  authorized  to  receive  and  pay  out  Confederate 
treasury  notes.  The  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  required  to  reverse  its  policy  of 
diminishing  its  circulation  "as  detrimental  to  the  public  interests,  and  to  in- 
crease their  circulation  so  as  to  answer  the  public  want,"  but  not  to  exceed 
$2  for  one  of  paid-in  capital  stock. 

This  mandate  was  obeyed  by  the  bank  and  a  large  issue  of  notes  was  made, 
subsequently  known  as  the  "Torbett"  or  "New  issue." 

By  act  of  May  6,  1861,  an  issue  of  $5,000,000  of  state  bonds  was  provided, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising,  organizing,  and  equipping  a  provisional  force  and 
for  other  purposes.  The  banks  were  authorized  to  invest  their  means  in  them 
and  they  did.  The  public  faith  and  credit  of  the  state  was  pledged  for  their 
payment.  A  sales  tax,  the  first  of  the  kind  in  Tennessee,  of  i/o  cent  on  sales 
of  merchandise,  and  property  tax  of  8  cents  on  $100  of  property,  assessed  an- 
nually, were  provided  to  create  a  fund  for  the  payment  of  these  bonds. 

By  resolution  of  February  10,  1862,  the  seat  of  government  might  be  re- 
moved. By  act  of  March  15,  1862,  any  bank  of  the  state  was  authorized  to 
remove  its  assets  and  do  business  in  other  states  when  in  danger.  It  was  under 
the  authority  of  this  act  that  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  removed  its  assets  and  did 
business  in  one  or  more  states  composing  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


462  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  Bank  of  Tennessee  threw  its  fortunes  with  the  Southern  Confederacy. 
The  assets  of  the  bank  with  the  retreat  of  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston's  array 
from  Bowling  Green  and  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson,  were  removed  to  the  City 
of  Memphis  where,  likewise,  the  seat  of  government  for  the  state  was  removed. 

With  increasing  jeopardy  and  chance  of  capture  by  the  Federal  forces  they 
weir  removed  south.  The  last  days  of  the  Confederacy  found  these  assets  under 
the  protecting  wing  of  Gen.  Dick  Taylor's  army  at  Cuba  Station,  near  Meridian, 
Miss.  General  Taylor  was  in  command  of  military  operations  in  the  South- 
west and  his  army  was  among  the  last  to  surrender.  A  truce  was  agreed  upon 
between  him  and  the  Federal  commander,  General  Canby,  after  the  surrender 
of  General  Lee,  and  pending  developments  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Army  of  Ten- 
nessee under  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 

Into  his  camp  drifted  a  number  of  members  of  the  Confederate  Congress 
who  sought  his  advice  as  to  what  to  do.  He  said  to  each  of  them  that  the  war 
was  practically  over,  the  cause  of  the  Confederacy  had  failed,  and  to  go  home 
and  make  good  citizens  of  themselves.  Governor  Harris,  who  was  in  camp  with 
the  officials  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  assisting  in  guarding  its  treasures,  he 
advised  to  leave  the  country  for  awhile,  in  view  of  the  enmity  of  those  in  au- 
thority whom  he  would  meet  should  he  return  to  Tennessee.  He  was  loath  to 
leave  the  country,  said  General  Taylor,  as  he  regarded  himself  in  honor  bound 
to  look  after  the  bank's  funds  which  included  several  hundred  thousand  dollars 
in  gold.  In  this  emergency  and  to  relieve  Governor  Harris  of  his  self-imposed 
responsibility  and  to  permit  him  to  go  away  as  he  had  advised,  he  besought 
General  Canby  to  furnish  a  guard  and  permit  the  bank's  fund  to  be  returned 
to  Nashville,  Tenn.,  also  the  bank  officials  accompanying  them.  This  he  most 
obligingly  did.  General  Taylor  naively  adds  in  his  book  entitled  "Destruction 
and  Reconstruction": 

"Upon  arriving  at  Nashville  the  official  in  charge  of  these  valuable  assets 
was  promptly  imprisoned  for  his  faithfulness. ' ' 

Speaking  of  this  fund  in  gold,  General  Taylor  says: 

"that  although  a  considerable  amount  of  gold  was  near  our  camps  and 
safely  guarded  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  our  limited  means  would  have  sufficed  to 
purchase  a  breakfast." 

As  to  what  became  of  this  gold  after  it  reached  Nashville  will  be  presently 
stated. 

The  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly  of  Tennessee  met  at  Nashville,  April 
3,  1865.  Governor  Wm.  G.  Brownlow,  in  his  message,  recommended  the  wind- 
ing up  of  all  state  banks  and  the  adoption  of  the  National  Banking  System.  By 
act  of  June  9,  1865,  all  coin  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  directed  to  be  in- 
vested either  in  United  States  bonds  or  State  of  Tennessee  bonds  subject  to 
future  legislation.  They  were  invested  in  7-30  United  States  bonds.  This  coin 
fund  with  coupons  amounted  to  $618,250  at  the  second  session  of  the  Assembly 
begun  in  October,  1865. 

By  an  act  passed  February  16,  1866,  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  was  put  into 
liquidation  and  the  president  and  directors  were  ordered  to  make  an  assign- 
ment in  trust  of  all  assets  including  the  United  States  bonds  mentioned  above, 
which  were  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  of  the  state  as  a  part  of  the 
common  school  fund.     This  fund  was  placed  at  $1,500,000  as  had  been  deter- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  463 

mined  by  a  former  Legislature,  and  was  to  be  given  priority  in  the  deed  of  trust 
over  all  other  creditors  of  the  bank. 

In  accordance  with  this  act  a  deed  of  trust  was  executed,  Mr.  Samuel  "Wat- 
son, a  gentleman  of  high  character  and  integrity,  being  made  trustee.  In  the 
administration  of  this  trust  he  sought  the  advice  and  protection  of  the  Chancery 
Court  of  Davidson  County,  Tenn.,  by  a  bill  in  chancery  filed  in  his  name  against 
D.  W.  C.  Senter,  governor,  the  treasurer  of  the  state,  a  banking  corporation, 
located  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  known  as  the  Tennessee  National  Bank,  managed  by 

one Ritter,  A.  J.  Fletcher,  secretary  of  state ;  G.  W.  Blackburn,  comptroller, 

and  others,  creditors  of  the  bank.  The  bill,  among  other  things,  alleged  that  the 
school  fund,  which  was  a  part  of  the  capital  of  the  bank  and  composed  in  part 
of  the  7-30  United  States  bonds  mentioned  above,  which  had  been  purchased 
with  assets  of  the  bank  brought  back  from  the  Confederacy,  consisting  of  coin, 
had  been  sold  in  New  York  City  at  a  high  premium  by  the  then  treasurer  of  the 
state,  R.  L.  Stanford,  or  John  R.  Henry,  in  1866  or  1867,  and  the  proceeds  either 
loaned  to  the  defendant  Ritter  or  deposited  in  his  bank. 

Governor  Senter,  in  his  answer  to  this  bill,  disclaimed  any  knowledge  of  the 
proceeds  of  these  bonds  and  what  became  of  them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
Tennessee  National  Bank  was  a  mushroom  affair  and  soon  went  to  the  wall — 
such  possibly  being  the  intention  when  it  was  organized — and  neither  the  trus- 
tee, Mr.  Watson,  nor  the  state  realized  anything  from  it  or  from  its  manager 
Ritter,  of  this  large  fund,  composing  so  valuable  a  part  of  the  common  school 
fund  of  the  state,  a  fund  which  the  officials  of  the  bank  and  Governor  Harris 
had  carefully  guarded  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Southern  Confederacy 
and  its  beleaguered  armies. 

Samuel  Watson,  trustee,  in  his  report  to  the  Chancery  Court  at  Nashville, 
showing  the  administration  of  his  trust  up  to  October  1,  1873,  said : 

"In  winding  up  the  Bank  of  Tennessee  I  have  managed  it  as  a  business 
institution,  appointing  no  one  as  agent  or  attorney  who  was  not  faithful  and 
an  efficient  business  man.  I  have  taken  the  responsibility  of  disregarding 
Sec.  7  of  the  Act  for  winding  up  the  bank.  This  section  required  me  to  bring 
suit  against  all  officers  of  the  bank  who  drew  pay  for  services  after  May  6th, 
1861,  and  all  others  to  whom  any  means  of  the  bank  went  to  aid  the  Con- 
federacy. 

"To  have  carried  out , the  provisions  of  this  section  would  have  made  a 
wreck  of  the  Bank  by  the  hostility  it  would  have  excited  and  by  the  heavy 
expenses  that  would  ha  ye  been  incurred  from  costs  and  lawyers'  fees.  My 
disregarding  this  section  saved  thousands  upon  thousands  of  dollars  to  the 
Bank."  (Signed)  S.  Watson,  Trustee. 

This  report  of  the  assets  of  the  bank  coming  to  the  hands  of  the  trustee 
showed,  among  others: 

Bills  and  notes   $2,143,892.79 

State  bonds    $    106,000.00 

Confederate  assets  such  as  Confederate  notes,  State  war  loans  and 
other  Confederate  securities,  all  of  which  were  then  stored  in  the 

vaults  of  the  bank,  amounted  to $8,052,061.81 

Of  the  bills  and  notes  there  were  paid  $737,027.80  leaving  unpaid  $1,405,- 
351.99,  some  still  in  the  hands  of  the  attorneys  for  collection. 

Debts  due  on  the  Confederacy  were  laid  by  for  some  years,  as  worthless, 
under  a  Supreme  Court  decision.  But  this  decision  was  later  reversed  and 
some  attempt  was  made  for  the  collection  but  without  success.     The  circulation 


464  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  the  bank,  both  the  old  and  new  issue  not  consumed  by  debtors  to  the  bank 
in  payment  of  their  debts,  were  taken  in  by  the  state  in  payment  of  taxes. 

In  1862,  as  a  war  measure,  the  United  States  Government,  like  the  Con- 
federacy, began  to  issue  treasury  notes  which  were  made  a  legal  tender,  and 
subsequently  known  as  "greenbacks"  due  to  their  color.  But  this  not  proving 
satisfactory  and  being  desirous  of  a  market  for  her  bonds  then  freely  issued 
to  carry  on  the  war,  the  National  Banking  Act  was  passed  by  Congress  Feb- 
ruary 25,  1863,  later  more  fully  perfected  by  act  of  June  4,  1864.  It  was,  as 
previously  stated,  modeled  on  the  New  York  System  of  banking.  Banks  cre- 
ated under  it  were  required  to  purchase  Government  bonds  as  a  basis  of  credit 
for  their  circulation. 

This  was  followed  by  the  act  of  March  3,  1865,  which  placed  a  tax  of  10 
per  cent  upon  all  state  bank  issues  and  required  them,  if  desiring  to  do  business 
as  banks  of  issue,  to  qualify  under  the  Federal  law. 

Thus  the  exigencies  of  war  developed  a  currency  system,  national  in  char- 
acter, uniform  and  of  equal  value  in  every  state,  thereby  settling  forever  the 
questions  that  so  agitated  the  public  mind  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  regarding  a  safe  and  satisfactory  currency.  After  the  enactment  of 
the  law  there  were  no  more  banks  of  issue  in  Tennessee. 

Mr.  H.  Parker  "Willis  in  his  ' '  History  of  American  Banking, ' '  says :  at 
the  opening  of  the  Civil  war  there  were  more  than  sixteen  hundred  kinds  of  bank 
notes  in  circulation.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  of  these  Tennessee  furnished  her 
full  quota. 

At  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Reserve  System,  which  went  into  effect  De- 
cember 23,  1913,  there  were,  in  round  numbers,  18,000  state  banks  in  exist- 
ence, none  of  them  banks  of  issue. 

In  this  good  year  of  1922,  a  report  of  R.  N.  Sims,  secretary  of  the  National 
Association  of  Supervisors  of  State  Banks,  shows  that  Tennessee  has  470  banks 
with  a  capital  of  $22,779,057.17.  That  on  March  10,  1922,  there  were  in  the 
United  States  30,499  banks  of  which  22,302  were  state  banks  of  discount  and 
deposit  and  8,197  national  banks,  in  round  numbers  with  a  capital,  surplus  and 
undivided  profits  of  $6,534,000,000. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
FROM  JOHNSON  TO  HARRIS 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OP  ANDREW  JOHNSON,  1853-1857 — POLITICAL  SIGNIFICANCE  OF 
THE  NATIONAL  ELECTION  OF  1856 — ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  ISHAM  G.  HARRIS,  1857- 
1861 — INFLUENCE  IN  TENNESSEE  OF   THE  NATIONAL  ELECTION   OF   1860. 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF   ANDREW  JOHNSON,    1853-1857 

In  1853  the  opposing  candidates  for  governor  were  Andrew  Johnson,  demo- 
crat, and  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  Whig.  Johnson,  who  had  already  been  a  member 
of  the  State  Legislature  and  of  Congress,  was  very  desirous  of  securing  the 
nomination,  because  the  Whigs  had  gerrymandered  his  district,  making  it  Whig 
instead  of  democratic.  But  the  democratic  leaders  of  the  state  were  opposed  to 
Johnson,  both  then  and  always,  with  a  few  exceptions,  and  the  delegates  from 
Middle  Tennessee  to  the  nominating  convention  were  favorable  to  Hon.  Andrew 
Ewing,1  an  eminent  lawyer  and  a  man  of  the  purest  and  exalted  character. 
Unfortunately,  Ewing  had  at  some  time  in  the  past  carelessly  assented  to  a 
remark  by  a  man,  now  unknown,  that  Johnson  ought  to  be  made  governor  as 
a  rebuke  to  the  Whigs  for  arranging  his  district  so  that  the  democrats  in  it  were 
in  a  minority.  Ewing  had  no  intention  of  committing  himself  to  Johnson,  but 
the  latter  learned  of  the  thoughtless  expression  and  so  skilfully  availed  himself 
of  it  that,  in  the  very  convention  which  was  about  to  nominate  Ewing  that 
scrupulous  gentleman  arose  and  said  that  his  sense  of  delicacy  forbade  his  being 
any  longer  a  candidate  and  withdrew  in  Johnson's  favor.  Thereupon  Johnson 
was  nominated.  Yet,  in  1857,  Johnson  aided  in  electing  Nicholson  senator  over 
Ewing.2 

Gustavus  A.  Henry,  the  Whig  candidate,  was  "decidedly  the  most  delightful 
orator  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  elegant  men  in  the  state. ' ' 3  He  was  a  school- 
mate of  Jefferson  Davis  at  Transylvania  University  and,  in  the  War  between 
the  States,  became  a  senator  in  the  Confederate  Congress.  He  was  known  as 
the  "Eagle  Orator,"  a  title  which  his  contemporaries,  without  exception,  say 
he  richly  deserved. 

The  two  candidates  canvassed  the  state  in  joint  debate.  When  they  spoke 
at  Knoxville  the  following  good-humored  passage,  which  has  become  almost 
classic,  took  place  between  them : 

Johnson,  in  his  closing  rejoinder,  said:  "They  call  my  competitor  'The 
Eagle  Orator. '  The  eagle  is  a  bird  of  prey.  Where  is  his  prey  ?  I  see  no  blood 
on  his  beak,  I  do  not  feel  his  talons  in  my  flesh."  "No,"  said  Henry,  as  quick 
as  thought,  ' '  the  eagle  is  a  royal  bird  and  never  preys  on  carrion. ' '  4 

After  a  closely  contested  race  Johnson  defeated  Henry  by  2, '250  votes. 


1  Father  of  Judge  Robert  Ewing,  of  Nashville,  and  father-in-law  of  Henry  Watterson. 
-  Temple's  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,"  p.  379. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  380. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  380. 

465 


466  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  General  Assembly,  for  1863-1854,  held  its  session  in  the  new  state 
eapitol,  the  first  session  ever  convened  there,  from  October  3,  1853,  to  March  6, 
1854.     The  following'  important  acts  were  passed: 

"To  establish  a  State  Agricultural  Bureau";  "To  provide  for  the  election 
of  three  Supreme  Judges  and  one  Attorney-General  for  the  State,  and  other 
judges  and  attorneys-general  by  the  vote  of  the  State."  "To  create  the  office 
of  State  Librarian."  The  following  railroads  were  incorporated:  Mississippi 
Central  and  Tennessee,  the  Mississippi  and  Tennessee,  and  the  Nashville  and 
Knoxville.  An  amendment  requiring  that  judges  and  attorneys-general  be 
elected  by  the  people  was  adopted  as  a  part  of  the  state  constitution. 

In  1855  Meredith  P.  Gentry  was  nominated  by  the  Whigs  to  oppose  Johnson. 
He  was  also  supported  by  the  new  party  called  the  American,  or  "Know- 
Nothing"  party.  Gentry  had  been  for  a  long  period  a  distinguished  member 
of  Congress,  in  which  John  Quincy  Adams  declared  him  to  be  the  greatest 
natural  orator.  He  was  brave  and  brilliant.  "His  oratory  consisted  in  the 
condensation  of  noble  thought,  presented  in  the  boldest,  most  striking  language, 
and  in  an  irresistible  manner."5 

As  was  customary,  the  two  candidates  arranged  for  a  canvass  of  the  state 
in  joint  debate  and  the  first  discussion  took  place  at  Murfreesboro,  a  Whig 
county.  As  there  was  much  excitement,  armed  men  flocked  to  the  meeting 
expecting  there  would  be  a  "difficulty."  Johnson,  however,  was  not  to  be 
intimidated.  He  arraigned  the  American  party  for  its  signs,  grips,  passwords, 
oaths,  secret  conclaves,  midnight  gatherings,  narrowness  and  proscriptiveness. 
His  boldness  was  amazing.  He  even  charged  that  the  members  were  sworn  to 
tell  a  lie  when  they  first  entered  the  order.  With  all  the  emphatic  bitterness 
of  which  he  was  master,  he  said:  "Show  me  a  know-nothing,  and  I  will  show 
you  a  loathsome  reptile  on  whose  neck  every  honest  man  should  put  his  feet." 
He  finally  exclaimed  that  they  were  "no  better  than  John  A.  Murrell's  clan  of 
outlaws."  His  charge  was  followed  instantly  by  many  voices  crying,  "It's  a 
lie,  it's  a  lie,"  accompanied  by  the  cocking  of  pistols  and  then  ominous  silence. 
For  a  short  time  Johnson  stood  unmoved,  gazing  around  calmly,  and  then 
deliberately  resumed  his  speech. 

Johnson  was  reelected  by  a  majority  of  2,156.  The  Thirty-first  General 
Assembly  held  its  session  of  1855-1856,  from  October  1,  1855,  to  March  3,  1856. 
A  number  of  corporations  to  construct  internal  improvements  were  chartered, 
consisting  mostly  of  railroad,  turnpike,  mining,  and  manufacturing  companies. 

POLITICAL   SIGNIFICANCE  OP  THE  NATIONAL  ELECTION   OP   1856 

For  several  years  the  question,  of  the  extension  of  slavery  in  the  territories 
had  cast  its  ominous  shadow  over  national  politics.  The  abolitionists  kept  up 
their  agitation  incessantly.  The  ultra  radicals  among  this  element,  with  fan- 
atical zeal,  demanded  immediate  and  forcible  surrender  of  an  institution  which 
was  protected  by  the  constitution  itself.  Others,  not  so  radical,  were  dissatisfied 
with  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  and  with  the  fugitive  slave  law  and  broke  away 
from  the  existing  parties.  For  these  radical  elements  there  was  no  refuge 
except  in  a  new  party.  Hence,  the  founding  of  the  republican  party.  This 
party  had  no  strength  or  standing  in  Tennessee  before  the  War  between  the 
States. 


s  [bid.,  p.   385. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  467 

But  there  was  a  third  element  which  did  receive  some  consideration  in  this 
state.  That  was  the  American,  or  know-nothing  party.  For  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  years  there  had  existed  a  strong  feeling  of  nativity,  crystallized  in  the 
expression  "America  for  Americans,"  a  sentiment  directed  against  foreigners 
and  especially  against  Roman  Catholic  foreigners.  In  1841  a  state  convention 
in  Louisiana  established  the  American  republican  party,  afterwards  called  the 
Native-American  party.  This  movement  rapidly  spread  over  the  country,  was 
temporarily  obscured  by  the  Mexican  war  and  slavery  agitation,  but  broke  out 
more  energetically  when  immigration  increased  so  greatly  in  consequence  of  the 
upheavals  in  Europe  in  1848  and  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California.  In  1852 
the  know-nothing  party  was  founded.  At  first  it  was  a  secret  oath-bound  or- 
ganization and  when  its  members  were  asked  on  what  the  order  was  based  and 
what  it  stood  for,  they  answered,  as  their  oath  required,  "I  don't  know." 
Hence  the  name  "know-nothing."  The  movement  spread  rapidly.  Many  whigs 
joined  the  know-nothings.  By  1854  they  had  become  very  strong  and  in  1855 
they  carried  a  majority  of  the  Northern  states  and  some  Southern  states.  In 
1856  they  nominated  former  President  Millard  Fillmore  for  President  and  Maj. 
Andrew  Jackson  Donelson,0  of  Tennessee,  for  vice  president. 

The  republican  party  nominated  John  C.  Fremont,7  of  California,  for  presi- 
dent and  William  L.  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  for  vice  president.  The  democratic 
party  nominated  James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  president  and  John  C. 
Breckinridge,  of  Kentucky,  for  vice  president. 

Buchanan  carried  Tennessee  by  a  majority  of  7,519. 

ADMINISTRATIONS   OF   ISHAM   G.    HARRIS  8 

After  the  expiration  of  his  second  term  as  governor,  Andrew  Johnson  realized 
the  ambition,  which  he  had  long  possessed,  of  a  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate. 
He  was  succeeded  as  governor  by  Isham  G.  Harris,  the  candidate  of  the  dem- 
ocratic party,  which  had  now  gained  permanent  ascendancy  in  Tennessee. 
Robert  Hatton  was  the  candidate  of  the  whigs  and  Americans.  The  two  com- 
petitors began  their  joint  canvass  of  the  state  at  Camden  on  May  25,  1857. 
They  were  foemen  worthy  of  each  other's  steel.  Both  were  good  speakers,  able, 
brave  and  gallant.  It  may  be,  indeed,  that  they  were  too  spirited,  for,  at 
Fayetteville,  the  debate  became  so  warm  that  it  culminated  in  physical  violence. 
It  is  said  that  Harris  struck  Hatton  and  that  the  blow  was  promptly  returned. 
They  were  separated  by  their  friends  by  whom  the  difficulty  was  adjusted,  and 
the  canvass  continued  without  further  personal  violence  until  they  stopped 
through  exhaustion  late  in  July.  In  the  election  in  August,  Harris  was  vic- 
torious by  a  majority  of  11,371. 

The  Thirty-second  General  Assembly  held  its  session  of  1857-1858  from 
October  5,  1857,  to  March  22,  1858.  Governor  Johnson,  in  his  message,  recom- 
mended an  amendment  to  the  constitution  of  the  state,  inhibiting  any  future 
Legislature  from  creating  a  debt  without  submission  to  the  people.  The  fol- 
lowing important  acts  were  passed: 


6  Private  secretary  of  President  Andrew  Jackson,  and  later  minister  to  Prussia. 

i  Fremont  was  a  Southerner  by  birth,  having  been  born  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  on  January 
1,  1813.  In  1837  he  worked  in  the  mountains  of  Tennessee  as  an  engineer  surveying  the 
proposed  railroad  from  Charleston  to  Cincinnati.  He  was  a  son-in-law  of  Senator  Thomas 
Hart.  Benton,  of  Missouri. 

8  See  biographical  sketch. 


468  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"To  repeal  the  free  banking  law";  "To  reduce  all  laws  on  the  subject  of 
exempting  property  from  execution  and  attachment  into  one";  "To  create 
the  mechanics'  lien  law";  "To  abolish  military  duty." 

During  this  administration  the  statute  laws  of  the  state  were  codified.  Judge 
William  F.  Cooper  made  the  plan  and  arrangement  of  the  work  which  justly 
takes  rank  with  the  best  of  American  codes.  Other  eminent  lawyers  of  Ten- 
nessee who  have  had  an  adequate  conception  of  the  genius  of  our  laws  and  have 
been  willing  to  devote  their  valuable  time  to  the  reduction  of  these  laws  into  a 
system  are  John  Haywood,  Robert  L.  Caruthers,  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson  and  Return 
J.  Meigs. 

In  1857  Gen.  William  Walker,9  called  "The  Grey-Eyed  Man  of  Destiny," 
made  his  last  visit  to  Tennessee.  Two  years  later  his  romantic  career  was  ended 
by  a  firing  squad. 

HARRIS   VERSUS    NETHERLAND 

In  1859  Harris  was  pitted  against  John  Netherland,  the  last  candidate  for 
governor  of  this  state  ever  presented  by  the  Whigs.  Netherland  was  very  pop- 
ular. He  possessed  keen  and  ready  wit,  geniality,  good-fellowship  and  hearty, 
old-fashioned  manners.  While  he  was  a  good  speaker,  he  was  no  match  for 
Harris  in  the  joint  debates  of  their  state  canvass  and  Harris  was  reelected  by 
a  majority  of  8,031  votes. 

The  Thirty-third  General  Assembly  held  its  1859-1860  session  from  October  3, 
1859.  In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  Governor  Harris  recommended  that 
the  liabilities  of  the  state,  incurred  mostly  by  lending  money  to  internal  im- 
provement companies,  be  no  further  increased.  The  following  important  acts 
were  passed : 

"To  repeal  the  law  establishing  foreign  banking  agencies  in  Tennessee"; 
"To  abolish  the  office  of  State  Geologist";  "To  establish  a  conventional  rate 
of  interest,  not  to  exceed  ten  per  cent";  "To  compel  railroads  to  keep  within 
the  rates  of  freight  as  set  forth  in  their  charters";  "To  ratify  and  confirm  the 
line  run  between  Kentucky  and  Tennessee " ;  "To  repeal  State  aid  granted 
railroads  not  under  contract." 

On  November  18,  1859,  a  sensation  was  caused  by  the  killing  of  G.  G. 
Poindexter,  editor  of  the  Nashville  Union,  by  Allen  A.  Hall,  editor  of  the 
Nashville  News. 

INFLUENCE  IN  TENNESSEE  OP  THE  NATIONAL  ELECTION  OP  1860 

Throughout  the  entire  period  of  Governor  Harris'  second  term  Tennessee 
shared  the  national  gloom,  uncertainty  and  anxiety.  Forebodings  of  evil  op- 
pressed every  heart.  John  Brown  had,  in  1859,  made  his  raid  into  Virginia 
with  the  purpose  of  inciting  the  negroes  to  insurrection.  He  was  captured  and 
executed.  But  his  deed,  coupled  with  the  rising  tide  of  abolitionism  in  the 
North  aroused  deep  resentment  in  the  South.  The  presidential  election  of  1860 
intensified  the  feeling.  The  democrats,  long  victorious,  in  the  national  demo- 
cratic convention  for  nominating  candidates  for  President  and  vice  president, 
held  at  Charleston,  broke  up  into  two  warring  factions,  one  of  which  sub- 
sequently nominated  Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  President,  and  the  other  nominated 
John  C.  Breckinridge  for  the  same  office.     The  republicans  nominated  Abraham 


9  See  account  of  this  remarkable  man  in  the  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  469 

Lincoln  for  President.  They  were  hopeful  and  progressive.  But  there  were 
many  men  in  the  South,  as  well  as  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  who  would  not 
follow  either  of  the  democratic  factions  and  were  strongly  opposed  to  the 
policies  of  the  repuhlicans.  A  new  party,  called  the  Constitutional  Union  party, 
was  formed  hy  these  elements  who  held  their  convention  at  Baltimore  on  May  9, 
1860,  and  nominated  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  President,  and  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  vice  president.  Sam  Houston,  of  Texas,  and 
previously  of  Tennessee,  was  Bell's  principal  competitor  for  the  nomination. 
The  platform  of  this  party  consisted  of  a  single  resolution  declaring  in  favor 
of  the  Union,  the  constitution  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws.  Bell,  however, 
carried  only  the  states  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  although  New 
Jersey  cast  three  votes  for  him.  The  vote  in  Tennessee  was :  John  Bell,  69,274 ; 
John  C.  Breckinridge,  64,709 ;  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  11,350 ;  Abraham  Lincoln, 
no  votes. 

The  election  of  Lincoln  was  regarded  generally  by  the  people  of  the  South 
as  placing  them  at  the  mercy  of  a  party  hostile  to  their  institutions  and  in- 
terests. On  December  20,  1860,  only  a  few  weeks  after  the  election,  South 
Carolina  passed  an  Ordinance  of  Secession  and  the  crisis  so  long  feared  was 
at  hand. 

Gen.  Isham  G.  Harris  was  an  ardent  secessionist  and  lost  no  time  in  taking 
steps  which  he  hoped  might  result  in  causing  Tennessee  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union.  He  called  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  to  meet  on  January  7,  1861, 
"to  consider  the  present  condition  of  the  country."10  "When  the  Legislature 
convened  he  suggested  in  his  message  that  the  question  of  calling  a  convention 
be  submitted  forthwith  to  the  votes  of  the  people  and  observed  : 

"Before  your  adjournment,  in  all  human  probability,  the  only  practical 
question  for  the  state  to  determine  will  be  whether  or  not  she  will  unite  her 
fortunes  with  a  Northern  or  Southern  Confederacy ;  upon  which  question,  when 
presented,  I  am  certain  there  can  be  little  or  no  division  in  sentiment,  iden- 
tified as  we  are  in  every  respect  with  the  South." 

Immediately  followed  news  of  the  secession  of  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama 
and  Georgia  and  the  repulse  of  the  Star  of  the  West  at  Charleston.  The  excite- 
ment was  intense  and  the  Legislature,  strongly  pro-Southern  in  sympathy, 
provided,11  on  January  19th,  for  an  election  at  which  the  people  should  vote 
on  the  question  of  holding  a  convention  and  should  elect  delegates  to  serve  in 
case  the  convention  should  be  held,  "to  adopt  such  measures  for  vindicating  the 
sovereignty  of  the  state  and  the  protection  of  its  institutions  as  shall  appear  to 
them  to  be  demanded." 

The  Legislature  then  passed  (January  31)  an  act 12  repealing  the  act 
abolishing  military  duty  and  the  following  important  resolutions:  Inviting 
Hon.  L.  P.  Walker,  of  Alabama,  and  Thomas  J.  Wharton,  of  Mississippi,  to 
address  the  Legislature ;  providing  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  the  General 
Convention  of  the  Southern  States;  asking  the  President  of  the  United  States 
and  the  authorities  of  the  Southern  States  to  "reciprocally  communicate  assur- 
ances" of  their  peaceable  designs  and  saying  that  if  the  governor  of  New  York 
should  send  armed  forces  into  the  South  for  the  purpose  of  coercion,  "the 
people  of  Tennessee,  uniting  with  their  brethren  of  the  South,  will,  as  one  man, 


10  Senate  Journal  33d  General  Assembly  for  first  extra  session  of  1861,  p.  15. 

11  Senate  Journal  33d  General  Assembly,  first  extra  session,  1861,  pp.  6  et  seq. 

12  Chapter  12  of  the  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  for  first  extra  session  of  1861,  p.  27. 


470  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

resist  such  invasion  of  the  soil  of  the  South  at  any  hazard  and  to  the  last 
extremity." 

Nevertheless,  the  people  of  Tennessee,  were  not  yet  ready  to  secede.  They 
proved  the  integrity  of  this  statement  by  their  votes  on  February  9th,  the  day 
appointed  for  the  election.  The  vote  for  the  convention  was  57,798 ;  against 
the  convention  was  69,675.  The  vote  for  delegates  who  favored  secession  was 
24,749 ;  for  delegates  who  favored  union,  88,803. 

The  situation  was  entirely  changed  by  the  outbreak  of  actual  hostilities  in 
April.  After  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  April  12,  1861,  secession  became 
popular  and  irresistible.  To  President  Lincoln's  call  for  troops  Governor 
Harris,  on  April  18th,  replied:  "Tennessee  will  not  furnish  a  single  man  for 
coercion,  but  50,000,  if  necessary,  for  the  defense  of  our  rights  and  those  of 
our  southern  brothers." 

Upon  the  governor's  call  the  Legislature  convened  in  the  second  extra 
session  of  this  year  on  April  25,  1861.  In  his  message  he  said  that  President 
Lincoln  had  "wantonly  inaugurated  an  internecine  war  upon  the  people  of  the 
slave  and  non-slave  holding  states,"  and  urged  the  passage  of  ordinances  of 
secession  and  of  joining  the  Confederacy  "in  such  manner  as  shall  involve  the 
highest  exercise  of  sovereign  authority  by  the  people  of  the  state"  and  that 
opportunity  be  given  for  "a  fair  and  full  expression  of  the  popular  will  on 
each  of  these  propositions  separately."13 

Anticipating  prompt  action  by  the  Legislature  in  passing  an  ordinance  of 
secession  and  possible  criticism,  Governor  Harris  said :  ' '  Under  existing  cir- 
cumstances I  can  see  no  propriety  for  encumbering  the  people  of  the  state  with 
the  election  of  delegates  to  do  that  which  it  is  in  our  power  to  enable  them  to 
do  directly  for  themselves.  The  most  direct,  as  well  as  the  highest,  act  of 
sovereignty,  according  to  our  theory,  is  that  by  which  the  people  vote,  not 
merely  for  men,  but  for  measures  submitted  for  their  approval  or  rejection. 
Since  it  is  only  the  voice  of  the  people  that  is  to  be  heard,  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  may  not  as  readily  and  effectively  express  themselves  upon  an  or- 
dinance framed  and  submitted  to  them  by  the  Legislature  as  if  submitted  by 
a  convention. ' ' 14 

Henry  W.  Hilliard,  the  agent  of  the  Confederacy,  who  was  on  the  ground 
at  that  time,  wrote  to  Secretary  Toombs : 

"The  object  of  the  governor  in  recommending  separate  ordinances  is  to 
secure  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt  the  speedy  secession  of  Tennessee  from 
the  government  of  the  United  States.  *  *  *  The  first  proposition  will  be 
ratified  by  an  overwhelming  popular  vote.  As  to  the  second,  which  provides  for 
the  admission  of  Tennessee  as  a  member  of  the  Confederate  States,  there  will 
be  decided  opposition,  for  many  desire  to  establish  a  middle  confederacy,  formed 
of  the  border  states,  as  they  are  termed.  You  will  readily  comprehend  that 
personal  considerations  influence  opinion  to  some  extent  in  regard  to  this 
measure.  *  *  *  A  great  change  has  taken  place  in  public  sentiment  here 
within  a  few  days,  and  the  feeling  in  favor  of  our  government  rises  into  en- 
thusiasm. *  *  *  By  existing  laws  the  governor  has  no  authority  to  send 
troops  beyond  the  limits  of  the  state,  but  the  legislature  will  authorize  him  to 
order  them  to  any  point,  and  in  anticipation  of  this,  or  under  the  pressure  of 
affairs,  Governor  Harris  is  now  sending  troops  into  Virginia.     *     *     *     Our 

13  Governor's  Message  in  Acts  of  the  33d  General  Assembly,  Second  extra  session,  1861, 
pp.   Ml. 

"Ibid.,  p.  8. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  471 

Constitution  is  highly  approved,  and  the  conduct  of  our  government  inspires 
respect  and  admiration."15 

Governor  Harris  in  his  message  also  recommended  "the  passage  of  a  law 
raising,  and  thorough  organization  of  an  efficient  volunteer  force  for  imme- 
diate service."16  In  response  the  Legislature  adopted  the  following  resolu- 
tion (Senate  Resolution  No.  10),  which  was  offered  on  April  26: 

"Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  That  the 
Governor  of  the  State  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  to  order  immediate  or- 
ganization of  all  the  regiments  and  companies  tendered  to  him  in  the  State : 
that  they  be  drilled  by  their  respective  officers,  and  held  in  immediate  readiness 
for  service  in  the  State,  if  necessary,  or  to  assist  any  of  our  sister  Southern 
States  in  the  present  revolution,  in  defense  of  liberty  and  justice."  17 

On  May  1,  1861,  the  Legislature  passed  the  following  resolution  (Senate 
Resolution  No.  18)  : 

"Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  That  the 
Governor  be,  and  he  is  hereby  authorized  and  requested  to  appoint  three  com- 
missioners on  the  part  of  Tennessee,  to  enter  into  a  Military  League  with  the 
authorities  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  with  the  authorities  of  such  other 
slaveholding  States  as  may  wish  to  enter  into  it,  having  in  view  the  protection 
and  defence  of  the  entire  South  against  the  war  that  is  now  being  carried  on 
against  it."  18 

A.  0.  W.  Totten,  Gustavus  A.  Henry  and  Washington  Barrow  were  ap- 
pointed the  commissioners  for  this  purpose,  and,  on  May  7,  1861,  met  Henry  W. 
Hilliard,  the  accredited  representative  of  the  Confederate  States  and  perfected 
this  league,  which  was  ratified  by  the  Legislature  on  the  same  date.19 

On  May  6th,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  (Chapter  3)  entitled,  "An  Act  to 
raise,  organize  and  equip  a  provisional  force,  and  for  other  purposes. ' ' 20  This 
act  provided  for  the  raising  and  equipment  of  a  force  of  55,000  volunteers  by 
the  governor  of  the  state  and  for  the  issuance  of  $5,000,000  of  bonds  to  carry 
out  the  provisions  of  the  act. 

On  the  same  day  (May  6,  1861)  the  Legislature  passed  an  act21  (Chapter  1) 
entitled,  "An  Act  to  submit  to  a  vote  of  the  people  a  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, and  for  other  purposes."  This  act  embodied  the  recommendations  of 
Governor  Harris,  and  called  the  people  to  vote  on  June  8,  1861,  on  the  following 
ordinances': 

1.  "Declaration  of  Independence  and  Ordinance  Dissolving  the  Federal 
Relations  between  the  State  of  Tennessee  and  the  United  States  of  America."22 

2.  "An  Ordinance  for  the  Adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America."23 

The  first  ordinance  carried  by  a  vote  of  104,913  for  and  47,238  against.  The 
second  carried  by  a  vote  nearly  as  large.  East  Tennessee  was  the  only  section 
of  the  state  in  which  both  ordinances  failed  to  carry.24 

Meanwhile,  Governor  Harris  had  raised  most  of  the  troops  authorized  by 
the  Legislature  and  the  state  was  filled  with  soldiers.     The  sentiment  of  the 


is  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies,  Series  T,  Vol.  Ill,  part  II,  p.  76. 
18  Acts  33d  General  Assembly,   2nd  extra  session,    1861,   p.   9;    also   Sena.tr   Journal,  2nd 
extra  session,  1861,  p.  11. 

i?  Senate  Journal,  2nd  extra  session,  1861,  p.  17. 

i«Ibid.,  p.   35. 

is  Acts  of  2nd  extra  session,  1861,  p.  21. 

20  Acts  of  2nd  extra  session,  1861,  p.  21. 

2i  Ibid.,  p.  15. 

22  Ibid.,  p.   16. 

23  Ibid.,  p.  18. 

24  Middle   Tennessee   was   for   the   South    by    approximately    58,000    to    8,000,    and    West 
Tennessee  by  29,000  to  6,000. 


472  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

people  was  overwhelmingly — and  generally  enthusiastically — for  the  Confederacy 
and  the  war  spirit  ran  high. 

This  was  true  everywhere  except  in  East  Tennessee.  Here,  on  May  30,  1861, 
a  Union  Convention  met  at  Knoxville  and  adjourned  to  meet  at  Greeneville, 
June  17-20th.  At  this  meeting  a  committee  was  appointed  to  ask  the  consent  of 
the  General  Assembly  that  the  counties  of  East  Tennessee  and  those  of  Middle 
Tennessee  so  desiring  might  form  a  separate  state.25  This  committee  consisting 
of  0.  P.  Temple,  John  Netherland,  and  James  P.  McDonald,  presented  their 
memorial  to  the  Legislature  on  June  18th.  It  was  referred  to  a  joint  committee 
which  reported  on  June  29th,  advising  that  no  action  be  taken  on  it;  and  with 
reason,  for  on  that  very  date  (June  18th)  Governor  Harris  had  sent  a  message 
to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  advising  them  that  the  people  of 
Tennessee  had  "dissolved  their  connection  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  and  by  the  adoption  of  the  Provisional  Constitution  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America,  had  made  Tennessee  a  member  of  that  Government,"20  and 
on  June  24,  1861,  had  issued  a  formal  proclamation  declaring  the  dissolution  of 
the  tie  which  bound  Tennessee  to  the  United  States  of  America. 


-5  Official  Records  of  the  Union  and  Confederate  Armies,  Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  part  I,  p.  168. 
20  Senate  Journal,  2nd  extra  session,  1861,  p.   103. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

TENNESSEE  IN  THE  WAR  BETWEEN  THE  STATES— CONFEDERATE 
ADMINISTRATION  OF  ISHAM  G.  HARRIS 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  empowering-  the 
governor  to  place  the  state  on  a  war  footing.  Under  the  provisions  of  that  act 
the  following  named  military  officers  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee  were  appointed : 
Gideon  J.  Pillow  and  Samuel  R.  Anderson,  major-generals ;  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer, 
Benjamin  F.  Cheatham,  Robert  C.  Foster,  (III),  John  L.  T.  Sneed,  and  Wil- 
liam R.  Caswell,  brigadier-generals.  The  staff  of  officers  were  :  Daniel  S.  Donel- 
son,  adjutant-general;  V.  K.  Stephenson,  quartermaster-general;  R.  G.  Fain, 
commissary-general ;  William  Williams,  paymaster-general ;  Paul  F.  Eve,  sur- 
geon-general ;  W.  H.  Carroll,  inspector-general ;  James  D.  Porter,  W.  C.  Whit- 
thorne,  Hiram  S.  Bradford,  and  D.  M.  Key,  assistant  adjutant-generals.  Later 
many  other  officers  were  appointed.  A  military  and  financial  board  was  also 
appointed  consisting  of  Neill  S.  Brown,  James  E.  Bailey,  and  W.  G.  Harding. 

General  Pillow  established  headquarters  at  Memphis,  and  speedily  organized 
the  "Provisional  Army  of  Tennessee"  in  regard  to  which  Governor  James  D. 
Porter  said:  "Before  the  close  of  the  year  1861,  the  official  records  of  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  state  show  seventy-one  regiments  of  infantry,  twenty- 
two  batteries  of  artillery,  twenty-one  regiments  of  cavalry,  nine  battalions,  and 
enough  independent  companies  and  partisan  rangers  to  have  constituted  eight 
full  regiments."1  Forthwith,  with  feverish  haste  were  established  mills  and 
factories  for  the  production  of  powder,  guns,  percussion  caps  and  military  stores 
of  every  description.  Nashville  and  Memphis  became  great  centers  of  supplies, 
not  only  for  Tennessee  but  for  the  entire  Confederacy.  On  July  31,  1861,  the 
"Provisional  Army  of  Tennessee"  with  all  its  stores  and  equipment  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Confederate  Government  and  became  a  part  of  the  army  of  Maj.- 
Gen.  Leonidas  Polk,  in  command  of  Department  No.  1,  of  the  Confederate 
States,  with  headquarters  at  Memphis.  The  Thirty-fourth  General  Assembly 
was  the  only  General  Assembly  of  Tennessee  held  while  this  state  was  a  member 
of  the  Confederate  States  of  America.  The  session  which  was  held  soon  after 
the  election  of  Brownlow  in  1865  is  also  called  the  session  of  the  Thirty-fourth 
General  Assembly  in  the  acts  for  that  year.  As  the  Harris  Confederate  Legis- 
lature is,  in  strict  consecution,  the  thirty-fourth,  it  would  seem  necessary  or 
at  least  convenient  to  call  that  of  1865  the  Brownlow  Legislature.  Between 
these  two  Legislatures  Tennessee  was  ruled  by  Andrew  Johnson  as  military 
governor. 

As  members  of  the  Confederate  Congress  had  been  elected  on  August  1st, 
the  Legislature  was  considered  a  Confederate  Legislature.  It  met  on  October 
7,  1861,  organized  eleven  congressional  districts,  adjourned  from  December  21, 


"Confederate  Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  Tennessee,  by  Jas.  D.  Porter,  pp.  3-9. 

473 


474  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

L861,  to  January  20,  1862,  and  adjourned  on  February  15,  1862,  to  meet  in 
Memphis  on  the  call  of  the  governor,  as  Nashville  was  threatened  with  capture 
by  the  Federals.  It  met,  pursuant  to  the  governor's  call,  at  Memphis  on  Feb- 
ruary 20,  1862,  and  adjourned  sine  die  on  March  20.  Before  it  adjourned,  how- 
ever, it  passed  the  following  important  acts: 

"To  constitute  all  white  male  population  between  eighteen  and  forty-five 
a  reserve  military  corps";  "To  provide  nurses  for  sick  soldiers";  "To  authorize 
the  Bank  of  Tennessee  to  issue  'change'  notes";  "To  authorize  the  Bank  of 
Tennessee  to  remove  their  locations  in  case  of  danger  from  invading  enemy"; 
"To  provide  for  families  of  indigent  soldiers";  "To  establish  an  ordnance 
bureau. ' ' 

While  the  events  previously  narrated  in  this  chapter  were  taking  place, 
thousands  of  Unionists  in  East  Tennessee  were  enrolling  themselves  in  the 
Federal  Army  and  others  followed  later.  Naturally  fierce  passions  were  aroused 
between  the  partisans  of  the  Confederacy  and  those  of  the  Union  which  became 
more  intense  as  the  war  progressed.  The  Confederate  authorities  established 
the  line  of  the  Cumberland  River  arid  at  first  held  possession  of  the  entire  state, 
which  thereafter  became  a  battle-ground  for  the  contending  forces,  until  the 
Confederate  forces  withdrew  their  army  from  Chattanooga  under  Bragg,  after 
the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  on  November  25,  1863,  and  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign began.  The  struggle  for  Tennessee,  however,  was  renewed,  when  Hood 
made  his  famous  dash  for  Nashville  near  the  close  of  1864,  which  resulted  in  his 
disastrous  defeat  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  on  December  15  and  16,  1864. 

EARLY    MILITARY    OPERATIONS 

The  first  campaign  of  the  war  in  which  Tennessee  troops  took  part  was  that 
organized  by  General  Polk  for  the  relief  of  Missouri.  On  July  28,  1861,  he  sent 
General  Pillow  with  6,000  men  to  New  Madrid  where  he  was  joined  in  a  few 
days  by  Gen.  B.  F.  Cheatham  with  .3,000  more.  On  account  of  a  lack  of  equip- 
ment and  transportation  the  campaign  for  the  redemption  of  Missouri  was  aban- 
doned and  the  troops  were  transferred  to  Hickman  and  Columbus,  Ky.,  which 
latter  named  place  was  strongly  fortified.  The  occupation  of  these  places 
elicited  a  strong  protest  from  Governor  Harris,  who  had  undertaken  to  have 
observed  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky.  Both  the  Federal  and  Confederate  govern- 
ments desired  military  possession  of  Kentucky,  the  Federal  authorities,  to  pre- 
vent the  secession  of  the  state  and  to  use  it  as  a  basis  for  the  invasion  of  the 
South,  the  Confederate  authorities  to  encourage  secession,  to  secure  recruits  for 
their  armies  and  to  use  the  Ohio  as  a  line  of  defense.  Kentucky  wished  her 
"neutrality"  to  be  respected,  but  neither  side  respected  it.  A  Union  recruit- 
ing camp  was  established  near  the  very  center  of  the  state  and  Gen.  Robert 
Anderson,  who  commanded  at  Fort  Sumter,  when  it  was  captured,  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  Department  of  Kentucky. 

On  September  10th,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston,  who  had  been  assigned 
to  the  Confederate  Department  of  the  West,  promptly  established  the  "Line  of 
the  Cumberland."  This  line  extended  from  Columbus,  on  the  Mississippi,  to 
Mill  Springs,  on  the  Upper  Cumberland,  in  an  almost  directly  east  line,  and 
thence  southeast  to  Cumberland  Gap,  which  was  fortified.  The  center  was  at 
Bowling  Green,  Ky.     The  left  wing  was  commanded  by  General  Polk,  the  cen- 


TENNESSEE,  THE' VOLUNTEER  STATE  475 

ter  by  Gen.  S.  B.  Buckner  and  the  right  by  Gen.  George  B.  Crittenden.  Gen. 
John  B.  Floyd  commanded  at  Russellville  and  General  Clarke  at  Hopkinsville. 
Fort  Henry,  on  the  Tennessee,  and  Fort  Donelson,  on  the  Cumberland  were 
strongly  fortified.  The  first  clash  was  at  Belmont,  Mo.,  opposite  Columbus, 
where  General  Grant,  on  November  7,  1861,  attacked  the  Confederate  forces 
and,  although  at  first  successful,  was  finally  defeated  through  the  gallant  attack 
of  General  Cheatham  in  his  rear.2 

ACTIVITIES    IN   EAST    TENNESSEE 

From  the  very  day  when  Tennessee  seceded,  the  attention  of  both  statesmen 
and  military  men  had  been  directed  to  East  Tennessee,  because  this  district 
was  of  great  strategic  importance.  While  the  Federal  Government  sent  some 
supplies  and  arms  into  this  part  of  the  state,  the  action  of  the  Confederates  was 
much  more  prompt  and  energetic.  In  August,  Gen.  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer  was 
designated  to  reclaim  this  section  and  he  promptly  exerted  his  best  endeavors 
to  do  so.  His  efforts  were  impeded  by  the  Union  sympathizers,  whom,  in  turn, 
he  has  been  charged  with  having  treated  with  harshness  and  brutality.  Doubt- 
less "much  can  be  said  on  both  sides."  Having  been  a  printer  in  Knoxville 
some  years  previous,  he  knew  the  East  Tennesseans  and  held  them  in  check 
with  a  firm  military  hand.  They  did  not  tamely  submit,  but  resorted  to  bush- 
whacking and  the  destruction  of  property. 

THE   BRIDGE    BURNERS  3 

On  November  8,  1861,  the  country  was  startled  by  the  burning  of  the  bridges 
in  East  Tennessee.  This  plan,  long  held  secret,  was  conceived  by  William  Blount 
Carter,  of  Elizabethton.  He  submitted  his  scheme  to  Mr.  Lincoln  who  warmly 
sanctioned  it.  It  was  also  approved  by  Secretary  Seward  and  General  McClel- 
lan.  The  plan  was  "to  burn,  on  the  same  night,  nine  bridges  between  Stevenson, 
Ala.,  and  Bristol,  thus  rendering  useless  265  miles  of  railroad,  and  interrupting 
the  communications  between  Tennessee,  and  Virginia."4  On  the  appointed 
night,  five  bridges  were  burned.  James  Keilan,  the  guard,  by  an  heroic  defense, 
saved  the  bridge  at  Sweetwater.  The  bridge-burners  worked  with  the  utmost 
secrecy  and  "few  of  them  were  ever  found  out  by  the  public."  Nevertheless, 
six  were  arrested,  tried  by  court-martial  and  convicted.  Of  these,  five  were 
hanged  by  Col.  D.  Ledbetter,5  acting  under  instructions  from  Judah  P.  Ben- 
jamin, Confederate  secretary  of  war.  President  Davis  pardoned  the  sixth. 
Many  other  Union  men  were  suspected  of  complicity  in  this  scheme  or  of  har- 
boring similar  designs  against  other  bridges.  Some  of  them  were  imprisoned 
and  others  escaped  and  joined  the  Union  army.  The  bitterness  of  feeling  already 
existing  in  East  Tennessee  was  immensely  intensified  by  the  circumstances  at- 
tendant upon  the  burning  of  these  bridges  and  the  severe  repressive  measures 
taken  for  the  prevention  of  like  attempts. 


2  On  December  6,  1861,  the  Confederate  Congress  passed  resolutions  of  thanks  to  Generals 
Polk,  Pillow  and  Cheatham  and  their  officers  and  men  "for  the  glorious  victory  achieved  at 
Belmont  *  *  *  whereby  the  reduction  of  Columbus  was  defeated,  and  the  contemplated 
descent  of  the  enemy  down  the  Mississippi  River  effectually  stayed. ' ' 

s  Temple's  "East  Tennessee  and  the  Civil  War,"  pp.  3G6-387,  388,  393,  418. 

*  Temple 's  ' '  East  Tennessee  and  the  Civil  War, ' '  p.  379. 

5  Spelled  by   Temple  as  Leadbetter. 


476  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE  BATTLE  OF  MILL  SPRINGS  OR  FISHING  CREEK  l! 
DEATH  OF  GENERAL  ZOLLICOFFER 

When  General  McClellan  was  made  commander  of  the  Federal  forces  in 
November,  1861,  he  appointed  his  personal  friend.  Gen.  Don  Carlos  Buell,  to 
the  command  in  Kentucky.  Under  him  Gen.  George  H.  Thomas  advanced  to 
break,  if  possible,  the  Confederate  right  wing,  commanded  by  Gen.  Felix  K. 
Zollicoffer,  who  had  charge  of  the  advanced  force  of  Gen.  George  B.  Crittenden. 
The  Confederates  were  entrenched,  but,  on  learning  of  the  near  approach  of 
the  Federals,  in  their  eagerness  to  fight,  left  their  entrenchments  and,  exhausted 
by  a  night  march  over  bad  roads,  encountered  Thomas'  men,  who  were  rested, 
but  a  little  while  before  the  commencement  of  the  action  on  January  19,  1862. 
Nevertheless,  they  put  up  a  spirited  tight,  and  it  was  only  after  a  battle  of  three 
hours,  in  which  General  Zollicoffer  was  killed,  that  they  retired  defeated  to 
Beech  Grove.  During  the  night  Crittenden  withdrew  to  the  South  side  of  the 
Cumberland." 

The  facts  concerning  the  fall  of  General  Zollicoffer  are  in  dispute.  Governor 
Porter  said : 

"General  Zollicoffer,  under  a  fatal  misapprehension  rode  up  and  ordered 
Colonel  Cummings  to  cease  firing,  believing  that  the  attack  was  upon  one  of 
his  own  regiments.  He  then  advanced  as  if  to  give  an  order,  and  was  killed 
just  as  he  discovered  his  mistake." 

Col.  R.  M.  Kelly,  in  his  comprehensive  article  in  Battles  and  Leaders  of  the 
Civil  war,  gives  this  version :  General  Fry,  a  Federal  officer,  advanced  through 
the  smoky  atmosphere  to  get  a  better  view  of  the  enemy  and  "encountered  a 
mounted  officer  whose  uniform  was  covered  with  a  water-proof  coat.  After 
approaching  till  their  knees  touched,  the  stranger  said  to  Fry:  'We  must  not 
fire  on  our  own  men. '  Fry  said :  '  Of  course  not.  I  would  not  do  so  inten- 
tionally ' ;  and  he  began  to  move  toward  his  regiment,  when  turning  he  saw 
another  mounted  man  riding  from  the  trees  who  fired  and  wounded  Fry's 
horse.  Fry  at  once  fired  on  the  man  who  had  accosted  him,  and  several  of  his 
men,  observing  the  incident,  fired  at  the  same  time.  The  shots  were  fatal,  and 
the  horseman  fell  dead.  *  *  *  It  was  soon  ascertained  that  it  was  Zollicoffer 
himself  who  had  fallen." 

The  death  of  Zollicoffer  cast  a  gloom  over  the  state.  He  was  able,  distin- 
guished in  civil  and  political  life  and  popular  with  both  Confederates  and 
Unionists.  In  reporting  his  death  General  Crittenden  said :  "In  counsel  he  had 
always  shown  wisdom  and  in  battle  braved  dangers,  while  coolly  directing  the 
movements  of  his  troops." 

CAPTURE  OF  FORT  HENRY  AND  FORT  DONELSON 

After  the  defeat  of  the  Confederates  at  Fishing  Creek,  Tennessee  became 
the  great  battle-ground  of  the  West.  Fort  Henry  on  the  Tennessee  and  Fort 
Donelson  on  the  Cumberland  were  the  first  points  to  be  attacked  by  the  Federals. 
They  were  only  twelve  miles  apart  and  protected  the  navigation  of  the  two  rivers. 
Brig.-Gen.  Lloyd  Tilghman  was  in  command  at  Fort  Henry  with  a  force  of 


e  Also  sometimes  called  the  Battle  of  Logan 's  Cross   Roads. 

7  Davis'  "Eise  and  Fall  of  the  Confederate  States,"  Vol.  IT,  Chapter  XVI;  Porter's 
"Military  History  of  Tennessee,"  Chapter  II;  "Campaigns  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  VII; 
Smith's  "History  of  Kentucky,"  p.  621;  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  I, 
pp.  387-392. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  477 

2,610  men.  On  February  4,  1862,  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  with  an  army  of  16,000 
men,  and  a  fleet  of  seven  gunboats  advanced  to  the  attack  which  was  begun 
by  the  gunboats  under  command  of  Flag  Officer  A.  H.  Foote.  Soon  the  guns 
of  the  fort  were  disabled  except  a  few  thirty-two  pounders.  Realizing  that  the 
successful  defence  of  the  fort  was  impossible,  General  Tilghman,  on  the  6th  of 
February,  ordered  Colonel  Heiman,  the  second  in  command,  to  lead  the  main 
bodjT  of  the  defenders  to  Fort  Donelson,  while  he  and  the  soldiers  who  manned 
the  guns  remained.  The  location  of  the  fort  was  unfortunate  and  the  force 
entirely  inadequate  for  defence.  Yet  General  Tilghman  and  his  little  force  of 
66  men  held  out  gallantly  s  for  more  than  two  hours,  during  which  they  disabled 
two  of  Foote 's  gunboats.  He  then  surrendered,  after  he  realized  that  the  main 
force  had  retired  safely  and  after  seven  of  his  eleven  guns  had  been  disabled. 
This  was  the  first  battle  in  the  war  which  was  fought  on  Tennessee  soil.9 

FORT  DONELSON  10 

The  surrender  of  Fort  Donelson  marks  the  first  great  military  blunder  made 
by  the  Confederates  in  the  Western  field  of  the  war.  Grant,  able  commander  as 
he  undoubtedly  was,  was  lucky.  His  luck  at  this  crucial  time  was  probably  the 
tide  in  his  affairs  which,  taken  at  the  flood,  led  on  to  fortune.  On  the  morning  of 
February  12,  1862,  Grant  moved  his  troops  from  Fort  Henry  across  the  narrow 
neck  between  the  two  rivers  and  invested  Fort  Donelson.  He  had  at  first  about 
15,000  men  and  was  subsequently  reinforced  until,  according  to  his  own  estimate 
and  the  Federal  statistical  records,  his  aggregate  force  was  27,000,  besides  Foote 's 
fleet  of  six  gunboats.  General  Buell  stated  it  to  be  between  30,000  and  35,000, 
and  General  Buckner,  in  his  report,  said  that  it  exceeded  50,000.  The  total 
Confederate  force  is  variously  estimated  from  11,738  to  20,000,  commanded  by 
Gens.  Gideon  J.  Pillow,  Simon  B.  Buckner,  Bushrod  R.  Johnson  and  John  B. 
Floyd,  the  last  named  in  chief  command. 

The  investment  of  Fort  Donelson  was  complete  by  the  afternoon  of  the  12th, 
and,  on  the  13th,  Gen.  Bushrod  Johnson  repulsed  an  attack  u  on  his  left  wing, 
and  other  attacks  subsequently  in  the  day  were  gallantly  defeated.  On  the  14th, 
the  main  attack  was  made  by  the  Federal  gunboats  which  were  disabled  and 
forced  to  retire.  On  the  15th,  the  very  day  before  the  surrender  the  offensive 
was  taken  by  the  Confederates  and  the  tactics  and  the  fighting  by  the  southern 
troops  were  brilliant  and  successful.  Then  arose  a  misunderstanding  among  the 
Confederate  generals  which  resulted  disastrously.  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  Johnston 
had  telegraphed  General  Floyd :  "If  you  lose  the  fort,  bring  your  troops  to 
Nashville,  if  possible."  But  the  road  which  had  been  opened  for  the  retreat 
of  the  garrison  was  unfortunately  abandoned.     General  Floyd  turned  the  com- 


8  Foote  said  in  his  report  that  it  "was  defended  with  the  utmost  gallantry." 

9  See  "The  Defense  of  Fort  Henry"  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  I, 
pp.  368-372.  This  article  was  written  by  Capt.  Jesse  Taylor,  Confederate  States  of  America, 
commander  of  the  artillery  company  at  Fort  Henry. 

10  See  article  by  John  Trotwood  Moore  in  Trotwood's  Monthly  for  August,  1006.  It 
begins:     "There  is  always  a  fool  at  one  end  of  a  failure. 

"But  in  this  ease  there  were  several — enough  to  make  the  failure  very  complete — on  one 
side,  and  Simon-pure  horse  luck  on  the  other. 

' '  The  luck,  of  course,  fell  to  Grant,  for  never  was  any  general  so  lucky. ' ' 

Also,  see  article  by  Gen.  Lew  Wallace,  United  States  Volunteers,  entitled  "The  Capture 
of  Fort  Donelson,"  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  398-428. 

ii  "Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,"  Vol.  I,  p.  300. 

Vol.  1—31 


17s  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

mand  over  to  General  Buckner  and  departed.  General  Buckner  announced  his 
intention  to  surrender.  But  Forrest,  then  a  colonel,  refused  to  surrender  and, 
with  his  cavalry  and  a  few  other  soldiers  marched  out  undisturbed.  In  the 
article  in  Trotwood's  Monthly,  already  referred  to  in  footnote,  Mr.  John  Trot- 
wood  Moore  gives  this  version  : 

"But  there  was  one  man  who  did  not  surrender  and  who  never  meant  to 
surrender,  and  from  that  hour  the  star  of  his  fame  began  to  rise. 

"  'No,  I'll  be  damned  if  I  do!'  he  shouted,  and  calling  his  cavalry  around 
him,  in  the  early  mist  of  that  bitter  cold  morning,  he  marched  out  of  Fort 
Donelson  untouched  and  unmolested.  His  name  was  Forrest,  the  same  genius 
that  the  head  of  the  British  army12  said  was  one  of  the  two  great  captains  of 
the  Civil  war;  the  same  man  whom  Jefferson  Davis  misjudged  and  misclassed  to 
the  end  of  the  war,  as  a  backwoods  raider. ' ' 

Buckner  seemed  obsessed  with  the  necessity  of  surrendering,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  Grant's  right  wing,  under  General  McClernand,  had  been  driven 
from  the  field  and  the  Confederate  troops  were  in  excellent  spirits  over  their  suc- 
cessful defense.  He  ordered  Col.  John  C.  Brown,  afterwards  a  general  and 
later  governor  of  Tennessee,  to  send  a  messenger,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  General 
Grant  with  a  letter  proposing  an  armistice  with  a  view  to  surrender.  Colonel 
Brown  selected  as  the  bearer  Maj.  N.  F.  Cheairs,  of  Maury  County,  who  told  Mr. 
Moore  of  his  experiences  in  carrjdng  out  his  command.  On  the  morning  of  the 
16th  he  sought  the  Federal  line,  but  found  no  pickets  or  guards.  When  he 
neared  the  Federal  camp,  he  ascertained  that  General  Grant  was  four  miles  in 
the  rear.  He  would  not  deliver  the  communication  to  anyone  but  Grant,  so  he 
was  conducted  by  an  escort  in  search  of  him.  Everywhere  he  noticed  the  Fed- 
eral regiments  were  retreating  and,  when  he  finally  found  him  and  delivered 
the  dispatch,  he,  Major  Cheairs  said : 

"In  spite  of  his  training  and  efforts  to  control  himself,  when  he  read  the 
dispatch,  I  saw  he  was  surprised  and  astonished.  He  became  agitated,  pulled 
out  his  watch  quickly  and  looked  at  the  time. 

"He  rode  hastily  back  to  General  Smith,13  talked  earnestly  with  him  and 
wrote  and  handed  me  the  dispatch  that  made  him  famous  and  his  name  a  house- 
hold word  among  his  people. 

"  *  :;::  *  It  was  a  great  dispatch,  showing  Grant's  wonderful  quickness 
in  seeing  into  a  situation — that  as  badly  demoralized  as  he  was,  the  other  fellow 
was  more  so ;  that  the  man  who  had  just  sent  him  that  message  was  brave  and 
honest,  but  too  small  for  the  big  thing  he  was  up  against ;  that  now  was  his  own 
chance  for  the  most  effectual  bluff  of  history,  and  he  arose  to  the  occasion  with 
a  brilliant  dispatch  and  a  brilliant  bluff. 

"  'Hdqrs.  Army  in  the  Field, 

"  'Camp  nr.  Donelson,  Feb.  16th,  1862. 

"  'Gen.  S.  B.  Buckner,  Confed.  Army, 

"  'Sir:  Yours  of  this  date,  proposing  armistice  and  appointment  of  com- 
missioners to  settle  terms  of  capitulation  is  just  received.  No  terms  except 
unconditional  and  immediate  surrender  can  be  accepted. 

"  'I  propose  to  move  immediately  upon  your  works. 

"  'I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"  'Your  obt.  svt., 

"  'U.  S.  Grant,  Brig.  Gen.'  "  14 

"Major  Cheairs  carried  Grant's  dispatch  to  Buckner,  who  immediately 
accepted  it." 

12  General  Wolseley. 

^Brig.  Gen.  Chas.  F.  Smith  in  command  of  the  Federal  Second  Division. 
14  A   facsimile   of  this  dispatch   can   be   found  in  "Memoirs  of   U.   S.   Grant,"   Vol.   I. 
p.   312. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  479 

The  Federal  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  2,331  and  the  Confederate  loss, 
15,067  of  whom  about  1,420  were  killed  and  wounded.15 

EFFECTS  OF  THE  SURRENDER  OF  FORTS  HENRY  AND  DONELSON 

While  the  losses  of  the  Confederates  at  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson  were 
severe  in  killed,  wounded,  prisoners,  supplies,  arms  and  ammunition,  the  direct 
results  which  followed  constituted  a  very  serious,  if  not  irreparable,  blow  to  their 
cause.  The  strong  line  of  the  Cumberland  was  broken,  Kentucky  was  lost,  as  was 
the  certain  possession  of  Middle  and  West  Tennessee.  Gen.  Albert  Sidney  John- 
ston, deeply  disappointed,  was  compelled  to  retreat. 

Forrest,  with  his  cavalry  and  the  infantry  that  accompanied  him,  reached 
Nashville  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  Feb.  18,  1862,  and  reported  to  General 
Floyd,  who  then  commanded  the  city,  where  the  wildest  excitement  and  condi- 
tions of  disorder  prevailed.  The  panic  was  not  confined  to  the  civilians,  but 
officers  and  soldiers  also  seemed  to  have  lost  their  heads  over  the  disaster  at 
Fort  Donelson  and  the  report  that  General  Buell  was  approaching  from  the 
direction  of  Bowling  Green.  In  the  confusion  and  hurry  of  leaving  Nashville 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Federals,  the  vast  supplies  which  had  been  gathered 
at  that  point  for  the  use  of  the  Confederate  army  were  not  shipped  to  the  South, 
but  were  abandoned.  The  city  was  dominated  by  an  unruly  and  vicious  mob 
which  respected  neither  public  nor  private  property,  nor  even  human  life. 
Wagonloads  of  material  were  being  stolen  and  carried  away  for  private  use. 
Forrest  was  commanded  to  take  charge  of  the  public  commissary  and,  with  his 
customary  coolness  and  intrepidity,  he  did  so  and  speedily  brought  some  order 
out  of  the  chaos,  and  actually  saved  much  ammunition  and  supplies,  while  for 
twenty-four  hours  Buell  was  in  Edgefield,  just  across  the  river,  before  he  entered 
Nashville,  as  Forrest  was  leaving. 

On  Feb.  29,  Columbus  was  abandoned  and  the  Confederate  troops  fell  back 
and  made  a  stand  for  a  short  time  for  the  protection  of  the  Mississippi  at  New 
Madrid,  Island  No.  10,  and  Tiptonville.  Under  the  pressure  of  a  strong  Federal 
force  commanded  by  General  Pope,  and  a  fleet  commanded  by  Commodore  Foote 
they  were  forced  to  retreat  and,  at  Tiptonville,  a  force  of  about  3,000  men,  under 
Gen.  W.  W.  Maekall,  surrendered  on  April  8,  1862. 

General  Johnston  decided  to  concentrate  his  forces  at  Corinth,  Miss.,  the 
junction  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad  and  the  Memphis  and  Charleston 
Railroad.  For  this  purpose  he  evacuated  Middle  Tennessee  with  the  troops  under 
his  immediate  command  and  ordered  to  the  place  of  rendezvous  the  troops  that 
had  been  at  Columbus,  Pensacola  and  Mobile.    He  reached  Corinth  on  March  24. 

General  Grant,  meanwhile,  was  moving  on  the  same  point  and  a  strong 
Federal  force  was  concentrated  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  River, 
near  the  Mississippi  state  line,  where  General  Grant  arrived  and  took  command 
on  March  17.  General  Buell,  who  had  occupied  Nashville  on  Feb.  24,  after 
leaving  an  adequate  guard,  began  his  march  via  Columbia,  Tenn.,  to  effect  a 
junction  with  Grant.     His  army  numbered  approximately  40,000  men. 

Upon  the  arrival  at  Corinth,  Johnston  organized  his  army  as  follows:  Gen. 
G.  T.  Beauregard  second  in  command,  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg  chief  of  staff  and  in 


15  "The  army  was  surrendered  under  a  delusion  *  *  *  it  could  have  marched  out 
on  the  night  of  the  15th  or  morning  of  the  16th  of  February  without  any  obstacle  or  oppo- 
sition."    Wyeth's  "Life  of  Forrest,"  p.  60. 


480  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

immediate  charge  of  the  Second  Corps,  Gen.  Leonidas  Polk  in  command  of  the 
First  Corps,  Gen.  W.  J.  Hardee  in  command  of  the  Third  Corps,  and  Gen.  John 
C.  Breckinridge  in  command  of  the  Reserve  Corps. 

THE  BATTLE  OP   SHILOH  OR  PITTSBURG  LANDING  1G 

General  Johnston's  plan  in  the  attack  about  to  be  made  on  the  Federal  army 
at  Pittsburg-  Landing  was  to  drive  it  back  to  the  river,  to  capture  it  there,  then 
to  cross  the  Tennessee  and  give  battle  to  Buell,  known  to  be  advancing  to  assist 
Grant — the  sort  of  plan  carried  out  by  Napoleon  in  his  campaign  in  Italy.  His 
eagerness  to  attack  after  his  concentration  at  Corinth  was,  in  all  probability, 
attributable  largely  to  the  criticisms  and  censure  heaped  upon  him  for  his  loss 
of  Fort  Donelson,  Nashville  and  Clarksville  with  their  enormous  stores  and  great 
strategic  importance  and  the  voluntary  abandonment  of  the  great  region  between 
the  Cumberland  line  and  the  line  of  northern  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  Even 
President  Davis,  his  ardent  friend  and  admirer,  felt  constrained  to  write  him  a 
letter  on  March  12,  1862,  in  which  he  said : 

"We  have  suffered  great  anxiety  because  of  recent  events  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  And  I  have  not  been  a  little  disturbed  by  the  repetition  of  reflec- 
tions against  yourself.  I  expected  you  to  have  made  a  full  report  of  events 
precedent  and  consequent,  to  the  fall  of  Ft.  Donelson.  In  the  meantime  I  made 
for  you  such  defense  as  friendship  prompted  and  many  years'  acquaintance 
justified." 

Johnston,  therefore,  prepared  himself  as  speedily  as  possible  and  left  Corinth 
on  April  3d  to  attack  Grant.  Unfortunately  for  his  plans  hard  rains  set  in 
rendering  the  roads  almost  impassable,  so  that  he  was  not  in  position  to  attack 
until  nearly  night  of  the  5th.  Nevertheless,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  although 
Grant  must  have  known  of  the  contemplated  movement  and  of  the  actual  march, 
for  it  took  nearly  three  days  for  the  Confederates  to  cover  the  distance  of  twenty 
miles  from  Corinth  to  Shiloh,  Grant  was  surprised.  He  did  not  know  that  John- 
ston 's  entire  army  was  on  foot  to  attack  him,  and  when  the  attack  was  launched 
at  dawn  of  April  6,  1862,  he  was  at  Savannah,  miles  away  and  across  the  river. 
An  unbiased  view  of  this  mooted  question  compels  the  candid  acknowledgment 
that  not  only  were  Grant  and  his  army  surprised,  but  that,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  battle  they  were  thoroughly  beaten  and,  had  not  Johnston  fallen  and  Buell 
come  up  with  reinforcements  late, in  the  afternoon  of  the  sixth,  the  Union  army 
would  have  been  disastrously  defeated  and  possibly  captured. 

The  Federal  troops,  however,  were  not  so  taken  by  surprise  that  they  did  not 
maintain  a  strong  fight.  In  no  sense  did  their  surprise  amount  to  panic.  Grant's 
troops  made  a  stout  resistance,  but  retired  slowly  from  the  firing  of  the  first  gun 
by  Hardee  who  commanded  the  advance  until  the  fall  17  of  Johnston  at  two 


is  For  detailed  accounts  of  this  battle  see  article  by  U.  S.  Grant,  entitled  ' '  The  Battle 
of  Shiloh,"  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  464-486;  also,  Gen. 
Don  Carlos  Buell 's  article,  "Shiloh  Reviewed,"  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War," 
Vol.  I,  pp.  487-539 ;  also,  article  of  Col.  Wm.  Preston  Johnston,  son  of  Gen.  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston,  entitled  "Albert  Sidney  Johnston  at  Shiloh,"  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the 
Civil  War,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  549-568;  also,  "The  Campaign  of  Shiloh,"  by  Gen.  G.  T.  Beaure- 
gard, in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  I,  pp.  569-593;  also,  "Confederate 
Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  Tennessee,  by  James  D.  Porter,  Chapter  III;  also  article  by 
John  Trotwood  Moore,  entitled  "The  Road  to  Shiloh,"  in  Trotwood's  Monthly  for  Novem- 
ber,  1906. 

it  Johnston's  wound  was  not  necessarily  fatal.  A  minie  ball  had  cut  an  artery  in  his 
leg  and  had  his  surgeon,  Dr.  D.  W.  Yandell,  been  present  he  could  easily  have  saved  his 
life.  But  Johnston  had  commanded  Doctor  Yandell  to  establish  a  hospital  for  the  wounded 
Federal  prisoners.  His  compassion  and  humanity  resulted  in  his  death.  Johnston  said: 
"These  men  were  our  enemies  a  moment  ago;  they  are  our  prisoners  now.  Take  care  of 
them. ' ' 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  481 

o'clock  p.  m.,  when  the  Federal  troops  were  driven  from  the  field  in  confusion, 
many  of  them  having  sought  shelter  helow  the  river  bank.  Gen.  J.  R,  Chalmers, 
who  was  in  the  advance  of  the  Confederate  army  at  the  close  of  the  day,  in  a 
published  letter  said:  "One  more  resolute  movement  forward  would  have  cap- 
tured Grant  and  his  whole  army. ' '  That  movement  was  not  made.  Beauregard 
had  succeeded  to  the  command  and  a  lull  in  the  conflict  ensued  for  an  hour  or 
more  after  Johnston  fell.  It  was  fiercely  renewed,  however,  about  half  past  three 
o'clock  and  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Federal  Gen.  B.  M.  Prentiss. 

Beauregard,  at  the  rear,  suffering  from  severe  sickness  and  not  fully  under- 
standing the  situation,  recalled  his  troops  from  the  heights  they  had  won  which 
commanded  the  Federal  landing,  and,  in  the  morning  found  that  advantageous 
position  occupied  by  Buell's  20,000  fresh  troops.  Gen.  Lew  Wallace 
had  also  come  up  5,000  or  6,000  strong.  In  the  face  of  the  Federal  army  with 
nearly  30,000  fresh  troops  there  was  no  hope  of  success.  The  Confederates  re- 
tired slowly  and  sullenly,  shattered  but  not  overthrown. 

The  force  with  which  Johnston  began  the  attack  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  40,000  to  50,000  men.  The  force  of  Grant,  in  the  first  day  of  the  battle,  was 
likewise  estimated  from  32,722  to  41,153.  Grant  also  had  a  fleet  of  no  less  than 
153  steamers,  including  14  men-of-war.18  The  Confederate  loss  in  killed,  wounded 
and  missing  was  10,699.     The  Federal  loss  was  13,573. 

General  Grant,19  in  his  article  entitled,  "The  Battle  of  Shiloh,"  already 
referred  to  in  a  footnote,  said:  "Shiloh  was  the  severest  battle  fought  at  the 
"West  during  the  war,  and  but  few  in  the  East  equaled  it  for  hard,  determined 
fighting."  And  again  he  said:  "No  such  contest  ever  took  place  on  this  con- 
tinent in  importance  of  results;  but  few  have  taken  place  in  the  history  of  the 
world." 

Tennessee  was  represented  on  all  parts  of  the  field  and  in  all  commands, 
and  her  reputation  for  courage  and  fidelity  was  not  only  sustained  but  en- 
hanced by  the  conduct  of  her  sons.  Among  them  were:  Generals  Cheatham, 
Bushrod  Johnson,  Polk,  Clark,  Stewart  and  Russell;  Colonels  A.  K.  Blythe 
(a  Mississippian  but  a  noble  son  of  Tennessee),  D.  H.  Cummings,  Preston  Smith. 
A.  J.  Vaughan,  Jr.,  C.  D.  Venable,  A.  W.  Campbell,  O.  F.  Strahl,  Hill,  Maney, 
Russell,  Bate,20  Stephens,  Looney,  Martin;  Maj.  John  F.  Henry;  Captains 
Marsh  T.  Polk  and  John  Sutherland,  J.  B.  Freeman,  G.  G.  Persons,  E.  M. 
Cheairs,  Bankhead,  York,  Rutledge. 

Forrest,  with  his  regiment  of  cavalry,  added  renown  to  the  reputation  which 
he  had  recently  achieved  at  Fort  Donelson  and  Nashville,  and  was  severely 
wounded. 

Governor  Isham  G.  Harris,  after  the  abandonment  of  Nashville,  pushed  enlist- 
ments and  the  production  of  military  supplies  with  all  his  untiring  zeal  and 
ability.  Nor  did  he  refrain  from  military  service  himself.  When  Johnston  had 
concentrated  his  army  at  Corinth,  Governor  Harris  reported  to  him  and  was 
assigned  to  duty  as  aide-de-camp.     In  his  report  of  the  battle  General  Beaure- 


is  In  all  American  history,  up  to  the  "World  war,  there  has  been  no  fleet  comparable  to 
that  which  carried  the  Federal  army  up  the  Tennessee  River. 

19  The  charge  that  Grant  was  drunk  at  the  beginning  of  the  battle  has  been  refuted 
by  Mrs.  W.  H.  Cherry,  at  whose  house  he  was  breakfasting  at  the  opening  of  the  conflict. 
Her  letter,  on  this  subject,  written  to  T.  M.  Hurst  on  December  6,  1892,  was  published 
in  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  January,  1902.  In  it  she  said:  "I  believe  General 
Grant  was  thoroughly  sober."  And  again  she  said  he  "never  appeared  in  my  presence  in 
a  state  of  intoxication. ' ' 

20  Afterwards  General  Bate  and  later  governor  of  Tennessee  and  United  States  senator. 


482  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

gard  says  of  him:  "Gov.  Ishani  G.  Hai'ris,  of  Tennessee,  went  upon  the  field 
with  General  Johnston,  was  by  his  side  when  he  was  shot,  aided  him  from  his 
horse,  and  received  him  in  his  arms  when  he  died.  Subsequently  the  governor 
joined  my  staff  and  remained  with  me  throughout  the  next  day,  except  when 
carrying  orders  or  employed  in  encouraging  the  troops  of  his  own  State,  to 
whom  he  gave  a  conspicuous  example  of  coolness,  zeal  and  intrepidity." 

The  withdrawal  to  Corinth  was  without  pursuit.  Grant  said  that  the  roads 
were  too  bad  and  the  soldiers  were  exhausted. 

HALLECK   AND   BEAUREGARD   AT   CORINTH 

Soon  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  General  Halleck  came  from  headquarters  at 
St.  Louis  and  assumed  command.  He  concentrated  at  Pittsburg  Landing  all  the 
available  troops  he  could  summon,  including  the  army  of  General  Pope  which 
had  invested  Fort  Pillow  with  the  exception  of  two  regiments  which  were  left 
to  continue  the  siege.  In  a  short  time  he  had  an  army  of  100,000  men  and 
advanced  cautiously  towards  Corinth.  In  the  meantime  Beauregard  had  been 
largely  reinforced  also  and  put  forth  outposts  as  if  to  contest  the  field  with 
Halleck,  but  when  the  latter  had  closely  approached  Corinth,  Beauregard  evacu- 
ated the  place  on  May  30th,  and  retreated  south.  This  movement  compelled  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  Pillow  on  June  1st ;  and  on  June  6th,  Commodore  Davis 
destroyed  the  small  Confederate  flotilla  at  Memphis,  captured  and  occupied  the 
city. 

All  of  West  Tennessee,  which  was  intensely  Confederate,  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  Federals,  whereas  East  Tennessee,  which  was  intensely  Union,  was  in 
the  hands  of  the  Confederates.  During  the  following  year  Grant,  whose  prestige 
had  been  somewhat  impaired  by  Shiloh,  remained  in  West  Tennessee,  where  he 
did  little. 

OPERATIONS  OF  GENERAL  BRAGG 

On  June  17,  1862,  Gen.  Braxton  Bragg  was  placed  in  command  of  that  gal- 
lant army  known  afterwards  as  the  Army  of  Tennessee  and  General  Beauregard 
remained  in  command  of  the  department.  The  army  was  concentrated  at 
Tupelo,  Mississippi.  Fearing  that  Buell,  who  had  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Ohio,  might  seize  Chattanooga  (a  thing  which,  in  fact,  he  had  been  sent 
out  by  Halleck,  to  do),  Bragg,  by  great  efforts  and  the  delay  of  Buell  in  repair- 
ing railroads,  anticipated  the  latter  and  occupied  that  strategic  place. 

RAIDS  OP   MORGAN  AND  OF  FORREST 

At  this  time  began  the  series  of  brilliant  raids  by  the  cavalry  leaders  of 
western  armies  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  which  proved  to  be  so  harassing 
and  expensive  to  the  northern  cause  and  so  encouraging  and  helpful  to  the 
southern  cause.  This  branch  of  service,  too,  was  very  popular.  The  boys  and 
young  men  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  the  greatest  nursery  of  blooded  horses 
in  America,  were  at  home  in  the  saddle  and  Forrest  and  Morgan  were  names  to 
conjure  with.  The  main  forces  of  the  Federals  were  concentrated  in  large 
armies,  and  the  important  towns  were  held  by  comparatively  small  garrisons. 
With  a  spirit  and  brilliancy  never  surpassed  and  never  in  any  other  war  carried 


GEN.  NATHAN  BEDFORD  FORREST 


HOUSE  WHERE  GENERAL  FORREST 
SPENT  HIS  EARLY  LIFE  NEAR  HER- 
NANDO,  MISSISSIPPI 


THf  H«*A*y 
[HE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  485 

out  so  extensively  and  successfully,  the  Confederate  cavalry  swooped  down  upon 
Middle  Tennessee,  captured  garrisons  and  supplies,  cut  the  communications  of 
the  great  Federal  armies,  impeded  their  movements,  disconcerted  and  altered 
their  plans,  and  reanimated  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  adherents  of  the  southern 
cause. 

Early  in  May  Col.  John  H.  Morgan  entered  Middle  Tennessee  and,  after 
performing  some  brilliant  exploits  along  the  line  of  the  Nashville  and  Decatur 
Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Nashville  Railroad  system,  particularly  at  Pulaski, 
captured  Lebanon  on  July  5th.  "While  resting  here,  he  was  attacked  and  de- 
feated, but  moved  into  Kentucky  where  he  won  a  spirited  fight  at  Cave  City 
and  then  retired  to  Chattanooga  for  recuperation. 

Meanwhile,  Col.  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,  by  a  secret  and  rapid  march  with 
1,300  mounted  men,  moved  on  Murfreesboro,21  which  was  defended  by  a  garrison 
of  1,765  men  under  command  of  Gen.  T.  T.  Crittenden.  Forrest  reached  his  ob- 
jective on  July  13,  1862,  his  forty-first  birthday,  and  captured  it  on  the  same 
day  with  its  entire  garrison,  four  cannon,  and  a  large  quantity  of  supplies.  This 
performance  was  considered  by  General  Wolseley,  commander-in-chief  of  the 
British  army,  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  achievements  of  his  career.  He 
said:  "His  operations  that  day  showed  a  rare  mixture  of  military  skill  and 
what  is  known  by  our  American  cousins  as  'bluff',  and  led  to  the  surrender  of  the 
various  camps  attacked.  It  was  a  brilliant  success,  and  as  it  was  Forrest's  first 
great  foray,  it  at  once  established  his  reputation  as  a  daring  cavalry  leader,  to 
be  dreaded  by  all  Federal  commanders  of  posts  and  stations  within  his  sphere 
of  action." 

He  also  set  free  some  citizens  who  were  being  held  as  prisoners  on  account 
of  their  sympathy  with  the  rebellion,  six  of  whom  had  been  condemned  to  death. 

Forthwith  the  Federal  General  Nelson,  with  an  overwhelming  force,  sought 
to  capture  Forrest,  who  skillfully  eluded  him  and,  on  September  3rd  joined 
General  Bragg 's  main  army  at  Sparta  on  its  way  to  invade  Kentucky. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  capture  of  Murfreesboro  was  relief  from  the 
strong  pressure  of  the  Confederates  in  Northern  Mississippi  and  Alabama  by  the 
withdrawal  of  troops  to  Middle  Tennessee. 

While  Forrest  was  making  his  sensational  movements  Gen.  John  Morgan  was 
also  performing  brilliant  feats  in  Kentucky  and  in  Tennessee  north  of  Nash- 
ville where  he  had  been  sent  by  Bragg  to  destroy  the  Louisville  and  Nashville 
railroad  so  as  to  impede  General  Buell  as  much  as  possible.  After  his  raid  into 
Kentucky,  Morgan  captured  Gallatin,  destroyed  the  nearby  railroad  bridge  and 
tunnel,  captured  Colonel  Boone  at  Hartsville  and  defeated  Gen.  R.  W.  Johnson, 
who  had  been  dispatched  against  him  and  captured  a  portion  of  Johnson's 
command. 

THE  INVASION  OF  KENTUCKY 

While  the  Army  of  Tennessee  was  yet  at  Tupelo,  a  small  division  had  been 
sent  therefrom  to  Gen.  E.  Kirby  Smith  who,  at  that  time,  commanded  the  de- 
partment of  East  Tennessee  and  later  he  was  further  reinforced  by  the  brigades 
of  Gen.  P.  R.  Cleburne  and  Preston  Smith.  His  army  was  then  called  the  Army 
of    Kentucky.      On    Aug.    16,    1862,    Bragg    left    Chattanooga,    crossed    the 

2i  See  Wyeth's  "Life  of  Forrest,"  Chapter  V;  also  "Campaigns  of  Lieut.-Gen.  N.  B. 
Forrest,"  by  Jordan  and  Pryor,  Chapter  V. 


486  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Cumberland  mountains  and  entered  Middle  Tennessee.  The  Confederate  plan 
was  for  Gen.  E.  Kirby  Smith  to  advance  into  Kentucky  from  East  Tennessee 
and  for  Bragg  to  enter  it  from  Middle  Tennessee,  that  a  junction  of  the  two 
armies  be  effected  in  Kentucky  and  that  Louisville  be  captured  and,  possibly, 
the  war  be  carried  into  other  states  north  of  the  Ohio. 

Upon  reaching  Middle  Tennessee,  Bragg  learned  that  Buell's  army  was  at 
Nashville  which  was  strongly  fortified.  Bragg,  therefore,  having  made  only  a 
demonstration  against  Nashville,  passed  by  and  on  September  13th  was  at 
Glasgow,  Ky. 

In  the  meantime  Gen.  Kirby  Smith  had  met  a  Federal  force  at  Richmond, 
Ky.,  and  had  gained  a  decisive  victory.  Gen.  Wm,  Nelson,  the  Federal  com- 
mander, was  wounded  and  Gen.  M.  D.  Manson,  second  in  command,  was  cap- 
tured. The  Confederates  captured  4,303  prisoners,  9  pieces  of  artillery,  10,000 
stand  of  small  arms  and  large  quantities  of  supplies.  General  Smith  then  ad- 
vanced and  occupied  Lexington  on  Sept.  2nd.  The  people  of  Cincinnati  were 
very  much  alarmed,  but  Smith  made  no  attempt  on  that  city  although  he  threat- 
ened it  with  a  force,  for  he  was  waiting  to  join  Bragg,  who,  with  the  main  army 
and  a  long  wagon  train,  was  racing  across  the  state  with  Buell  for  the  posses- 
sion of  Louisville.  Bragg,  having  the  shorter  line,  might  have  won,  but  he  did 
not  put  forth  the  effort  necessary.  He  contented  himself  with  capturing  Mun- 
fordville,  with  4,267  prisoners,  10  pieces  of  artillery  and  a  quantity  of  arms, 
munitions  and  supplies,  and  with  offering  battle  to  Buell,  who,  after  reaching 
Louisville  had  moved  out  with  the  avowed  intention  of  driving  Bragg  out  of  the 
state.  As  Buell  had  been  largely  reinforced,  Bragg  was  greatly  outnumbered 
and  was  slowly  retreating  when  he  was  overtaken  at  Perryville,22  where  a  bloody 
but  indecisive  battle  was  fought  on  Oct.  8,  1862.  The  conflict  was  begun  between 
the  Union  left  wing,  under  General  McCook  and  the  Confederate  right  wing 
under  General  Polk.23  Of  the  latter,  however,  only  one  division,  the  Tennessee 
division,  under  General  Cheatham,  was  present.  General  Polk  was  in  command, 
as  General  Bragg  had  gone  to  Frankfort,  the  capital,  to  witness  the  inauguration 
of  the  secessionist  governor,  Howes. 

The  ceremonies,  however,  were  interrupted  by  the  booming  of  the  cannon 
which  announced  the  beginning  of  the  battle. 

General  Buell's  losses  are  stated  as  4,241  and  those  of  Bragg  as  3,212.  Gen- 
eral McCook  in  his  report  said  it  was  the  "bloodiest  battle  of  modern  times,  for 
the  number  of  troops  engaged  on  our  side." 

It  had  been  hoped  by  the   Confederates  that  on  the  arrival  of  Bragg  in 


22  See  article  entitled  " Bragg 's  Advance  and  Retreat,"  by  Col.  David  TJrquhart,  Con- 
federate States  of  America,  a  member  of  General  Bragg '"s  staff,  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of 
the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  600-609;  also  "Confederate  Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII, 
by  James  D.  Porter,  pp.  49-55.  • 

23  Colonel  Urquliart  tells  of  a  peculiar  incident  in  which  General  Polk  figured,  near 
the  end  of  the  battle.  Says  he:  "About  dark,  Polk,  convinced  that  some  Confederate 
troops  were  firing  into  each  other,  cantered  up  to  the  colonel  of  the  regiment  that  was  firing 
and  asked  him  angrily  what  he  meant  by  shooting  his  own  friends.  The  colonel,  in  a  tone 
of  surprise,  said :  '  I  don 't  think  there  can  be  any  mistake  about  it.  I  am  sure  they  are 
the  enemy.'     'Enemy!     Why,  I  have  just  left  them  myself.     Cease  firing,  sir.     What  is  your 

name?'   rejoined   the   Confederate   general.      'I   am    Colonel  of   the  Indiana. 

And  pray,  sir,  who  are  you?'  Thus  made  aware  that  he  was  with  a  Federal  regiment  and 
that  his  only  escape  was  to  brazen  it  out,  his  dark  blouse  and  the  increasing  obscurity  hap- 
pily befriending  him,  the  Confederate  general  shook  his  fist  in  the  Federal  colonel's  face 
and  promptly  said :  '  I  will  show  you  who  I  am,  sir.  Cease  firing  at  once ! '  Then,  canter- 
ing down  the  line  again,  he  shouted  authoritatively  to  the  men,  'Cease  firing!  '  Then  reaching 
the  cover  of  a  small  copse,  he  spurred  his  horse  and  was  soon  back  with  his  own  corps,  which 
he  immediately  ordered  to  open  fire. ' ' 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  487 

Kentucky,  thousands  of  sympathizers  with  the  Southern  cause  would  join  his 
army  and  that  Kentucky  itself  would  become  a  member  of  the  Confederacy. 
The  expected  enlistments,  however,  were  not  secured.  Realizing  the  fact  of 
this  disappointment  and  knowing  that  he  was  badly  outnumbered,  Bragg  with- 
drew, but  he  did  so  deliberately  and  unmolested.  Buell,  who  was  not  present 
at  the  battle  of  Perryville,  was  severely  censured  for  his  bad  management  at  this 
point  and  for  his  subsequent  dilatory  pursuit  of  Bragg,  which  enabled  the  latter 
to  withdraw  with  all  the  captured  stores,  arms  and  more  than  12,000  prisoners. 
On  the  whole  Bragg's  campaign  had  been  a  success  and,  at  the  end,  he 
was  in  front  of  Nashville  with  his  army  in  good  form,  and  stronger  than  when 
the  campaign  began.  Cumberland  Gap  had  been  retaken  and  the  Confederates 
were  in  undisputed  possession  of  East  Tennessee. 

FORREST   BEFORE   NASHVILLE 

A  short  time  before  the  battle  of  Perryville,  General  Forrest,  who  had  ren- 
dered valuable  service  in  the  Kentucky  campaign  in  harassing  Buell 's  army,  was 
ordered  to  Tennessee  to  recruit  and  organize  cavalry  in  Middle  Tennessee.  He 
reached  Murf  reesboro  on  October  1st  and  proceeded  to  carry  out  his  instructions. 
There  were  in  existence  near  Nashville  at  that  time  a  number  of  independent 
companies  and  battalions,  that  had  been  formed  under  the  partisan  ranger  law 
which  had  recently  been  passed  by  the  Confederate  Congress.  Without  a  general 
commander,  but  with  a  concerted  agreement  some  of  these  companies  established 
camps  on  the  turnpikes  leading  out  from  this  city  and  established  a  veritable 
blockade.  Gen.  J.  S.  Negley  was  occupying  Nashville  with  a  small  force.  On 
October  7th,  he  marched  out  and  attacked  a  force  of  1,700  of  these  rangers  at 
Lavergne.  He  had  nearly  surrounded  them  when,  in  panic,  they  fled  from 
camp  with  almost  no  resistance.  This  precipitate  flight  became  known  as  the 
"Lavergne  races."  At  this  juncture  General  Forrest  came  to  the  rescue  and 
pursued  the  Federals  back  to  Nashville.  This  particular  service,  coupled  with 
the  fact  that  he  was  now  so  well  known  as  a  dashing  cavalry  leader,  enabled  For- 
rest to  enlist  almost  all  of  these  rangers  and  many  others,  so  that  by  November 
1st,  he  had  a  force  of  about  3,500  mounted  men,  every  one  of  whom  was  devoted 
to  his  leader. 

On  October  28th,  General  Breckinridge  arrived  at  Murfreesboro  with  the 
advance  of  Bragg's  army.  Forrest  proceeded  to  Lavergne,  where  he  was  joined 
by  Hanson's  brigade  of  3,000  men.  On  November  6th,  with  Breckinridge's  con- 
sent Forrest  advanced  to  capture  Nashville,  but,  even  while  he  was  preparing 
to  launch  his  assault,  after  having  driven  in  the  Union  pickets,  he  received 
orders  from  General  Breckinridge,  under  peremptory  instructions  from  General 
Bragg,  forbidding  the  attack. 

BATTLE  OF  STONE  ?S  RIVER  OR  MURFREESBORO  24 

After  the  Kentucky  campaign  Gen.  W.  S.  Rosecrans  was  placed  in  command 
of  the  Federal  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  vice  General  Buell,  who  had  been 
relieved.    Rosecrans  concentrated  at  Nashville  and,  after  long  preparation  began 


24  See  "Bragg's  Advance  and  Retreat,"  by  David  Urquhart,  Colonel,  Confederate  States 
of  America,  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  600;  also,  "The  Battle  of 
Stone's  River,"  by  G.  C.  Kniffin,  lieutenant  colonel,  United  States  Volunteers,  in  "Battles 
and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  613-632:  also,  "Confederate  Military  History," 
Vol.  VIII,  Chapter  V. 


488  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

his  advance  on  December  26,  against  Bragg 's  army  at  Murfreesboro,  where  the 
latter  had  established  headquarters  on  Dec.  2,  1862.  General  Polk  commanded 
the  center  at  Murf reesboro ;  General  McCown  commanded  the  right  at  Ready- 
ville ;  and  General  Hardee  the  left  at  Triune  and  Eagleville.  As  Forrest  had 
been  sent  to  West  Tennessee  and  Morgan  to  Kentucky,  Gen.  Joseph  Wheeler  was 
made  chief  of  cavalry  and  commanded  the  outpost  at  Lavergne.  Rosecrans 
advanced  with  General  Crittenden  commanding  the  center,  General  Thomas  the 
right  wing  and  General  McCook  the  left  wing. 

The  reason  why  Rosecrans  marched  out  and  forced  a  battle  at  this  time 
was,  no  doubt,  the  fact  that  Bragg 's  army  had  been  weakened  by  the  withdrawal 
from  it  of  a  large  force.  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  comments  on  this  matter  in 
his  article  entitled  "Jefferson  Davis  and  the  Mississippi  Campaign."    He  says: 

"The  detaching  of  almost  a  fourth  of  Gen.  Bragg's  army  to  Mississippi, 
while  of  no  present  value  to  that  department,  was  disastrous  to  that  of  Ten- 
nessee, for  it  caused  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro.  General  Rosecrans  was,  of 
course,  soon  informed  of  the  great  reduction  of  his  antagonist's  strength,  and 
marched  from  Nashville  to  attack  him.  The  battle,  that  of  Stone's  River  or 
Murfreesboro,  occurred  on  the  31st  of  December,  1862,  and  the  2d  of  January, 
1863,  and  was  one  of  the  most  obstinately  contested  and  bloody  of  the  war,  in 
proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged.  The  result  of  this  action  compelled  the 
Confederate  army  to  fall  back  and  place  itself  behind  Duck  River,  at  Man- 
chester, Tullahoma,  and  Shelby ville. "  25 

Although  most  accounts  state  that  the  battle  began  on  December  31st  and 
lasted  three  days,  it  really  began  on  the  afternoon  of  the  30th,  for  Colonel 
Urquhart  says:26  "On  Tuesday,  December  30,  Rosecrans  was  in  our  front,  a 
mile  and  a  half  away.  At  twelve  o'clock  artillery  on  both  sides  was  engaged. 
At  three  o'clock  the  Federal  infantry  advanced  and  attacked  our  lines."  Night, 
however,  soon  intervened  and  quiet  prevailed.  At  daylight  on  the  31st  the  con- 
flict was  renewed  and  at  night  the  Confederates  were  masters  of  the  field,  with 
the  Federal  right  wing  routed.  During  the  night,  too,  Rosecrans  withdrew  his 
left  wing  to  a  more  advantageous  position  and,  on  the  following  morning  the 
Confederates  occupied  the  abandoned  ground.  Throughout  the  first  of  January 
neither  commander  deemed  it  wise  to  order  an  attack ;  and,  up  to  noon  on  the 
second,  quiet  prevailed  with  the  exception  of  some  cannonading.  At  that  time 
Bragg  determined  to  dislodge  the  force  opposite  his  right.  For  this  purpose 
the  best  troops  were  carefully  selected — Hanson's,  Preston's,  Gibson's,  and 
Hunt's  brigades  with  Cobb's  and  Wright's  batteries — all  placed  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Breckinridge.  A  gun  fired  at  four  o'clock  was  the  signal  for 
the  attack.  The  charge  then  made,  generally  spoken  of  as  Breckinridge's 
Charge,  was  one  of  the  fiercest  and  most  gallant  in  the  annals  of  warfare.  The 
ardor  of  the  southern  soldiers,  indeed,  was  so  intense  and  their  action  so  im- 
petuous, irrestrainable  and,  in  contact  with  the  Federals,  so  irresistible  that 
they  were  carried  beyond  their  objective,  the  crest  of  the  hill  which  they  were 
ordered  to  take,  hold  and  entrench.  And  their  push  beyond  support  proved  the 
ruin  of  the  well  planned  manoeuvre.  The  Federal  batteries  that  had  been 
massed  now  opened  upon  them  and  drove  the  Confederates  back  with  terrible 
slaughter,  nearly  2,000  men,  it  is  estimated,  having  been  killed  or  wounded  in 
this  attack.     It  was  nearly  half  of  the  force  which  made  the  assault. 


as  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,   p.  475. 
so  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  605. 


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TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  491 

The  result  of  this  charge  which  began  so  brilliantly  and  ended  so  disastrously 
was  the  determination  on  the  part  of  Bragg  to  fall  back  on  Tullahoma.  How- 
ever, he  remained  at  Murfreesboro  on  the  third,  on  which  there  was  little 
fighting  and  effected  his  evacuation  without  molestation  on  that  night.  Dr. 
Deering  J.  Roberts,  of  Nashville,  who  was  a  surgeon  in  Bragg 's  army,  said 
recently  that,  through  the  kindness  of  Col.  E.  W.  Cole,  president  of  the  Chatta- 
nooga Railroad,  he  was  enabled  to  save  a  large  number  of  wounded  men  from 
being  captured  by  the  Federals.  Colonel  Cole  furnished  him  cars  partly  filled 
with  sacks  of  flour  and  meal  and,  on  these  he  (Doctor  Roberts),  placed  the 
wounded  who  were  quickly  carried  away  to  safety. 

According  to  General  Roseerans'  report  the  Federal  effective  force  was 
46,940  and  the  number  engaged  in  battle  43,400;  their  loss  9,552  killed  and 
wounded  and  3,717  27  captured— a  total  of  13,249.28 

According  to  General  Bragg  the  Confederate  force  present  for  duty  on  the 
first  day  of  the  battle  was  37,712 ;  their  total  loss  in  killed,  wounded  and  missing 
was  10,266.  Bragg  reported  that  he  captured  6,273  prisoners,  30  pieces  of 
artillery,  6,000  stands  of  small  arms  and  a  large  amount  of  property. 

While  both  sides  claimed  the  victory,  the  severe  losses  and  the  retreat  of 
the  Confederates  were  felt  with  especial  keenness  by  the  Tennesseans,  who  at 
that  time  constituted  nearly  one-third  of  the  army  and  many  of  whom  fought 
and  died  almost  in  sight  of  their  own  families. 

Before  the  battle  and  during  the  progress  of  it  General  "Wheeler  and  General 
Wharton  made  most  daring  and  successful  raids,  in  one  of  which  General 
Wheeler  passed  entirely  around  the  Union  army,  made  many  captures  of 
prisoners  and  horses  and  mules,  destroyed  much  property  and  interrupted 
Roseerans'  communications.  General  Wheeler  hoped  to  capture  the  Federal 
ammunition  train.  In  this,  however,  he  was  foiled  by  the  precautions  of  Gen. 
Gates  P.  Thruston  (then  captain),  who  was  in  command  of  the  train,  and,  in 
disobedience  of  orders,  changed  the  location  of  his  train  from  Lavergne  to  a 
point  six  miles  nearer  Murfreesboro.  If  this  train  had  been  captured,  the 
retreat  of  the  Federal  army  would  have  been  necessary.29 

FORREST   IN   WEST   TENNESSEE 

After  Forrest  had  effected  the  very  successful  recruiting  in  Middle  Tennessee, 
which  has  already  been  related,  he  was  ordered  on  December  10th  to  West  Ten- 
nessee. This  section  of  the  state  had  been  in  undisputed  possession  of  the 
Federals  ever  since  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and  to  an  ordinary  officer  the  assignment 
would  have  been  disheartening,  but  Forrest  was  not  an  ordinary  officer.  Taking 
the  woefully  inadequate  force  of  2,100  men  allowed  him,  of  whom  only  about 
1,500  were  effectives,  and  insufficiently  supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition, 
he  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  near  Clifton,  cleverly  evading  the  Union  gun- 
boats which  were  patrolling  it. 

Arrived  on  the  scene  of  action  he  proved  a  veritable  paladin  in  war,  a 
flaming  meteor  whose  course  could  not  be  predicted  nor  followed,  a  real  "wizard 
of  the  saddle,"  carrying  terror  and  destruction  in  his  path.  The  amazing 
rapidity  of  his  movements  dazzled  and  confounded  the  Federals.  General  Grant 
telegraphed  the  War  Department  at  Washington:     "I  had  timely  not  ice  of  the 


27  Bragg 's  counted  list  of  Federal  prisoners  was  6,273. 

28  Official  Eecords,  Series  I,  Vol.  XX,  Part  I,  pp.  188  217. 

29  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  219-220 


492  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

advance  of  Forrest  on  the  road,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jackson,  and  took  every 
means  to  meet  it."  Yet,  on  Dec.  18th,  Gen.  J.  C.  Sullivan  telegraphed  Grant 
from  Jackson:  "My  cavalry  was  whipped  at  Lexington  today.  Colonel  Inger- 
soll  taken  prisoner.  The  enemy  reported  to  be  from  ten  to  twenty  thousand. ' '  30 
On  the  next  day  Grant  was  informed  that  "the  enemy  are  advancing  in  force, 
and  the  station  on  Columbus  (road)  eight  miles  from  here  (Jackson),  was  at- 
tacked at  daylight  and  the  station  house  burned,  the  guard  of  eighty-seven  men 
captured,  and  the  road  at  switch  destroyed."  A  few  minutes  later  word  was 
received  that  the  bridges  on  the  Corinth  Road  twelve  miles  south  were  burned 
and  that  a  large  force  had  crossed  going  towards  the  railroad  leading  to 
Bolivar.  At  this  time  a  part  of  Forrest's  troops  were  armed  with  the  old- 
fashioned  flintlock  musket. 

Holding  the  Union  troops  within  their  breastworks  at  Jackson  expecting  an 
assault,  Forrest,  leaving  only  a  small  line  of  skirmishers  to  keep  up  the  sem- 
blance of  impending  assault,  silently  left  and,  dividing  his  forces,  captured 
Humboldt  and  Trenton  with  many  prisoners  and  supplies  besides  destroying 
much  property  of  the  Federals.  At  Rutherford  Station  he  captured  two  com- 
panies of  Union  soldiers  and  at  Kenton  station  Col.  Thomas  J.  Kinney,  with 
his  command  surrendered.  On  Dec.  23rd,  Forrest  captured  Union  City  with 
106  Union  troops  without  firing  a  gun.  On  the  same  day  he  crossed  the  Ken- 
tucky line  and  in  his  report  on  Dec.  24th,  he  said:  "We  have  made  a  clean 
sweep  of  the  Federals  and  roads  north  of  Jackson." 

Turning  south  he  captured  Dresden  on  Dec.  26th.  His  force  of  only 
2,000  men  was  now  exhausted  and  Forrest's  efforts  were  directed  to  extricating 
them  from  the  encircling  Federals.  He  had  succeeded  in  employing  many 
troops  of  Grant's  forces  and  in  preventing  the  reinforcement  of  Rosecrans  at 
Murfreesboro  and  had  prevented  the  reinforcement  of  the  Union  army  marching 
on  Vicksburg.  Forrest  had  defeated  Colonel  Dunham  at  Parker's  Cross  Roads 
on  Dec.  31st,  when,  at  the  moment  of  victory,  he  was  assailed  in  the  rear  by 
General  Sullivan  with  a  strong  force.  Forrest,  however,  skillfully  extricated  his 
men  from  seemingly  inextricable  disaster  after  a  spirited  fight.  And,  while 
General  Sullivan  was  telegraphing  that  he  had  met  Forrest  and  "routed  him 
with  great  slaughter,"  and  that  "Forrest's  army  is  completely  broken  up.  They 
are  scattered  over  the  country  without  ammunition,"  Forrest  was  crossing  the 
Tennessee  River  unmolested  with  his  men  in  compact  organization  and  full  of 
fight.  He  took  position  on  the  left  flank  of  the  army,  first  at  Mount  Pleasant 
and  later  at  Columbia,  where  his  men  and  horses  enjoyed  a  well  deserved  rest, 
and  where  Gen.  Earl  Van  Dorn  soon  arrived  and  assumed  command. 

HOW  BRAGG  WAS  FORCED  FROM  MIDDLE  TENNESSEE 

After  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro,  Bragg  established  his  line  along  Duck 
River  from  Tullahoma  to  Columbia,  Shelbyville  and  Tullahoma  being  strongly 
fortified  and  defended.  Rosecrans'  line  extended  from  Murfreesboro  to  Frank- 
lin. For  nearly  six  months  the  hostile  armies  faced  each  other  without  forcing  a 
general  battle,  while  Rosecrans  was  making  preparations  for  driving  Bragg 
from  Middle  Tennessee.  During  this  time  the  principal  military  activities  in 
this  field  were  the  following: 

In  the  latter  part  of  January,  Gen.  Joseph  "Wheeler,  who  had  been  made 


so  It  was  a  part  of  Forrest 's  strategy  to  cause  the  rumor  to  spread  throughout  the  coun- 
try that  he  had  with  him  a  very  large  number  of  troops. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  493 

chief  of  cavalry,  ordered  General  Forrest  to  proceed  with  800  men  to  the 
Cumberland  River  to  interrupt  the  navigation  of  that  stream.  At  Palmyra 
General  Wheeler  caught  up  with  him  and  advocated  an  attack  on  Dover. 
Forrest  advised  against  it,  but  was  overruled  and  the  attack  was  made.  A  dis- 
astrous defeat  resulted  and  the  expedition  was  abandoned,  the  force  returning 
to  Columbia  on  February  17th.  From  this  place  General  Van  Dorn  marched 
out  on  March  4th  and  on  the  5th  met  a  Federal  force  under  Colonel  Cobura  at 
Thompson  Station.  After  a  spirited  engagement  Colonel  Coburn  31  surrendered 
his  infantry,  numbering  about  two  thousand  two  hundred  men,  but  the  cavalry, 
numbering  about  eight  hundred,  escaped.  General  Forrest,  smarting  under 
the  defeat  at  Dover,  brilliantly  distinguished  himself  in  this  encounter. 

On  March  25th,  Forrest,  who  had  been  assigned  to  independent  outpost  duty 
at  Spring  Hill,  passed  in  the  rear  of  Franklin,  where  there  was  a  large  body  of 
Federal  troops,  captured  the  garrison  at  Brentwood  and  the  Harpeth  stockade, 
taking  758  prisoners  and  many  wagons,  horses  and  mules. 

PURSUIT  AND  QAPTURE  OF  STREIGHT 's  RAIDERS 

Admittedly  one  of  the  most  brilliant  feats  of  the  entire  war  was  Forrest's 
pursuit  and  capture  of  the  force  of  Col.  Abel  D.  Streight  who  had  been  sent  by 
General  Rosecrans  to  attempt  the  capture  of  Rome,  Ga.  It  "reads  like  a 
romance,"  said  Gen.  Lord  Wolseley. 

Pursuant  to  his  orders,  Colonel  Streight  left  Rosecrans '  army  with  a  force  of 
about  two  thousand  picked  men,  proceeded  by  steamer  to  Palmyra  on  the  Cum- 
berland, thence  by  road  to  Fort  Henry,  and  thence  by  boat  again  up  the  Ten- 
nessee to  Eastport,  Miss.,  where  he  met  Gen.  G.  M.  Dodge,  to  whom  Rose- 
crans had  said:  "Nothing  should  for  a  moment  arrest  his  progress."  Hav- 
ing concerted  their  plans  which  provided  that  General  Dodge  should  keep 
the  Confederates  of  Northern  Alabama  and  vicinity  too  busy  to  attempt  to 
impede  Colonel  Streight  or  to  send  assistance  to  an  impeding  force,  the  Federals 
left  Eastport  on  the  afternoon  of  April  21.  On  April  26,  after  General  Dodge 
had  driven  back  the  Confederate  General  Roddey,  Colonel  Streight  marched  out 
of  Tuscumbia  on  his  famous  raid.  Forrest,  who  had  been  sent  by  Bragg  to 
Roddey 's  assistance,  learned  this  fact  and,  having  made  his  preparations  as 
speedily  as  possible,  started  in  pursuit  with  about  1,200  men  and  caught  up 
with  him  at  Sand  Mountain  where  he  suffered  a  slight  repulse  and  lost  two 
guns  32  and  whence  Streight  pushed  on  toward  Rome  with  Forrest  still  in  fierce 
pursuit.  A  running  fight  ensued.  Almost  without  rest  Streight  pressed  on,  and 
almost  without  rest  Forrest  strove  to  catch  him. 

It  was  on  the  second  of  May,  during  this  heartbreaking  race,  that  Emma 
Sanson  33  wrote  her  name  imperishably  in  history.  The  dedication  of  Wyeth  's 
Life  of  General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest  briefly  explains  her  remarkable  ex- 
ploit.    It  reads  as  follows: 


si  Among  the  prisoners  was  Maj.  W.  E.  Shafter  who,  in  the  Spanish-American  war  be- 
came commander-in-chief  in  the  campaign  against  the  Spanish  at  Santiago. 

32  Forrest  removed  from  his  command  Lieut.  A.  W.  Gould  who  had  charge  of  these 
guns  and  Gould's  later  effort  at  reinstatement  and  Forrest's  refusal  caused  Gould  to  attempt 
to  kill  Forrest  and,  in  the  struggle,  he  lost  his  own  life.  See  chapter  on  "Historic  Spots 
and  Places." 

33  This  famous  exploit  has  been  commemorated  in  John  Trotwood  Moore's  poem,  "Emma 
Sanson,"  in  a  splendid  monument  erected  at  Gadsden,  Ala.,  and  in  a  portrait  of  the  heroine 
in  the  State  Library  at  Nashville,  presented  by  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 


494  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

To 
EMMA  SANSON 

A  WOMAN  worthy  of  being  remembered  by  her  countrymen  as  long  as 
courage  is  deemed  a  virtue,  who  rode  with  General  Forrest  in  the  engagement 
at  Black  Creek  May  2,  1863,  and  by  guiding  his  men  to  an  unguarded  ford 
enabled  him  to  capture  Colonel  A.  D.  Streight  and  his  entire  command,  this 
volume  is  dedicated  as  a  token  of  admiration  and  respect. 

Prom  the  time  when  Forrest  had  caught  up  with  Streight  at  Sand  Mountain 
on  April  30th  for  four  days  was  the  exciting  chase  continued,  interspersed  with 
almost  continuous  righting  and  with  almost  no  sleep  for  the  determined  men  on 
either  side  until,  on  May  3rd,  Streight  surrendered  near  Rome,  Ga.,  his  entire 
force  of  1,466  men,  which  number  was  increased  a  few  hours  later  by  the  sur- 
render of  another  detachment,  the  total  number  surrendered  being  about  1,700. 
Forrest's  force  had  so  dwindled  that  at  the  surrender  his  entire  force  was  not 
more  than  600. 

BRAGG  RETIRES   TO   CHATTANOOGA 

Having  matured  his  plans  and  made  his  preparations  slowly  and  carefully, 
Rosecrans,  on  June  20,  1863,  deemed  himself  ready  to  proceed  against  Bragg. 
His  army  numbered  more  than  50,000  effectives  and  Bragg 's  about  44,000.34 
By  making  a  feint  against  Shelbyville,  where  Bragg  was  well  fortified  and 
hoped  the  battle  would  take  place,  and  simultaneously  forcing  a  passage  on 
his  left  through  Hoover's  Gap  which  success  enabled  him  to  threaten  to 
outflank  Bragg  around  the  latter 's  right  wing,  Rosecrans  accomplished  his 
purpose.  Bragg  thought  it  of  paramount  importance  for  him  to  fall  back  and 
protect  Chattanooga  which  he  reached  on  July  7th. 

Knoxville  and  East  Tennessee  were,  at  that  time,  held  by  General  Buckner 
and  were  in  possession  of  the  Confederates  until  September  2,  1863,  when  they 
were  forced  out  by  Gen.  A.  E.  Burnside  and  joined  Bragg  near  Chattanooga. 
On  September  8,  1863,  Bragg  abandoned  Chattanooga  and  took  position  from 
Lee  and  Gordon's  Mills  to  Lafayette,  Ga.  On  September  9th  the  Federals  oc- 
cupied Chattanooga  and  advanced  to  face  Bragg  with  a  line  forty  miles  long 
from  wing  to  wing. 

THE  BATTLE  OP  CHICKAMAUGA  35 

"The  barren  victory  of  Chickamauga"  was  the  greatest  battle  fought  in  the 
West  during  the  Civil  war  and  in  it  more  Tennessee  organizations  were  united 
on  the  field  than  had  been  the  case  in  any  previous  battle.  In  fact,  the  main 
body  of  the  army  of  General  Bragg  consisted  of  the  very  flower  of  Tennessee 


34  Col.  Gilbert  C.  Kniffin  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill",  p.  635. 

as  See  ' '  Confederate  Military  History, ' '  "Vol.  VIII,  Chapter  VII ;  also,  the  following 
articles  in  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War":  "Chickamauga — the  Great  Battle  of 
the  West,"  by  Daniel  Hill,  Lieutenant  General,  Confederate  States  of  America,  Vol.  Ill, 
pp.  638-662;  "General  Polk  at  Chickamauga,"  by  his  son,  Cap.  W.  M.  Polk,  Vol.  Ill,  p. 
662;  "The  Crisis  at  Chickamauga,"  by  Gates  P.  Thruston,  Brevet  Brigadier  General,  United 
States  Volunteers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  663;  also,  "Reinforcing  Thomas  at  Chickamauga,"  by  J.  S. 
Fullerton,  Brevet  Brigadier  General,  United  States  Volunteers,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  665 ;  also,  under 
the  head  of  "Historic  Highways  of  the  South"  in  the  Taylor-Trotwood  Magazine  for  Sep- 
tember, 1907,  the  article  entitled  "The  Barren  Victory  of  Chickamauga,"  by  John  Trot- 
wood  Moore;  also  Official  Records,  Vol.  XXX,  Parts  I,  II,  and  III;  also  Davis'  "Rise  and 
Fall  of  the  Confederate  States,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  427-434;  Lindsley's  "Military  Annals  of 
Tennessee,"  pp.  693-695;  also,  Wyeth's  "Life  of  Gen.  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,"  Chapter  XI. 


o 

a 
> 

> 

o 
o 

Q 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  497 

troops,  who  fought  with  a  valor  never  surpassed  by  any  other  troops  on  any 
field.  This  battle  was  fought  on  September  19th  and  20th,  1863,  about  twelve 
miles  southeast  of  Chattanooga.  Bragg 's  total  effective  force  was  47,321;  that  of 
Rosecrans  was  67,548  of  whom  64,321  were  engaged  in  the  battle.  On  the  18th, 
Bragg  issued  his  order  for  battle  to  begin  at  daylight  on  the  19th.  Gen.  D.  H. 
Hill  said :  ' '  Had  this  order  been  issued  on  any  of  the  four  preceding  days,  it 
would  have  found  Rosecrans  wholly  unprepared  for  it."  Be  that  as  it  may,  it 
seems  that  neither  Bragg  nor  Rosecrans  was  sufficiently  near  the  scene  of 
fighting  to  take  advantage  of  mistakes  and  to  order  the  movements  of  troops 
to  the  best  advantage  and  that  the  battle  was  fought  as  circumstances  dictated 
by  the  several  corps  commanders. 

In  accordance  with  Bragg 's  plan  the  Confederate  right  under  Polk  opened 
the  battle  and  pressed  Thomas  so  hard  that  he  asked  for  reinforcements  which 
were  given  him  from  the  Federal  right  wing,  which  was  thereby  weakened  and, 
moreover,  a  gap  was  made,  through  which  Longstreet,36  in  command  of  the 
Confederate  left,  immediately  moved,  shattering  and  driving  back  in  confusion 
the  entire  Federal  army,  except  Thomas'  command.  For  this  stubborn  and 
successful  defense  Thomas  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  "Rock  of  Chickamauga, " 
and  the  "Savior  of  the  Union  Army."  He  held  his  position  until  dark,  and 
even  made  a  counter  charge  with  the  bayonet  when  his  ammunition  failed.  Under 
cover  of  darkness  he  retreated  to  Chattanooga. 

General  Forrest,  who  had  performed  his  customary  wonderful  work  in  pro- 
tecting the  flank  of  Bragg 's  right  wing  sent  word  of  the  demoralization  of  the 
Federals  and  urged  that  they  be  followed  and  attacked,  but  Bragg  refused, 
saying  he  had  no  supplies.  Bragg's  loss  was  not  officially  reported,  but  from 
the  best  estimates  was  not  much  less  than  that  of  the  Federals,  which  was  16,170. 
Bragg  also  captured  54  pieces  of  artillery,  many  thousands  of  small  arms  and 
great  quantities  of  ammunition. 

On  May  11,  1898,  monuments  to  the  memory  of  the  Tennessee  soldiers  who 
fought  and  died  on  the  field  of  Chickamauga  were  unveiled  by  officials  of  this 
state  with  impressive  ceremonies.  John  Trotwood  Moore  wrote  the  dedicating 
poem  which  he  read  on  that  occasion,  as  follows: 

REUNITED 

By  steel-sheathed  ship  and  iron  sun, 

And  forts  that  frown  on  a  crouching  sea, 
Like  a  reef -split  wave  in  the  mad  ebb's  run, 

Like  the  rock-stopt  foam  from  a  driven  lea, 
They  have  halted  their  butchering  lines  of  red, 

For  a  star-flung  banner  has  published  a  ban : 
Let  the  past  be  past;  let  the  dead  be  dead, 

Now  and  forever  American! 

It  has  girdled  the  depths  of  the  deep  heart's  blood, 

It  has  tied  our  links  in  a  white  heat  fire, 
And  the  Blue  has  come  with  the  old-time  flood, 

And  the  Gray  stands  firm  in  the  old-time  ire. 
And  starving  eyes,  whence  Hope  has  fled, 

Laughed  out  in  the  light  as  the  message  ran : 
Let  the  pa^t  be  past;  let  the  dead  be  dead, 

Now  and  forever  American! 

36  Longstreet  had  come  to  Bragg  from  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  with  5,000  or 
more  men  only  a  short  time  before  the  battle. 


498  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Oli,  valorous  Gray,  in  the  grave  of  your  fate! 

Oh,  glorious  Blue,  in  the  long  dead  years! 
Ye  were  sown  in  sorrow  and  harrowed  in  hate, 

But  your  harvest  today  is  a  nation's  tears! 
For  the  message  you  left  through  the  land  has  sped 

From  the  lips  of  God  to  the  heart  of  man : 
Let  the  past  be  past;  let  the  dead  be  dead, 

Now  and  forever  American! 

Ex-Governor  James  D.  Porter  presented  the  monuments.  The  concluding 
paragraph  of  his  address  was  as  follows : 

"Twenty-one  commanding  officers  of  Tennessee  regiments  conspicuous  upon 
this  field,  distinguished  everywhere,  fell  within  a  year.  They  fell  leading  their 
regiments  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle.  Not  many  States  can  show  such  a 
roll  of  honor;  no  State  can  mourn  the  loss  of  so  many  distinguished  sons.  To 
them  and  to  their  brave  comrades  of  every  rank  who  fell  with  them  and  upon 
this  memorable  field,  the  State  dedicates  these  monuments.  We  want  the 
stranger  who  comes  to  know  that  Tennessee  renders  them  homage  and  honor. 
In  our  own  hearts  and  in  the  hearts  of  our  descendants  the  memory  of  their 
noble  deeds  will  outlive  marble  and  monumental  brass." 

Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart,37  who  had  been  selected  to  represent  the  secretary  of 
war,  made  a  most  happy  address  in  which  occurred  the  following  remarkable 
paragraph : 

"Our  cause  was  a  righteous  one.  I  will  ask  a  question  and  answer  it — why 
did  we  fail  ?  Gentlemen  of  the  North,  the  South  failed,  not  because  you  were 
right  and  we  were  wrong,  or  because  we  were  right  and  you  were  wrong,  and 
not  because  of  your  heavy  batteries.  The  reason  we  failed  was  simply  because 
Almighty  God  had  need  of  this  Union.  He  wanted  to  preserve  it  that  He 
might  accomplish  his  designs.  Since  the  war  I  have  accepted  the  result  as  a 
Divine  will." 

forrest's  quarrel  38  with  bragg  and  transfer  to  Mississippi 

On  September  30th,  while  Forrest  was  pursuing  Burnside's  force  near 
Charleston,  Tenn.,39  he  received  an  order  from  Bragg  to  turn  over  his 
troops  to  General  Wheeler.  He  refused  to  obey  the  order  in  a  letter  to  Bragg 
in  which  he  accused  him  of  "duplicity  and  lying,"  and  said  he  would  see  him 
in  person  in  a  few  days.  He  did  see  him.  When  Forrest,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
J.  B.  Cowan  entered  his  tent,  Bragg  offered  his  hand  which  Forrest  refused  to 
take  and  then  denounced  him  as  follows: 

"I  am  not  here  to  pass  civilities  or  compliments  with  you,  but  on  other 
business.  You  commenced  your  cowardly  and  contemptible  persecution  of  me 
soon  after  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  and  you  have  kept  it  up  ever  since.  You  did 
it  because  I  reported  to  Richmond  facts,  while  you  reported  damned  lies.  You 
robbed  me  of  my  command  in  Kentucky,  and  gave  it  to  one  of  your  favorites — 
men  that  I  armed  and  equipped  from  the  enemies  of  our  country.  In  a  spirit 
of  revenge  and  spite,  because  I  would  not  fawn  upon  you  as  others  did,  you 
drove  me  into  West  Tennessee  in  the  winter  of  1862,  with  a  second  brigade  I 
had  organized,  with  improper  arms  and  without  sufficient  ammunition,  although 
I  had  made  repeated  applications  for  same.     You  did  it  to  ruin  me  and  my 

37  It  was  General  Stewart's  troops  who,  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  made  the  cele- 
brated attack  on  General  Reynolds  and  came  so  near  flanking  General  Thomas. 

38  This  episode  is  given  in  full  detail  in  Wyeth's  "Life  of  General  Nathan  Bedford 
Forrest,"  pp.  264-267. 

39  At  this  time  Forrest  defeated  Federal  forces  at  Charleston,  Athens,  Sweetwater,  Phila- 
delphia and  Loudon. 


GENEEAL  THOMAS'  HEADQUAETEES,  CHATTANOOGA 


>•  M 


GENEEAL   BOSECRANS'    HEADQUARTERS,   CHATTANOOGA 


THE  IIBRARY 
OF  THE 

I 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  499 

career.  When  in  spite  of  all  this  I  returned  with  my  command,  well  equipped 
by  captures,  you  began  again  your  work  of  spite  and  persecution,  and  have 
kept  it  up ;  and  now  this  second  brigade,  organized  and  equipped  without 
thanks  to  you  or  the  government,  a  brigade  which  has  won  a  reputation  for 
successful  fighting  second  to  none  in  the  army,  taking  advantage  of  your 
position  as  the  commanding  general  in  order  to  further  humiliate  me,  you 
have  taken  these  brave  men  from  me.  I  have  stood  your  meanness  as  long  as 
I  intend  to.  You  have  played  the  part  of  a  damned  scoundrel,  and  are  a 
coward,  and  if  you  were  any  part  of  a  man  I  would  slap  your  jaws  and  force 
you  to  resent  it.  You  may  as  well  not  issue  any  more  orders  to  me,  for  I  will 
not  obey  them,  and  I  will  hold  you  personally  responsible  for  any  further 
indignities  you  endeavor  to  inflict  upon  me.  You  have  threatened  to  arrest 
me  for  not  obeying  your  orders  promptly.  I  dare  you  to  do  it,  and  I  say  to 
you  that  if  you  ever  again  try  to  interfere  with  me  or  cross  my  path  it  will 
be  at  the  peril  of  your  life. ' ' 40 

Bragg  took  no  official  notice  of  the  incident.  Forrest  did  not  transfer 
his  troops  nor  did  he  resign.  The  Confederate  government  wished  him  to  go 
to  the  "West,  but  Bragg  opposed  the  transfer  until  October  13,  1863,  when 
he  wrote  to  President  Davis  that  he  had  withheld  his  approval  because  he 
deemed  "the  service  of  that  distinguished  officer  necessary  with  this  army. 
As  that  request  can  now  be  granted  without  injury  to  the  public  interests 
in  this  quarter,  I  respectfully  ask  that  the  transfer  be  made." 

THE    SIEGE   OF    CHATTANOOGA41 

Military  men  generally  agree  that  had  Bragg  pursued  the  broken  and  flee- 
ing Federal  army  immediately  after  the  Battle  of  Chattanooga,  as  General 
Forrest  had  urgently  recommended  through  General  Polk,  he  would  have 
broken  it  irretrievably  or  captured  it  and  Chattanooga,  too.  But,  instead  of 
attacking  them  vigorously  on  their  retreat,  he  allowed  them  to  retire  without 
molestation,  and  several  days  later  occupied  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission- 
ary Ridge,  between  which  two  heights  he  constructed  a  line  of  trenches  and 
earthworks  and  halted  there  inactive  for  nearly  two  months.  At  any  time 
during  the  early  days  of  this  period  Bragg  could  probably  have  taken  Chat- 
tanooga by  assault,  but  he  seems  to  have  preferred  to  try  to  take  it  by  capitula- 
tion because  of  lack  of  supplies  and  bent  his  efforts  to  destroy  the  Federal  lines 
of  communications.  But  on  October  16th  Rosecrans  was  superseded  by  Thomas 
in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  the  military  division  of  the 
Mississippi,  consisting  of  the  departments  of  the  Cumberland,  Ohio  and  Ten- 
nessee, was  created  with  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant  in  command.  Grant  arrived  in 
Chattanooga  on  October  24th  and,  with  an  army  largely  reinforced  and  with 
restored  lines  of  communication,  was  soon  ready  to  assume  the  offensive. 

When  Grant  learned  that  Bragg  had  sent  Longstreet  with  20,000  men  to 
attack  Knoxville,  he  believed  that  the  opportune  moment  had  arrived  and,  on 
November  24th  and  25th,  he  broke  the  Confederate  lines  on  Lookout  Mountain 
and  Missionary  Ridge  and  drove  the  Confederates  back  to  Dalton,   Ga.     In 


40  Reported  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Cowan  to  John  A.  Wyeth. 

4i  See  "Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  679-730,  for  articles  by 
Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  Capt.  S.  H.  M.  Byers,  United  States  Volunteers,  Gen.  W.  F.  Smith,  United 
States  Army,  Gen.  H.  M.  Cist,  United  States  Volunteers,  Gen.  J.  G.  Fullerton,  United  States 
Volunteers;  also,  "Confederate  Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  Chapter  VIII;  also,  article 
entitled  "Chattanooga,"  by  John  Trotwood  Moore,  under  "Historic  Highways  of  the 
South,"  in   Taylor-Trotwood  Magazine   for  October,   1907. 


500  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

these  actions  Bragg  larked  the  valuable  services  of  Longstreet,  Forrest  and 
Polk. 

Bragg  had  preferred  against  Polk  charges  of  disobedience  of  orders  at  Chick- 
amauga  and,  on  September  29th,  had  suspended  him  from  command.  President 
Davis,  however,  "after  an  examination  into  the  causes  and  circumstances," 
ignored  the  action  of  General  Bragg  and  assigned  Polk  to  the  command  of  the 
department  of  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 

On  December  27th,  Bragg  was  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
Tennessee  at  Dalton,  Ga.,  by  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Early  in  May,  1864, 
the  Federal  forces  advanced  and  the  Atlanta  campaign  began.  A  few  weeks 
prior  to  this  time  (viz.  on  November  27,  1863)  Sam  Davis  was  executed  as  a 
spy  at  Pulaski,  Tenn.  A  detailed  account  of  this  tragic  occurrence  is  given 
in  the  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 

OPERATIONS   IN   EAST   TENNESSEE 

On  November  4,  1863,  Longstreet 42  with  20,000  men,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  was  detached  from  Bragg  for  a  campaign  against  Burnside  with 
the  special  object  of  capturing  Knoxville.  Longstreet  drove  the  Federals  back 
from  Loudon,  Lenoir  and  Campbell's  Station43  and  invested  Knoxville  on 
November  17th.  The  siege  of  this  place,  however,  was  raised  on  December  4, 
1863,  as,  in  accordance  with  Grant's  design,44  Longstreet  learned  that  Grant 
had  dispatched  Sherman  from  his  army  after  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
and  another  force  from  Decherd,  under  General  Elliott  and  ordered  a  third 
force  from  Cumberland  Gap  to  cooperate  with  the  other  two  for  the  relief 
of  Burnside.45  Longstreet  moved  his  headquarters  to  Morristown  and  con- 
tinued to  hold  that  part  of  East  Tennessee.  Longstreet  remained  throughout 
the  winter  within  a  short  distance  of  Knoxville,  as  Sherman  and  his  army 
had  been  ordered  back  to  the  region  of  the  Hiwassee  River.  On  December 
10th,  Burnside,  who  had  been  relieved  at  his  own  request,  left  the  state  and 
was  succeeded  by  Gen.  John  G.  Foster.  Near  the  opening  of  spring  General 
Foster,  whose  wounds  prevented  his  taking  the  field  in  person,  was  succeeded 
by  General  Schofield. 

A  few  spirited  engagements  took  place :  at  Maynardsville  on  December  3rd ; 
at  Mossy  Creek,  on  December  24th  and  December  29th ;  at  Dandridge,  on 
January  20,  1864;  at  Dibrell's  Hill,  on  January  28th;  and  at  Shook 's  Gap, 
on  February  20th.  Most  of  the  conflicts  were  between  the  cavalry,  who  were 
compelled,  by  the  difficulties  of  transportation,  to  live  on' the  country.  Both 
sides,  in  separate  roving  detachments,  scoured  the  land  in  search  of  supplies 
and  became  constantly  entangled.  There  was  no  concerted  campaign  on 
either  side,  there  could  be  none,  and  the  accounts  of  those  who  took  part  in 
those  daring  and  perilous  adventures  are  thrilling  in  the  extreme.  There 
were  innumerable  skirmishes,  individual  conflicts,  hazardous  chances,  captures 


42  In  a  carefully  prepared  address  delivered  at  Knoxville  at  a  reunion  of  Confederate 
and  Federal  soldiers,  held  in  October,  1890,  General  Longstreet  said  that  lie  was  opposed 
to  the  expedition  to  Knoxville;  that  it  was  ordered  by  Jefferson  Davis  and  General  Bragg. 

*s  The  birthplace  of  Admiral  David  Glasgow  Farragut.  When  a  boy  he  lived  with  his 
father  in  Knoxville — Temple's  "East  Tennessee  and  the  Civil  War,"  p.  489  footnote. 

""Grant's  Memoirs,"  Vol.  II,  p.  94. 

45  Before  leaving,  Longstreet  made  an  ineffectual  assault  on  Fort  Sanders  at  Knox- 
ville. Said  E.  J.  Sanford  of  the  scene  outside  the  fort:  "The  dead,  the  dying  and  the  living 
were  piled  on  top  of  one  another  in  the  moat,  an  indiscriminate  and  helpless  mass." 


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TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  503 

and  escapes  which,  in  the  reading  or  relation  of  them  take  on  something  of 
the  glamour  and  romance  of  the  times  of  King  Arthur.  Naturally,  too,  the 
conditions  afforded  opportunities  for  lawless  characters  to  commit  depreda- 
tions; which  met  with  reprobation  and  punishment  by  the  honorable  men  on 
both  sides. 

As  a  result  of  these  conditions  the  country  became  destitute  and  much  suf- 
fering resulted  which  was  partially  relieved  at  Knoxville,  but  not  enough 
could  be  dbne  there,  because  the  Federal  army  itself  was  short  of  supplies. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  the  Confederate  army  was  withdrawn  into  Vir- 
ginia and  the  entire  territory  of  Tennessee  passed  into  possession  of  the  Fed- 
eral authorities. 

porrest's  operations  in  Tennessee  in  1864 

Tennessee,  however,  was  not  permitted  to  remain  in  undisputed  possession 
of  the  Union  forces.  After  General  Bragg  had  finally  acquiesced  in  the  de- 
tachment of  General  Forrest,  the  latter  was  sent  from  Atlanta  on  November 
7,  1863,  to  his  "new  field  of  duty."  His  command  consisted  of  271  -";  effectives 
all  told,  and  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  in  assigning  Forrest  to  his  new  com- 
mand in  West  Tennessee,  said:  "He  will,  on  arriving  there,  proceed  to  raise 
and  organize  as  many  troops  for  the  Confederate  service  as  he  finds  prac- 
ticable. ' ' 

The  conditions  in  West  Tennessee  which  faced  Forrest  were  arduous  enough 
to  dishearten  a  less  self-reliant,  resourceful  and  aggressive  commander;  for 
this  section  was  occupied  by  a  large  Federal  force  under  command  of  Gen- 
eral Hurlbut  and  Forrest's  expedition  must  have  been  regarded  as  a  "forlorn 
hope."  Nevertheless,  it  led  to  perhaps  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Forrest's 
military  career,  attracted  to  him  the  attention  of  the  whole  world  and  fixed 
upon  him  the  admiration  of  the  South  and,  at  least,  the  respect  of  the  North 
as  "The  Wizard  of  the  Saddle." 

Arrived  at  Okolona,  Miss.,  Forrest  was  disappointed  by  the  paucity  of 
promised  reinforcements  which  consisted  of  about  250  men  under  Col.  R.  V. 
Richardson.  Subsequent  accessions  raised  his  effective  force  to  less  than  seven 
hundred  men  with  whom  he  made  his  first  campaign  of  about  thirty  days, 
during  which  he  "recruited  a  force  of  3,000  men  within  the  enemy's  lines, 
evaded  General  Hurlbut,  who  attempted  to  encompass  him  with  a  force  of 
25,000  men,  fought  five  battles — Jack's  Creek,  Estenaula,  Somerville,  Lafayette, 
and  Collierville — threatened  Memphis,  crossed  the  Wolf  River  on  the  bridge 
built  by  his  pursuers  on  their  way  to  capture  him,  and  finally  passed  on  their 
fortified  line  of  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  Railroad,  and  reached  the  Con- 
federate lines,  having  inflicted  on  his  pursuers  a  loss  of  about  two  hundred 
men,  and  bringing  out  a  long  train  of  wagons  laden  with  supplies,  besides  a 
great  number  of  horses,  mules  and  cattle.  For  this  feat  he  was  rewarded  by 
the  appointment  of  major-general."  4T 

Among  the  valuable  assistants  whom  Forrest  had  in  this  important  enter- 
prise were  Col.  Tyree  H.  Bell,  a  man  of  dauntless  courage,  ability  and  of 
great  influence  in  that  section,  Col.  A.  N.  Wilson,  John  F.  Newsom,  R.  M. 
Russell  and  Lieut.-Col.  D.  M.  Wisdom,  and  the  indispensable  Capt.  John  \Y. 
Morton  with  two  pieces  of  artillery. 


46  Official  Records,  Vol.  XXXI,  Part  III,  p.  646. 

* 7  Garrett  and  Goodpasture's  "History  of  Tennessee,''   p.   226. 


504  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

As  the  result  of  Forrest's  efforts  and  success  in  West  Tennessee,  the  Con- 
federate secretary  of  war,  on  January  24,  1864,  directed  him  to  organize  the 
troops  he  had  enrolled  so  that  it  may  be  said  that  Forrest's  brilliancy  and 
rapidity  in  arms  not  only  damaged  the  Federal  units,  impaired  their  morale 
and  deprived  them  of  valuable  arms,  ammunition  and  stores,  but  also  created 
for  him  a  small  army  within  the  Federal  lines  surrounded  by  soldiers  of  the 
Sixteenth  Corps  of  the  Union  army. 

Forrest's  further  operations  in  Tennessee  and  Mississippi 

Forrest  made  his  headquarters  in  Northern  Mississippi  from  which  region 
he  proceeded  on  his  brilliant  campaign  which  resulted  in  victories  over  the 
Federals  at  West  Point  48  and  Okolona,  although  Forrest,  as  usual,  was  greatly 
outnumbered  and  prevented  the  junction  of  Sherman  and  Gen.  W.  S.  Smith 
whom  Grant  had  placed  in  command  of  the  cavalry  to  neutralize  Forrest's 
activities. 

On  March  15,  1864,  Forrest  started  northward  after  about  two  weeks 
of  inactivity.  On  March  20th,  he  reached  Jackson,  Tenn.  On  March  25th 
he  captured  Union  City  with  about  five  hundred  men  and  a  considerable 
amount  of  supplies  besides  $60,000  in  cash.49  On  March  26th  he  attacked 
Paducah,  Ky.50  In  the  first  week  in  April  a  demonstration  was  made  in  the 
direction  of  Columbus.     On  April  12th  Fort  Pillow  was  captured. 

THE    TRAGEDY    OF    FORT    PILLOW 

The  so-called  "massacre"  of  Fort  Pillow  has  caused  so  much  controversy 
not  only  in  Tennessee  but  also  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  General 
Forrest  has  been  so  unjustly  criticized  on  account  of  it,  that  the  truth  of  his- 
tory requires  a  clear  recital  of  the  facts.  Fort  Pillow  was  located  on  the 
Mississippi  River  about  forty  miles  north  of  Memphis  and,  at  the  time  of  the 
capture  of  it,  was  defended  by  a  garrison  of  557 — 295  white  troops  and  262 
colored  troops — and  six  field  pieces.  Having  given  out  the  information  that 
he  was  about  to  attack  Memphis  and  having  caused  some  demonstrations  to  be 
made  in  that  direction,  Forrest  with  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  men  made 
a  night  march  of  forty  miles  against  Fort  Pillow  which  was  reached  and  at- 
tacked on  the  morning  of  April  12,  1864.  A  little  after  3  P.  M.  Forrest 
demanded  surrender  under  flag  of  truce.  The  charge  has  been  made  against 
Forrest  that  during  the  pending  of  the  question  of  surrender  under  the  truce, 
Forrest  moved  some  of  his  troops,  and,  without  explanation,  this  act  of  his 
would  have  been  reprehensible,  for  he  did  move  them.  The  reason  for  the 
movement,  however,  was  that  a  boat  loaded  with  Federal  soldiers  came  down 
the  river  and,  disregarding  the  flag  of  truce,  was  apparently  seeking  a  landing 
place  near  the  fort  and  Forrest  had  an  undoubted  right  to  meet  this  threat- 
ened accession  by  the  proper  readjustment  of  his  forces.  When  the  Federals 
refused  to  surrender,  Forrest  ordered  the  assault. 

As  to  the  "massacre,"  imagination  has  magnified  the  severe  and  bloody 
fighting  into  almost  an  inhuman  butchery  of  unarmed  men.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  the  Confederates  had  to  cross  a  wide  and  deep  ditch  and  climb  a  steep 


48Wyeth's  "Life  of  Gen.  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,"  Chap.  XIII. 

40  Official  Records,  Vol.  XXXII,  Part  I,  p.  503;   Wyeth  's  "Forrest,"  p.  328. 

so  Ibid.,  329. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  505 

embankment  before  they  could  even  reach,  the  fort,  and  then  they  had  to  fight 
bravely  to  overcome  the  fierce  resistance.  The  Federals  fought  bravely,  but 
they  lacked  the  experience  of  Forrest's  troopers  and  the  leadership  of  such  a 
remarkable  military  genius.  Of  the  557  defenders,  331  were  killed  or  wounded 
and  226  were  marched  away  as  prisoners  to  Mississippi. 

This  was  the  first  occasion  on  which  the  negro  troops  came  prominently  into 
notice  in  conflict  with  their  late  masters. 

"There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  it  was  the  heavy  loss  of  life — the 
unusually  large  proportion  of  killed  and  wounded  to  the  number  of  soldiers 
engaged,  which  led  to  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  Congress,  and  caused  this 
engagement  to  pass  into  history  as  the,  'Fort  Pillow  Massacre.'  "  51 

forrest's  raid  into  west  Tennessee  in  august,  1864 

After  Forrest  returned  to  Mississippi  from  the  expedition  into  Tennessee 
and  Kentucky  which  has  just  been  related,  General  Sherman,  who  was  trying 
to  defeat  Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston's  army  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  said  "that 
devil  Forrest"  must  be  kept  busy  so  that  he  couldn't  interfere  with  his  com- 
munications. Hence  strong  forces  were  sent  against  him  which  did  keep  him 
busy  in  fields  outside  of  Tennessee  and  gave  him  the  opportunity  of  winning 
the  brilliant  victories  of  Brice's  Cross  Roads,  of  Harrisburg  and  of  other  fields 
of  conflict.  As  such  campaigns,  however,  do  not  immediately  pertain  to  Ten- 
nessee history,  this  narrative  will  pass  over  them  to  the  consideration  of 
Forrest's  next  campaign  in  Tennessee  which  was  that  remarkable  and  romantic 
campaign  in  which  he  penetrated  the  Federal  lines,  entered  Memphis 52  and 
nearly  captured  the  Federal  commanders,  General  Washburn  and  General 
Hurlbut. 

It  was  the  18th  of  August  when  Forrest,  learning  that  the  Federals  had 
started  South  from  Memphis  with  a  strong  force,  left  Oxford,  Miss.,  for  his 
daring  assault  on  Memphis.  For  this  assault  he  made  most  careful  prepara- 
tions. The  house  in  which  General  Washburn  was  sleeping  was  to  be  sur- 
rounded as  the  most  important  object  of  attack.  An  hour  before  daylight  he 
gathered  his  officers  about  him  and  gave  them  specific  instructions.  Notwith- 
standing the  strong  force  which  held  the  city  and  the  fort  which  guarded  it, 
Forrest's  men  did  get  into  Memphis,  did  surround  Washburn's  house,  from 
which  he  escaped  in  his  night  clothes  by  a  rear  exit,  did  search  the  Gayoso 
Hotel  where  General  Hurlbut  generally  slept  (fortunately  for  him  he  slept 
elsewhere  that  night),  and  did  then  withdraw  from  Memphis.  Upon  reaching 
Hernando,  Miss.,  Forrest  made  the  following  report:  "I  attacked  Memphis  at 
4  o'clock  this  morning,  driving  the  enemy  to  his  fortifications.  We  killed  and 
captured  400,  taking  their  entire  camp,  with  about  three  hundred  horses  and 
mules.  Washburn  and  staff  escaped  in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning, 
Washburn  leaving  his  clothes  behind." 

forrest's  raid  into  northern  Alabama  and  middle  Tennessee 

Soon  after  the  successful  attack  on  Memphis  which  has  just  been  related, 
Forrest  wrote  a  letter  to  President  Davis  in  which  he  suggested  that  he  (For- 


siWyeth's  "Life  of  Gen.  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,"  p.  367.     In  Chapter  XIV  of  this 
book  is  a  complete  refutation  of  the  charges  against  Forrest. 
52  See  chapter  on  ' '  Historic  Spots  and  Places. ' ' 


506  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

rest)  should  best  be  sent  on  an  expedition  against  General  Sherman's  connec- 
tions. Although  Davis  had  heretofore  not  acted  upon  this  suggestion  and 
Sherman  had  prosecuted  his  campaign  against  Atlanta  with  steady,  if  slow, 
success,  his  rear  not  being  disturbed,  the  Confederate  President  at  last  realized 
the  importance  of  delegating  Forrest  to  attempt  this  service.  Orders  accord- 
ingly were  given  and  Forrest  made  the  raid  from  September  16  to  October  6, 
1864,  which,  had  he  done  nothing  else  during  the  war  would  have  marked  him 
as  a  military  prodigy.  Gen.  Richard  Taylor,  a  brother-in-law  of  President 
Davis,  had  become  the  commander-in-chief  of  that  department  to  which  Forrest 
was  attached.     Of  this  expedition  General  Taylor  said : 

"Moving  with  great  rapidity,  he  crossed  the  Tennessee  River,  captured 
stockades  with  their  garrisons,  burned  bridges,  destroyed  railways,  reached  the 
Cumberland  River  below  Nashville,  drove  away  gunboats,  captured  and  de- 
stroyed several  transports  with  immense  stores,  and  spread  alarm  over  a  wide 
region.  The  enemy  concentrated  on  him  from  all  directions,  but  he  eluded 
or  defeated  their  several  columns,  recrossed  the  Tennessee  River,  and  brought 
off  1,500  prisoners  and  much  spoil.  Like  Clive,  nature  made  him  a  great 
soldier,  but  he  was  without  the  former's  advantages." 

Forrest  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  on  September  21st,  his  objective  being 
Athens,  Ala.  There  on  September  24th,  he  captured  the  Federal  fort  and 
garrison  of  1,300  officers  and  men,  wagons,  horses,  stores,  arms,  ammunition 
and  artillery.  On  the  25th  he  captured  Sulphur  Branch  Trestle  with  973 
prisoners  and  numerous  supplies.  He  then  pushed  north,  captured  block- 
houses and  troops  on  Elk  River,  drove  the  Federal  forces  into  Pulaski  and,  as 
they  were  strong  and  well  fortified,  he  pushed  on  to  Fayetteville,  whence  he 
sent  a  force  to  tear  up  the  rails  on  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  Railroad 
north  of  Tullahoma  and  to  cut  the  telegraph  wires,  and  another  force  to  do 
the  same  things  south  of  Tullahoma.  He  was  deterred,  however,  from  attack- 
ing Tullahoma  by  the  rapid  concentration  of  Federal  forces  at  that  place,  and 
having  detached  a  force  to  tear  up  the  railroad  track  from  Huntsville  to  De- 
catur, he  proceeded  north  and  captured  Spring  Hill  where  he  tapped  the 
telegraph  wires  and  gained  valuable  information.  Twelve  miles  from  Columbia 
he  captured  four  blockhouses  and  burned  three  railroad  bridges.  Deeming 
that  Columbia  was  too  strong  to  be  attacked,  he  proceeded  south  towards  the 
Tennessee  River  by  way  of  Lawrenceburg  and  reached  Florence  on  October  5th. 
Before  Forrest  could  place  his  entire  force  across  the  river  the  Federal  troops 
in  overwhelming  strength  entered  Florence,  but  Forrest  by  utilizing  an  island 
in  the  river  and  ferry  boats  succeeded  in  transferring  his  entire  force  safely  to 
the  southern  bank. 

A  Federal  force  which  crossed  the  river  in  pursuit  was  repulsed  at  East- 
port  by  Col.  D.  C.  Kelly,  one  of  Forrest's  ablest  and  bravest  officers. 

In  his  official  report  Forrest  said:  "During  the  expedition  I  captured 
eighty-six  commissioned  officers,  sixty-seven  government  employes,  1,274  non- 
commissioned officers  and  privates,  933  negroes,  besides  killing  and  wounding 
in  the  various  engagements  about  one  thousand  more,  making  an  aggregate  of 
3,360,  being  an  average  of  one  to  each  man  I  had  in  the  engagements." 

Forrest's  loss  was  fortv-seven  killed  and  293  wounded. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  507 

Forrest's  johnsonville  expedition53 

The  effect  of  the  raid  in  northern  Alabama  and  Middle  Tennessee  was  the 
partial  crippling  of  Sherman's  connections  and  the  determination  of  the 
Federals  to  establish  a  depot  of  supplies  at  Johnsonville  on  the  Tennessee  River. 
It  was  determined,  therefore,  that  Forrest  should  make  an  attack  on  this  point 
without  delay.  All  the  necessary  preparations  having  been  made,  the  advance 
under  Colonel  Bell  started  from  Corinth  on  October  16,  to  Jackson,  Tenn., 
whence  it  proceeded  to  the  Tennessee  River  where  Forrest  took  possession  of 
Paris  Landing  and  Fort  Heiman  which,  about  five  miles  apart,  were  fortified 
and  commanded  the  river.  By  the  capture  on  October  29,  of  the  Mazeppa54 
which  was  allowed  to  pass  between  the  masked  batteries,  Forrest's  men  were 
bountifully  supplied  with  blankets,  shoes,  clothing  and  other  necessities.  The 
Undine  and  the  Venus  were  also  captured  and  armed  by  the  Confederates.  These 
constituted  what  was  called  "Forrest's  Navy"  and  his  troopers  became  for  the 
time  sailors.  General  Forrest  knowing  that  Capt.  John  W.  Morton,55  his  accom- 
plished young  chief  of  artillery,  knew  how  to  handle  guns,  selected  him  to  com- 
mand the  fleet,  but  at  Captain  Morton's  request,  a  separate  officer,  familiar  with 
boats,  was  put  in  charge  of  each  vessel.  This  is  said  to  be  the  only  instance  in 
American  history  of  gunboats  being  captured  by  cavalry. 

The  navy  then  proceeded  against  Johnsonville,  but  encountered  a  fleet  of 
Federal  gunboats  that  disabled  the  two  vessels  of  Forrest  which  were  destroyed 
by  their  crews  who  escaped  by  swimming  to  shore.  Forrest  then  moved  his 
artillery  to  the  river  bank  opposite  Johnsonville  and  destroyed  the  fleet  of 
Federal  gunboats,  transports  and  barges  there,  and  set  on  fire  the  warehouses 
and  files  of  army  stores.  The  Confederates  then  withdrew.  Forrest  in  his 
official  report  said :  "I  captured  and  destroyed  four  gunboats,  fourteen  trans- 
ports, twenty  barges,  twenty-six  pieces  of  artillery  and  $6,700,000  worth  of 
property  and  captured  150  prisoners.  General  Buford,  after  supplying  his 
own  command,  turned  over  to  my  chief  quartermaster  about  nine  thousand  pairs 
of  shoes  and  1,000  blankets.  My  loss  during  the  entire  trip  was  two  killed  and 
nine  wounded."  The  assistant  inspector  general  of  the  United  States  Army, 
after  an  inspection,  reported  the  destruction  of  property  at  Johnsonville  to  be 
$2, 200,000. 56  On  November  5th,  Forrest  began  his  march  to  join  Hood  at 
Florence,  Ala.57 

HOOD'S   CAMPAIGN   IN    MIDDLE   TENNESSEE58 

The  Atlanta  campaign  had  ended.  General  Johnston  had  been  superseded 
by  General  Hood,  who  had  crossed  the  Chattahoochie  with  the  design  to  draw 


63  See  Wyeth's  "Life  of  Forrest,"  Chap.  XIX,  and  "The  Capture  of  Federal  Gunboats 
at  Johnsonville  by  Forrest 's  Cavalry, ' '  by  John  Trotwood  Moore  in  Taylor-Trotwood  Magazine 
for  November,   1907. 

54  The  capture  of  this  boat  was  accomplished  by  a  most  daring  deed  performed  by 
Private  W.  C.  West,  who,  when  the  boat,  crippled  by  the  shots,  was  taken  by  the  pilot  to 
the  east  shore,  crossed  on  a  piece  of  driftwood  and  captured  it  single  handed  with  a  twenty- 
two  caliber  six  shooter. 

55  Captain  Morton  said  to  Forrest:  "General,  I  can  handle  your  guns  on  land,  but  I 
am  not  familiar  with  naval  fighting." 

66  Official  Becords,  Serial  Number  77,  "Forrest's  Eeport, "  pp.  870-872;  Ibid.,  Eeport 
of  Assistant  Inspector  General,  pp.  860-863;  "Confederate  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  Chapter 
XII;  "Campaigns  of  Lieut.  Gen.  N.  B.  Forrest,"  Chap.  XII. 

'■>'>  Forrest  was  placed  in  command  of  all  the  cavalry  of  Hood's  army  in  this  campaign. 

68  See  "Confederate  Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  Chap.  X;  "Historic  Highways  of 
the  South,"  by  John  Trotwood  Moore,  in  Trotwood 's  Monthly  for  January,  1906;  also 
chapter  on  "Historic  Spots   and   Places." 


508  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sherman  out  of  Atlanta  and  force  him  to  attack  the  Confederates  in  position. 
Sherman  pursued  as  far  as  Gaylesville,  Ala.,  and  then  returned  to  Atlanta. 
Hood  continued  north  to  Dalton,  thence  to  Gadsden  and  thence  to  Tuscumbia. 
On  November  15,  1864,  Sherman  swung  loose  from  his  connections  and  began 
his  famous  march  through  Georgia  to  the  sea. 

On  November  21,  1864,  Hood  crossed  the  Tennessee  River,  and  proceeded 
north  with  Nashville  as  his  objective.  On  November  29th,  he  crossed  Duck 
River  three  miles  above  Columbia.  General  Thomas,  who  had  been  appointed 
to  oppose  Hood's  movement,  made  his  headquarters  in  Nashville  and  General 
Schofield  had  command  of  the  force  in  the  field  immediately  in  front  of  Hood. 
His  purpose  was  to  delay  Hood  as  long  as  possible  that  the  Federals  might 
have  time  to  concentrate  sufficient  forces  at  Nashville.  As  Schofield  fell  back 
fighting  at  various  points  Hood  endeavored  to  defeat  disastrously  or  to  capture 
Schofield 's  army.  An  opportunity  to  do  the  one  or  the  other  was  lost  at  Spring 
Hill  from  which  place  Schofield  retreated  to  Franklin,  where,  on  November  30, 
1864,  Hood  attacked  a  strongly  entrenched  position  and  was  cheeked  with 
terrible  slaughter.  The  Federal  loss  was  2,326.  The  Confederate  loss  was 
4,500,59  according  to  the  report  of  General  Hood.  In  this  lamentable  battle,  in 
the  center  of  the  homes  of  many  of  the  combatants  on  the  Confederate  side, 
five  general  officers  were  killed,  viz. :  Major  General  Patrick  Cleburne,  and 
Brigadier  Generals  Gist,  Adams,  Strahl  and  Granbury.  Prominent  officers  who 
were  wounded  were :  Maj.  Gen.  John  C.  Brown,60  Brigadier  Generals  Carter, 
Manigault,  Quarles,  Cockrill  and  Scott.  After  the  battle  the  people  of  the 
vicinity,  irrespective  of  affiliations,  organized  themselves  into  corps  of  relief  to 
alleviate  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded  and  to  facilitate  the  search  by  relatives 
and  friends  for  those  who  were  killed  or  missing. 

Col.  John  McGavock,  whom  none  knew  but  to  love  nor  named  but  to  praise, 
on  a  part  of  whose  estate  the  battle  was  fought,  opened  his  house  for  a  hospital 
and  saw  that  the  dead  received  decent  sepulture  on  a  site  adjoining  his  family 
burial  ground  and,  in  his  will,  devised  the  land  to  be  used  forever  as  a  Con- 
federate cemetery. 

THE  BATTLE  OP  NASHVILLE  (J  1  AND  THE  END  OF  THE  WAR 

At  midnight  following  the  battle  of  Franklin  the  Federal  forces  withdrew 
to  Nashville.  They  were  immediately  followed  by  Hood  who  closely  invested 
the  city  and  fortified  his  position  with  trenches  and  redoubts.  On  December  2, 
General  Bate  was  sent  with  a  small  force  to  occupy  Murfreesboro,  but  found  it 
held  by  General  Rousseau  with  about  eight  thousand  men.  Hood  then  sent 
Forrest  who  besieged  the  place  with  his  accustomed  vigor  and,  being  so  engaged, 
did  not  take  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville. 

The  weather  was  bitterly  cold  and  inclement  and  the  Confederate  soldiers, 
insufficiently  clothed,  some  even  being  without  shoes,02  suffered  intensely.  Yet 
there  was  no  complaint.  The  battle  was  delayed  not  only  by  meteorological 
conditions  but  also  by  the  fact  that  Thomas  thought  himself  not  properly  pre- 
pared.   Finally,  however,  the  temperature  moderated  and  Thomas  had  received 


59  Official  Kecords,   Serial  Number  93,  pp.  32-59,   652-663. 
so  Governor,  1871-1875. 

61  See  chapter  on  "Historic  Spots  and  Places." 

62  The  writer  has  had  this  statement  from  several  participants  in  this  battle,  one  of 
whom  said  that  his  feet  were  wrapped  in  rags.  Others  covered  their  feet  with  raw  hide 
taken  from  animals  freslily  slaughtered. 


OLD  MILITARY  PRISON  IN  CHATTANOOGA  USED  BY  BOTH  FEDERALS  AND  CON 

FEDERATES,    ]861-18fi.1 


Vol.  1—3  3 


0*  1HE 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  511 

sufficient  reinforcements.  So  he  offered  battle  and  in  a  two  days'  fight  on  De- 
cember 15  and  16,  1864,  decisively  defeated  Hood  and  drove  him  south.  The 
idea  prevails  in  some  quarters  that  Hood's  army  was  not  only  defeated  but 
was  also  disintegrated  and  dispersed.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth. 
The  Confederates,  it  is  true,  were  driven  from  the  field  in  some  confusion  late 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  sixteenth,  but  Gen.  Stephen  D.  Lee  commanded  the  rear 
guard  and  made  a  successful  resistance  near  Franklin  to  the  pursuing  Federal 
cavalry  and  held  the  enemy  in  check  until  the  army  was  safe  at  Columbia. 

On  this  campaign  the  effective  Confederate  force  was  33,393 ;  the  Federal 
force  amounted  to  75, 153. G3 

On  the  retreat  General  Lee  was  wounded  and  the  command  of  the  rear  guard 
devolved  upon  General  Forrest. 

Nor  is  the  charge  true  that  the  Confederate  soldiers  "sought  every  oppor- 
tunity to  fall  out  by  the  wayside  and  desert  their  cause."  "While  they  had  the 
greatest  temptation  to  desert  that  could  assail  the  human  heart — -love  for  home 
and  kindred — with  the  devotion  of  martyrs  to  a  sacred  cause,  they  passed  with 
sad  hearts  the  homes  of  thousands  of  their  number  and  the  desertions,  accord- 
ing to  Hood's  report,  aggregated  only  300  for  the  whole  army. 

They  reached  the  Tennessee  River  at  Bainbridge  on  Christmas  Day  and 
completed  their  crossing  in  two  days.    Tennessee  was  no  longer  a  battle  ground. 

The  Confederate  army  reached  Tupelo,  Miss.,  intact  on  January  23,  1865. 
General  Hood  was  relieved  and  Gen.  Richard  Taylor  assigned  to  the  command. 
After  a  few  days  of  rest  the  troops  of  Lee's,  Stewart's  and  Cheatham's  corps 
were  moved  by  rail  to  South  Carolina  and  were  surrendered  with  Gen.  Joseph 
E.  Johnston's  army  on  April  26,  1865.  On  May  9,  1865,  General  Taylor  sur- 
rendered the  last  troops  remaining  organized  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  in- 
cluding the  Tennessee  cavalry  which  had  been  formed  into  a  division  and 
placed  under  the  command  of  Gen.  William  H.  Jackson,  had  borne  an  impor- 
tant part  in  Forrest's  operations  and  had  achieved  a  deserved  reputation  for 
the  performance  of  brilliant  exploits. 

To  each  surrendered  soldier  was  issued  a  certificate  of  parole  and  to  each 
officer  a  written  parole  with  the  following  wording: 

' '  I,  the  undersigned,  prisoner  of  war,  belonging  to  the  Army  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  East  Louisiana,  having  been  surrendered 
by  Lieut.  Gen.  R.  Taylor,  Confederate  States  Army,  commanding  said  depart- 
ment, to  Maj.  Gen.  E.  R.  S.  Canby,  United  States  Army,  commanding  Army 
and  Division  of  West  Mississippi,  do  hereby  give  my  solemn  parole  of  honor 
that  I  will  not  hereafter  serve  in  the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States,  or  in 
any  military  capacity  whatever,  against  the  United  States  of  America,  or 
render  aid  to  the  enemies  of  the  latter,  until  properly  exchanged  in  such  manner 
as  shall  be  mutually  approved  by  the  respective  authorities." 

This  parole  was  approved  by  Gen.  E.  S.  Dennis,  commissioner  for  the  United 
States,  and  Gen.  W.  H.  Jackson,  commissioner  for  the  Confederate  States,  the 
former  of  whom  appended  this  statement:  "The  above  named  officer  will  not 
be  disturbed  by  the  United  States  authorities  as  long  as  he  observes  his  parole, 
and  the  laws  in  force  where  he  resides." 

TENNESSEANS   IN    OTHER   STATES 

Tennesseans  also  served  in  other  states,  always  with  fidelity  and  many  times 
with  distinction.    In  the  victory  of  Chickasaw  Bayou,  Miss.,  over  General  Sher- 


83  Official  Records,  Serial  Number  93,  pp.  52-55,  663. 


512  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

man.  on  December  29,  1862,  the  brigade  of  Gen.  John  ('.  Vaughn  acted  a  notable 
part.  That  of  General  Gregg  performed  brilliantly  at  Raymond,  Miss.,  on  May 
12,  1863.  The  troops  of  Gen.  A.  W.  Reynolds  and  Gen.  John  C.  Vaughn  served 
in  the  Vieksburg  campaign.  The  First  Tennessee  Heavy  Artillery,  commanded 
by  Col.  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,04  sustained  the  severest  fighting  at  Port  Hud- 
son, La. 

At  the  very  first  call  for  troops  for  service  in  Virginia,  the  brigade  of  Gen. 
Daniel  S.  Donelson  and  that  of  Gen.  Samuel  R.  Anderson  were  sent  into  that 
state  in  July,  1861,  and  served  under  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee  in  the  Cheat  Moun- 
tain campaign.  Later  Donelson 's  brigade  was  sent  to  South  Carolina  and  An- 
derson's brigade  was  attached  to  the  army  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  With  the 
exception  of  the  First  Tennessee  regiment  which  was  ordered  back  to  Tennes- 
see, this  brigade  participated  in  the  campaigns  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir- 
ginia under  the  commands,  successively,  of  General  Anderson,  Gen.  Robert 
Hatton,  Gen.  J.  J.  Archer,  Gen.  H.  H.  Walker  and  Gen.  Wm.  McComb.  Its 
reputation  was  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  other  brigade  in  that  army  of 
splendid  courage,  endurance  and  gallantry.  It  distinguished  itself  especially 
in  Pickett's  famous  charge  at  Gettysburg  and  in  defense  of  "the  angle'"  near 
Spottsylvania  Court  House. 

Gen.  Bushrod  R.  Johnson's  brigade  served  with  distinction  in  the  South- 
west and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  Having  been  attached  to 
the  corps  of  Longstreet,  it  participated  in  the  siege  of  Knoxville,  retired  with 
Longstreet  into  Virginia  in  the  spring  of  1864,  and  was  engaged  in  the  battle 
of  Drewry's  Bluff,  May  16,  1864.  For  his  services  in  this  battle  Johnson  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  major  general.  He  was  succeeded  by  Col.  John  S. 
Fulton,  one  of  whose  officers,  Lieut.  F.  M.  Kelso,  with  seventeen  men  captured 
a  Federal  force  of  more  than  four  hundred  in  the  fighting  about  Petersburg. 
When  Colonel  Fulton  was  killed  on  June  30,  1864,  he  was  succeeded  by  Col. 
John  M.  Hughes.  This  brigade  was  conspicuously  engaged  in  the  battle  of  "the 
crater,"  July  30,  1864. 

At  the  beginning  of  1865  the  Tennessee  contingents  under  Lee.  which  had 
become  much  reduced  because  of  the  severe  fighting,  were  combined  in  one 
brigade  commanded  by  Brig.  Gen.  Wm.  McComb.  This  brigade,  like  all  in  Lee's 
army  during  the  final  operations,  was  in  a  battle  nearly  every  day.  It  was 
among  the  troops  surrendered  at  Appomattox  Court  House,  April  9.  1865. 

Dibrell's  brigade,  theretofore  a  part  of  Forrest's  cavalry,  was  attached  to 
Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston's  army  in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  In  this  campaign 
both  General  Dibrell  and  Col.  Baxter  Smith  greatly  distinguished  themselves. 

TENNESSEE  ENLISTMENTS  IN   THE   WAR 

While  the  statistics  as  to  the  enlistment  of  Tennesseans  in  the  Confederate 
service  may  not  always  he  accurate,  it  is  a  recognized  fact  that  this  state  fully 
maintained  her  proud  title  of  "The  Volunteer  State."  Almost  every  available 
man  took  part  on  one  side  or  the  other.  Many  counties  furnished  more  than 
they  bad  voters.  More  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  Tennesseans 
served  in  the  Confederate  army  and  31,092  were  enrolled  in  the  Federal  army, 
besides  7,000  who  enlisted  in  other  states,  mainly  from  Kentucky.     There  were 


64  This  was  Andrew  Jackson  III.     His  son,  Andrew  Jackson  IV,  is  now  living  in  Los 
Angeles,  Calif. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  513 

also  twenty   thousand  one  hundred   and   thirty-three  negro  troops  from   this 
state.    These  were  enrolled  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  direct. 

The  men  who  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  were  mostly  from  East  Tennessee, 
which  was  consistently  opposed  to  secession.  But  the  rest  of  the  state  was 
overwhelmingly  for  disunion  and,  in  the  conflict,  never  swerved  in  loyalty  to  the 
Confederacy.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  families  on  both  sides  stanchly  aided 
the  government  which  they  advocated  and  patiently  endured  the  most  distress- 
ing deprivations  as  the  warring  forces  brought  poverty  to  their  firesides  and 
robbers  in  uniform  swept  away  their  crops,  their  stock  and  their  household  ef- 
fects. In  those  trying  times  the  old  men  and  women,  the  children  and  the  serv- 
ants, generally  faithful  slaves,  dedicated  themselves  to  the  service  of  the  hus- 
bands, sons  and  brothers,  soldiers  in  the  field.  No  difficulties  dimmed  the  ardor 
of  their  service,  no  theft  caused  a  diminution  of  patriotic  zeal.  And  when  the 
hoxw  of  surrender  came  the  defeated  sustained  their  supremest  affliction  of  all 
with  the  same  heroism  which  had  carried  them  stout-hearted  and  brave  through 
four  years  of  fratricidal  war,  and  then  enabled  them  to  take  up  again  thp 
burden  of  rehabilitation  and  to  accomplish  results  under  the  most  untoward 
conditions  which  have  made  them  the  marvel  and  the  admiration  of  the  world. 

BATTLES    AND    COMMANDERS 

The  battles,  skirmishes  and  armed  conflicts  of  varied  character  and  be- 
tween forces  of  different  sizes,  which  took  place  on  the  soil  of  Tennessee,  are 
given  by  statisticians  at  figures  ranging  from  296  to  774,  according  to  the 
methods  employed  in  computing  them,  some  including  small  skirmishes  and 
others  excluding  them.65  All  agree,  however,  that  Tennessee  ranks  next  to 
Virginia  in  the  number  of  conflicts  fought  on  her  soil. 

The  officers  from  Tennessee  of  high  rank  in  the  Confederate  army  were : 

Lieutenant-generals — Nathan  Bedford  Forrest  and  Alexander  P.  Stewart. 

Major-generals — William  Brimage  Bate,  John  Calvin  Brown,  Benjamin 
Franklin  Cheatham.  Daniel  S.  Donelson,  W.  Y.  C.  Humes,  Bushrod  R.  John- 
son, John  Porter  McCown,  Cadmus  M.  "Wilcox. 

Brigadier-generals — John  Adams,  Geo.  W.  Gordon,  Wm.  A.  Quarles,  Sam- 
uel R.  Anderson,  Robert  Hatton,  James  E.  Rains,  Frank  C.  Armstrong,  Benj. 
J.  Hill,  Preston  Smith,  Tyree  H.  Bell,  Alfred  E.  Jackson,  Thos.  Benton  Smith. 
Alexander  W.  Campbell,  Wm.  H.  Jackson,  Oscar  F.  Strahl,  Wm.  A.  Carroll, 
Wm.  McComb,  Robert  C.  Tyler,  John  C.  Carter,  George  Maney,  Alfred  J. 
Vaughan,  H.  B.  Davidson,  Joseph  B.  Palmer,  John  C.  Vaughn,  Geo.  G.  Dibrell, 
Gideon  J.  Pillow,  Lucius  M.  Walker,  John  W.  Frazer,  Lucius  E.  Polk,  Marcus 
J.  Wright,  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer. 

The  officers  from  Tennessee  of  high  rank  in  the  Federal  army  were :  Major- 
generals  by  brevet — Samuel  P.  Carter,  Joseph  A.  Cooper,  Alvan  C.  Gillem ; 
brigadier-generals — Wm.  B.  Campbell,  Andrew  Johnson,  James  G.  Spears ; 
brigadier-generals  by  brevet — James  P.  Brownlow,  Wm.  J.  Smith,  Geo.  Spald- 
ing. 

In  the  Confederate  navy  the  great  outstanding  figure  is  Matthew  Fontaine 
Maury,  whose  international   reputation  as  the  greatest  of  naval   scientists   was 


05  "The  Confederate  Military  History,"  Vol.  VIII,  p.  253,  says  there  were  "290  bat- 
tles, combats  and  skirmishes''  fought  in  Tennessee,  yet  Vol.  XIT  of  this  work  gives  a  list 
of  774  battles  and  skirmishes.     Miller's  "Manual,"  pp.  45-47,  gives   lists  aggregating  40S. 


514  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

acquired  prior  to  the  war.  The  following'  officers  distinguished  themselves  in 
active  Confederate  naval  service:  Lieuts.  W.  P.  A.  Campbell.  W.  W.  Carnes, 
H.  M.  Doak,  Jno.  W.  Dunnington,  Geo.  W.  Gift,  Geo.  A.  Howard.  Thos.  Ken- 
uedy  Porter,  A.  D.  Wharton,  John  F.  Wheless. 

Admiral  David  Glasgow  Farragut,  who  gained  for  himself  and  for  the 
Federal  navy  undying  fame,  was  a  Tennessean,  born  at  Campbell's  Station. 
Knox  County,  July  5,  1801.6G 

Samuel  P.  Carter  served  with  distinction  both  in  the  navy  and  in  the  army. 
He  was  withdrawn  from  the  navy  in  1861  and  made  a  brigadier-general  of  vol- 
unteers.67 


66  and  67  See  biographical  sketch. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

ANDREW  JOHNSON,  MILITARY  GOVERNOR 

It  will  be  remembered  tbat  the  state  government,  which,  under  Governor 
Harris,  had  been  controlled  by  the  secessionists  since  the  time  when  Tennessee 
had  withdrawn  from  the  Union  and  had  joined  the  Confederacy,  had  fled  to 
Memphis  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Donelson  (February  16,  1862).  On  March  20, 
1862,  it  adjourned  sine  die  and  Governor  Harris  went  to  Mississippi  where  he 
joined  the  Confederate  army  and  served  on  the  staff  of  Gen.  Albert  Sidney 
Johnston.  On  February  22,  1862,  General  Grant  proclaimed  martial  law  in 
West  Tennessee.  On  March  3,  1862,  President  Lincoln  appointed  Andrew 
Johnson  military  governor  of  Tennessee  with  the  rank -of  brigadier-general  of 
volunteers.    This  appointment  was  couched  in  the  following  brief  wording: 

AVar  Department,  March  3,  1862. 
To  the  Hon.   Andrew  Johnson: 

Sir:  You  are  hereby  appointed  Military  Governor  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, with  authority  to  exercise  and  perform  within  the  limits  of  the  State, 
all,  and  singular,  powers,  duties  and  functions,  pertaining  to  the  office  of 
Military  Governor,  (including  the  power  to  establish  all  necessary  offices  and 
tribunals,  and  suspend  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus)  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
president,  or  until  the  loyal  inhabitants  of  that  state  shall  organize  a  civil 
government  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.1 

Edwin  M.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War. 

This  was  a  position  which  demanded  in  the  highest  degree,  discrimination, 
knowledge  of  men,  good  judgment,  tact  and  firmness.  Johnson's  great  assets 
were  a  brilliant,  incisive  mind  and  insatiable  ambition.  Accompanying  the  ap- 
pointment were  instructions  which  said : 

"It  is  obvious  to  you  that  the  great  purpose  of  your  appointment  is  to 
reestablish  the  authority  of  the  Federal  government  in  the  state  of  Tennessee, 
and  provide  the  means  of  maintaining  peace  and  security  to  the  loyal  in- 
habitants of  that  state  until  they  shall  be  able  to  establish  a  civil  government. 
Upon  your  wisdom  and  energetic  action  much  will  depend  in  accomplishing 
the  result.  It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  give  any  specific  instructions,  but 
rather  to  confide  in  your  sound  discretion  to  adopt  such  measures  as  circum- 
stances may  demand.  Specific  instructions  will  be  given  when  requested. 
You  may  rely  upon  the  perfect  confidence  and  full  support  of  the  department 
in  the  performance  of  your  duties."2 

His  friends  and  foes  alike  agreed  that,  in  accepting  the  trust  reposed  in 
him,  he  brought  to  the  problem  the  qualities  of  loyalty  to  the  Federal  govern- 
ment, fearlessness,  aggressiveness,  self-reliance,  willingness  to  accept  responsi- 
bility, resourcefulness  and  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  political  factors  and 
peculiar  conditions  in  Tennessee. 

He  began  his  administration  with  a  proclamation,  published  later  as  an 
"Address  to  the  People."     In  it  he  referred  to  the  happiness  and  prosperity 

1&2  Official  Kecords,  Series  I,  Vol.  IX,  p.  396;  Stanton  Papers,  March  4,  1862,  Library 
of  Congress. 

515 


516  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  the  people  of  Tennessee  while  it  was  a  member  of  the  Federal  union  and 
contrasted  it  as  it  had  been  with  its  condition  at  the  time  of  the  proclamation, 
saying  that  the  state  government  had  disappeared  and  the  state  was  in  ruin. 
"The  executive,"  said  he,  "has  abdicated,  the  Legislature  has  dissolved,  the 
judiciary  is  in  abeyance.  *  *  *  The  archives  have  been  desecrated;  the 
public  property  Stolen  and  destroyed;  the  vaults  of  the  state  bank  violated  and 
its  treasuries  robbed,  including  the  funds  carefully  gathered  and  consecrated 
for  all  time  to  the  instruction  of  our  children.  In  such  a  lamentable  crisis,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  could  not  be  unmindful  of  its  high  constitu- 
tional obligation  to  guarantee  to  every  state  in  the  Union  a  republican  form 
of  government.''  His  main  desire  and  purpose  were  to  restore  Tennessee  to 
the  Union.  He  therefore  said:  "To  those  especially  who  in  private,  unofficial 
capacity  have  assumed  an  attitude  of  hostility  to  the  Government,  a  full  and 
compete  amnesty  for  all  past  acts  and  declarations  is  offered,  upon  the  one 
condition  of  their  again  yielding  themselves  peaceful  citizens  to  the  just  su- 
premacy of  the  laws.  This  I  advise  them  to  do  for  their  own  good,  and  for 
the  peace  and  welfare  of  our  beloved  state." 

The  tenor  of  the  entire  proclamation  was  strikingly  conciliatory.  In  one 
place  he  said:  "No  merely  retaliatory  or  vindictive  policy  will  be  adopted." 
His  enemies,  however,  did  not  believe  in  his  sincerity  and  the  secessionists  were 
infuriated.  Plots  were  formed  against  his  life;  he  was  dubbed  "arch-traitor" 
and  strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  apprehend  him  and  make  him  answer  for 
his  "crimes." 

For  the  actual  execution  of  his  plans  for  restoration  he  was  authorized  to 
use  the  United  States  army  whose  commanders  in  Tennessee  had  been  directed 
to  aid  him  in  the  performance  of  his  duties  and  to  detail  for  him  a  "governor's 
guard"  to  act  directly  under  his  orders.  For  military  authority  and  prestige 
he  was  made  a  brigadier-general.  His  office  was  established  in  the  capitol  which 
was  protected  by  cannon  and,  together  with  its  grounds,  was  called  Fort  John- 
son. For  his  assistants  he  appointed  Edward  H.  East,  secretary  of  state ;  Jo- 
seph S.  Fowler,  comptroller;  Horace  Maynard,  attorney-general,  and  Edmund 
Cooper,  private  secretary  and  confidential  agent. :; 

With  the  design  of  having  in  authority  only  those  who  were  friends  of  the 
Union,  he  immediately  proceeded  to  deal  with  such  secessionists  as  were  within 
his  reach.  The  oath  of  allegiance  was  tendered  to  the  mayor,  Richard  B.  Cheat- 
ham, and  the  City  Council  of  Nashville,  who  refused  to  take  it.  Johnson 
prompCy  declared  their  offices  vacant  and  filled  them  by  appointment  pending 
an  election.  All  municipal  officers,  including  the  members  of  the  board  of  edu- 
cation  and  school  teachers  were  required  to  take  the  oath.  On  March  29,  1862, 
ex-Mayor  Cheatham  was  arrested  for  disloyalty  and  uttering  treasonable  and 
seditious  language  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  Other  prom- 
inent secessionists  were  also  arrested,  including  ex-Governor  Neill  S.  Brown, 
Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  and  the  president  and  cashier  of  the  Union  Bank  of  Nash- 
ville. Warrants  were  also  sent  to  the  military  commanders  in  the  state  who 
were  empowered  to  use  their  discretion  in  making  arrests. 

Military  supervision  was  then  extended  over  the  press.  Some  papers  were 
suppressed,  their  plants  seized  and  houses  closed. 

Johnson  also  laid  his  strong  hand  upon  the  clergy.  On  June  17th,  six 
ministers,  who  had  been  summoned  before  him  and  asked  to  take  the  oath,  re- 


3  Nashville  Union,  April  27,  1862. 


ANDREW    JOHNSON 


TOMLINSON    PORT,    SE, 


w.  f.  cooper 

Eminent  jurist  commissioned  to  cod- 
ifv    laws    of   Tennessee 


COLONEL  A.   S.   COLYAE 
Prominent  editor  and  lawyer 


THE   {IPPAfir 

OF  THE 

UNfVERSIV  '      ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  519 

* 

fused  to  do  so.     Five  of  them  were  immediately  thrust   into  prison.     Later 
they  were  sent  south  to  the  Federal  lines. 

Among  the  most  important  duties  of  the  governor,  as  he  conceived  it,  was 
the  restoration  of  civil  law ;  but  such  were  the  conditions  in  1862  that  he  could 
make  only  the  slightest  progress  to  this  end.  County  and  circuit  courts  were 
opened  for  business  at  some  points  in  Middle  Tennessee,  but  could  not  function 
satisfactorily  because  of  constant  conflict  as  to  jurisdiction  with  the  military 
tribunals  which  were  under  the  direct  control  of  the  generals  of  the  army. 
There  were  therefore  few  courts  for  civil  and  criminal  cases  until  1864.  In 
Memphis,  however,  from  the  spring  of  1863  civil  and  criminal  law  was  ad- 
ministered by  a  commission  of  citizens,  created  by  the  commanding  general. 

The  governor  was  assisted  not  a  little  in  his  efforts  by  cooperation  of  the 
Union  sympathizers  who  arranged  a  series  of  mass  meetings.  The  most  impor- 
tant of  these  was  the  one  that  assembled  at  Nashville  on  May  12,  1862  4  pur- 
suant to  a  call  issued  by  prominent  Union  men  who  favored  "the  restoration  of 
the  former  relations  of  this  state  to  the  Federal  Union. ' '  Ex-Governor  Wm.  B. 
Campbell  was  the  chairman  of  this  meeting  and  made  a  cordially  conciliatory 
speech  which  outlined  Johnson's  official  policy  at  that  time  and  was  probably 
inspired  by  the  governor  who  was  also  present  and  made  an  address. 

As  a  test  of  public  opinion,  an  election  was  held  on  May  22,  1862,  for  a 
judge  of  the  Circuit  Court  and  Turner  S.  Foster,  a  man  with  an  open  record 
in  favor  of  secession,  was  elected.  Johnson  gave  Foster  his  commission,  then 
arrested  and  imprisoned  him  and  appointed  his  defeated  opponent  to  perform 
the  duties  of  the  office.5  Because  of  this  check  and  because  the  governor  was 
now  fully  occupied  with  military  matters  all  reconstruction  measures  were, 
for  a  time,  abandoned.  All  that  Johnson  had  accomplished  up  to  this  time  was 
the  restoration  of  order  and  the  intimidation  of  Confederate  sympathizers  in 
Nashville  by  force. 

When  the  Confederate  troops  retreated  south  followed  by  the  Federal  troops, 
Johnson  was  in  an  agony  of  alarm  at  the  exposed  situation  of  Nashville,  and 
when  occasionally  this  city  was  threatened  by  some  Confederate  force,  his 
anxiety  reached  almost  the  bounds  of  panic.  His  military  suggestions  made  in 
the  stress  of  such  circumstances,  in  fact  almost  all  his  military  suggestions,  were 
resented  by  the  Union  commanders  and  conflict  of  authority  ensued.  But  John- 
son had  enough  influence  with  Lincoln  and  Stanton  to  cause  them  to  require 
the  Union  generals  to  justify  their  policy,  when  it  conflicted  with  that  of  the 
military  governor.  In  the  controversies  he  had  with  Generals  Halleck,  Buell 
and  their  subordinates  Johnson's  personality  loomed  large.  As  he  thought 
the  fate  of  the  state  was  at  stake,  all  his  native  vigor,  courage  and  pugnacity 
were  aroused.  He  did  not  brook  opposition  nor  delay.  On  the  other  hand  the 
generals  viewed  the  governor's  meddling  with  ill-concealed  anger  or  contempt. 
Johnson's  wrath  was  particularly  directed  against  General  Buell,  whom,  at  one 
time,  he  stigmatized  as  a  traitor,  and  Buell,  in  turn,  despised  Johnson.  Yet.  in 
the  investigation  into  Buell 's  conduct,  which  was  made  later,  the  commission 
sided  with  Johnson. 

Johnson  also  quarrelled  with  General  Nelson  and  General  Negley  and  espe- 
cially virulently  with  Captain  Greene,  the  assistant  adjutant-general,  who  first 
alienated  Johnson's  good  will  by  sending  to  the  front  troops  which  Johnson  said 


*  Nashville  Union,  May  13,  1862. 

s  Nashville  Union,   September  20,   1862. 


520  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

were  needed  for  service  in  Nashville.  This  action  was  followed  by  friction  in 
other  matters  and  finally  Johnson  secured  Greene's  transfer.  And  military 
men  were  not  the  only  men  to  feel  Johnson's  imperious  disfavor.  He  fell  into 
a  violent  altercation  with  John  Lellyett,  the  postmaster  of  Nashville,  a  gentle- 
man of  high  character  who  positively  refused  to  follow  Johnson's  lead.  Yet  the 
postmaster  was  soon  removed  and  was  numbered  among  the  victims  of  John- 
son's animosity. 

When  Rosecrans  succeeded  Buell,  it  was  decided  that  a  program  of  greater 
repression  of  Confederate  sympathizers  would  be  inaugurated.  This  policy 
was  stated  by  the  Nashville  Union  of  November  30,  1862,  "to  draw  a  line  be- 
tween its  friends  and  its  enemies,  and  give  protection  where  it  finds  allegiance." 
To  establish  this  distinction  a  certificate  of  protection  was  issued  to  persons  of 
known  loyalty  to  the  Union  and  to  such  others  as  gave  bond  to  "keep  the  peace, 
and  afford  neither  aid  nor  comfort  to  the  enemies  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States."  This  was  called  the  noncombatant  parole.  Johnson  appointed 
commissioners  in  the  various  counties  to  administer  the  oath  and  take  the  bonds, 
also  one  to  accompany  Rosecrans'  army  for  the  same  purpose. 

It  was  still  impossible,  however,  to  harmonize  the  functions  of  civil  and 
military  administration,  and  Johnson  and  Rosecrans  soon  fell  out,  Johnson 
objected  to  Rosecrans'  new  police  system  and  the  army  detective  police  under 
Colonel  Truesdail,  a  capable  but,  as  generally  believed,  unscrupulous  officer, 
called  by  Johnson  "a  base  and  unmitigated  Jesuitical  parasite."6 

Mild  measures  having  proved  inefficient  to  accomplish  what  he  was  seek- 
ing, Johnson  bore  down  more  and  more  heavily  and  caused  a  number  of  persons 
to  remove  north  of  the  Ohio  River.  He  also  carried  out  with  assiduity  the 
provisions  of  the  confiscation  act  whereby  the  property  of  Confederates  was 
seized  and  rented  or  leased. 

Lincoln's  emancipation  proclamation 

On  September  22,  1862,  President  Lincoln  issued  his  preliminary  proclama- 
tion, declaring  that  the  slaves  in  those  states  which,  on  January  1,  1863,  should 
be  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  should  be  forever  free.  From  the  op- 
eration of  it,  however,  Tennessee  was  excepted.  Historians  generally  say  that 
this  exception  was  made  at  Johnson's  request.  Blaine,  in  his  "Twenty  Years 
(f  Congress,"  Vol.  I,  p.  446,  says:  "1  can  find  no  categorical  confirmation 
of  this  statement,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  generally  believed  that  Johnson 
was  behind  the  measure."  Yet,  whatever  Johnson's  connection  with  it,  is  it 
not  more  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  exception  was  made  in  consequence  of 
the  contract,  never  abrogated,  which  existed  between  the  United  States  and  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  when  the  latter  ceded  her  western  lands  (Tennessee1 
to  the  United  States?  Under  the  fourth  condition  is  the  following  explicit 
language :  ' '  Provided  always,  That  no  regulations  made  or  to  be  made  by  Con- 
gress shall  tend  to  emancipate  slaves." 

Johnson  undoubtedly  knew  of  this  contract  and  his  idea  was  that  as,  accord- 
ing to  his  theory,  the  seceding  states  had  never  been  out  of  the  Union,  the  peo- 
ple in  their  sovereign  capacity,  should  voluntarily  emancipate  their  slaves.  In 
Tennessee  this  theory  was  reduced  to  practice  in  1865. 

The  considerate  treatment  of  Tennessee  by  Lincoln  in  the  matter  of  slavery 


o  Nashville  Union,  October  29,  1862. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  521 

did,  at  any  rate,  help  the  Union  cause  in  this  state.    But  the  success  of  the  Fed- 
eral troops  administered  a  still  more  vigorous  tonic. 

CARUTHERS   ELECTED   GOVERNOR 

Nevertheless,  the  secessionists  were  by  no  means  inactive  or  discouraged  even 
in  matters  of  civil  government.  In  May,  1863,  a  proclamation  was  made  by 
Governor  Isham  G.  Harris  and,  on  May  23d,  a  call  was  published  in  The  Rebel, 
announcing  that  a  convention  would  be  held  at  Winchester,  Franklin  County, 
on  June  17th,  to  select  candidates  for  governor  and  a  general  congressional 
ticket.  Said  the  call:  "It  is  more  important  that  this  duty  should  be  per- 
formed now  than  at  any  other  previous  period  in  our  history.  We  must  exhibit 
to  the  enemy  our  unalterable  firmness  of  purpose  and  determination  to  preserve 
and  perpetuate  our  free  institutions."  As  the  Union  armies  largely  dominated 
the  state,  no  regular  method  of  naming  delegates  was  possible.  Therefore  the 
convention  was  in  no  sense  representative.  Resolutions  endorsing  Governor 
Harris  were  adopted  and  Governor  Harris  himself  addressed  the  meeting.  As 
Harris  had  served  three  consecutive  terms  he  was  ineligible  to  be  a  candidate 
at  this  time.  In  seeking  for  a  suitable  man  for  the  nominee,  leading  members 
turned  to  Gen.  Win.  B.  Bate,  who  was  stationed  at  Wartrace  with  Bragg 's  army. 
He  declined  in  the  following  characteristic  telegram : 

"Wartrace,   June   17,    1863. 
• "  To  Messrs.  Galloway,  Rice,  Winchester,  Brown  and  Others : 

"Gentlemen:  In  reply  to  your  telegram  of  today,  I  beg  to  state  that, 
however  nattering  the  honor  you  suggest,  and  to  which  I  am  not  insensible, 
there  is  a  duty  that  rises  above  it.  As  a  son  of  Tennessee  and  a  Southern 
soldier,  I  would  feel  dishonored  in  this  hour  of  trial  to  quit  the  field.  No, 
sirs,  while  an  armed  foe  trails  our  soil,  and  I  can  fire  a  shot  or  draw  a  blade, 
I  will  take  no  civic  honor.  I  had  rather,  amid  her  misfortunes,  be  the  defender 
than  the  Governor  of  Tennessee.     Let  me  exhort  to  harmony. 

' '  Respectf  ullv, 

"W.*B.  Bate."7 

On  receipt  of  this  telegram  the  convention  nominated  Judge  Robert  L. 
Caruthers  who  was  too  old  for  active  service  in  the  field.  But  he  never  assumed 
the  office.  For  the  Confederate  Congress  were  nominated,  J.  B.  Heiskell,  W.  G. 
Swann,  A.  S.  Colyar,  J.  P.  Murray,  Henry  S.  Foote,  E.  A.  Keeble,  James  Me- 
Cullom,  Thos.  Menees,  J.  D.  C.  Atkins,  John  V.  Wright  and  D.  M.  Currin. 

On  July  1,  1863,  a  convention  of  Union  men  also  was  held,  this  one  at  Nash- 
ville. The  call  was  signed  by  Horace  Maynard,  W.  G.  Brownlow,  John  Lellyet 
and  others  and  summoned  "those  who  desire  to  maintain  the  state  government 
in  connection  with  the  Federal  Union  as  it  stood  prior  to  the  rebellion  and  the 
war."  Suggestions  to  elect  a  governor  and  a  Legislature  came  to  nothing.  In 
fact  the  convention  seems  to  have  accomplished  nothing  but  an  exposition  of  the 
lack  of  harmony  among  the  unionists.  At  this  time  it  is  evident  that  the  civil 
power  in  the  state  of  both  secessionists  and  unionists  was  virtually  dead. 

The  Confederates,  however,  in  some  way,  did  elect  Judge  Caruthers  gov- 
ernor and  their  representatives  were  admitted  to  the  Confederate  Congress  at 
Richmond.  This  was  on  the  regular  day  for  the  state  elections,  August  4,  and, 
on  that  same  date,  the  unionists  who  were  opposed  to  Johnson,  headed  by  Emer- 
son Etheridge,  endeavored  to  hold  an  election  for  governor.     Although  all  the 


'Marshall's  "Life  of  William  B.  Bate,"  pp.  64-65. 


522  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

preliminary  legal  actions  were  lacking,  an  election  was  held  in  two  or  three 
counties  and  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  votes  were  cast  for  W.  B.  Camp- 
bell whom,  thereupon,  the  Etheridge  following  declared  to  be  elected  governor, 
and  Etheridge  actually  went  on  to  Washington  and  urged  President  Lincoln  to 
recognize  Campbell  as  governor  and  to  instate  him. 

PROGRESS   OP   REORGANIZATION 

Up  to  the  time,  November  24  and  25,  1863,  when  Bragg  was  driven  into 
Georgia,  Johnson  had  been  compelled,  sorely  against  his  will,  to  defer  to  the 
military  policy  of  the  generals.  Now,  however,  that  the  Confederate  troops 
were  out  of  the  state  never  to  return,  except  for  the  sporadic  and  short-lived 
campaigns  of  Forrest  and  Hood,  Johnson  thought  his  time  had  come  to  put  into 
practical  form  his  ideas  of  reconstruction.  And,  in  so  doing,  while  still  dis- 
posed to  be  conciliatory,  he  was  determined  that  the  secession  leaders  should 
be  punished.  "Many  humble  men,"  said  he,  "the  peasantry  and  yeomanry  of 
the  South,  who  have  been  decoyed,  or  perhaps  drawn  into  the  rebellion,  may 
look  forward  with  reasonable  hope  for  an  amnesty.  But  the  intelligent  and  in- 
fluential leaders  must  suffer.     The  tall  poppies  must  be  struck  down." 

Lincoln's  policy  was  embodied  in  his  proclamation  of  amnesty  and  recon- 
struction issued  December  8,  1863,  in  which  he  offered  amnesty  to  all  except 
certain  specified  classes  that  had  taken  part  in  the  rebellion  and  purposed  to 
restore  all  their  property  rights  except  slaves  and  in  cases  where  third  persons 
had  intervened  and  had  acquired  rights,  on  condition  of  their  taking  an  oath 
thenceforward  to  "support,  protect  and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  Union  of  the  states  thereunder."  Also  a  number  of  persons  not 
less  than  one-tenth  of  the  voters  in  the  state,  at  the  presidential  election  of  1860 
could,  after  taking  the  amnesty  oath,  form  a  state  government  which  would  be 
recognized  as  the  true  government  of  the  state.  In  the  furtherance  of  his  plan, 
Lincoln  sent  an  agent  into  Tennessee,  about  the  middle  of  January,  1864,  with 
blanks  and  instructions  to  enroll  citizens  who  would  take  the  oath. 

Lincoln's  magnanimous  views,  however,  found  little  sympathy  in  the  mind 
of  Johnson  who  contended  that  the  voters  "should  be  put  to  the  severest  test." 
On  January  21,  1864.  a  mass  meeting  assembled  in  Nashville,  at  which  Johnson 
gave  his  views  on  the  restoration  of  state  government.  This  speech  was  after- 
wards issued  in  pamphlet  form.8  Having  received  many  messages  of  commenda- 
tion of  his  speech  from  all  parts  of  the  state  Johnson  issued,  on  January  26th. 
a  proclamation  for  an  election  of  county  officers  on  the  first  Saturday  in  March. 
In  this  proclamation  he  said:  "It  is  not  expected  that  the  enemies  of  the 
United  States  will  propose  to  vote,  nor  is  it  intended  that  they  be  permitted  to 
vote,  or  hold  office."  Voters  were  compelled  to  subscribe  to  the  following 
stringent  oath: 

"I  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  henceforth  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  defend  it  against  the  assaults  of  all  its  enemies;  that  I  will 
henceforth  be  and  conduct  myself  as  a  true  and  faithful  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  freely  and  voluntarily  claiming  to  be  subject  to  all  the  duties  and 
obligations,  and  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  such  citizenship ; 
that  I  ardently  desire  the  suppression  of  the  present  insurrection  and  rebellion 

s  Entitled,  "Speech  of  Governor  Andrew  Johnson  on  the  Kestoration  of  State  Govern- 
ment." A  resume  of  this  speech  is  given  in  Hall's  "Andrew  Johnson,  Military  Governor 
of  Tennessee,"  pp.  114-118. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  523 

against  the  government  of  the  United  States,  the  success  of  its  armies  and  the 
defeat  of  all  those  who  oppose  them,  and  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  all  laws  and  proclamations  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  may  be 
speedily  and  permanently  established  and  enforced  over  all  the  people,  and 
territories  thereof ;  and  further,  that  I  will  hereafter  aid  and  assist  all  loyal 
people  in  the  accomplishment  of  all  these  results.     So  help  me  God." 

This  oath  and  other  tests  prescribed  made  voting  difficult  and  rendered 
Johnson  still  more  unpopular  in  the  estimation  of  many  Unionists.  Yet  the 
storm  of  abuse  poured  upon  him  only  steeled  Johnson's  resolution.  The  elec- 
tion which  fell  on  March  5th  was  declared  "a  serious  farce."  The  total  vote 
was  probably  between  40,000  and  50,000,  so  that,  while  there  were  difficulties, 
scandals  and  troubles  of  various  kinds  connected  with  it,  an  actual  start  was 
made  toward  civil  government  in  Tennessee. 

The  most  serious  discord  occurred  in  East  Tennessee.  On  April  12th  T.  A. 
R.  Nelson,  at  Johnson's  suggestion,  issued  a  call  for  a  convention0  at  Knox- 
ville  at  which  evidences  of  hostility  to  Johnson  soon  developed.  A  movement 
to  detach  East  Tennessee  as  a  separate  state  developed  some  strength  but  finally 
collapsed  before  Johnson's  determined  opposition.  The  meeting  finally  ad- 
journed after  a  most  acrimonious  discussion.  But  Johnson  and  his  friends  held 
another  mass  meeting  of  their  own  on  the  day  after  the  adjournment. 

Judge  Oliver  P.  Temple,  who  took  an  active  part  in  the  proceedings  of  this 
meeting,  has  given  an  interesting  account10  of  it.  The  subjoined  excerpt  from 
his  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee"  seems  worth  while  as  showing  the  manner  in 
which  Johnson's  subtle  mind  reacted: 

"The  mass  meeting  was  gotten  up  on  the  suggestion  and  for  the  benefit  of 
Governor  Johnson.  Of  course  he  was  the  chief  speaker.  It  may  be  of  interest 
to  many  persons  to  know  how  meetings  of  this  kind  were  generally  managed 
by  old  politicians.  The  resolutions  were  dictated  by  Mr.  Johnson  himself,  and 
written  by  his  private  secretary,  Wm.  A.  Browning.  They  were  then  taken 
to  Wm.  G.  Brownlow  and  he  was  requested  to  read  and  offer  them  as  his 
own.  He  approved  them  and  was  willing  to  offer  them  as  his  own,  but  owing 
to  the  partial  loss  of  his  voice,  he  could  not  read  them,  and  suggested  that  I 
be  requested  to  read  them.  When  this  was  communicated  to  Governor  John- 
son, he  said  it  was  a  good  suggestion,  that  the  gentlemen  named  were  both 
olddine  Whigs,  and  in  that  way  he  would  secure  their  influence  with  that 
party,  which  constituted  a  majority  of  the  loyal  people.  Accordingly  he  sent 
a  messenger  to  me  requesting  me  to  read  his  resolutions,  which  I  agreed  to  do, 
reserving  the  right  to  make  an  explanation  when  doing  so.  When  the  meeting 
was  called  to  order,  I  was  called  on,  as  if  I  had  never  heard  of  them  before, 
to  read  some  resolutions  which  Mr.  Brownlow  wished  to  offer.  This  I  did, 
and  then  explained  that  I  did  not  agree  with  the  plan  for  reorganization  of 
our  State  Government. 

"When  Mr.  Johnson  arose  to  speak,  he  said,  as  if  he  had  known  nothing 
that  was  to  take  place,  that  he  had  listened  with  great  interest  to  the  resolu- 
tions offered  by  his  friend,  Mr.  Brownlow,  and  he  took  great  pleasure  in  say- 
ing they  met  his  hearty  approval.  No  doubt  the  resolution  which  declared  that 
the  meeting  had  "full  confidence  in  the  integrity  and  patriotism  of  Andrew- 
Johnson,  Military  Governor  of  the  State,'  did  meet  with  his  hearty  approval 
and  gave  him  great  pleasure  ! ' ' 

On  the  third  of  May  a  call  was  issued  to  the  Union  men  of  the  state  to  meet 
in  the  several  divisions  on  May  30th,  and  elect  delegates  to  the  national  con- 

9  This  was  the  third  meeting  of  the  Knoxville-Greeneville  Convention,  which  met  first 
in  May,  1861. 

io  Temple's  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  408  et  seq. 


524  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

vention  at  Baltimore.  There  was  grave  doubt  whether  the  five  delegates  elected 
by  Tennessee  would  be  given  seats  in  the  Baltimore  Convention.  But  they  were 
given  seats  largely,  perhaps,  because  of  the  fervid  plea  made  by  Wm.  G.  Brown- 
low,  who,  in  his  argument  took  the  same  ground  maintained  by  Johnson  that 
this  state  was  not  out  of  the  Union  and  had  never  been  out  of  the  Union.  This 
principle  was  clinched  when  Andrew  Johnson  was  nominated  by  that  conven- 
tion for  vice  president,  because,  of  course,  no  man  could  be  a  candidate  for 
that  office  who  came  from  a  state  out  of  the  Union.  This  was  in  accordance  with 
the  contention  of  Charles  Sumner  that  "a  state  pretending  to  secede  from  the 
Union"  must  be  regarded  as  a  rebel  state  subject  to  military  occupation  until 
admitted  into  the  Union  by  the  vote  of  both  houses  of  Congress. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  of  1864,  Johnson  busied  himself  with  the  restora- 
tion of  the  courts  and  made  some  progress  in  various  parts  of  the  state.  This 
work,  however,  of  necessity,  proceeded  slowly  and  was  interrupted  by  Forrest's 
raids  and,  finally,  by  Hood's  Nashville  campaign. 

On  September  5,  1864,  a  convention,  called  by  the  Union  State  Committee, 
preparatory  to  the  national  presidential  election  in  November  of  that  year,  was 
held  at  Nashville.  A  violent  storm  of  abuse  and  accusation  arose  in  it  between 
the  administrationists  and  their  opponents.  Finally,  the  governor's  henchmen 
gained  control  and  resolutions  were  passed  favorable  to  his  views.  It  is  thought 
that  he  dictated,  if  he  did  not  indeed  write  the  resolutions  and  especially  the 
requirements  for  voting.  These  were  that  the  voter  must  conform  to  the  re- 
quirements of  the  state  constitution  to  be  entitled  to  the  elective  franchise,  and 
also  to  have  voluntarily  borne  arms  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  in  the 
war,  must  register  at  least  fifteen  days  before  the  election  and  must  subscribe 
to  the  following  oath : 

"I  solemnly  swear  that  I  will  henceforth  support  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  and  defend  it  against  the  assaults  of  all  its  enemies;  that  I  am 
an  active  friend  of  the  government  of  the  United  States ;  that  I  sincerely  re- 
joice in  the  triumph  of  its  armies  and  navies  and  in  the  defeat  and  overthrow 
of  the  armies,  navies,  and  all  armed  combinations  in  the  interest  of  the  so- 
called  Confederate  States;  that  I  will  cordially  oppose  all  armistices  or  nego- 
tiations for  peace  with  rebels  in  arms,  until  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  all  laws  and  proclamations  made  in  pursuance  thereof  shall  be 
established  over  the  people  of  every  state  and  territory  embraced  within  the 
National  Union ;  and  that  I  will  heartily  aid  and  assist  the  loyal  people  in 
whatever  measures  may  be  adopted  for  the  attainment  of  these  ends ;  and 
further,  that  I  take  this  oath  freely  and  voluntarily  and  without  mental  reserva- 
tion.    So  help  me  God."  n 

On  October  7th,  while  the  convention  was  yet  in  session,  Governor  Johnson 
issued  a  proclamation  appealing  to  the  "loyal  people"  of  the  state  and  warning 
the  disloyal  of  the  danger  of  delay. 

On  the  30th  of  September  he  issued  a  second  proclamation  affirming  his 
desire  to  cooperate  with  the  "laudable  efforts"  of 'the  convention  and  stating 
that  voters  must  take  the  oath  exactly  as  worded  in  the  resolutions  and  outlining 
the  necessary  election  machinery  which  must  be  set  up. 

The  peace  democrats  of  Tennessee  were  much  disturbed,  indeed  they  felt 
outraged  at  the  resolutions  adopted,  the  oath  and  Johnson's  promised  coopera- 
tion, which  would  tend  to  disfranchise  most  of  them  and  render  eligible  to  vote 
only  the  adherents  of  the  National  Union  party.     So  they  sent  a  deputation  to 


11  This  is  the  so-called  "iron-clad  oath." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  525 

Washington  to  see  Lincoln  and  make  a  vehement  protest  to  him  against  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  the  radicals;  but  they  obtained  no  satisfaction  from 
him  and  finally  told  him  that  the  McClellan  ticket  in  Tennessee  would  be  with- 
drawn. 

For  several  weeks  preceding  the  election  political  conditions  in  Tennessee 
were  very  exciting.  A  McClellan  meeting  at  Nashville  on  October  21st  was 
broken  up  by  Union  soldiers,  and  a  Lincoln  and  Johnson  meeting  in  Nashville 
on  October  24th  was  extremely  turbulent.  A  negro  torchlight  procession  was 
held  and  "shots  were  freely  fired."  The  election,  itself,  on  November  8th  was, 
so  far  as  Tennessee  was  concerned,  a  mere  form.  The  result  was  predetermined. 
Only  a  few  scattering  votes  went  for  McClellan.  The  majority  for  Lincoln  and 
Johnson  was  over  8,500. 

By  joint  resolution  Congress  rejected  the  electoral  vote  of  Tennessee  on  the 
ground  that  the  state  had  "rebelled  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  was  in  such  condition  on  the  8th  day  of  November,  1864,  that  no  valid 
election  for  electors  of  President  and  vice  president  of  the  United  States,  ac- 
cording to  the  Constitution  and  laws  thereof,  was  held  on  said  day.'"  '-  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  acquiesced  in  this  action. 

REORGANIZATION  EFFECTED 

On  November  12,  1864,  a  call  was  made  by  the  East  Tennessee  Union  ex- 
ecutive committee  for  a  convention  to  be  held  in  Nashville  on  December  19th 
"to  form  a  ticket  to  be  run  for  a  constitutional  convention"  by  the  pro-Union 
men  of  the  state.  Hood's  invasion,  of  course,  which  ended  with  the  battle  of 
Nashville  on  December  15  and  16,  1864,  made  it  impossible  for  the  convention 
to  be  held  on  the  date  scheduled.  So  it  was  postponed  to  January  8,  1865.  As 
the  8th  fell  on  Sunday,  the  convention  13  met  on  the  9th,  attended  by  more 
than  five  hundred  delegates.  The  usual  friction  developed  between  the  con- 
servative and  the  radical  elements.  But  a  cessation  of  the  strife  was  brought 
about  by  a  speech  by  Johnson  on  the  12th.  The  conservatives  were  beaten  and 
knew  it  and  many  departed  for  their  homes.  Those  members  of  the  convention 
who  remained  14  adopted  a  report  that  two  constitutional  amendments  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  people,  providing  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  prohibiting  the 
Legislature  from  reviving  it.  The  radical  schedule,  which  was  also  approved, 
repealed  Section  31  of  the  state  constitution,  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  adopted 
on  May  6,  1861,  and  the  League  with  the  Confederate  States,  adopted  on  May  7, 
1861,  declared  void  all  acts  of  the  Harris  government  since  May  6,  1861,  ratified 
Governor  Johnson's  acts,  provided  for  an  election  on  February  22,  1865,  at 
which  votes  might  be  cast  by  the  people  for  the  ratification  of  these  amendments 
and  by  the  people  for  the  ratification  of  these  amendments  and  schedule,  and 
provided  for  another  election  on  March  4,  1865,  for  the  election  of  a  governor 
and  members  of  the  General  Assembly.    A  resolution  was  also  adopted  requiring 


12  Congressional  Globe,  38th  Congress,  2nd  Session,  pp.  522,  533,  534,  711. 

is  Temple  in  his  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,"  p.  409,  says:  "It  was  a  misnomer, 
however,  in  the  graver  sense  of  the  word,  to  designate  this  meeting  as  a  convention.  It 
was  simply  a  mass  meeting.  The  call  said:  'If  you  can  not  meet  in  your  counties,  come 
upon  your  own  personal  responsibility.'  Every  man  therefore  attended  who  wished  to  da 
so.  A  part  of  the  state  was  still  held  by  the  Confederates,  and  a  representation  from  all 
of  it  was  not  possible." 

14  This  report  was  adopted  when  the  convention  had  been  reduced  to  274  delegates. 


526  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

all  voters  to  take  the  oath  (called  the  "iron-clad  oath")  adopted  in  the  conven- 
tion of  September  5,  1864. 

The  result  of  the  popular  election  could  easily  be  forecasted.  On  February 
22,  1865,  the  amendments  15  and  schedules  were  ratified  by  a  vote  of  25,293  to  48. 
Only  twenty-seven  counties  sent  in  returns,  but  President  Lincoln's  10  per  cent 
requirement  was  complied  with  by  a  large  margin. 

On  February  25,  1865,  Governor  Johnson  issued  a  proclamation  announcing 
the  people's  verdict  on  the  plan  (which  was  essentially  his  own)  and  declaring 
the  amendments  to  be  a  part  of  the  constitution.  It  was  in  a  sense  a  prediction 
and  a  valedictory.     In  his  closing  paragraph  he  said : 

"A  new  era  dawns  upon  the  people  of  Tennessee.  They  enter  upon  a 
career  guided  by  reason,  law,  order,  and  reverence.  The  reign  of  brute 
force  and  personal  violence  has  passed  away  forever." 

In  view,  however,  of  the  turbulence  which  characterized  the  Brownlow 
regime,  now  about  to  begin,  one  can  not  be  strongly  impressed  by  Johnson's 
ability  as  a  prophet. 

GOVERNOR    BROWNLOW  16 

Almost  immediately  Johnson  resigned  his  office  of  military  governor  and 
left  for  Washington,  where  he  was  sworn  in  as  vice  president  on  March  4,  1865, 
the  very  date  of  the  election  of  his  successor. 

As  the  candidate  for  governor  only  one  man,  William  G.  Brownlow,  com- 
monly spoken  of  as  Parson  Brownlow,  was  considered  or  could  be  considered, 
as  the  administration  and  its  newspapers  were  openly  determined  in  their 
preference  for  him.  Brownlow  was,  perhaps,  the  most  strikingly  original  per- 
sonality in  the  state  at  that  time,  not  even  excepting  Johnson  himself.  But 
he  seems  to  have  possessed  few  qualifications  for  the  office  of  governor  except 
the  one  qualification  which  was  of  paramount  importance  in  the  view  of  the 
administration,  namely,  intense,  unswerving,  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the 
Union.  Being  bitter,  narrow-minded,  and  extravagant  in  action  and  expression, 
he  was  not  considered  by  the  conservative  element  in  the  state  as  a  suitable 
man.  as  governor,  to  allay  strife  and  bring  about  a  peaceful  coordination  of  the 
divergent  and  suspicious  elements  in  Tennessee  which  would  make  for  the  best 
interests  of  all. 

Brownlow  and  the  convention  ticket  received  in  the  state  election  on  March 
4th,  23.352  votes  against  35  scattering.  A  hiatus,  however,  developed  in  the 
government,  as  Johnson  had  resigned  and  Brownlow  could  not  be  inaugurated 
until  the  Legislature  should  convene  on  the  first  Monday  in  April.  It  was  ex- 
pected by  many  that  President  Lincoln  would  appoint  Brownlow  to  succeed  as 
military  governor,  but  the  mantle  of  Johnson  was  not  destined  to  fall  upon  the 
shoulders  of  Brownlow,  for  Lincoln  permitted  E.  H.  East,  the  secretary  of  state, 
to  perform  the  gubernatorial  functions  until  the  new  civil  officers  were  qualified. 


is  The  language  of  the  amendments  was  as  follows:  Section  1.  That  slavery  and  in- 
voluntary servitude,  except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been 
duly  convicted,  are  hereby  forever  abolished  and  prohibited  throughout  the  state. 

Section  2.  The  Legislature  shall  make  no  law  recognizing  the  right  of  property  in 
man. 

is  See  biographical  sketch. 


CHAPTER  XXV 
RECONSTRUCTION 

THE  BROWNLOW  REGIME — THE  KU  KLUX  KLAN  AND  THE  LOYAL  LEAGUE — THE  STATE 
DEBT ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR    SENTER 

The  General  Assembly  met  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  1865,  and  promptly 
ratified  a  the  thirteenth  amendment  (the  abolition  of  slavery)  of  the  Federal 
Constitution  then  pending.  When  Brownlow  was  inaugurated  governor  on 
April  6th,  civil  government  was  again  restored  in  Tennessee  and  the  dark  days 
of  reconstruction  began.  It  may  be  said  in  passing  that  some  historians  assign 
as  the  limits  of  reconstruction  in  this  state  the  period  beginning  with  the  with- 
drawal of  General  Bragg  from  Tennessee  and  ending  when  the  democratic  party 
regained  full  control  in  1870.  The  period  from  1863  when  the  Confederate 
forces  left  Tennessee  to  the  election  of  Governor  Brownlow  has  been  covered 
in  Chapter  XXIV.  So  that  that  part  only  of  the  broader  period  and  the  part 
which,  strictly  speaking,  pertains  to  reconstruction  more  properly,  remains  to 
be  related. 

To  understand  adequately  the  atrocities  of  that  reconstruction  period  which 
soon  ensued,  one  must  first  understand  the  attitude  of  mind  of  the  returned 
Confederate  soldiers  and  that  of  inveterate  and  faithful  Unionists  in  whose  hands 
was  the  government  of  Brownlow,  and,  particularly,  that  of  Brownlow  himself. 
Lee  had  surrendered  on  April  9,  1865,  Lincoln  was  assassinated  on  April  14, 
the  Confederate  soldiers  began  to  reach  their  homes  soon  afterwards  and  events 
had  so  shaped  themselves  that  Governor  Brownlow  and  his  Legislature  were 
afforded  a  brilliant  opportunity  for  the  speedy  return  of  the  people  to  the 
occupations  and  the  orderly  habits  of  times  of  peace.  No  one  can  tell  more 
eloquently  and  justly  than  Henry  W.  Grady  of  the  return  of  the  Confederate 
soldier  and  of  his  depth  of  feeling  for  his  home  and  country.    He  says : 

"Let  me  picture  to  you  the  foot-sore  Confederate  soldier,  as  buttoning  up 
in  his  faded  gray  jacket  the  parole  which  was  to  bear  testimony  to  his  chil- 
dren of  his  fidelity  and  faith,  he  turned  his  face  southward  from  Appomattox  in 
April,  1865.  Think  of  him  as  ragged,  half-starved,  heavy-hearted,  enfeebled 
by  want  and  wounds,  having  fought  to  exhaustion,  he  surrenders  his  gun, 
wrings  the  hands  of  his  comrades  in  silence,  and,  lifting  his  tear-stained  and 
pallid  face  for  the  last  time  to  the  graves  that  dot  old  Virginia  hills,  pulls 
his  old  gray  cap  over  his  brow,  and  begins  the  slow  and  painful  journey. 

"What  does  he  find— let  me  ask  you  who  went  to  your  homes  eager  to  find 
in  the  welcome  you  had  justly  earned,  full  payment  for  four  years'  sacrifice 
— what  does  he  find  when,  having  followed  the  battle-stained  cross  against 
overwhelming  odds,  dreading  death  not  half  so  much  as  surrender,  he  reaches 
the  home  he  left  so  prosperous  and  beautiful?  He  finds  his  house  in  ruins, 
his  farm  devastated,  his  slaves  free,  his  stock  killed,  his  barns  empty,  his  trade 
destroyed,  his  money  worthless,  his  social  system,  feudal,  in  its  magnificence, 
swept  away,  his  comrades  slain,  and  the  burdens  of  others  heavy  on  his 
shoulders.     Crushed  by  defeat,  his  very  traditions  are  gone." 

1  Joint  Resolution  No.  IX  of  the  Acts  of  1865,  adopted  April  5th. 

527 


528  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

This  was,  in  general,  the  situation  with  the  Confederate  soldier  of  Tennessee. 
He  was  prepared  to  accept  the  arbitrament  of  war  and  to  keep  his  parole  in 
spirit  and  in  truth.  He  cherished  no  hostility  to  his  fellow  citizens  who  had 
adhered  to  the  Union  and  were  now  in  control  of  state  affairs.  It  was  both  to 
his  interest  and  his  desire  that  the  state  administration  be  conducted  for  the 
peace,  happiness  and  prosperity  of  all. 

Governor  Brownlow  and  the  Legislature,  however,  took  a  different  view  of 
his  mind  and  purposes.  "They  looked  upon  him  as  a  red-handed  enemy  to  order, 
ready  at  any  moment  to  overturn  the  existing  order  of  things  and  to  do  all 
sorts  of  ferocious  acts.  In  this  he  was  to  be  curbed  by  the  most  stringent  and 
rigid  means  at  their  command."2 

Lieut. -Gen.  Richard  Taylor,  brother-in-law  of  Jefferson  Davis,  said :  3 

"The  land  was  tilled  with  widows  and  orphans  crying  for  aid,  which  the 
universal  destitution  prevented  them  from  receiving.  Humanitarians  shud- 
dered with  horror  and  wept  with  grief  for  the  imaginary  woes  of  Africans;  but 
their  hearts  were  as  adamant  to  people  of  their  own  race  and  blood.  These  had 
committed  the  unpardonable  sin,  had  wickedly  rebelled  against  the  Lord's  an- 
ointed, the  majority." 

Judge  0.  P.  Temple,  a  personal  friend  and  political  associate  of  Brownlow, 

says :  4 

"The  administration  of  Governor  Brownlow  was  stormy  and  tempestuous 
beyond  anything  in  our  political  history.  There  was  something  in  the  man, 
but,  infinitely  more  in  the  times,  that  marked  this  as  the  troubled  period  in  our 
civil  history.  Had  the  times  been  quiet,  had  those  lately  in  insurrection  and  their 
new  allies,  who  were  recently  recruited  from  the  Union  ranks  under  the  guise 
of  Conservatives,  showed  a  more  charitable  spirit,  his  administration  would 
have  been  as  mild  as  that  of  those  preceding  the  Civil  wTar,  for  when  not 
factiously  opposed  or  assailed  he  was  most  conciliatory  and  peace-loving.  On 
the  contrary,  he  was  opposed  with  ruthless  vindietiveness,  and  all  the  worst 
elements  of  society,  thrown  upon  the  surface  by  a  four  years'  war,  arrayed 
themselves  in  opposition  to  his  administration." 

As  has  been  stated,  Brownlow  was  inaugurated  on  April  5th  and  issued  his 
message  to  the  Legislature  on  April  6th.  In  this  document  he  strongly  con- 
demned secession  and  recited  the  evils  it  had  inflicted;  called  attention  to  the 
proposed  thirteenth  amendment  and  recommended  its  ratification ;  called  atten- 
tion to  the  ravages  of  guerrillas,  and  suggested  increased  severity  of  laws  for 
their  punishment;  suggested  that  a  force  of  militia  be  organized  and  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  governor;  called  attention  to  the  decrease  of  revenue  of  the 
state  and  the  great  state  debt,  yet  favored  an  increase  of  salaries ;  recommended 
that  the  common  schools  be  reorganized  and  that  an  agricultural  college  be 
established;  favored  the  winding  up  of  the  affairs  of  the  state  bank,  and  the 
establishment  of  the  national  bank  system ;  called  attention  to  the  necessity  of 
restricting  suffrage ;  and  recommended  the  election  of  senators  and  representa- 
tives to  Congress. 

Taken  all  in  all  it  was  a  very  remarkable  paper,  was  couched  in  trenchant, 
unmistakable  language  and  outlined  closely  the  course  of  legislation  actually 
pursued,  it  ended  with  this  significant  sentence:  "The  interests  of  the  state 
and  the  just  rights  of  the  people  should  be  sacredly  and  vigilantly  guarded  no 
matter  who  suffers  ruin  and  disgrace." 


2  Ira  P.  Jones  in  "Noted  Men  of  the  Solid  South,"  p.  179. 
s  "Destruction  and  Reconstruction,"  p.  236. 
*  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,"  p.  319. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  529 

The  first  session  of  this  General  Assembly  continued  from  April  3rd  to 
June  12th.  Although  attention  will  later  be  adverted  particularly  to  certain 
acts,  the  legislation  effected  at  this  session  will,  for  convenience  be  summarized 
as  follows:  Acts  were  passed,  "To  increase  compensation  of  judges  to  $3,000"; 
"To  punish  guerrillas";  "To  punish  horse-stealing  by  hanging";  "To  establish 
the  eighth  chancery  district";  "To  suspend  the  statute  of  limitation  from  May 
6,  1861,  to  January  1,  1867";  "To  limit  the  elective  franchise  to  unconditional 
Union  and  soldiers  of  the  Union  army";  "To  establish  a  claim  agency  in 
Washington  City  for  Tennessee";  "To  apportion  the  representation  in  the 
United  States  Congress";  "To  accept  lands  from  the  United  States  for  benefit 
of  College  of  Agriculture."  A  number  of  mining,  railway  and  manufacturing 
companies  were  incorporated.  A  joint  resolution  5  was  passed  offering  a  reward 
of  $5,000  for  the  apprehension  of  Isham  G.  Harris,  and  another  on  account  of 
the  death  of  President  Lincoln.  A  rather  remarkable  bill  presented  at  this 
session  but  which  failed  of  passage  was  a  bill  requiring  women  to  take  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  United  States  before  they  could  obtain  a  marriage  license. 

The  so-called  "guerrilla  act"  (Chapter  IV)  was  entitled  "An  act  to  punish 
all  armed  prowlers,  guerrillas,  brigands  and  highway  robbers,  and  for  other 
purposes."  This  act  was  passed  to  restrain  and  punish  the  lawless  elements 
which,  following  upon  war,  naturally  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
rob  and  kill  the  defenseless.  It  was  passed  on  May  17,  1865,  before  the  civil 
government  had  begun  to  function  efficiently  and  before  the  formation  of  the 
Ku  Klux  Klan. 

THE   ELECTIVE   FRANCHISE   ACT 

Prom  the  beginning  of  his  administration  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  declared 
intention  of  Governor  Brownlow  and  the  radical  wing  of  his  party  to  disfran- 
chise all  who  disagreed  with  them  in  their  political  views.  The  passage,  there- 
fore, of  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  Limit  the  Elective  Franchise"  (Chapter 
XVI  of  the  Acts  of  1865)  on  June  5,  1865,  was  not  at  all  unexpected.  Under 
this  act  the  right  to  vote  was  limited  to  unconditional  Union  men,  including 
those  from  other  states  who  had  been  in  Tennessee  six  months,0  to  white  citizens 
conscripted  by  force  into  the  Confederate  army,  and  to  voters  in  the  elections 
of  November,  1864,  February,  1865,  and  March,  1865,  who  were  known  to  be 
true  friends  of  the  United  States  Government.  Rebels,  and  all  who  had  aided 
them  in  any  way,  office  holders  or  agents  under  the  Confederate  Government, 
and  refugees  from  Federal  lines  into  the  Confederate  Slates  were  debarred  from 
voting  for  fifteen  years.  All  other  persons  were  excluded  for  five  years.  Any 
voter  might  be  challenged  by  an  admitted  voter  (described  in  section  1),  in 
which  case  the  judge  of  the  election  should  administer  the  iron-clad  oath." 
Registration  certificates  were  to  be  issued  by  the  County  Court  clerks. 

The  files  of  the  Nashville  papers  in  1865-66  indicate  that  the  elect  inns  which 


r>  Joint  Resolution  No.  XXXIV,  Acts  of  1865. 

"This  provision  secured  the  franchise  to  that  class  known  as  " carpetbaggers " — those 
who  came  from  the  North  after  the  war  for  the  purpose  of  profiting  from  the  misfortunes  of 
the  South,  those,  who,  impecunious,  with  nothing  but  their  carpetbags,  constantly  and  de- 
signedly stirred  up  the  negroes  against  the  whites,  those  whose  advent  and  activities  caused 
countless  and  unutterable  woes  to  a  helpless  people  until  the  post  bellum  military  rule  in 
this  section   was  ended. 

"  This  oath  is  given  the  preceding  chapter. 


530  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

took  place  under  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  not  satisfactory  to  the  faction 

in  control. 

DISPOSITION   OP  THE  GENERAL  GOVERNMENT  TOWARDS  TENNESSEE 

When  Brownlow  was  inaugurated,  Congress,  under  the  influence  of  Lincoln, 
seemed  disposed  to  pursue  a  liberal,  if  not  a  generous,  policy  in  connection  with 
the  restoration  to  the  Union  of  the  seceded  states.  But  after  the  assassination 
of  Lincoln,  Congress,  feeling  free  to  exercise  its  own  pleasure,  immediately  dis- 
played a  desire  and  intention  to  carry  out  more  drastic  measures.  Some  mem- 
bers favored  the  immediate  reinstatement  of  Tennessee.  Others,  however,  vio- 
lently opposed  doing  so  and.  consequently,  the  readmittance  of  this  state  was 
delayed  more  than  a  year.8 

Tennessee's  senators  and  representatives,  also,  were  refused  seats  in  Con- 
gress. Moreover,  some  of  the  most  radical  elements  in  Congress  wished  to 
impose  on  Tennessee  the  full  rigors  of  the  military  government  under  which 
the  other  Southern  states  were  groaning.  At  length,  however,  in  May,  1866,  a 
bill  was  introduced  by  Thaddeus  Stevens  to  admit  Tennessee  on  condition  that 
she  enfranchise  all  her  citizens  by  January  1,  1867.9  This  bill  was  so  amended 
that  the  only  requirement  imposed  was  the  ratification  of  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment. 

On  June  19,  1866,  Governor  Brownlow  called  the  Legislature  in  extra  ses- 
sion convened  on  July  4,  and  a  proposition  to  submit  the  amendment  to  the 
people  of  the  state  was  defeated.  The  amendment  was  then  adopted  on  July 
19. 10  On  July  23,  1866,  Congress  passed  the  following  joint  resolution  1:  which 
restored  Tennessee  to  the  Union  : 

RESTORATION    OF    TENNESSEE   TO    THE   UNION 1866 

Thirty-ninth   Congress — First   Session 
Joint  Resolution  Restoring  Tennessee  to  Her  Relations  to  the  Union 

Whereas,  In  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-one  the  government  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee  was  seized  upon  and  taken  possession  of  by  persons  in 
hostility  to  the  United  States,  and  the  inhabitants  of  said  State,  in  pursuance 
of  act  of  Congress,  were  declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  insurrection  against  the 
United  States ;  and,  whereas,  said  State  government  can  only  be  restored  to 
its  former  political  relations  in  the  Union  by  the  consent  of  the  law-making 
power  of  the  United  States ;  and,  whereas,  the  people  of  said  State  did,  on  the 
twenty-second  of  February,  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-five,  by  a  large  popular 
vote,  adopt  and  ratify  a  Constitution  of  government  whereby  slavery  was 
abolished,  and  all  ordinances  and  laws  of  secession  and  debts  contracted  under 
same  were  declared  void ;  and  whereas,  a  State  government  has  been  organized 
under  said  Constitution,  which  has  ratified  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  abolishing  slavery,  also  the  amendment  proposed  by  the 
Thirty-ninth  Congress,  and  has  done  other  acts  proclaiming  and  denoting 
loyalty;  therefore, 

Be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled.  That  the  State  of  Tennessee  is  hereby 
restored  to  her  former  proper,  practical  relations  to  the  Union,  and  is  again 
entitled  to  be  represented  bv  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Approved  July  24,  1866." 

8  Congressional  Globe,  1865. 

9  Congressional  Globe,  July,  1866,  pp.  4102  and  4106. 

10  By  joint  resolution  No.  5,  Acts  of  1866.  Extra  Session  of  the  Thirty-fourth  General 
Assembly. 

ii  Acts  of  Congress,  1866. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  531 

In  many  respects  Tennessee  is  the  most  strikingly  unique  among  all  the 
states  of  the  Union.  It  was  the  first  state  to  enter  the  Union  from  territory 
of  the  United  States.  It  was  the  last  state  to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  the 
first  state  to  abolish  slavery  (which  was  done  voluntarily)  and  the  first  state 
to  reenter  the  Union. 

SECOND    SESSION    OP    BROWNLOW's    LEGISLATURE 

The  second  session  of  the  General  Assembly  in  Brownlow's  regime  con- 
tinued from  October  2,  1865,  to  May  28,  1866.  In  his  message  12  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  the  "Franchise  Act"  had  caused  immense  irritation, 
Brownlow  extolled  the  virtues  of  it ;  he  also  congratulated  the  people  upon 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion ;  recommended  no  mercy  to  the  leaders ;  urged 
that  Congress  had  no  right  to  fix  the  qualifications  of  a  voter  within  a  state; 
that  the  time  had  not  come  for  negro  suffrage  in  Tennessee,  and  recommended 
the  colonizing  of  the  negroes  in  Texas  or  in  Mexico. 

Acts  were  passed  on  the  following  subjects:  "Granting  aid  to  railroads"; 
"To  wind  up  and  settle  the  business  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee";  "The  Dis- 
franchisement Act";  "To  lease  out  the  penitentiary";  "To  repeal  the  'Free 
Banking  Act'  ";  "To  establish  a  metropolitan  police  district  and  to  provide  for 
the  government  thereof."  A  large  number  of  companies  were  incorporated  for 
railroads,  mining,  manufacturing  and  other  purposes.  A  joint  resolution  was 
passed  declaring  that  death  should  be  inflicted  on  Jefferson  Davis,  James  M.  Ma- 
son, R.  M.  T.  Hunter,  Robert  Toombs,  Howell  Cobb,  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  John 
Slidell,  Robert  E.  Lee  and  John  C.  Breckinridge. 

The  breach  between  the  two  wings  of  the  Republican  party  in  Tennessee, 
which  had  been  manifest  with  considerable  virulence  at  times  during  the  pre- 
ceding session  of  the  Legislature,  had  now  widened  until  it  had  passed  beyond 
all  hope  of  reconciliation.  But  Brownlow  was  not  at  all  shaken.  Any  opposi- 
tion made  him  but  the  more  determined.  Although  the  franchise  law  passed 
at  the  first  session  had  caused  much  irritation  because  of  its  stringency.  Brown- 
low asserted  that  the  public  welfare  required  a  thorough  revision  of  the  suf- 
frage laws.  The  radicals  under  Brownlow's  direction  proposed  an  amended 
franchise  bill  which  would  exclude  from  voting  not  only  Confederates  and 
Confederate  sympathizers,  but  many  Union  men  also.  This  bill  was  opposed 
by  the  Conservatives  in  every  way  possible  and,  for  a  while,  they  succeeded 
in  postponing  final  action  by  a  daring  scheme.  Twenty-one  of  them  resigned 
and  thereby  a  quorum  was  prevented  and  no  legislation  could  be  effected  until 
an  election  could  be  held,  which  was  held  and  the  bill 13  was  passed  on  May  3, 
1866.  The  principal  additional  feature  in  the  amended  bill  was  the  provision 
(section  2)  that  the  governor  should  appoint  a  commissioner  of  registration  for 
every  county  to  issue  certificates  in  place  of  the  county  court  clerks,  and  that  all 
applicants  for  registration  certificates  should  be  required  to  prove  their  loyalty 
by  two  competent  witnesses  and  to  take  the  test  oath. 

On  May  1,  1866,  a  serious  riot  between  the  whites  and  blacks  took  place  in 
Memphis,  and  this  occurrence  led  to  the  passage  of  what  was  known  as  the 
Metropolitan  Police  Act,14  which,  while  intended  for  Memphis,  applied  to 
Nashville  and  Chattanooga  also. 


12  Senate  Journal,  1865-1866,  pp.  4-26. 

is  Chapter  XXIII  of  Acts,  1866. 

"  Chapter  XXXV  of  Acts  of  1866,  passed  May  14. 


532  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

When  the  Legislature  convened  in  extra  session  on  July  4,  1866,  the  question 
of  a  quorum  again  arose.  Congress  had  submitted  the  Fourteenth  Amendment 
to  Tennessee  for  ratification  shortly  before  when  the  Legislature  was  not  in 
session.  Brownlow  had,  therefore,  issued  a  call  on  June  19,  1866,  for  an  extra 
session  and  strong  opposition  in  the  Lower  House  immediately  developed  seek- 
ing to  defeat  ratification  by  preventing  a  quorum.  On  the  first  roll-call  there 
were  fourteen  votes  less  than  the  necessary  two-thirds.  In  order  to  enforce 
a  quorum,  warrants  of  arrest  were  issued  by  the  House  of  Representatives  for 
six  members  whose  scats  were  declared  vacant  and  they  were  expelled.1"'  Two 
others  were  arrested  but  not  expelled.  Another  representative,  Pleasant  Wil- 
liams, of  Carter  County,  was  arrested  by  Captain  Heydt,  special  sergeant  at 
arms,  and  confined  in  the  capitol.  He  was  ordered  to  be  released  upon  habeas 
corpus  by  Judge  Frazier  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Davidson  County.  But  Judge 
Frazier's  authority  in  the  premises  was  denied  by  the  Legislature  which  com- 
manded 16  him  to  appear  before  the  House  of  Representatives  to  answer  such 
charges  as  might  be  brought  against  him  because  he  had  granted  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  Subsequently  Judge  Frazier  was  impeached  and  convicted. 
When,  however,  the  Conservatives  came  into  power,  the  disabilities  of  Judge 
Frazier  were  removed  by  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870. 

The  ratification  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  was  finally  effected  on  July 
19,  1866,  when  the  speaker  declared  a  quorum  present.  The  legality  of  the 
ratification,  however,  is  thought  to  be  questionable  as  two  members  who  were 
brought  in  forcibly  refused  to  vote  and  the  speaker  declared  no  quorum  to  be 
present.  An  appeal  was  taken  from  this  ruling  and  it  was  reversed.  The  House 
then  voted  and  the  amendment  was  declared  ratified. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment,  however,  never  was  ratified  by  Tennessee.  This 
was  a  logical  sequence  to  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  and  was  submitted  to 
Tennessee  in  1869  just  before  the  close  of  the  radical  era.  The  Legislature  in 
1867  had  passed  an  Act  1T  conferring  suffrage  upon  the  negro.  It  was  known, 
however,  that  the  whole  question  would  be  considered  by  the  Constitutional 
Convention  which  had  just  been  called.  The  Legislature  therefore  referred 
the  matter  to  the  committee  on  Federal  Relations,  from  which  it  was  never 
reported. 

SECOND    SESSION    OP    THE    SO-CALEED    THIRTY-FOURTH     GENERAL    ASSEMBLY    OF     THE 

BROWNLOW   REGIME 

During  Brownlow's  administration  the  Legislature  was  in  almost  constant 
session.  It  was  only  a  short  time  after  the  adjournment  of  the  extra  session, 
called  for  July  4,  1866,  when  the  Legislature  convened  again — this  time  on 
November  5,  1866 — and  continued  sitting  until  March  11,  1867.  Among  the 
Acts  passed  the  following  named  deserve  special  mention:  "To  issue  state 
bonds  in  aid  of  certain  railroads,"  (This  has  been  called  the  "Omnibus  Bill"); 
"To  disfranchise  all  who  had  fought  on  the  Confederate  side  in  the  civil  war  of 
the  rebellion;"  "To  provide  for  the  reorganization  of  the  common  school  system, 
making  each  civil  district  a  school  district,  with  three  directors,  and  providing 
for  the  election  by  the  people  of  a  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  to 


is  Joint  Resolution  No.  XIII,  adopted  July  24,  1866. 

i«  House  Resolution,  No.  IV,  adopted  July  17,  1866. 

it  Chapter  XXVI,  Acts  of  1866-7,  p.  26,  passed  on  February  25,  1867. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  533 

be  elected  for  two  years  at  the  same  time  and  in  the  same  manner  as  the  gov- 
ernor, and  giving-  him  the  power  to  appoint  County  Superintendents  of  Public 
Schools.     What  was  known  as  the  Brownlow  Militia  Law  was  also  passed. 

On  Feb.  25,  1867,  the  act  was  passed  giving  the  negroes  the  right  to  vote  and 
authorizing  the  governor  to  appoint  election  commissioners  for  each  county  who 
had  the  power  of  appointing  judges  and  clerks  of  election.  The  passage  of  this 
act  but  added  to  the  turbulence  of  Brownlow 's  regime  and  public  feeling  ran 
high.  This  feeling  was  strongly  manifested  in  the  convention  held  in  Nashville 
on  April  16,  1867,  by  the  Conservative  Union  party,  when  Emerson  Ethericlge 
was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  governor  against  Brownlow,  who,  on  Feb.  22, 
1867,  had  been  nominated  by  the  Republicans.  Etheridge  was  one  of  the 
strongest  and  most  versatile  men  in  the  state  at  that  time.  He  was  fearless  and 
eloquent,  and  pressed  his  canvass  with  great  power  and  bitterness.  Brownlow 
was  afflicted  with  the  palsy  and  could  not  take  the  stump.  Such  hopes,  however, 
as  the  Conservatives  cherished  were  blasted  by  Brownlow 's  proclamation  issued 
on  July  1,  1867,  warning  County  Courts  not  to  interfere  in  the  appointment 
of  judges  and  clerks  of  election,  and  ordering  the  militia,  under  the  name  of 
the  State  Guard,  to  be  stationed  in  "rebellious  localities  to  enforce  the  franchise 
law."  As  was  to  be  expected  Brownlow  won  by  a  vote  of  74,484  to  22,548  for 
his  opponent.18 

BROWNLOW 's  SECOND   ADMINISTRATION 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirty-Fifth  General  Assembly  met  on  October  7, 
1867,  and  adjourned  on  March  16,  1868.  Notwithstanding  the  tempestuous  ex- 
periences of  his  administration  just  ended,  Brownlow 's  message  to  the  Legisla- 
ture breathes  a  bolder  and  more  confident  optimism.  He  had  triumphed  over 
his  enemies ;  they  were  prostrate,  although  not  yet  full}'  conquered.  As  he  said : 
"We  lacked  neither  unscrupulous  enemies  to  concoct  falsehoods,  nor  candid 
friends  to  lend  them  credence  and  to  deplore  our  lack  of  discretion.  Yet 
against  these  adverse  influences,  after  a  most  thorough  and  exhaustive  discussion 
before  the  people,  they  have  sustained  the  government  by  majorities  approaching 
to  unanimity.  1  recall  your  attention  to  these  facts,  not  for  partisan  purposes, 
nor  in  a  spirit  of  exultation,  but  as  a  basis  for  our  future  action  in  executing 
the  popular  will.19 

Further  on  20  in  the  same  message  he  offers  the  following  recommendation  in 
regard  to  Isham  G.  Harris : 

"1  advise  the  immediate  repeal  of  the  offer  of  a  reward  of  $5,000  for  the 
arrest  and  return  of  Ex-Governor  Isham  G.  Harris.  My  opinion  with  regard  to 
active,  original  secessionists,  and  the  punishment  due  to  them  has  undergone 
no  change.  But  no  man  has  been  punished  for  treason  yet,  from  Jefferson 
Davis  down;  and  the  pro-rebel  policy  of  the  President  warrants  the  conclusion 
that  none  will  be  punished.  Besides,  in  Tennessee,  during  the  late  canvass, 
there  were  worse  men  upon  the  stump  than  Harris  ever  was,  openly  proclaim- 
ing treason  and  sedition,  and  inspiring  the  people  with  seditional  malice. 
I  advise  the  repeal  of  this  offer  from  two  other  considerations — first,  that  of 
humanity  towards  the  family  of  Harris;  and  next,  but  not  least,  thai  of 
economy  on  the  part  of  the  State.     The  State   is  liable  to  be  called  upon  at 


is  "Why   the   Solid   South,"   Chapter   VIT,   " Keconstruction    in    Tennessee,"   by   Ira   P. 
Jones,  p.  198. 

is  House  Journal,   1867-68,  p.  29. 
20  Ibid.,  p.  41. 


534  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

any  day,  tor  this  reward,  and  in  return,  she  would  have  nothing  to  show  for 
the  out  lay." 

In  accordance  with  Brownlow's  recommendation,  the  Legislature,  on  Novem- 
ber 11,  1867,  passed  an  act,21  entitled  "An  Act  to  Repeal  the  Joint  Resolution  22 
offering  a  reward  for  Isham  G.  Harris." 

Brownlow  ended  this  message  with  the  following  words: 

"Destiny  and  events,  God  and  history,  have  assigned  to  Tennessee  an 
important  position  in  the  great  work  of  restoring  the  Union.  Let  us  act  well 
our  part,  and.  under  Providence,  perform  the  great  but  agreeable  work  of  fra- 
ternity and  love,  and  loyalty,  towards  the  race  of  man. ' ' 

One  of  the  first  of  the  important  matters  which  came  before  the  Thirty-fifth 
General  Assembly  was  the  election  of  a  United  States  Senator  to  succeed  Senator 
David  T.  Patterson,  the  son-in-law  of  Andrew  Johnson.  Brownlow  became  a 
candidate.  His  competitors  were  Horace  Maynard,  Col.  William  B.  Stokes,  and 
Gen.  Joseph  A.  Cooper.  When  Brownlow  announced  his  candidacy,  Maynard 
withdrew  from  the  race  and  Brownlow  was  elected  easily.  Brownlow,  however, 
remained  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  governor  until  the  latter  part  of 
Feb.,  1869,  when  he  resigned  and  was  succeeded  as  governor  by  D.  W.  C.  Senter, 
the  Speaker  of  the  Senate.  Brownlow  was  sworn  in  as  United  States  Senator 
on  March  4,  1869,  a  day  made  doubly  joyful  to  him  by  the  retirement  of  Presi- 
dent Andrew  Johnson. 

THE  KU  KLUX  KLAN  AND  THE  LOYAL  LEAGUE 

Brownlow  was  doubtless  sincere  in  his  belief  that  his  second  administration 
would  be  more  calm  and  peaceful  than  the  first  had  been.  The  physical  condition 
of  Tennessee  was  rapidly  improving.  The  desolation  caused  by  war  was  disap- 
pearing. Crops  had  been  made  for  two  successive  years.  Fences  had  been  re- 
paired. Farm  machinery  and  tools  had  been  supplied.  Farm  animals  had  mul- 
tiplied. All  these  things  had  wrought  wondrous  changes  and  exhibited  a  power 
of  recuperation  astonishing  in  itself  and  possible  only  in  a  state  possessing  a 
rich  soil  and  an  industrious  people.  Yet  words  can  hardly  describe  the  turbu- 
lence and  seething  strife,  which,  bad  enough  in  the  unsettled  months  immediately 
following  Lee's  surrender,  now  reached  the  very  apex  of  disorder,  the  utmost 
condition  of  unstable  government  short  of  anarchy. 

This  condition  is  related  in  an  interesting  way  by  Marshall  S.  Snow  in  an 
article  published  in  the  St.  Louis  Republic.  Feb.  28,  1913.  Mr.  Snow,  a  young 
man  who  had  never  before  been  out  6f  New  England,  came  to  Tennessee  in 
1866,  as  the  principal  of  the  Nashville  high  school.  In  this  article  is  the 
following  paragraph : 

"The  state  was  in  the  iron  grasp  of  the  Brownlow  regime.  No  one  could 
vote  unless  he  could  show  at  the  polls  a  certificate  signed  by  a  commissioner 
and  supported  by  the  sworn  testimony  of  two  well-known  Union  men  stating 
that  the  intended  voter  had  never  in  any  way  been  disloyal  to  the  Union.  That 
barred  out  about  all  the  citizens  of  Nashville.  This  interesting  document  was 
illustrated  with  a  portrait  of  the  iron-clad  Governor  Brownlow.  Nashville  was 
controlled  by  that  excrescence  of  the  departed  Northern  army  known  familiarly 

2i  Chapter  VI  of  the  Acts  of  1867-68,  p.  6. 

22  This  Joint  Eesolution  had  been  adopted  on  May  1,  1865. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  535 

as  'carpetbaggers,'  and  with  a  few  honorable  exceptions  the  name  was  well 
applied  to  those  who  governed  the  city,  and  finally,  when  the  time  of  the  over- 
throw approached,  looted  the  treasury  and  stole  away." 

In  those  days  President  Johnson  was  having  his  famous  conflict  with  Con- 
gress, and  Brownlow  had  sided  with  Congress  and  against  Johnson  with  all  the 
virulence  of  which  he  was  capable.  Lincoln  bore  no  malice  toward  the  South 
and,  in  his  speech  of  April  11,  1865,  the  last  speech  he  ever  delivered,  he  showed 
clearly  that  the  southern  people  should  be  readily  forgiven  and  brought  again 
into  the  Union  with  the  least  possible  further  humiliation.  Many  leading  men 
of  the  North  had  the  same  feeling,  among  them  being  Secretary  Seward  and 
General  Grant,  and  even  General  Sherman,  fierce  and  remorseless  fighter  as 
he  was,  said : 

"I  perceived  that  we  had  the  unbounded  respect  of  our  armed  enemies. 
*  *  *  I  am  sure  that  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  war  the  Confederate  Army 
embraced  the  best  governed,  the  best  disposed,  the  most  reliable  men  of  the 
South  ;  and  I  would  have  used  them  in  reconstruction  instead  of  driving  them 
into  hopeless  opposition." 

When  Andrew  Johnson  became  President,  at  first  he  was  violently  hostile  to 
the  leaders  of  secession.  But,  in  a  few  weeks,  a  change  occurred  in  him  and  he 
became  as  mild  and  lenient  toward  them  as  Lincoln  ever  was  in  his  policy. 
Historians  generally  ascribe  this  change  in  Johnson's  attitude  to  the  influence 
of  Seward,  but  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the  democratic  principles 
which  had  always  been  uppermost  in  his  mind  had  again  swayed  him  with 
partisan  zeal.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Congress  was  not  pleased  with  Johnson's 
attitude  and,  under  the  leadership  of  Thaddeus  Stevens  made  war  upon  Johnson, 
and  he  upon  Congress  until  his  abortive  impeachment  resulted. 

Brownlow  not  only  antagonized  Johnson  so  far  as  reconstruction  plans  af- 
fected Tennessee,  but  joined  in  with  the  radical  elements,  became  their  leader 
and  protagonist  and  connived  at  the  acts  of  the  carpetbaggers,  if  indeed  he  did 
not  assist  them  in  their  nefarious  undertaking.  That  he  permitted  the  passage 
of  the  act  conferring  the  elective  franchise  on  the  negroes  at  that  time  surprised 
even  the  negro-lovers  of  the  North. 

James  G.  Blaine  says  on  this  point : 

"The  truth  was  that  the  republicans  of  the  North,  constituting,  as  was 
shown  by  the  elections  of  1865,  a  majority  in  every  state,  were  deeply  concerned 
as  to  the  future  and  fate  of  the  colored  population  of  the  South.  Only  a 
minority  of  the  republicans  were  ready  to  demand  suffrage  for  those  who  had 
been  recently  emancipated,  and  who,  from  the  ignorance  peculiar  to  servitude, 
were  presumably  unfit  to  be  entrusted  with  the  elective  franchise.  *  *  * 
The  great  mass  of  the  republicans  stopped  short  of  the  demand  for  the  con- 
ferment of  suffrage  on  the  negro.  That  privilege  was  indeed  still  denied  him 
in  a  majority  of  the  loyal  states,  and  it  seemed  illogical  and  unwarrantable  to 
expect  a  more  advanced  philanthropy,  a  higher  sense  of  justice  from  the  South 
than  had  been  attained  by  the  North."23 

It  was  known  of  all  men  that  after  emancipation  of  the  slaves  an  effort  would 
be  made  to  confer  upon  the  negro  the  elective  franchise.  In  Tennessee  the 
radicals  anticipated  the  action  of  Congress  and,  on  Feb.  25,  1867,  passed  an  ad  -' 
permitting  negroes  to  vote.     In  preparation  for  any  acts  of  disorder  which  might 

23  "Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  p.  92. 
2-*  Chapter  XXVI,  Acts  of  1866(57,  p.  26. 


536  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

attend  the  passage  and  enforcement  of  tho  negro  franchise  act,  the  radicals 
had  passed  "An  Act-"'  to  Organize  and  Equip  a  State  Guard,  and  for  other 
purposes."     The  language  of  this  extraordinary  act  is  as  follows: 

"Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, That  the  Governor  is  hereby  authorized  and  empowered  to  organize, 
equip  and  call  into  active  service,  a  volunteer  force,  to  be  known  as  'Tennessee 
State  Guards,'  to  be  composed  of  one  or  more  regiments,  from  each  Congres- 
sional district  of  the  State:  Provided  always,  that  said  Tennessee  State  Guards 
shall  be  composed  of  loyal  men,  who  shall  take  and  subscribe  the  oath  prescribed 
in  the  Franchise  Act.  2e 

Sec.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  Governor  shall  be  Commander-in- 
Chief.  Any  number  of  said  force  shall  be  subject  to  his  order,  when,  in  his 
opinion  the  safety  of  the  life,  property,  liberty,  or  the  faithful  execution  of  law. 
require  it:  to  be  organized,  armed,  equipped,  regulated  and  governed  by  the 
Rules  and  Articles  of  War,  and  the  revised  Army  Regulations  of  the  United 
States,  so  far  as  applicable;  and  shall  receive  pay  and  allowances,  according  to 
grade  of  rank,  as  provided  for  the  United  States  Army,  while  in  actual  service 
to  be  paid  out  of  any  money  in  the  State  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated ; 
Provided,  that  the  organization  provided  for  in  this  Act,  shall  not  be  armed  and 
c<iuipped  until  called  into  actual  service." 

Thus  was  Brownlow  given  carte  blanche.  On  the  very  next  day  a  joint 
resolution  27  was  passed,  ' '  That  our  Senators  in  Congress  be  instructed,  and  our 
Representatives  be  requested,  to  use  their  efforts  to  secure  the  quota  of  arms  from 
the  General  Government   to  which  the  State  of  Tennessee  is  entitled  by  law, 

*  *  and  to  secure  one  of  the  forts  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville,  as  an 
arsenal  for  the  depository  of  the  aforesaid  arms." 

The  stage  now  having  been  set  for  the  important  event,  on  Feb.  25.  1867, 
the  Legislature  passed  an  act  2S  which  enabled  the  former  slaves  to  vote.  It  was 
entitled  "An  Act  to  Alter  and  Amend  an  Act  passed  May  3,  1866."  The  right 
of  the  negro  to  vote  was  conferred  by  the  first  section  of  this  act  which  is  as 
follows : 

"That  every  male  inhabitant  of  this  State,  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  county  wherein  he  may  offer 
his  vote,  six  months  next  preceding  the  day  of  election,  shall  be  entitled  to  the 
privilege  of  the  elective  franchise,  subject  to  the  following  exceptions  and  dis- 
qualifications." 

Those  disqualifications  applied  to  the  ex-Confederate  soldiers  and  to  those 
who  had  assisted  the  Confederacy  in  any  way,  lint  not  to  the  negroes  and  Union 
partisans  and  sympathizers.  As  a  voter  the  negro  was  safe.  He  was  protected 
by  Governor  Brownlow  with  his  State  Guard  and  he  was  directed  by  the 
carpet-baggers  who  used  him  for  their  own  selfish  purposes.  The  negro  race  has 
alwaj'S  been  attracted  by  the  marvelous  and  mysterious,  and  their  proclivity  for 
joining  societies  was  utilized  by  the  carpet-baggers  and  radicals  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Loyal  League  and  the  Union  League  of  America.  Under  the 
manipulation  of  these  "friends,"  the  newly  enfranchised  voters  were  soor 
enrolled  in  the  organizations  and  bound,  as  was  generally  understood,  by  a  solemn 
oath  to  vote  the  Republican  ticket,  at  all  elections  and  for  all  purposes  during 
their  entire  lives. 


=5  Chapter  XIV,  Acts  of  1869-70. 

26  The   so-called   "iron-clad   oath." 

27  No.  LXXXIII,  Resolutions  of  1866-67,  p.  299. 

28  Chapter  XXVI,  Acts  of  1866-67,  p.  26. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  537 

In  the  spring  of  1867,  immediately  following  the  conferment  upon  the  negro 
of  the  right  to  vote,  the  radical  newspapers  of  Nashville,  Memphis  and  Knox- 
ville  began  to  be  filled  with  reports  of  outrages  committed  upon  negroes  and 
Union  white  men.  When  investigated  these  reports  were  found  to  be  either 
untrue  or  greatly  exaggerated.  Nevertheless,  they  served  to  throw  the  radicals 
into  a  state  of  intense  excitement.  Indeed,  the  leaders  of  this  faction  professed 
to  believe  that  another  "insurrection"  was  threatened.  At  any  rate  Brownlow 
lost  no  time  in  organizing  the  State  Guard. 

Backed  up  by  Brownlow  with  his  guard  many  of  the  negroes,  freed  and 
allowed  to  vote  and  to  hold  office,29  while  their  former  masters  could  not  do  so, 
and  spurred  on  by  the  carpet-baggers  and  scalawags,3"  became  uncontrollable 
and,  emboldened  by  immunity  and  opportunity,  committed  many  misdemeanors 
and  crimes.  The  better  class  of  whites  stood  aghast  and  helpless  at  their  further 
impoverishment  and,  for  a  time,  maintained  generally  a  sullen  and  bitter  silence. 
Such  a  condition  of  intimate  civic  affairs  could  not  long  continue.  The  oppres- 
sion 31  became  too  intolerable.  There  might,  indeed,  have  been  an  uprising,  as 
Brownlow  feared,  had  not  relief  come  through  an  unexpected  force,  the  Ku 
Klux  Klan.32  This  organization  was  started  by  a  coterie  of  young  men  in 
Pulaski.  Giles  County,  Tennessee,  in  May,  1866.  It  was  designed  by  them  wholly 
for  amusement.  For  many  years  it  was  known  to  but  few  who  were  the  orig- 
inators of  the  "Invisible  Empire."  Mrs.  Alice  Breene  Rogers,  in  a  recent  com- 
munication to  the  Nashville  Banner,  says : 

"I  have  found  a  niece  of  Capt.  John  C.  Lester,  living  in  Nashville,  Mrs. 
W.  J.  Irvine.  Captain  Lester  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan 
and  Mrs.  Irvine  has  a  copy  of  the  history  of  the  organization  written  by  her 
uncle  many  years  ago.  Among  her  treasures  are  pictures  of  the  five  men  most 
active  in  directing  the  operations  of  the  Klan  in  its  early  days:  Gen.  John  C. 
Brown,  Col.  Hume  R.  Feild,  Capt.  John  C.  Lester,  Laps  D.  McCord  and  J.  T. 
Crowe.  As  soldiers,  statesmen  and  citizens,  their  records  are  memorably  bright. 
All  of  them  are  sons  of  the  old  South,  linked  in  the  close  affection  which  grows 
from  common  names  and  kindred  blood,  from  similar  privileges  and  equal  pro- 
tection. Perhaps,  the  fact  that  the  white-robed  brotherhood  which  they  called 
into  existence  for  the  preservation  of  all  that  meant  home  to  them  in  this 
devastated  land,  was  shrouded  in  mystery,  has,  in  some  measure,  prevented  the 
generations  which  have  followed  them  from  making  proper  acknowledgment  of 
the  greatness  of  their  genius  in  forming  and  directing  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  whose 
achievements  surely  will  some  day  shine  as  the  finest  beads  upon  the  rosary  of 
a  nation  which  their  chivalry,  patriotism,  benevolence  and  loyalty  made  possible." 

The  fantastic  costumes  of  the  Klan  and  its  secret  and  mysterious  movements, 
aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  negroes,  impressed  them  with  awe  and  frequently 
with  fear,  and  proved  most  serviceable  for  repressing  the  turbulent  elements 
among  them.     The   amusing  features  of  the   initiation,   the  signals   and   signs 


29  This  right  was  granted  by  an  Act  entitled,  ' '  An  Act  to  Remove  All  Disabilities  for 
Holding  Office,  and  Sitting  on  Juries,  on  Account  of  Race  or  Color." 

The  first  section  of  this  Act  reads  as  follows:  "That,  from  and  after  the  passage  of 
the  Act,  there  shall  be  no  disqualification  for  holding  office,  or  sitting  on  juries,  on  account 
of  race  or  color. ' ' 

This  Act  was  passed  on  January  31,  1868. 

30  This  term  was  applied  to  those  ex-Confederates  and  other  Southerners  who  joined  the 
thieving  gangs  among  the  radicals  for  the  plunder  to  be  secured. 

si  The  negroes  had  been  still  further  encouraged  in  their  misdeeds  by  the  passage,  on 
March  12,  1868,  of  an  Act  (Chapter  LXVI,  Acts  of  1868,  p.  84),  entitled,  "An  Act  to 
Inflict  Penalties  Upon  Common  Carriers  and  Their  Agents,  for  Violations  of  Law,  in  Mak 
ing  Unjust  and  Illegal  Distinctions,  Based  on  Color,  Race  and  Previous  Condition." 

32  For  an  account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  see  chapter  on 
"Historic  Spots  and  Places." 


538  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

recommended  it  to  the  spirited  youths  who  had  jusl  returned  from  the  war,  so 
that  by  1868  it  had  spread  from  Tennessee  to  all  the  states  of  the  recent  Con- 
federacy and,  instead  of  being  merely  an  instrument  of  repression  of  bad 
negroes,  it  became  greatly  perverted.  Its  officers  lost  control  of  its  members 
and  of  their  actions.  It  never  was  a  military  organization,  as  was  alleged  by 
Brownlow,  and,  undoubtedly,  many  of  the  crimes  and  outrages  committed  in  its 
name  were  those  of  persons  who  used  their  disguises  to  gratify  personal  spite 
or  to  avenge  private  griefs  or  wrongs. 

By  the  spring  of  1867  it  became  an  avowedly  partisan  organization,  and 
by  the  spring  of  1868  it  was  very  powerful  in  Tennessee.  Brownlow  thought 
it  was  high  time  for  his  hands  to  be  strengthened.  So.  on  February  1,  1868, 
he  had  an  act33  passed  entitled  "An  Act  to  Amend  'An  Act  for  the  Protection 
of  Sheriffs,  and  other  Civil  Officers  of  the  State,'  passed  June  7th,  1865;  and 
for  other  purposes." 

This  new  law  provides  that  a  sheriff,  instead  of  being  restricted  to  his  own 
county  in  raising  his  force  "may  recruit  said  county  Guards  by  the  employ- 
ment of  any  loyal  citizens  of  this  state." 

Brownlow  also  had  passed  on  March  16,  1868,  an  act34  entitled  "An  Act  to 
Organize  and  Equip  a  State  Guard,  and  Regulate  the  Governor's  Staff." 

By  these  and  other  laws  which  we  have  already  discussed  Brownlow  was 
empowered  to  call  out  the  state  guards  and  to  summon  the  county  guards  or  the 
county  police  at  his  discretion.  The  reasons  for  all  these  devices  to  uphold 
the  governor's  power  and  authority  do  not  distinctly  appear.  It  may  be  that 
he  wished  to  divert  popular  attention  from  other  crimes  against  the  public 
welfare,  or  that  he  was  vain  because  he  had  triumphed  over  enemies,  or  that 
he  really  feared  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  and  another  insurrection.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  a  crisis  was  reached  in  his  judgment,  when  S.  M.  Arnell,  framer  of  the 
franchise  law  and  member  of  Congress  from  the  Eighth  District,  telegraphed 
him  as  follows: 

"Columbia,  Tenn.,  June  14,  1868. 
To  Governor  W.  G.  Brownlow : 

The  Ku  Klux  searched  the  train  for  me  last  night,  pistols  and  rope  in  hand. 
Empower  me  to  call  upon  the  military  here,  if  necessary,  in  your  name,  to 
suppress  all  armed  and  masked  parties  in  this  vicinity.  I  propose  to  fight  it 
out.  S.  M.  Arnell." 

Brownlow  sent  this  dispatch  to  General  Thomas  at  Louisville  and  asked  him 
to  furnish  troops  for  Lincoln,  Marshall,  Obion,  Dyer,  Gibson  and  Fayette 
counties. 

On  June  18,  1868,  Thomas  replied  in  part: 

"The  State  of  Tennessee,  being  in  the  full  exercise  of  all  the  civil  functions 
of  a  state,  the  military  authority  of  the  United  States  cannot  legally  interfere 
except  in  aid  of  support  of  the  civil  authority.  For  these  purposes,  troops  have 
been  sent  to  various  localities  at  your  request.  These  details,  together  with  the 
present  demand  for  troops  to  assist  the  U.  S.  officers  in  collecting  the  revenue, 
have  so  exhausted  the  force  at  my  command  as  to  prevent  the  complving:  with 
your  request  to  send  companies  to  the  counties  named." 

Despairing  of  securing  any  Federal  troops,  Brownlow  now  had  recourse 
to  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature.  The  call  for  this  extra  session  was  made 
by  proclamation,  dated  July  6,  1868,  and  the  date  set  was  July  27,  1868.  His 
message  was  couched  in  most  violent  language  as  the  following  excerpt  indicates  .- 


33  Chapter  XXXIII,  Acts  of  1868,  p.  34. 

34  Chapter  LXX,  Acts  of  1868,  p.  90. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  539 

"As  members  of  the  Legislature,  you  were  assured  by  leading  conservatives 
in  their  respective  counties,  and  doubly  assured  by  the  leading  rebel  journals 
of  the  state,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  any  troops  whatever,  and  that  law 
and  order  would  be  strictly  observed.  It  turns  out  that  the  rebellious  elements 
of  the  state  were  at  that  time  secretly  arming  themselves  and  perfecting  a 
military  organization  known  as  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  composed  of  ex-rebel  soldiers 
and  those  who  were  in  sympathy  with  them;  thus  violating  their  paroles  at  the 
time  of  their  surrender,  and  violating  the  laws  of  the  state,  and  plotting  and 
planning  mischief  in  every  respect.  These  men  have  been  arming  and  organiz- 
ing for  a  year  past,  with  an  eye  to  the  overthrow  of  the  State  Government ;  and, 
ultimately,  to  carrying  the  state   in   the   presidential   election." 

Speaking  further  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  he  said: 

"This  dangerous  organization  of  ex-rebels  now  ramifies  almost  every  part 
of  the  eleven  states  that  once  constituted  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  has 
already  grown  into  a  political  engine  of  oppression  so  powerful  and  aggressive 
as  to  call  forth  in  opposition,  several  notable  military  orders. ' ' 

To  cope  with  the  situation  he  says: 

"I  recommend,  most  emphatically,  that  these  organized  bands  of  assassins 
and  robbers  be  declared  outlaws  by  special  legislation,  and  punished  with  death 
wherever  found." 

In  regard  to  the  political  disabilities  under  which  the  greater  part  of 
the  best  elements  of  the  state  were  suffering,  he  said: 

"I  have  been  appealed  to  by  prominent  men  of  both  political  parties,  to 
urge  upon  you  the  propriety  of  removing  political  disabilities  formerly  imposed 
upon  a  large  class  of  rebels.  The  conduct  of  that  class  of  people  has  been,  and 
it  still  is,  such,  that  I  do  not  feel  justified  in  making  this  recommendation." 

The  violent  language  employed  by  Brownlow  in  this  message  aroused  the 
greatest  anxiety  among  the  democratic  leaders  of  the  state,  who  feared  that, 
if  Brownlow 's  recommendations  were  enacted  into  laws,  civil  war  would  indeed 
ensue.  Consequently  a  meeting  was  held  in  Nashville  on  August  1,  1868,  and 
a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  was  drawn  up  by  the  following  named  men,  all 
of  whom  had  been  generals  in  the  Confederate  army :  N.  B.  Forrest,  B.  F. 
Cheatham,  W.  B.  Bate,  J.  C.  Brown,  Bushrod  Johnson,  Gideon  J.  Pillow,  W.  A. 
Quarles,  S.  R.  Anderson,  G.  G.  Dibrell,  and  George  Maney. 

They  protested  against  the  charge  of  hostility  to  the  state  government; 
said  that  the  state  did  not  need  a  military  organization ;  that  such  a  measure 
might  bring  about  collisions  rather  than  conserve  the  harmony  of  society; 
that  they  trusted  such  laws  might  be  enacted  as  would  remove  all  causes  of 
the  disturbance  of  society.  "For,"  said  they,  "when  it  is  remembered  that 
the  large  mass  of  white  men  in  Tennessee  are  denied  the  right  to  vote  or  to  hold 
office,  it  is  not  wonderful  or  unnatural  there  should  exist  more  or  less  dis- 
satisfaction among  them.  And  we  beg  leave  respectfully  to  submit  to  your 
consideration  that  prompt  and  efficient  action  on  the  part  of  the  proper  au- 
thorities, for  the  removal  of  the  political  disabilities  resting  upon  so  many  of 
our  people,  would  heal  all  wounds  of  our  state,  and  make  us  once  more  a 
prosperous,  contented  and  united  people." 

Many  petitions  also  for  the  repeal  of  the  franchise  law  were  presented  to 
the  Legislature.  One  of  them,  presented  by  Judge  Shackleford,  of  the  Su- 
preme Court,  was  signed  by  nearly  four  thousand  citizens. 

While  these  petitions  and  the  memorial  were  still  before  the  Legislature, 
Governor  Brownlow  sent  in  a  special  message,  accompanied  by  a  letter  and 
draft  of  an  "ordinance"  prepared  by  Judge  John  M.  Lea,  which  he,  Brown- 
low, was  induced  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  Legislature,  because  of 


540  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  high  regard  be  had  for  the  author  personally  and  the  confidence  he  re- 
posed in  Judge  Lea's  integrity  and  patriotism.  Judge  Lea's  plan  was  to 
confer  the  right  of  suffrage  upon  "every  man,  white  or  colored,  of  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  citizen  of 
the  county  wherein  he  may  offer  his  vote  six  months  next  preceding  the  day 
of  election."  Strong  opposition  developed  to  action  on  the  subject  at  this 
session  and  it  was  laid  on  the  table. 

While  the  Legislature  was  in  session,  a  convention  of  extreme  radicals  was 
held  in  Nashville  which  endorsed  Brownlow  and  opposed  the  repeal  of  the 
franchise  law. 

Also,  petitions  against  the  passage  of  the  military  bill  were  presented  from 
all  parts  of  the  state.  Finally,  on  September  10,  1868,  the  Law  of  1867  was 
reenacted,  and  an  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  Preserve  the  Public  Peace."3"1 
This  was  followed  on  the  same  day  by  an  act,  entitled  "An  Act  to  Enforce 
the  Laws  of  the  State."  In  addition  to  the  provisions  of  previous  laws  the 
governor  was  empowered  "to  declare  martial  law  in  any  county  or  counties 
of  the  state,  for  the  protection  and  safety  of  the  citizens  thereof." 

Senate  Joint  Resolution  Number  XXXII  3(!  also  authorized  the  appointment 
of  a  committee  of  three  "to  wait  upon  his  Excellency,  Andrew  Johnson, 
President  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  place  fully  before  him  the 
present  condition  of  affairs  in  this  State,  and  urge  upon  him  to  take  steps 
to  give  protection  to  the  law-abiding  citizens  of  the  State." 

Without  delay  this  committee  proceeded  to  Washington  and  presented  an 
address  to  the  President.  They  returned  with  assurances  from  General  Scho- 
field  that  the  power  of  the  United  States  would  be  employed  "wherever  and 
so  far  as  it  may  be  necessary  to  protect  the  Civil  Government  of  Tennessee 
against  lawless  violence  and  to  enable  the  Government  to  execute  the  laws  of 
that  State  and  protect  its  law-abiding  citizens." 

This  extra  session  adjourned  on  September  14,  1868,  and,  on  the  16th, 
Governor  Brownlow  issued  a  proclamation  against  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  re- 
citing the  action  taken  by  the  Legislature  and.  calling  upon  all  the  good  and 
loyal  people  of  the  state  in  every  county  to  raise  companies  and  report  to 
him  at  Nashville ;  that  he  was  going  to  put  down  armed  marauders  whatever 
might  be  the  cost.  This  proclamation,  however,  did  not  meet  a  ready  response. 
So  he  followed  it  with  another  of  similar  purport  on  January  20,  1869.  This 
produced  more  fruitful  results.  Volunteers  came  in  sufficient  numbers  to 
enable  Gen.  Joseph  A.  Cooper  to  issue  "General  Order  No.  1,"  issued  at 
Nashville,  in  which  he  assumed  command  of  all  the  Tennessee  State  forces  in 
the  field. 

On  February  20,  1869,  Governor  Brownlow  issued  his  last  proclamation, 
in  which  he  said  that  there  were  then  1,600  state  guards  in  Nashville;  in  which 
he  proclaimed  martial  law  in  and  over  the  counties  of  Overton,  Jackson,  Maury, 
Giles,  Marshall,  Lawrence,  Gibson,  Madison  and  Haywood ;  and  directed  Gen- 
eral Cooper  "to  distribute  these  troops  at  once,  and  continue  them  in  service 
until  we  have  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  purpose  of  all  parties  to  keep 
peace." 

As  we  have  already  seen,  Governor  Brownlow  was  elected  to  the  United 
States  Senate  for  the  term  beginning  March  4,  1869.     Accordingly,  on  Feb- 


35  Chapter  II,  of  the  Acts  of  the  Extra  Session  of  1868,  p.  18. 
38  Adopted   September   1,    1868. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  541 

ruary   25,   1869,   he   resigned   as   governor   and   was   succeeded   by   D.   W.    C. 
Senter,  of  Grainger  County,  who  was  speaker  of  the  Senate. 

The  Legislative  Session  of  1868-69  met  on  November  9,  1868,  and  ad- 
journed on  March  1,  1869.  The  following  named  important  acts  were  passed 
at  this  session:  "To  establish  an  agricultural  college";37  "To  allow  rail- 
roads to  redeem  their  indebtedness  in  bonds,  amended  to  allow  them  to  redeem 
in  bonds  of  any  series";  "To  elect  Supreme  Judges  on  the  fourth  Thursday 
in  May,  1869.  "38 

CIVIC   MISDOING  AND  THE  ALDEN  RING 

The  disorders  rampant  in  the  state  were  matched  by  the  misrule  in  the 
cities  where  a  veritable  "carnival  of  crime  and  corruption"  prevailed.  Con- 
ditions were  similar  in  all  cities  but  in  Nashville  the  rule  of  the  so-called 
"Alden  Ring"  became  historically  notorious  and  deserves  mention  in  this 
history,  because  its  acts  were  so  closely  interwoven  with  the  affairs  of  the  state 
at  large. 

In  1867,  a  carpetbagger  named  Alden,  who,  like  other  adventurers  in  these 
stormy  times,  had  come  to  Tennessee  and  had  become  commissioner  of  registra- 
tion at  Nashville,  had  by  the  aid  of  Brownlow's  militia,  been  elected  mayor 
of  Nashville.  He  filled  the  council  with  his  political  henchmen,  most  of  them 
non-property  holders,  tilled  the  offices  with  men  of  his  own  type  and  entered 
upon  a  course  of  open  and  systematic  public  plunder  which  astounded  even 
the  Brownlow  administration.  The  city  treasury  was  seized  and  soon  looted. 
The  tax  rate  was  enormously  increased.  When  returns  from  the  collection  of 
taxes  were  insufficient  to  satisfy  the  greed  of  the  ring,  checks,  warrants  and  due 
bills  were  made  out  in  the  name  of  the  city,  payable  to  bearer  or  to  fictitious 
persons  and  were  sold  to  street  shavers  of  notes  for  any  price  they  would 
bring.  Bonds  were  also  issued  and,  as  the  evidences  of  indebtedness  increased, 
the  prices  declined. 

The  second  election  of  Alden  in  1868  could  hardly  be  called  an  expression 
of  the  popular  will.  Alden  dominated  as  before  and  conditions  became  more 
intolerable  constantly.  Ruin  faced  a  helpless  public.  Relief  was  finally 
sought  through  the  courts;  but,  on  December  7,  1868,  Chancellor  Shackelford 
rendered  this  decision : 

"I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  complainants  are  not  entitled  to  the  injunction 
or  the  receiver  prayed  for,  and  the  application  is  therefore  refused." 

It  seemed  now  as  if  the  ring  was  thoroughly  intrenched  and  that  the  peo- 
ple were  helpless.  But  there  was  a  man  who  had  the  courage,  the  ability  and 
the  initiative  to  bring  an  end  to  this  corrupt  and  outrageous  rule.  That  man 
was  Col.  A.  S.  Colyar,  editor  of  the  Union  and  American.  He  made  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  city's  books  and  records  in  May,  1869.  At  a  mass- 
meeting  of  the  citizens  held  soon  after,  he  made  startling  disclosures  in  regard 
to  the  extravagance  and  corruption  he  had  unearthed;  and,  on  June  1st,  he 
filed  a  bill  at  Gallatin  before  Chancellor  Charles  Smith.  This  bill  was  brought 
"in  the  name  of  the  State  in  the  relation  of  466  citizens  in  behalf  of  them- 


37  This  was  an  Act  accepting  the  provisions  of  an  Act  of  Congress  providing  for  the 
distribution  of  public  lands  to  the  states,  the  sales  of  such  lands  to  be  used  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  agricultural  schools  or  experiment  stations.  This  was  the  nucleus  of  the  present 
splendid  agricultural  department  of  the  University  of  Tennessee. 

38  This  was  the  first  step  towards  restoring  the    judiciary  to  its  former  status. 

Vol.  1—3  5 


542  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

selves  and  others  against  the  mayor,  and  the  city  council,  the  city  treasurer, 
revenue  collector,  and  others."  It  prayed  that  no  more  checks  be  issued;  that 
the  city  officers  be  compelled  to  account  for  money;  and  that  a  receiver  be  ap- 
pointed. ' ' 

In  the  bill  the  allegation  was  made  that  $1,323,668  in  checks  had  been  is- 
sued, of  which  $769,000  were  emitted  without  authority  of  law,  and  that  much 
of  the  rest  had  been  put  out  for  illegal  purposes. 

Chancellor  Smith  granted  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners  and  John  M.  Bass 
was  appointed  receiver.  The  deposed  officials  applied  in  July  for  a  dissolu- 
tion of  the  receivership,  but  the  application  was  refused.  The  receivership, 
however,  was  not  of  long  duration.  In  August,  the  regular  city  election  oc- 
curred and  the  affairs  of  Nashville  were  then  again  placed  in  the  hands  of  its 
ordinary  and  reputable  citizens,  headed  by  K.  J.  Morris,  as  mayor.  The 
members  of  the  gang  of  plunderers  packed  their  carpetbags  and  departed  to 
other  fields  and  Nashville  had  to  pay  every  evidence  of  debt  issued  in  its  name 
by  the  ' '  Alden  ring. ' ' 

THE  STATE  DEBT 

The  Legislature  which  began  its  session  on  October  4,  1869,  and  adjourned 
on  March  5,  1870,  received  a  legacy  of  debt  which  worried  the  people  and 
succeeding  legislatures  for  thirteen  years  before  it  was  settled  on  a  permanent 
basis. 

Up  to  1838  there  was  no  state  debt.  In  that  year,  as  has  already  been  re- 
lated, the  state  incurred  its  first  indebtedness  by  subscribing  its  bonds  to  rail- 
road and  turnpike  companies.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  entire  state 
debt  was  $20,408,000  as  follows: 

Bonds  issued  to  railroads $14,841,000 

Bonds  issued  to  the  Union  Bank  and  the  Bank  of 

Tennessee   3,000,000 

Bonds  issued  to  Turnpikes 1,323,000 

Bonds  issued  for  building  the  Capitol 1,166,000 

Bonds  issued  for  Agricultural  Bureau 30,000 

Bonds  issued  for  purchase  of  Hermitage 48,000 

$20,408,000 
From  April,   1866,  to  December,   1868,  during  the  Brownlow  regime,  the 
state  debt  was  increased  $21,647,000  making  a  total  state  debt  of  $42,055,000 
on  January  1,  1869. 

The  reckless  extravagance  and  the  indifference  to  the  object  and  extent 
of  the  expenditures  which  characterized  the  Brownlow  administrations  are  not 
at  all  astonishing  when  one  considers  the  elements  in  whose  hands  the  govern- 
ment was  held.  The  members  of  the  Legislature  and  officials  were  mostly  from 
the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee,  the  negroes  and  the  carpetbaggers.  Accord- 
ing to  the  general  belief  of  that  period,  most  of  them  were  regarded  as  knowing 
nothing  of  the  financial  conditions  and  necessities  of  the  state  and  caring  less; 
and  many  were  looked  upon  as  directly  approachable  corruptly  for  their 
support  of  measures.  The  state's  aid,  in  bonds,  to  railroads  and  turnpikes,  was 
upon  a  scale  of  liberality  theretofore  unheard  of.  All  that  seemed  to  be  re- 
quired was  the  presentation  of  a  bill  and  it  would  go  through  without  regard 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  543 

to  its  purpose  or  merit.  And  the  lobbies  of  the  capitol  swarmed  with  persons 
who  were  employed  to  secure  legislation.39 

At  the  end  of  the  war,  the  railroads,  like  all  other  interests,  especially  those 
of  an  industrial  character,  were  in  a  thoroughly  demoralized  condition.  From 
the  first  arrival  of  the  Federal  troops  the  railroads  had  been  seized  and  used. 
They  had  also  been  used  by  the  Confederate  troops  in  such  parts  of  the  state 
as  from  time  to  time  they  had  controlled.  Through  the  exigencies  and  agencies 
of  war  much  of  the  rolling  stock  had  been  destroyed,  some  rails  had  been 
removed  and  many  bridges  and  buildings  burned.  These  must  of  course  be 
restored  at  once.  Hence,  as  soon  as  the  restored  government  was  in  working 
order,  the  officials  and  representatives  turned  to  the  government  for  financial 
relief.  This  was  obtained  through  the  passage  of  bills  (one  of  which  was  known 
as  the  "Omnibus  Bill"),  which  were  ostensibly  based  on  the  Act  of  1852. 
Under  the  provisions  of  these  bills  bonds  to  the  aggregate  amount  of  $14,393,000 
were  issued.  The  scandals  which  attended  the  passage  of  these  bills  are  clearly 
set  forth  in  the  following  extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Committee  of  Investi- 
gation appointed  by  the  Legislature  of  1879 :  ' '  Many  corporate  presidents, 
agents  and  representatives  came  to  Nashville  to  attend  the  sittings  of  the  Legis- 
lature. All  known  influences  were  used  upon  the  supposed  representatives  of 
the  people.  From  the  pulpit  to  the  bagnio,  recruits  were  gathered  for  the 
assault  on  the  treasury  of  the  State.  Fine  brandy  by  the  barrel  was  on  hand 
to  fire  thirst  and  muddle  the  brain,  and  first-class  suits  of  clothing  to  capture 
the  vanity  or  avarice  of  the  gay  or  needy.  Money,  the  proceeds  of  the  bonds 
issued  by  the  State,  for  specific  purpose  to  these  men,  was  here  in  abundance, 
and  it  was  used." 

After  reciting  some  specific  examples,  the  report  continues :  ' '  They  got  bonds 
for  roads  that  had  never  been  surveyed  and  located.  One  railroad  president 
says  that  he  had  great  influence  with  the  Governor,  that  another  railroad  presi- 
dent wanted  bonds  and  desired  his  services  with  said  governor,  that  he  got 
them,  that,  in  addition  to  pay  directly  for  his  services  and  influences  with  the 
governor,  he  was  to  have  control  of  a  portion  of  the  bonds  obtained  to  use  as 
margin  in  stock  speculations  in  New  York.  They  got  885  bonds  in  New  York. 
This  man  of  influence  with  the  Governor  further  says  that  he  and  the  other 
president  were  partners  in  stock  speculation,  and  used  the  bonds  obtained  from 
the  state  in  these  speculations." 

"When  the  Democrats  again  secured  control  of  the  state,  the  settlement  of 
the  state  debt,  which  had  been  so  largely  increased  during  the  Brownlow  regime. 


so  Ira  P.  Jones,  in  his  " Reconstruction  in  Tennessee,"  pp.  212-213,  says:  "Before 
the  close  of  the  last  of  the  four  sessions  of  this  Assembly,  a  moral  stench  seemed  to  arise  from 
the  State  Capitol.  Many  of  the  well  disposed  persons  elected  on  the  general  ticket,  who  were 
present  in  April,  186o,  failed  to  answer  to  roll-call  on  the  11th  of  March,  1867.  Of  this 
class  there  were  twelve  senators  and  thirty-two  representatives,  whose  places  were  filled  by 
less  worthy  men.  The  first  elected  comptroller  (Haekett)  seemed  to  be  entirely  incompetent 
and  inefficient.  Until  about  the  beginning  of  1866,  all  business  of  the  state  was  transacted 
with  a  looseness  and  a  general  lack  of  attention  to  systematic  methods  that  could  not  fail 
of  disastrous  results.  When  a  new  comptroller  of  sense  and  integrity  was  found,  he  was 
hampered  by  the  financial  legislation,  which,  against  his  remonstrances,  continued  to  over- 
whelm the  treasury  with  burdensome  appropriations  and  increased  bonded  obligations  until 
December  7,  1867,  when  it  culminated  in  numbers  of  grants  to  railroads,  known  as  the 
"Omnibus  Bill."  They  were  equally  unfortunate  in  the  selection  of  a  treasurer  (Stanford). 
His  depository  of  part  of  the  school  fund,  a  bank  in  Memphis,  controlled  by  a  man  named 
Rutter,  inflicted  a  loss  of  above  a  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  penitentiary  became  a 
prey  for  private  profit  at  the  expense  of  the  state.  The  warden,  a  carpetbagger  (J.  S.  Hull), 
was  suspended  by  legislative  resolution,  for  corruption  in  office,  and  a  month  later  was  allowed 
to  resign. 


544         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

became  an  apple  of  political  discord  which  retarded  the  regeneration  and  prog- 
ress of  Tennessee.  Three  factions  developed ;  one,  including  some  of  the  prom- 
inent leaders  of  the  state,  desiring  that  the  credit  of  the  state  be  maintained 
by  paying  the  bonds  in  full ;  a  larger  number,  fearing  that  the  state,  because 
of  demoralized  business  conditions,  could  not  meet  its  obligations  in  full,  favor- 
ing an  agreement  with  the  bondholders  whereby  the  debt  might  be  scaled 
without  any  dishonor  being  inflicted  upon  the  state ;  the  third  faction  favoring 
open  repudiation  on  the  ground  that  the  bonds  were  illegally  issued,  because 
the  precedent  conditions  laid  down  in  the  Act  of  1852  and  its  amendments  had 
not  been  complied  with. 

In  1837,  a  funding  act  40  was  passed  by  the  Legislature.  This  act  provided 
for  the  funding  of  all  past  due  bonds  and  coupons  into  new  bonds,  payable  in 
forty  years  and  redeemable  in  two  years.  In  the  act  was  a  provision  that  only 
"bonds  legally  issued  should  be  funded."  Nevertheless  the  state  officials  funded 
all  bonds  presented.  This  law,  however,  was  not  a  success.  The  state  could 
not  meet  the  interest  on  the  bonds  and  the  situation  was  rendered  still  more 
distressing  by  a  succession  of  bad-crop  years. 

On  January  1,  1877,  the  arrears  of  interest  alone  amounted  to  $1,570,646, 
with  no  prospect  that  the  state  would  be  in  a  position  to  pay  within  the  near 
future.  The  bondholders,  therefore,  saw  that  they  must  make  some  kind  of  a 
compromise  with  the  state  or  run  the  risk  of  losing  all.  Their  communications 
on  the  subject  to  the  governor  were  transmitted  to  the  Legislature  which,  on 
January  26,  1877,  adopted  a  resolution 41  that  the  governor  be  requested  to 
communicate  by  telegrams  or  by  letters,  with  the  gentlemen  holding  securities 
of  the  state,  mentioned  in  his  message,  and  with  others  holding  bonds  of  the 
state,  and  request  them  to  submit,  at  the  earliest  day  possible,  through  him,  to 
this  General  Assembly,  any  proposition  or  propositions  of  adjustment  and  com- 
promise which  they  may  desire." 

In  consequence  of  this  resolution  a  committee  of  the  Legislature  met  the 
bondholders  and  this  agreement  was  made:  "That  arrearages  of  interest  to 
July  1,  1877,  be  added  to  the  bonds  and  that  new  ones  be  issued,  made  to  bear 
interest  at  six  per  cent,  and  to  fall  due  in  thirty  years."  It  was,  of  course, 
expected  that  the  Legislature  would  ratify  this  agreement;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
they  not  only  rejected  it  but  they  reduced  the  rate  of  taxation  from  forty  cents 
to  ten  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars  and,  thus,  made  the  payment  of  interest  on 
the  public  debt  absolutely  impossible. 

On  January  22,  1879,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  and  report 
upon  the  state  debt.42  Acting  on  the  report  of  this  committee,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act43  on  March  31,  1879,  entitled  "An  Act  to  settle  the  bonded  debt 
of  the  State."  By  this  act  provision  was  made  for  an  issue  of  bonds  bearing 
four  per  cent  interest  to  be  exchanged  for  outstanding  bonds  with  accrued 
interest  at  the  rate  of  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar.  It  was  not  to  become  a  law, 
however,  unless  approved  by  a  vote  of  the  people  and  by  two-thirds  of  the 
bondholders.  The  bondholders  were  willing  enough  but  the  measure  was 
defeated  at  the  polls. 

There  seemed  now  no  prospect  of  a  settlement  of  the  State  debt  at  any  time 
in  the  near  future,  if  ever.     It  became  the  chief  issue  in  the  gubernatorial  cam- 


40  Chapter  XXIV,  Acts  of  1873,  p.  34,  passed  March  15,  1873. 
4i  House  Joint  Resolution,  No.  X,  Acts  of  1877,  p.  239. 

42  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  XII,  Acts  1879,  p.  322. 

43  Chapter  CCIV,  Acts  1879,  p.  247. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  545 

paign  of  1880,  which  was  an  eventful  year  in  Tennessee  as  well  as  in  national 
politics.  Because  of  a  split  in  the  Democratic  party,  a  Republican,  Alvin 
Hawkins,  was  elected.  He  was  favorably  disposed  toward  the  bondholders  and 
so  was  the  newly  elected  Legislature. 

On  April  5,  1881,  the  Legislature  passed  a  bill44  entitled  "An  Act  to  com- 
promise and  settle  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  State  of  Tennessee."  This 
act  provided  for  the  funding  of  the  outstanding  debt  at  par,  the  new  bonds 
(called  "Compromise  Bonds"),  to  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  three  per  cent 
and  the  coupons  to  be  receivable  for  taxes.  This  bill  was  signed  by  the  governor 
on  the  next  day,  April  6,  1881,  and  went  into  immediate  effect,  but,  on  a  test 
case,  the  courts  decided  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional  on  the  ground  that 
the  Legislature  could  not  make  a  valid  contract  in  which  the  coupons  should  be 
receivable  for  taxes  for  ninety-nine  years. 

Warned  by  the  political  disaster  which  had  attended  the  dissensions  in  1880, 
the  Democrats  became  united  in  1882  and  Gen.  "W.  B.  Bate  was  elected  Governor. 
On  March  15,  1883,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act45  entitled  "A  Bill  to  settle 
the  amount  of  the  public  debt  of  the  State,  fix  the  rate  of  interest  thereon, 
provide  for  the  funding  thereof,  and  the  compensation  of  the  officers  of  the  State 
therefor,"  in  accordance  with  a  plan  outlined  by  Governor  Bate  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature.  By  the  provisions  of  this  act  the  State  was  to  pay  in  full 
the  bonds  held  by  Mrs.  Jas.  K.  Polk  and  all  bonds  held  by  educational,  literary, 
and  charitable  institutions  in  the  state ;  it  was  to  pay  in  full,  less  war  interest, 
the  state  debt  proper ;  in  compromise  of  the  rest  of  the  debt,  known  as  the 
railroad  debt,  the  state  was  required  to  pay  one-half  of  trie  principal  and 
accrued  interest  by  issuing  therefor  bonds  of  the  state  bearing  interest  at  the 
rate  of  three  per  cent  per  annum :  This  act  settled  definitely  all  the  vexatious 
questions  pertaining  to  the  debt  of  the  state  which  had  been  the  bone  of 
political  contention  for  so  many  years.  From  time  to  time  since,  the  bonded 
debt  has  been  reduced  until,  on  October  5,  1922,  it  amounted  to  only  $15,623,000. 

BROWNLOW  PAPERS  IN  THE  STATE  ARCHIVES 

In  the  archives  of  the  state  are  thousands  of  papers,  documents  and  records 
pertaining  to  the  Brownlow  regime,  which  thoroughly  illuminate  that  dark 
period  in  the  history  of  Tennessee,  and  which  have  proven  of  incalculable  value 
in  the  preparation  of  this  period  of  our  history.  As  time  goes  on  the  value  of 
them  to  students  and  historians  will  be  tremendously  increased.  They  show  the 
dominating  influence  of  Brownlow  at  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances.  The 
correspondence  indicates  that  virtually  nothing  governmental  was  done  without 
Brownlow 's  prior  consent,  and  that  reports  of  all  important  actions  in  every 
part  of  the  state  were  forwarded  to  him  immediately  after  the  occurrence  of 
them.  The  letters  from  the  sheriffs  of  the  various  counties  and  from  private 
friends  of  Brownlow  in  regard  to  the  rioting  in  Memphis  and  the  lawless 
actions  of  desperate  men  in  all  sections  present  a  gruesome  composite  of  the 
terrible  conditions  of  these  times.  Some  of  these  papers  also  show  heartrending 
cases  in  the  courts  as  late  as  1867,  1868  and  1869  relating  to  crimes  and  misde- 
meanors which  were  committed  during  the  war.  Some  of  them  show  that  father 
had  turned  against  son  for  deserting  the  Confederacy  and  vice  versa  and  very 
many  denote  a  disordered  state  of  society  existing  in  every  section ;  indeed,  in 
every  county. 


"Chapter  CLXXIII,  Acts  1881,  p.  279. 
«  Chapter  LXXXIV,  Acts  of  1883,  p.  76. 


546  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

These  papers  show  that,  with  the  almost  autocratic  power  which  Brownlow 
possessed,  there  was  no  situation  which  he  hesitated  to  meet. 

The  general  condition,  may,  perhaps,  be  understood  a  little  better  after 
reading  the  two  following  letters  which,  while  not  depicting  the  bloody  occur- 
rences related  in  some  of  these  papers,  afford  a  view  of  political  affairs  which 
seems  to  have  been  characteristic  of  most  counties  and  sections  in  the  State : 

Richland  Valley,  Weakley  County,  Tennessee,  April  10,  1867. 
A.  J.  PTetcher, 
Secretary  of  State, 
Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Dear  Sir, 

I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  I  heard  one  of  the  most  violent  speeches, 
on  Monday,  the  first  day  of  this  month,  delivered  by  Em.  Etheridge,46  in  re- 
lation to  the  parties  now  in  Tennessee.  He  is  severe  against  Brownlow,  and 
the  members  of  the  Union  League.  He  is  creating  considerable  excitement  in 
this  county.  I  am  conscious  it  will  be  at  the  risk  of  my  life  to  commence  regis- 
tering voters  under  the  late  Franchise  Law  without  some  force  to  keep  in 
subjection  a  portion  of  unprincipled  men,  but  I  will  not  flinch  from  my  duty. 
We  have  one  of  the  greatest  political  battles  to  fight  next  August  that  has 
ever  taken  place  in  Tennessee,  and  we  must  prepare  to  meet  it  bravely.  We 
have  six  councils  of  the  U.  L.  A.47  in  our  county  doing  well.  I  think  in  a  few 
weeks  every  Union  man  in  reality  will  belong  to  the  U.  L.  A.  I  would  (like?) 
to  have  all  the  information  necessary  in  relation  to  registering  under  the  late 
act.  *  *  *  I  do  not  know  that  any  person  will  attempt  to  raise  a  company 
in  our  county.  Etheridge  is  counseling  against  it.  Therefore  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  attempt  it  without  some  protection.  Say  to  Governor  Brownlow 
we  need  some  protection  especially  in  registering  voters.     *     *     * 

Yours  truly, 

A.  H.  Walker. 

Ashland  City,  Tenn.,  June  3,  1867. 
To  His  Excellency,  W.  G.  Brownlow, 
Governor  of  Tennessee. 

Permit  the  undersigned  to  communicate  a  few  items  to  Your  Excellency 
concerning  our  political  situation  in  Cheatham  County. 

On  Saturday,  the  1st  inst.,  there  was  a  general  meeting  of  the  republican 
men  of  our  county  at  this  place  for  the  purpose  of  appointing  delegates  to  the 
convention  in  Nashville  on  the  8th  inst. 

The  notice  of  this  meeting  was  generally  known  in  the  county  and  it  was 
reported  that  Doctor  Wood,  col'd,  from  Nashville  would  be  here  to  address 
the  people,  which  brought  a  considerable  number  of  colored  people,  as  was 
generally  expected.  The  conservatives  are  not  generally  pleased  at  the  idea  of 
radicals  meeting  and  consulting  together  here  in  this  manner  and  so  on  Satur- 
day morning  an  anonymous  letter  was  found  at  the  door  of  the  post  office 
addressed  to  us,  on  opening  and  reading  which  we  found  was  a  prompt  and 
imperative  insulting,  invective  and  threatening  demand  on  us  to  desist  imme- 
diately from  our  purpose  of  meeting  or  public  speaking  here — that  we  had 
cock-crowed  as  long  as  was  sufferable — denounced  us  in  low  flung  terms  and 
threatened  us  and  our  party  with  some  sort  of  chastisement,  or  to  cause  a  sudden 
stop  to  our  further  political  proceedings.  We  proceeded,  however,  to  organize 
for  business — held  our  convention,  and  went  to  the  grove  where  Warren  Jordan, 
Esqr.,  of  our  county  was  called  to  the  stand,  and  proceed(ed)  in  a  calm,  dig- 
nified and  respectful  (manner)  to  discuss  the  general  questions  of  political 
import,  offering  in  the  outset  to  divide  time  with  any  gentleman  who  wished 
(to)  speak  on  the  other  side.    He  had  been  speaking  but  a  little  while  until  he 


4«  Emerson  Etheridge,  who  had  been  brought  out  as  a  candidate  against  Brownlow. 
4 i  The  Union  League  of  America. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  547 

was  interrupted,  and  insulted  by  a  young  man  named  Brinkley.  The  Cortu 
missioner  of  Registration  being  present  arose  and  politely  asked  him  to  be  quiet 
a  while,  that  if  he  wanted  to  say  anything,  he  should  have  the  stand  when 
Jordan  got  through.  Brinkley  thereupon  cursed  and  abused  the  Commissioner 
in  particular  and  the  radicals  generally.  About  this  time  appearances  looked 
somewhat  riotous  as  many  arose  seizing  their  pistols  and  making  ready  for 
action.  Brinkley  was  gotten  off  by  some  one  and  the  audience  seated  again. 
The  speaker  resuming  his  speech  continued  a  while,  when  another  young  man 
by  the  name  of  Lowe  48  commenced  abusing  the  speaker,  telling  him  that  this 
was  his  last  time  in  the  stand — cursed  the  Union  men  and  negroes,  threatening 
vengeance  on  all  who  might  chance  to  differ  in  his  opinions.  Nothing  serious 
resulted.  The  speaker  continued,  but  it  was  seen  that  some  of  the  conservative 
audience  rather  approved  this  conduct  in  these  young  men  by  remaining  silent 
or  assuming  a  hostile  attitude.  The  speaking  closed  and  our  League  members 
(consisting  of  about  150  whites  and  colored)  repaired  to  the  Council  Room  and 
proceeded  to  business.  Brinkley  followed  to  near  the  house  and  stood  in  the 
street  and  publicly  cursed,  abused  the  Brownlow  clique  and  nigger  Leagues — 
finally  with  revolver  cocked  he  went  in  the  house  ordering  the  dispersion  of  the 
crowd.  He  soon  retired,  and,  being  joined  by  others,  promenaded  the  streets 
hurrahing  for  Jeff  Davis  and  the  Confederacy,  threatening  us  and  the  party. 
They  loitered  in  and  about  the  town  until  a  late  hour  in  the  night,  often  dis- 
charging their  pieces,  at  what  object  we  can  not  say.  These  young  rebels  are 
beyond  a  doubt  encouraged  in  their  conduct  and  backed  by  older  and  more 
mature  men.  The  object  is  to  stop  Radicalism  here.  It  is  very  obnoxious  and 
unpalatable  to  rebels,  and  they  are  resolved  by  all  means  practicable  to  check 
the  progress  of  free  speech  and  independent  action  of  the  Union  men  in  this 
county. 

The  writer  then  recited  the  fact  that  they  had  been  devoted  to  the  Union 
cause  and  its  principles  and  asked  for  protection  or  for  authority  to  organize  a 
military  company,  otherwise,  he  said,  "we  are  candid  to  admit  that  we  have 
poor  encouragement  to  risk  our  lives,  reputation  and  efforts  further."  The 
same  situation  prevailed  quite  generally  throughout  the  state.  In  Tennessee,  at 
least,  carpetbag-and-negro  domination  was  "obnoxious"  and  was  fast  being 
relegated.  The  quietus  was  finally  given  to  this  bizarre  and  abnormal  rule  when 
D.  W.  C.  Senter  was  elected  governor  over  Col.  W.  B.  Stokes  in  1869. 

ADMINISTRATION   OP   GOVERNOR    SENTER 

The  resignation  of  Brownlow,  as  governor,  and  the  succession  of  DeWitt 
Clinton  Senter  to  the  gubernatorial  chair  were  occurrences  more  than  ordi- 
narily pleasurable  to  thousands  of  Tennesseans.  Among  them  were  many 
Union  men,  previously  followers  of  Brownlow,  who  had  experienced  a  change 
of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  franchise  act.  This  change  was  expressed  by 
A.  J.  Fletcher,  secretary  of  state  (1865-1870),  as  follows:  "Our  mistake  was 
that  we  made  the  franchise  law  sweeping  and  perpetual,  offering  no  hope  or 
inducement  to  the  ex-rebel  to  become  loyal.  The  man  who  is  disfranchised  in 
a  republic  is  not  apt  to  feel  that  it  is  his  government,  or  to  take  pride  or  inter- 
est in  it,  nor  apt  to  make  a  useful  or  even  law-abiding  citizen  of  it.  I  do  not 
feel  comfortable  in  a  state  where  half  of  the  people  and  two-thirds  of  the  tax- 
payers are  publicly  degraded  by  law,  without  motive  to  be  proud  of  the  state 
and  government." 

No  sooner  had  Senter  been  installed  in  the  governor's  chair  than  his  more 

48  The  text  at  this  point  has  the  following  words  through  which  the  pen  has  been  run : 
"and  was  a  guerilla  here  in  time  of  the  war." 


548  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

liberal  policy  became  apparenl  and  immediately  brought  fruit.  In  March, 
1869,  only  a  few  weeks  after  the  resignation  of  Brownlow,  the  Grand  Wizard 
of  the  Ku  Klnx  Klan  issued  his  order  terminating  the  existence  of  that  or- 
ganization. In  it  he  said  that  the  objects  for  which  they  had  labored  had 
been  accomplished;  that  they  had  afforded  protection  to  families;  that  they 
had  removed  the  fear  which  many  had  had  for  the  safety  of  their  persons  and 
property;  and  that  the  time  had  arrived  when  their  services  were  no  longer 
needed ;  they  were  therefore  commanded  to  burn  all  their  regalia  and  other 
evidences  of  their  existence  and  quietly  to  disband. 

Nevertheless  the  name  Ku  Klux  Klan  continued  to  be  used  by  unknown 
persons  and  their  "outrages"  were  mentioned  in  newspapers  as  late  as  1872. 

The  demonstrations  of  the  Loyal  League  disappeared  simultaneously  with 
the  disbandment  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  and  soon  afterwards  the  state  guard 
was  dismissed. 

With  the  passing  of  these  two  organizations  and  the  removal  to  Wash- 
ington of  Senator  Brownlow  the  people  of  Tennessee  looked  to  the  future  with 
renewed  hope.  They  realized,  too,  that  much  depended  upon  the  outcome  of 
the  forthcoming  election  in  August  of  a  governor  and  members  of  the  Legis- 
lature. Governor  Senter  was,  naturally,  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself.  While 
he  was  a  republican,  he  had  been  a  member  of  the  Secession  Legislature  of  1861 
and  was  suspected  of  having  inclinations  favorable  to  the  "ex-rebels."  His 
competitor  for  the  nomination  was  Col.  W.  B.  Stokes,  representative  of  the 
Third  District  in  Congress.  Stokes,  also,  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  had 
identified  himself  with  the  secession  movement,  but  had  deserted  it  and  had 
become,  after  the  war,  one  of  the  most  extreme  and  bitter  radicals.  During 
the  war  he  served  creditably  as  colonel  of  a  Tennessee  regiment  in  the  Union 
army. 

The  radical  convention  met  in  Nashville  on  May  20,  1869.  It  was  called 
to  order  by  Thos.  Cates,  chairman  of  the  central  committee,  a  Stokes  man. 
The  convention  broke  up  over  a  contest  to  seat  a  friend  of  Governor  Senter 
as  temporary  chairman  of  the  convention,  in  which  a  hand  to  hand  contest 
among  the  delegates  resulted.  The  convention  adjourned  in  disorder,  and  in 
the  second  meeting  on  the  following  day,  the  disgraceful  scenes  of  the  first 
were  repeated.  It  finally  adjourned  in  the  utmost  confusion.  Both  candidates 
were  nominated  by  their  friends  who  met  in  separate  places. 

Of  this  convention  the  Nashville  Union  and  American,  of  May  21,  1869, 
said: 

"The  so-called  Radical  State  Convention,  the  most  disgraceful,  profane,  and 
vulgar  assemblage  of  men  ever  congregated  in  the  state  to  consider  public  affairs, 
came  to  an  abrupt  termination  yesterday,  after  an  ineffectual  attempt  of  two 
days  to  organize.  It  simply  dissolved.  It  could  not  even  adjourn.  It  had 
no  chairman,  no  secretary,  and  could  not  even  transact  any  business.  It  met 
as  if  by  chance,  and  dispersed  from  necessity.  It  was  an  agglomerate  discord, 
an  inflamed  mob  filled  with  mean  whisky  and  meaner  passions.  It  was  a 
meeting  of  mortal  enemies  under  the  guise  of  friendship  to  decide  the  spoils  of 
misdeeds  and  crimes.  They  quarrelled  and  fought,  and  called  each  other  liars 
and  thieves,  and  all  manner  of  epithets.  Such  a  congregation  of  vulgar  elements, 
so  fierce,  so  bitter,  and  so  reckless,  was  never  seen  before  in  this  section  of  the 
Union." 

Beginning  at  Nashville  on  June  5th  the  two  candidates  canvassed  the  state 
in  a  joint  debate  which  was  distinguished  for  its  personalities  and  lack  of  dig- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  549 

nity  and  decorum.  Governor  Senter  declared  "that  the  time  has  come,  and 
is  now,  when  the  limitations  and  disabilities  which  have  found  their  way  into 
our  statute-books,  as  the  result  of  the  war,  should  be  abolished  and  removed, 
and  the  privilege  of  the  elective  franchise  be  restored,  and  extended  so  far  as 
to  embrace  the  mass  of  the  adult  population  of  the  state." 
Colonel  Stokes  stated  his  position  as  follows : 

"When  the  killing  of  Union  men  ceases,  the  hellish  organization  of  Ku-Klux 
is  abandoned,  and  the  laws  are  observed,  then  I  am  willing  to  entertain  a 
proposition  to  amend  the  state  constitution  so  far  as  to  allow  the  disfranchised 
to  come  in  gradually,  by  providing  that  the  Legislature  may  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  remove  the  disabilities  of  those  who  petition,  and  come  well  recommended 
by  their  loyal  neighbors." 

The  real  issue  of  the  campaign  was  universal  suffrage  or  continued  dis- 
franchisement of  the  most  numerous  as  well  as  the  best  element  in  the  state, 
which  was  represented  by  those  who  had  sided  with  the  Confederacy.  The 
Confederates,  naturally  desirous  of  regaining  the  elective  franchise,  assured 
Governor  Senter  that  they  would  support  him,  if  they  were  allowed  to  vote. 
This  was  easily  arranged  by  Senter  who  had  control  of  the  same  machinery 
which  Brownlow  had  employed  so  successfully,  including  especially  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  registrars  of  the  election. 

The  election  was  held  on  August  5,  1869,  and,  notwithstanding  the  high 
feeling  which  prevailed,  passed  without  any  serious  conflicts  or  disturbances 
of  the  peace.  According  to  Miller's  "Manual  of  Tennessee,"  page  170,  Senter 
received  120,333  votes  and  Stokes,  55,036  votes,  a  majority  of  65,297  votes  in 
favor  of  Senter — the  largest  majority  ever  received  by  a  candidate  for  governor 
of  Tennessee.  The  large  vote  cast,  175,369,  in  comparison  with  the  vote  of 
96,584  in  the  gubernatorial  election  two  years  before  was  accounted  for  partly 
by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  May,  in  the  case  of  State  vs.  Staten, 
6th  Cold :  235  from  Gibson  County,  declaring  unconstitutional  the  acts  of  the 
Legislature  authorizing  the  executive  to  set  aside  and  annul  registration  of 
voters  in  which  he  might  discover  frauds  and  irregularities.  This  decision 
restored  the  franchise  to  a  very  large  number  whose  certificates  had  been 
annulled  by  Governor  Brownlow. 

Immediately  after  the  election  Stokes  and  his  friends  applied  to  Presi- 
dent Grant,  alleging  fraud,  but  Grant  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  their  entreaties. 
Congress,  to  which  they  also  appealed,  passed  a  resolution  thanking  Grant 
for  his  refusal  to  interfere  with  affairs  in  Tennessee.  The  fact  is  that  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  it  was  recognized  that  the  "carpetbag"  governments  of 
the  South  were  full  of  corruption  and  incompetence  and  imposed  upon  the 
southern  states  intolerable  burdens  of  debt.  The  feeling  was  becoming  gen- 
eral that  there  should  be  universal  amnesty  in  order  that  the  best  and  most 
capable  people  of  the  South  should  return  to  the  management  of  their  own 
affairs. 

The  Legislature,  which  was  elected  at  the  same  time  as  Governor  Senter 
and  upon  the  same  platform,  was  democratic  for  the  first  time  since  1861. 
Thus  the  Confederate  element  in  the  state,  led  by  Gen.  John  C.  Brown,  re- 
gained control  of  Tennessee. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth  General  Assembly  met  October  4,  1869, 
and  adjourned  March  5,  1870.  The  following  named  important  acts  were 
passed  at  this   session:     "Requiring  voters  to  vote   in  the   district   in   which 


550  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

they  reside";  "Repealing  all  laws  granting  state  aid  to  internal  improve- 
ment"; "Providing  for  lease  of  the  penitentiary";  "Funding  the  floating 
debt";  "Calling  a  constitutional  convention,  to  be  voted  for  on  the  third 
Saturday  in  December,  1869,  and  to  meet  on  the  second  Monday  in  January, 
1870";  "Repealing  the  law  requiring  candidates  to  take  an  oath."  A  joint 
resolution  was  also  passed  rejecting  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States. 


PERIOD  IV 


The  Period  of  Modern  Times — From  the  Adoption  of  the  Third 
Constitution,  in  1870,  to  the  Present  Time 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

FROM  JOHN  C.  BROWN  TO  ROBERT  L.  TAYLOR 

THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  1870 — THE  ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  GOVERNOR 
JOHN  C.  BROWN — THE  ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  JAMES  D.  PORTER — THE  ADMIN- 
ISTRATION OF  GOVERNOR  A.  S.  MARKS — THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  ALVIN 
HAWKINS — THE  ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  GOVERNOR  W.  B.  BATE — "THE  WAR  OF 
THE  ROSES" — ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  ROBERT  L.   TAYLOR 

The  outstanding  feature  of  the  work  of  the  Legislature  in  the  early  days 
of  its  session  in  1869  had  been  the  efforts  of  the  members  and  of  the  governor 
to  keep  their  pledges  to  restore  the  franchise  to  the  majority  of  the  white 
voters  who  had  been  disfranchised.  The  problem  proved  to  be  perplexing 
because,  in  1865,  the  Radical  Convention  had  adopted  amendments  by  virtue 
of  which  the  Legislature  in  1866  and  1867  had  passed  the  disfranchising 
acts.  It  is  true  that  those  acts  could  have  been  repealed,  but  as  the  questions 
involved  were  of  a  constitutional  character  it  was  thought  that  they  ought 
not  to  be  handled  by  the  Legislature.  An  Act  x  was  therefore  passed  which 
authorized  the  people  to  call  a  convention  to  make  a  new  constitution  for 
Tennessee.     The   first   section  provided, 

"That  every  male  person  not  convicted  and  rendered  infamous  for  crime, 
of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  citizen 
of  the  county  where  he  may  offer  his  vote  six  months  next  preceding  the  day  of 
election,  is  hereby  authorized  to  assemble  on  the  third  Saturday  in  December, 
1869,  at  the  several  places  of  holding  elections  in  the  several  counties  and  vote 
for  or  against  calling  a  convention  to  amend,  revise  or  form  and  make  a  new 
constitution  for  the  state ;  and  no  certificate  or  other  qualification  than  the  fore- 
going, shall  be  required  by  the  judges  holding  said  election." 

Provision  was  also  made  for  the  election  of  seventy-five  delegates  to  the 
Convention,  which  shall  convene  in  Nashville  on  the  second  Monday  in  Jan- 
uary, 1870,  in  case  of  a  majority  vote  in  favor  of  the  convention. 

The  election  resulted  in  a  majority  of  40,500  in  favor  of  holding  the 
convention. 

The  second  Monday  in  January,  1870,  was  the  10th  and  on  that  day  the 
distinguished  body  of  delegates  assembled.  It  was  probably  the  most  in- 
telligent assemblage  of  representatives  elected  in  Tennessee  for  any  purpose 
since  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1834.  The  people  had,  for  the  most 
part,  selected  their  best  and  wisest  men.     The  convention  was  called  to  order 


i  This  was  Chapter  CV  of  the  Acts  of  1869,  p.  118,  passed  on  November  15,  1869,  and 
entitled,  "An  Act  to  Authorize  the  People  to  Call  a  Convention,  and  for  Other  Purposes." 

551 


552  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

by  Judge  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  one  of  the  greatest  jurists  of  his  time  and, 
later,  chief  justice  of  Tennessee.  Upon  his  suggestion  Boiling  Gordon,  the 
only  delegate  present  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  Convention  of  1834, 
was  made  temporary  chairman.  Gen.  John  C.  Brown  was  made  permanent 
president.  General  Brown  was  universally  loved  and  respected.  He  had 
risen  to  prominence  in  the  Civil  war,  in  which  he  achieved  deserved  fame 
and  he  had  been  a  leader  in  the  movement  to  restore  the  elective  franchise. 
He  was  a  younger  brother  of  Neill  S.  Brown,  governor  of  Tennessee,  1847-49, 
who  was  also  a  delegate  to  the  convention. 

The  convention  was,  politically,  democratic,  and  ex-Confederates  pre- 
dominated. The  character  of  the  members  was  a  guarantee  that  its  action 
would  be  conservative. 

The  Constitution  of  1834  was  admirably  adapted  to  the  conditions  pre- 
vailing in  Tennessee  at  that  time  and  for  many  years  later.  Even  at  the 
time  of  the  outbreak  of  the  war  society  had  not  outgrown  it.  In  1870  old 
systems  had  been  destroyed  and  new  ones  had  not  yet  been  established.  Ten- 
nessee was  prostrate,  its  people  were  impoverished ;  its  future  uncertain.  It 
seemed  best  to  make  as  few  changes  as  possible — only  those  known  to  be 
necessary.  The  real  object  of  the  convention  is  stated  by  Joshua  W.  Cald- 
well 2    as   follows : 

"The  truth  is  that  the  convention  was  a  political  expedient,  designed  to 
restore  to  citizenship  and  to  the  mastery  of  affairs,  the  majority  of  the  white 
voters  of  the  state,  who  had  been  disfranchised  by  a  minority  party  which  the 
war  had  placed  in  power.  If  certain  minor  constitutional  changes  were  advo- 
cated, the  wish  to  secure  them  was  not  an  important  factor  in  promoting  the 
convention."  3 

The  suffrage  question  was  the  predominant  question  before  the  convention. 
Not  only  was  restoration  of  the  franchise  sought  for  the  disfranchised  but 
they  must  determine  what  should  be  done  relative  to  permitting  the  negroes 
to  vote.     On  this  question  the  minority  report  of  the  suffrage  committee  said : 

' '  We  hold  that  the  negro  race  is  the  lowest  order  of  human  beings,  incapable 
in  themselves  of  a  virtuous  intelligence,  or  free  government ;  and  for  the  truth, 
we  appeal  to  history,  and  challenge  the  world  to  show  a  single  exception.  "We 
hold  that  the  inferiority  of  the  negro  to  the  white  man,  in  race,  color  and 
capacity  for  permanent,  well-ordered  government  has  been  fixed  by  Him  who 
'doeth  all  things  well,'  and  whose  natural  or  revealed  law  has  never  been 
violated  by  any  human  government  without  disaster  and  confusion." 

This  report  probably  represented  a  large  majority  of  the  delegates.  Vin- 
dictiveness  or  a  sense  of  proper  retribution  for  evils  suffered  might  have 
caused  less  wise  and  patriotic  men  to  repudiate  and  repeal  the  amendments 
adopted  in  1865  which,  indeed,  they  thought  were  legally  adopted.  But, 
surrendering  their  convictions  for  the  good  of  the  state,  they  incorporated 
into  the  constitution  the  following  provision  with  regard  to  suffrage: 

"Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  state  for  twelve  months,  and  of  the  county 
wherein  he  may  offer  his  vote,  for  six  months  next  preceding  the  day  of  elec- 
tion, shall  be  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  all 

2  Caldwell 's  ' '  Constitutional  History  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.  147. 

s  Caldwell  ("Constitutional  History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  150),  quotes  Judge  Nicholson 
as  having  said:  "Let  us  be  careful;  let  us  do  no  more  than  is  absolutely  necessary.  In 
ten  years  all  this  must  be  done  again." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  553 

civil  officers  of  the  county  or  district  in  which  he  resides,  and  there  shall  be  no 
qualification  attached  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  except  that  each  voter  shall  give 
to  the  judge  of  election,  where  he  offers  to  vote,  satisfactory  evidence  that  he 
has  paid  the  poll  taxes  assessed  against  him  for  such  preceding  period  as  the 
Legislature  shall  prescribe,  and  at  such  time  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  with- 
out which  his  vote  cannot  be  received."4 

Besides  the  suffrage  provision  but  few  changes  were  made  from  the  Con- 
stitution of  1834.  The  principal  changes  were  the  following:  It  was  provided 
that  "the  militia  shall  not  be  called  into  service  except  in  case  of  rebellion 
or  invasion,  and  then  only  when  the  General  Assembly  shall  declare  by  law 
that  the  public  safety  requires  it."5 

The  bill  of  rights  was  amended  so  that  "the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall 
not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  General 
Assembly  shall  declare  the  public  welfare  requires  it." 

To  remedy  the  abuse  of  too  frequent  sittings  of  the  Legislature  which 
had  been  in  almost  continuous  session  during  Brownlow's  regime,  the  regular 
sessions  were  made  biennial  and  it  was  provided  that  no  member  "shall  be 
paid  for  more  than  seventy-five  days  of  the  regular  session,  or  for  more  than 
twenty  days  of  an  extra  or  called  session." 

They  also  created  a  homestead  exemption  and  delegated  to  the  Legislature 
the  power  to  pass  general  laws,  for  the  organization  of  private  corporations, 
and  state  aid  to  internal  improvement  companies  was  prohibited.6 

After  having  completed  their  work 7  the  members  of  the  convention  pro- 
ceeded to  the  capitol  and  placed  the  new  constitution  in  the  hands  of  Governor 
Senter,  by  whom  it  was  placed  before  the  people,  who,  on  March  25,  1870, 
ratified  it  by  a  vote  of  98,128  to  33,872. 

A  large  part  of  the  activities  of  the  second  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  which  met  on  May  9,  1870,  and  adjourned  July  11,  1870,  was 
devoted  to  enacting  laws  necessary  for  carrying  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the 
new  constitution.  Acts  were  passed  defining  the  qualifications  of  voters,  provid- 
ing for  elections  and  redistricting  the  state.  It  was  provided  that  all  males  of 
twenty-one  years  of  age  could  vote.8  It  was  provided  that  the  governor  and 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  should  be  elected  on  the  second  Tuesday  in 
November,  1870,  and  thereafter,  every  two  years,  on  the  first  Tuesday  after  the 
first  Monday.9 

The  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  Reorganize  and  Regulate  Common  Schools,"10 
proved  to  be  very  unfortunate.  Its  object  was  laudable,  it  is  true ;  that  is,  the 
repeal  of  the  law  of  1867,  known  as  the  "Brownlow  School  Law";  but  while 
that  law,  obnoxious  as  it  was  in  many  sections  of  the  state,  was  repealed,  the 
maintenance  of  the  public  schools  was  remanded  to  the  several  counties  and  the 
cause  of  public  education  suffered  until  1873  when  was  passed  the  famous  act 
which  started  the  present  educational  system  of  Tennessee. 


*  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1870. 

s  This  was  adopted  probably  for  the  reason  that  Brownlow  had  acted  arbitrarily  in 
suspending  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  and  had  proclaimed  martial  law. 

s  The  following  is  the  wording:  "The  credit  of  this  state  shall  not  be  hereafter  loaned 
or  given  to  or  in  aid  of  any  person,  association,  company,  corporation,  or  municipality;  nor 
shall  the  state  become  the  owner,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of  any  bank,  or  a  stockholder  witli 
others  in  any  association,  company,  corporation,  or  municipality." 

i  On  February  23,  1870. 

s  Chapter  X,  Acts  of  1870,  p.  25,  passed  June  1,  1870. 

9  Chapter  XV,  Acts  of  1870,  p.  31,  passed  June  10,  1870. 

io  Chapter  LXIV,  Acts  of  1870,  p.  99,  passed  July  7,  1870. 


554  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  third  session  of  the  Thirty-sixth  General  Assembly  met  December  5, 

1870,  and  adjourned  February  6,  1871.  It  was  concerned  principally  with  an 
investigation  into  frauds  in  railroads  and  school  funds  and  investigation  of 
the  condition  of  the  state  debt. 

A  recrudescence  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  "outrages"  was  complained  of  by 
Governor  Senter  in  the  latter  part  of  his  administration  and  he  sought  to  in- 
duce the  Legislature  to  give  him  power  to  suppress  them.  When  he  was  un- 
successful in  this  effort,  application  was  made  to  Congress  to  reconstruct  the 
state.     This  movement,  however,  likewise  failed. 

In  the  judicial  elections  held  in  August,  1870,  in  conformance  to  the  act  n 
passed  June  16,  1870,  six  judges,  two  from  each  grand  division  of  the  state, 
were  elected  to  compose  the  Supreme  Court.  Of  this  court,  the  distinguished 
jurist  and  former  senator,  Alfred  0.  P.  Nicholson  was  made  chief  justice. 

With  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  of  1870  12  and  of  the  statutory  laws 
necessary  to  effectuate  it,  the  reconstruction  period  in  Tennessee  came  to  an  end. 

THE   ADMINISTRATION    OF   GOVERNOR   JOHN    C.    BROWN 

The  prominent  part  taken  by  Gen.  John  C.  Brown  in  the  affairs  of  Tennes- 
see after  the  war  and  especially  the  distinguished  services  performed  by  him 
in  securing  the  franchise  for  ex-Confederates  and  as  chairman  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  singled  him  out  as  preeminently  the  man  to  head  the  demo- 
cratic ticket  in  the  gubernatorial  race  in  1870.  He  was  nominated  in  the  Demo- 
cratic State  Convention  in  the  summer  of  that  year.  His  republican  competitor 
was  the  Hon.  William  H.  Wisener,  a  veteran  whig  in  ante-bellum  days,  and 
able  and  distinguished  republican  after  the  war.  Following  a  brilliant  can- 
vass, General  Brown  was  elected  by  a  vote  of  78,979  to  Wisener 's  41,500.  This 
was  the  first  general  election  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitution,  and, 
although  it  was  held  in  November,  1870,  Governor  Brown  was  not  inaugurated 
until  October  10,  1871,  at  the  expiration  of  Governor  Senter 's  full  term  of  two 
years,  so  that  Governor  Brown's  first  term  embraced  a  period  of  only  one  year 
and  three  months. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  General  Assembly  met  on  October  2, 

1871,  and  adjourned  December  16,  1871.  The  previous  Legislature  had  paved 
the  way  for  the  political  reorganization  of  the  state  along  democratic  lines. 
Economic  questions,  especially  the  state  debt,  occupied  the  main  attention  of 
the  new  administration.  The  state  comptroller  reported  that  the  indebtedness 
of  the  state  had  reached  the  enormous  sum  of  $41,863,406.69,  of  which  $31,300.- 
417.14  had  been  incurred  in  extending  state  aid  to  railroads  and  turnpikes.  Of 
the  rest  $4,819,544.26  represented  the  state  debt  proper,  and  $4,075,028  bonds 
indorsed  by  the  state,  and  interest  to  January  1,  1872. 

The  following  named  important  acts  were  passed:  "To  authorize  railroads 
to  consolidate";  "To  establish  a  bureau  of  immigration  of  three  commissioners 
appointed  by  the  governor";  "To  create  the  office  of  state  geologist";  "To 
create  the  office  of  superintendent  of  prisons " ;  "To  establish  a  bureau  of  agri- 
culture"; "To  apportion  the  state  into  senatorial  and  representative  districts." 


ii  This  is  Chapter  XXIV,  Acts  of  1870,  p.  42,  entitled,  "An  Act  to  Organize  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Tennessee  in  Pursuance  of  Article  VI,  Sections  2,  3,  and  5,  and  of  Section  2  of 
the  Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of  this  State." 

i2  A  copy  of  this  Constitution  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  555 

Gen.  Joel  A.  Battle  was  appointed  superintendent  of  prisons;  J.  M.  Stafford, 
state  geologist ;  William  Morrow,  treasurer  and  ex-officio  superintendent  of  pub- 
lie  instruction,  with  J.  B.  Killebrew,  assistant  superintendent ;  Green  Sawyer, 
Archer  Cheatham  and  Daniel  F.  Carter,  inspectors  of  the  penitentiary;  C.  W. 
Charlton,  commissioner  of  immigration ;  James  White,  road  commissioner  for 
East  Tennessee;  Hiram  P.  Cummins,  road  commissioner  for  West  Tennessee. 

Governor  Brown  called  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  to  meet  on  March 
12,  1872,  and  adjourned  on  April  1,  1872.  The  reason  for  this  action  the  gov- 
ernor stated  in  his  proclamation  as  follows : 

"By  an  Act  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  approved  February  2, 

1872,  there  has  been  apportioned  to  the  State  of  Tennessee,  nine  representatives 
in  said  Congress;  and  *  *  *  it  is  proper,  before  the  next  regular  session 
of  the  General  Assembly,  that  the  state  should  be  redistricted  in  conformity  with 
said  Act  of  Congress ;  and  *  *  *  there  are  other  matters  of  public  interest 
which  require  legislation,"  of  which  he  mentioned  twelve  in  addition  to  the 
matter  of  redisricting  the  state.  Only  twenty-one  acts  were  passed,  several  of 
which  pertained  to  railroad  matters. 

After  the  passage  of  the  act  "to  Apportion  the  Representation  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,"13  politics  in  Tennessee  became  acute.  Andrew 
Johnson,  Horace  Maynard  and  Gen.  B.  F.  Cheatham  made  a  joint  canvass  of 
the  state  for  congressman  for  the  state  at  large.  Andrew  Johnson  had,  on 
March  4,  1869,  left  the  presidency  and  immediately  laid  his  plans  for  another 
office.  He  observed  that  the  term  of  his  friend,  Hon.  Joseph  S.  Fowler,  as  United 
States  senator,  was  about  to  expire  (in  1869)  and  that  Fowler  was  a  candidate 
for  reelection.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Senator  Fowler  had  saved  John- 
son from  conviction  in  the  impeachment  trial,  Johnson  did  not  hesitate  to  be- 
come a  candidate  against  him.  The  contest  was  exciting  and  bitter.  The  demo- 
crats were  in  a  majority  in  the  Legislature,  but  were  divided.  Finally  Henry 
Cooper  was  nominated  over  Johnson  by  four  votes.  In  this  contest,  Edmund 
Cooper,  at  one  time  private  secretary  of  Andrew  Johnson,  voted  for  his  brother 
and,  by  so  doing  incurred  the  bitterest  enmity  of  Johnson  who  never  forgave 
him. 

Johnson's  next  effort  was  to  be  elected  to  the  National  House  of  Representa- 
tives, in  1870,  from  the  district  which  he  had  represented  years  before.  But  he 
was  defeated  in  the  nominating  convention  by  James  White. 

He  was  now,  in  1872,  in  the  joint  debate  with  Maynard  and  Cheatham  ex- 
erting the  utmost  efforts  of  his  great  ability,  influence  and  experience  to  win 
over  Maynard  and  Cheatham ;  but  to  no  avail.  For  the  first  time  in  his  long 
career  the  "People's  Andy"  went  down  in  defeat  by  a  vote  of  the  people  of 
Tennessee.    Maynard  received  80,822  votes;  Cheatham  63,976;  Johnson,  37,902. 

In  this  same  year  Governor  John  C.  Brown,  democrat,  and  A.  A.  Freeman, 
republican,  canvassed  the  state  in  joint  debate  seeking  election  as  governor. 
Each  received  the  normal  vote  of  his  party,  Brown's  vote  being  97,700,  and 
Freeman's  84,089. 

The  first  session  of  the  Thirty-eighth  General  Assembly  met  on  January  6, 

1873,  and  adjourned  on  March  25,  1873.  Governor  Brown,  in  his  message  to 
the  Legislature,  recommended  the  funding  of  the  state  debt  and,  by  so  doing. 


^Chapter   VII,   Acts    of    the    Called    Session    of    the    Thirty  Seventh    General    Assembly 
(1872),  p.   28. 


556  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

aroused  some  opposition  to  his  financial  policy.  Nevertheless,  he  had  sufficient 
influence  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  acts  he  wished ;  and  his  wisdom  and  ability 
were  shown  by  the  fact  that  during  his  two  terms  the  bonded  indebtedness  of 
the  state  was  reduced  from  $41,863,406.69  to  a  little  more  than  $20,000,000; 
that  a  large  floating  debt  was  liquidated;  that  an  act14  was  passed  to  fund  the 
state  debt  at  par;  that  the  credit  of  the  state  was  restored  and  the  payment  of 
interest  on  the  bonds  was  resumed ;  and  that  an  act 15  was  passed  ' '  to  establish 
and  maintain  a  uniform  system  of  public  schools."  This  last  named  act  and 
the  one  for  funding  the  state  debt  were  the  most  important  of  Governor  Brown's 
administration.  There  was  much  opposition  to  both,  and,  strange  as  it  now 
seems,  it  was  directed  most  strenuously  against  the  educational  bill.  It  cost  the 
governor  loss  of  cherished  friends  and  engendered  at  the  time  very  bitter  feel- 
ings. But  Governor  Brown  placed  the  interests  of  the  state  above  all  personal 
considerations  and  succeeding  generations  will  bless  his  memory  for  his  courage, 
constancy  and  exalted  wisdom  in  establishing  the  school  system  which  is  in  op- 
eration at  the  present  day.  The  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction, 
Hon.  John  M.  Fleming,  put  the  system  into  efficient  execution. 

In  1873,  cholera  and  yellow  fever  visited  Tennessee  and  caused  serious  dis- 
turbances in  both  social  and  business  circles. 

On  March  27,  1873,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  made  a  donation  of  $500,000  "to 
found  an  institution  of  learning."  This  was  the  beginning  of  Vanderbilt  Uni- 
versity.16 

In  May,  1875,  The  Tennessee  Historical  Society,  which  had  been  established 
in  1849,  was  reorganized  with  the  following  notable  men  for  its  officers:  Dr. 
J.  G.  M.  Ramsey,  president ;  Judge  John  M.  Lea,  vice  president ;  Gen.  G.  P. 
Thruston,  corresponding  secretary;  Anson  Nelson,  recording  secretary;  J.  S. 
Carels,  treasurer;  Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  librarian. 

Governor  Brown  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  reelection  in  1875  and  re- 
tired to  private  life  with  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  people  of  the  state.17 
He  had  made  a  good,  wise  and  able  executive  at  a  time  of  vital  importance  to 
Tennessee,  which  represented  a  turning  point  in  her  history.  Irretrievable  and 
disastrous  errors  could  have  been  made  and  doubtless  would  have  been  made 
by  a  man  less  competent,  honest  and  far-seeing.  To  him  Judge  James  D.  Rich- 
ardson paid  the  following  tribute  : 

"Governor  Brown  sustained  himself  and  received  the  applause  of  his  fol- 
lowers in  these  canvasses,  and  won  the  reputation  of  being  one  of  the  very  best 
stump  speakers  our  state  has  ever  produced.  *  *  *  With  a  wise  states- 
manship, he  grasped  the  situation,  and  with  a  firm  hand  he  struggled  to  main- 
tain the  honor  and  credit  of  the  state.  Much  bitterness  of  feeling  was  en- 
gendered in  the  politics  of  Tennessee  by  this  vexed  question,  and  it  was  years 
thereafter  before  a  settlement  was  effected." 


i*  Chapter  XXIV,  Acts  of  1873,  p.  34. 

is  Chapter  XXV,  Acts  of  1873,  p.  39. 

is  Dr.  Chas.  F.  Deems  is  authority  for  the  following  statement  by  Commodore  Vander- 
bilt of  the  reasons  which  actuated  him  in  making  the  donation:  "I  concluded  to  do  this 
because  I  fought  the  South  when  the  South  was  in  rebellion.  I  gave  a  vessel  worth  a  mil- 
lion to  show  my  views  on  that  subject;  and  now  I  am  willing  to  give  a  larger  amount  of 
money  to  show  these  people  who  have  been  subjugated  that  the  northern  men  do  not  bear 
animosity. " 

1?  The  Nashville  home  of  Governor  John  C.  Brown  was  at  the  corner  of  Eighth  Avenue. 
Recently  was  found  in  it  a  pamphlet,  being  a  reprint  of  Governor  Brown's  speech  in  this 
campaign  as  it  appeared  in  the  Chattanooga  Times.  This  has  been  given  to  the  State 
Archives  by  Hon.  W.  L.  Mitchell,  formerly  state  shop  and  factory  inspector. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  557 

THE  ADMINISTRATIONS  OF   JAMES  D.   POKTER 

When,  in  1874,  the  second  administration  of  Governor  John  C.  Brown  was 
soon  to  end  and  he  had  declined  to  be  a  candidate  for  reelection  numerous  demo- 
crats in  all  parts  of  the  state  were  extremely  desirous  of  securing  the  nomina- 
tion, for  a  nomination  by  the  Democratic  State  Convention  insured  an  election. 
Accordingly,  when  the  Democratic  State  Convention  met  at  Nashville  on  August 
10,  1874,  twelve  candidates  were  placed  before  it  and  Jas.  D.  Porter,  of  Paris, 
Henry  County,  was  nominated. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  met  at  Chattanooga,  September  16,  1874, 
and  nominated  Horace  Maynard  who  was  justly  ranked  as  one  of  the  ablest 
republicans  in  the  state,  moreover,  was  a  man  of  many  years'  experience  in 
the  politics  of  Tennessee.  He  had  been  elected  to  Congress  seven  times  from 
the  second  district  and  once,  as  we  have  seen,  from  the  state  at  large. 

Porter  and  Maynard  made  a  joint  canvass  of  the  state  and  it  is  but  just  to 
say  that  the  former  lost  nothing  in  reputation  and  prestige  in  the  contest  with 
so  redoutable  an  antagonist.  It  is  proper  to  state,  also,  that,  in  1874,  the  demo- 
crats were  greatly  aided  by  the  political  condition  prevailing  throughout  the 
country.  The  republicans  were  apathetic  whereas  the  democrats  were  aggres- 
sive and  confident.  In  Tennessee  not  only  was  the  democratic  candidate  for 
governor  successful,  but  there  were  only  eight  republicans  elected  to  the  Legis- 
lature. The  vote  was  105,061  for  James  D.  Porter ;  55,847  for  Horace  Maynard ; 
and  222  for  B.  F.  C.  Brooks,  greenbacker. 

The  Thirty-ninth  General  Assembly  met  on  January  4,  1875,  and  adjourned 
on  March  24,  1875.  Governor  Porter  was  inaugurated  on  January  18,  1875. 
The  Legislature  organized  by  electing  Thos.  H.  Paine,  speaker  of  the  Senate  and 
Lewis  Bond,  speaker  of  the  House.  It  was  this  General  Assembly  which  elected 
ex-President  Andrew  Johnson  to  the  United  States  Senate  on  the  fifty-fifth  bal- 
lot. The  contest  for  this  honor  was  extremely  acrimonious  and  exciting.  Most 
of  the  old  line  democrats  fought  Johnson  with  the  utmost  determination.  Ex- 
Governor  John  C.  Brown  and  Gen.  Wm.  B.  Bate  were  both  candidates  against 
him.  Both  of  these  were  gentlemen  of  the  highest  standing.  Both  had  splendid 
military  records;  and  both  had  numerous  and  ardent  friends  who  flocked  to 
Nashville  and  exerted  their  influence  in  behalf  of  their  favored  candidate  and 
especially  against  Johnson.  In  turn  Johnson  fought  his  enemies  in  this  contest 
with  all  of  his  accustomed  courage  and  iron  will.  He  even  captured  some  of 
the  members  of  the  opposition  by  the  exercise  of  that  subtle  diplomacy  of  which 
he  was  acknowledged  to  be  a  master.  It  is  said  that  he  was  even  skillful  enough 
to  induce  General  Forrest  to  withdraw  his  opposition  and  to  depart  to  his  home 
in  Memphis.  Never  did  Johnson's  wonderful  power  to  control  men  appear  to 
more  conspicuous  advantage  than  it  did  in  this  contest,  which  shook  the  State 
of  Tennessee  from  center  to  circumference.  The  enemies  he  had  made  in  forty 
tempestuous  years  were  concentrated  against  him  to  encompass  his  downfall. 
But  bold,  defiant  and  unshaken  he  withstood  their  assaults  and  emerged  tri- 
umphant. It  is  said  to  have  been  the  proudest  moment  of  his  life  when,  by 
the  change  of  one  vote  to  him,  Johnson  was  elected.18  He  died  the  following 
July. 

The  fight  over  the  state  debt,  which  had  been  such  a  disturbing  factor  in 
the  preceding  administration  was  continued  in  Porter's  term.     The  democrats 


isln  his  "Notable  Men  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  442-443,  O.  P.  Temple  says  that  to  secure 
this  one  necessary  vote  Johnson  made  a  pledge  which  he  afterwards  violated. 


558  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

were  divided  on  this  issue.  One  wing  urged  that  a  large  part  of  the  debt  was 
fraudulent  and  especially  that  part  of  it  created  during  the  Brownlow  regime. 
The  other  wing  maintained  that  even  if  a  part  of  the  debt  were  fraudulent  the 
credit  and  good  name  of  the  state  required  that  all  debts  should  be  paid  which 
had  been  incurred  by  recognized  authority  of  the  state.  The  very  first  act 
(Chapter  I,  of  the  Acts  of  1875),  passed  on  January  20,  1875,  repealed  the  fund- 
ing act  of  1873,  but  the  fight  on  this  issue  continued  and  the  governor  re- 
peatedly urged  the  Legislature  to  make  a  final  readjustment  of  the  state  debt 
and  to  provide  for  paying  the  interest  on  the  bonds. 

Other  important  acts  passed  were :  "To  authorize  the  appointment  of  coal- 
oil  inspectors " ;  "To  declare  the  mode  of  valuing  railroad  property  for  taxa- 
tion"; "To  establish  a  bureau  of  immigration";  "To  provide  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  corporations."  A  resolution19  also,  was  adopted  proposing  an  amend- 
ment to  the  constitution  of  the  state  providing  for  extending  the  term  of  the 
governor  from  two  to  four  years,  and  other  amendments  in  harmony  with  this, 
and  still  other  amendments  the  object  of  which  was  to  facilitate  the  govern- 
ment and  progress  of  the  state.    These  amendments  were  not  adopted. 

On  March  8,  1875,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  20  authorizing  the  governor 
to  appoint  commissioners  to  treat  with  the  State  of  Kentucky  for  that  portion 
of  said  state  lying  north  of  Lake  County,  Tenn.,  and  known  as  Madrid  Bend. 
The  governor  appointed  Benton  McMillin  and  E.  E.  Westbrook  as  the  commis- 
sioners with  power  to  purchase  the  tract  for  such  sum  as  they  might  deem  rea- 
sonable. An  inspection  of  the  map  shows  that  the  people  of  the  section  in  ques- 
tion would  be  much  batter  served  if  they  were  attached  to  Lake  County,  Tenn. ; 
that,  to  reach  their  county  seat  in  Kentucky,  they  have  to  cross  the  Mississippi 
River  twice.  Nevertheless,  the  State  of  Kentucky  refused  to  part  with  this 
land. 

The  year  1876  was  a  presidential  year  and  the  elections,  both  the  national 
and  state,  throughout  the  Union,  were  hotly  contested.  The  Democratic  State 
Convention  met  at  Nashville  in  August  and  was  presided  over  by  Judge  James 
D.  Richardson.  Governor  Porter  was  unanimously  nominated  for  a  second 
term.  The  republicans  made  no  nomination  but  most  of  them  voted  for  Hon. 
Dorsey  B.  Thomas,  the  independent  candidate.  The  result  of  the  election  was 
as  follows :  James  D.  Porter,  123,740  ;  Dorsey  B.  Thomas,  independent,  73,695  ; 
Geo.  Maney,  republican,  10,436;  "W.  F.  Yardly  (colored),  republican,  2,165. 

The  regular  session  of  the  Fortieth  General  Assembly  met  on  January  1, 
1877,  and  adjourned  March  27,  1877.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  Hugh  M. 
McAdoo,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  E.  F.  Taliaferro,  speaker  of  the  House. 
In  this  year  Isham  G.  Harris  was  elected  United  States  senator  to  succeed 
Henry  Cooper ;  and  James  E.  Bailey  to  succeed  Andrew  Johnson,  deceased. 

The  following  named  important  acts  were  passed :  "To  repeal  the  conven- 
tional rate  of  interest";  "The  four-mile  law";21  "To  create  a  state  board  of 
Health."22 


is  Senate  Joint  Eesolution  No.  LXXXIV,  Acts  of  1875,  p.  329,  passed  March  23,  1875. 

20  Chapter  XXI,  Acts  of  1875,  p.  22. 

2i  This  Act  (Chapter  XXIII  of  the  Acts  of  1877,  p.  37,  passed  March  19,  1877),  pro- 
hibited the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  within  four  miles  of  an  incorporated  institution  of 
learning,  except  where  such  sale  was  protected  by  the  charter  of  an  incorporated  town  and 
is  of  unusual  importance  because  it  was  the  first  step  in  the  series  of  acts  which  ultimately 
resulted  in  the  ' '  Bone  Dry  Law. ' ' 

22  This  Act  (Chapter  XCVIII,  Acts  of  1877,  p.  120,  passed  March  26,  1877),  was  passed 
in  consequence  of  the  terrible  ravages  of  yellow  fever  which  prevailed  in  the  Southwest.  In 
the  next  year,  1878,  this  disease  raged  fiercely  in  West  Tennessee.  The  powers  of  this 
Board  have  since  been  enlarged  and  it  has  been  of  wonderful  benefi+  to  the  state. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  559 

The  first  extra  session  of  the  Legislature,  met  on  December  5,  1877,  in 
obedience  to  the  proclamation  of  Governor  Porter,  dated  November  6,  1877, 
"to  consider  the  recommendation  made  by  the  arbiters23  at  the  conference 
held  at  New  York  in  March,  1877,  to  adjust  the  state  debt  by  the  issuance  of  new 
6  per  cent  bonds  at  the  rate  of  60  per  cent  of  the  total  amount  of  principal  and 
past-due  interest." 

This  session  adjourned  sine  die  on  December  11,  1877,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  governor,  who  informed  the  Legislature  that  he  had  received  assurances 
that  the  bondholders  would  be  willing  to  accept  settlement  on  the  basis  of  50 
cents  on  the  dollar  instead  of  60  cents.  Hence,  he  called  them  to  meet  in  the 
second  extra  session  on  December  12,  1877.  This  session  adjourned  on  Decem- 
ber 28,  1877,  without  having  accomplished  the  purpose  for  which  it  had  been 
called. 

Governor  Porter  was  a  warm  friend  of  public  education.  In  these  times  it 
seems  incongruous  that  any  one  at  any  time  could  have  been  opposed  to  popular 
education  and  free  public  schools.  Nevertheless,  there  was  a  strong  opposition 
in  the  state  and,  in  the  Legislature,  during  Governor  Porter's  administration. 
It  crystallized  in  a  bill  which  was  passed  abolishing  the  office  of  county  superin- 
tendent of  schools.  But  it  was  nullified  by  a  pocket  veto.  This  was  the  last 
serious  effort  against  the  system  of  public  schools  which  was  established  in 
1873,  under  Governor  John  C.  Brown.  The  cause  of  public  education  was 
greatly  advanced  by  the  wise  administration  and  broad  vision  of  State  Superin- 
tendent Leon  Trousdale.  Under  his  direction  teachers'  institutes  were  used  as 
popular  agencies.  A  State  Board  of  Education  was  also  created.  The  Peabody 
Normal  College  was  established  and  Governor  Porter  was  made  a  member  of 
the  Peabody  Board  of  Trust. 

Yet,  interested  as  Governor  Porter  was  in  matters  of  education  and  of  other 
activities  which  characterized  his  successful  administrations,  he  felt  that  the 
state  debt  deserved  first  and  most  serious  consideration.  In  his  last  annual 
message  to  the  Legislature  in  1879,  just  before  the  inauguration  of  Governor 
Marks,  his  successor,  he  said:  "The  settlement  of  this  debt  is  paramount  to  all 
questions  of  legislation  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly; 
it  involves  the  honor  and  good  name  of  the  state,  the  credit  and  honor  of  every 
one  of  its  citizens ;  it  is  a  liability  that  was  voluntarily  contracted,  and  whether 
it  was  wisely  created  or  not,  can  not  now  be  a  question.  I  hold  and  have  always 
believed  that  in  the  light  of  moral  and  legal  duty,  as  a  question  of  commercial 
honor  and  of  state  pride,  the  best  settlement  of  the  question  for  Tennessee  would 
be  to  pay  the  entire  debt  according  to  the  terms  of  the  contract." 

THE   ADMINISTRATION   OP   GOVERNOR  ALBERT   S.    MARKS 

The  Democratic  State  Convention  met  in  Nashville  on  August  15,  1878.  As 
Governor  Porter  declined  to  become  a  candidate  for  reelection,  the  aspirants  for 
the  gubernatorial  seat  were  numerous.  There  were  Col.  John  M.  Fleming  and 
Hon.  A.  Caldwell  from  East  Tennessee;  John  H.  Savage,  A.  S.  Colyar,  and 
John  V.  "Wright  from  Middle  Tennessee ;  and  John  A.  Gardner,  from  West  Ten- 
nessee.    The  name  of  Judge  A.  S.  Marks  had,  it  is  true,  been  mentioned  from 


23  These  were  a  legislative  committee,  composed  of  John  H.  Savage,  G.  W.  Martin, 
Jesse  Arledge,  W.  E.  Travis,  and  Lewis  Sheppard,  who  conferred  with  a  eommittee  of  the 
bondholders.  , 


560  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

time  to  time.  But  he  made  a  speech  in  the  convention,  in  which  he  declared 
that  he  was  not  a  candidate  and  then  returned  at  once  to  his  home  in  "Win- 
chester. Nevertheless,  when  the  delegates  could  not  agree  on  one  of  the  avowed 
candidates,  they  nominated  Marks  without  his  knowledge  or  consent. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  also  met  at  Nashville,  one  week  later, 
August  22,  1878.  Only  forty-nine  of  the  then  ninety-four  counties  were  repre- 
sented. Emerson  Etheridge  was  nominated  for  governor,  but  declined  the  nomi- 
nation and  the  Republican  Executive  Committee  three  weeks  later  substituted 
the  name  of  Dr.  E.  M.  "Wight,  of  Chattanooga. 

In  this  year,  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  state,  the  greenback 
party  came  into  the  field  with  a  candidate  for  governor,  although  in  1874,  B.  F. 
C.  Brooks,  a  greenbacker,  received  222  votes  for  governor.  But  by  1878,  their 
strength  had  been  so  increased  that  they  held  a  convention,  at  Nashville,  on 
August  29,  1878,  in  which  were  delegates  from  twenty-one  counties,  and  Judge 
E.  H.  East  was  nominated  by  acclamation.  When  Judge  East  declined,  Hon. 
Lewis  B.  Tillman,  Sr.,  of  Bedford  County  was  selected.  In  about  ten  days  he 
also  withdrew  and  was  succeeded  by  Col.  R.  M.  Edwards,  who  remained  in  the 
race  to  the  end. 

Doctor  "Wight  made  no  canvass  of  the  state,  but  Judge  Marks  did.  The 
votes  reflected  the  confidence  of  the  democrats  and  the  lack  of  enthusiasm  of 
the  republicans.  The  result  was:  A.  S.  Marks,  89,958;  E.  M.  Wight,  repub- 
lican, 42,284 ;  R.  M.  Edwards,  15,155.  Governor  Marks  was  inaugurated  Jan- 
uary 16,  1879. 

The  regular  session  of  the  Forty-first  General  Assembly  was  held  from  Jan- 
uary 1st,  to  April  1st,  1879.  The  Legislature  organized  by  the  election  of  John 
R.  Neal,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  Henry  P.  Fowlkes,  speaker  of  the  House. 

Important  acts  were  passed  on  the  following  subjects:  "To  establish  taxing 
districts";  "To  give  laborers  a  lien  on  crops";  "To  change  the  name  of  East 
Tennessee  University  to  the  University  of  Tennessee";  "To  settle  the  debt  of 
the  state  at  '50-4,'  and  to  submit  said  settlement  to  the  people." 

This  last  named  act  represented  the  action  of  the  Legislature  after  a  hot 
fight,  and  was  rejected  by  the  people  by  a  vote  of  75,755  adverse  to  46,704  in 
favor  of  it. 

J.  W.  Caldwell  says  of  Governor  Marks :  ' '  His  term  of  office  covered  a  dis- 
turbed period  in  the  history  of  Tennessee,  and  of  the  democratic  party  especially. 
The  state  debt  question  had  been  for  several  years  threatening  the  harmony  of 
that  party. 

"The  position  of  Governor  Marks  on  this  vexed  subject  was  clearly  defined, 
but  he  did  not  seek  renomination  in  1880,  for  the  reason  that  he  believed  that 
some  one  should  be  chosen  who  had  no  prominent  connection  with  the  question. 
He  favored  what  was  known  as  the  fifty  and  four  plan  of  settling  the  state 
debt,  but  that  plan  was  defeated,  and  he  then  assented  to  the  settlement  at 
fifty  and  three.  Indeed,  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  the  convention  of  1882, 
and  probably  did  more  than  any  one  else  to  bring  the  two  wings  of  the  party 
together."  24 

The  state  debt  question,  still  unsettled,  was  still  the  paramount  issue  in 
the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1880.  The  democratic  party  was  hopelessly 
divided  on  it  into  two  warring  factions,  one  composed  of  "State  Credit"  demo- 
crats and  the  other  of  "Low  Tax"  democrats.     In  the  state  convention,  which 


2*  Caldwell's  "Bench  and  Bar  of  Tennessee,"  p.  350. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  561 

met  in  Nashville  on  August  10,  1880,  these  factions  drew  still  farther  ;ipart. 
The  "State  Credit"  faction  nominated  Hon.  John  V.  Wright,  of  Maury  County, 
for  governor,  and  the  "Low  Tax"  faction  nominated  Hon.  S.  F.  Wilson,25  of 
Sumner  County.  Judge  Alvin  Hawkins,  of  Carroll  County,  was  nominated  by 
the  republicans,  and  Col.  R.  M.  Edwards  again  headed  the  greenback  party  in 
the  fight. 

In  this  year  the  republicans  were  making  an  aggressive  campaign  for  Gar- 
field and  Arthur  and  the  republican  party  in  Tennessee  were  stimulated  by  this 
fact  and  also  by  the  schism  in  the  democratic  ranks  in  Tennessee.  They  there- 
fore rallied  around  Hawkins  with  all  their  strength  and  elected  him.20  The  vote 
was  as  follows :  Alvin  Hawkins,  republican,  103,564 ;  John  V.  Wright,  state 
credit  democrat,  78,783 ;  S.  F.  Wilson,  low  tax  democrat,  57,080 ;  R.  M.  Edwards, 
greenbacker,  3,459. 

In  this  year  Horace  Maynard,  of  Tennessee,  was  appointed  postmaster  gen- 
eral of  the  United  States  by  President  Hayes,  and  D.  M.  Key  was  appointed 
United  States  district  judge  for  East  Tennessee  and  Middle  Tennessee. 

ADMINISTRATION    OP    GOVERNOR   ALVIN    HAWKINS 

After  an  able  and  dignified  canvass  of  the  state  Hawkins  was  elected  governor 
in  November,  1880,  and  was  inaugurated  January  17,  1881.  The  regular  ses- 
sion of  the  Forty-second  General  Assembly  was  held  from  January  3,  1881,  to 
April  7,  1881.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  Geo.  H.  Morgan,  speaker  of  the 
Senate  and  H.  B.  Ramsey,  speaker  of  the  House. 

The  personnel  of  both  Senate  and  House  was  more  numerously  republican 
than  usual.  In  the  Senate  there  were  fifteen  democrats  and  ten  republicans; 
and,  in  the  House,  there  were  thirty-seven  democrats,  thirty-seven  republicans 
and  one  greenbacker,  who  held  the  balance  of  power. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  require  the  attention  of  the  Legislature  was  the 
election  of  a  United  States  senator  to  succeed  Senator  Jas.  E.  Bailey  who  had 
been  elected  in  1877  to  fill  the  unexpired  term  of  Andrew  Johnson.  In  the 
contest  that  ensued  when  no  candidate  could  secure  votes  enough  to  obtain  the 
coveted  prize,  some  personal  and  political  friends  asked  Governor  Hawkins 
to  permit  the  use  of  his  name  as  a  candidate.  Hawkins  had  made  his  campaign 
for  governor  on  a  "state  credit"  platform.  Hence,  some  of  the  "low  tax" 
democrats  were  willing  to  vote  for  him  for  United  States  senator  in  order  that 
Geo.  H.  Morgan,  speaker  of  the  State  Senate  might  succeed  him.  But  Hawkins, 
realizing  the  situation,  refused  to  become  a  candidate,  saying  that  he  felt  it  to 
be  his  duty  to  the  people  who  had  elected  him  governor  to  serve  them  in  that 
capacity  and  "not  place  the  affairs  of  the  state  in  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of 
its  credit  and  good  name."  The  final  result27  was  the  election  of  Howell  E. 
Jackson,  democrat,  to  the  United  States  Senate,  which  result  was  brought  about 
by  the  votes  of  some  republicans  when  they  realized  that  they  could  not  elect 
one  of  their  own  party,  concerning  which  matter  Jackson  said:  "Party  politics 
would  be  robbed  of  much  of  its  bitterness  and  partisan  feeling  if  this  frank 
and  manly  course  were  oftener  pursued  on  both  sides." 


25  Now  (1923)   presiding  judge  of  the  State  Court  of  Civil  Appeals. 

26  Hawkins  and  McMinn  are  the  only  minority  governors  of  Tennessee. 

27  On  the  twenty-fourth  ballot,  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  who,  less  than  two  years  before,  in 
1879,  while  yet  a  young  man,  had  obtained  a  brilliant  victory  over  Maj.  A.  H.  Pettibone, 
in  a  republican  district,  received  forty-eight  votes.     Sixty  votes  were  necessnry  to  elect. 


562  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  settlement  of  the  state  debt  was  still  the  paramount  question  before  the 
Legislature.  In  his  first  biennial  message  2S  to  that  body  Governor  Hawkins 
advocated  a  settlement  that  would  be  just  to  the  creditors  and,  at  the  same  time 
honorable  to  the  people  of  Tennessee.  An  act  29  was  passed  on  April  5,  1881, 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  the  discussion  of  the  state  debt  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter,  settled  the  debt  dollar  for  dollar  in  full  with  3  per  cent  interest, 
but  it  was  set  aside  by  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee. 

The  first  extra  session  of  this  General  Assembly  was  held  from  December 
7th  to  December  26th,  1881.  In  was  called  for  the  purpose  of  arranging  the  ap- 
portionment for  members  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  second  extra  session,  however,  which  was  held  from  April  6th  to  April 
26th,  1882,  was  called  to  consider  no  less  than  forty-one  distinct  matters,  the 
most  important  of  which  were:  Redistricting  the  state  into  ten  congressional 
districts.  Tax  amendments  and  assessments.  Public  roads.  Supreme  Court 
dockets.    The  rest  of  the  business  pertained  principally  to  local  affairs. 

On  the  very  last  day  of  the  second  extra  session,  April  26,  1882,  Governor 
Hawkins  issued  a  proclamation  calling  for  a  third  extra  session  to  convene  on 
the  next  day,  April  27th.  It  remained  in  session  until  May  22nd.  Although 
ten  items  were  mentioned  in  the  call  and  some  other  legislation  was  effected,  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  of  the  session  was  devoted  to  the  first  item,  "The  com- 
promise and  settlement  of  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  state." 

The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  state  in  regard  to  the  unconsti- 
tutionality of  the  act  of  April  5,  1881,  had  been  but  recently  rendered  and, 
while  the  governor,  together  with  many  others  of  all  shades  of  political  af- 
filiation, was  deeply  disappointed,  he  sent  to  the  Legislature  on  April  10,  1882, 
a  vigorous  message  in  which  he  pressed  upon  them  the  importance  of  settling  the 
state  debt.    In  it  he  said : 

"Tennessee  can  no  longer  afford  to  disregard  her  most  solemn  obligations  or 
trifle  with  the  rights  of  her  creditors.  If  she  would  restore  confidence,  re- 
establish public  and  private  credit,  induce  capital  and  immigration  to  come 
within  her  borders,  if  she  would  have  her  vast  resources  developed,  and  her 
waste  places  built  up,  if  she  would  have  her  children  educated,  and  her  people 
become  active,  hopeful,  thrifty  and  contented,  if  she  would  enter  the  highway 
to  prosperity,  wealth  and  grandeur  which  lies  at  her  feet,  she  must  meet  her 
obligations  in  such  a  manner  as  becomes  a  proud  state. ' '  30 

There  was  prolonged  discussion  regarding  the  state  debt,  but  on  May  19, 
1882,  an  act31  was  passed  entitled  "An  Act  to  Compromise  and  Fund  the 
Bonded  Indebtedness  of  the  State  of  Tennessee."  This  act  funded  the  debt 
of  the  state  into  bonds  at  60  cents  on  the  dollar,  with  graded  interest  of  3  per 
cent,  for  two  years,  4  per  cent  for  the  next  two  years,  5  per  cent  for  the  next 
two  years,  and  6  per  cent  thereafter. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  administration,  Governor  Hawkins  appointed  Dr. 
"W.  S.  Doak,  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  Doctor  Doak  was  a 
grandson  of  Dr.  Samuel  Doak.    Dr.  W.  S.  Doak  died  in  office  in  1882.32 


28  House  Journal,   1881,  pp.  472-478. 

29  Chapter  CLXXIII,  Acts  of  1881,  p.  279. 

so  House  Journal,  Third  Extraordinary  Session  of  the  Forty-second  Genera]  Assembly, 
1882,  p.   34. 

si  Chapter  IV,  Acts  of  Third  Extraordinary  Session,  p.  6,  1882. 

32  He  was  the  only  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  who  has  died  in  office.  He 
was  succeeded  by  G.  W.  S.  Crawford.  Both  of  these  eminent  superintendents  materially  ad- 
vanced the  cause  of  education.  During  their  term  Col.  Leon  Trousdale  established  the  first 
teachers'  institute  in  the  history  of  the  state.  This  was  a  summer  school  of  high  grade, 
held  at  the  University  of  Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  563 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF   GOVERNOR   WM.   B.   BATE 

As  has  already  been  seen,  the  dissensions  in  the  democratic  party  were  re- 
sponsible for  the  election  of  Governor  Hawkins,  and  were  responsible  also  for 
the  stormy  period  of  Hawkins'  administration,  because,  while  Hawkins'  party 
was  in  a  minority  in  the  Legislature,  the  numerically  superior  democratic  con- 
tingent was  divided  into  hostile  and  warring  factions  which  made  it  difficult 
to  secure  legislation  that  was  beneficial  to  the  people,  creditable  to  the  General 
Assembly  or  honorable  to  the  great  State  of  Tennessee.  At  this  critical  juncture, 
when  the  political  situation  looked  very  dark  for  the  democratic  party,  Gen. 
Wm.  B.  Bate  was  nominated  in  the  Democratic  State  Convention  to  lead  what 
was  looked  upon  as  a  forlorn  hope.  Although,  naturally,  General  Bate  was  not 
desirous  of  this  nomination,  he  unhesitatingly  accepted  it,  entered  upon  a  thor- 
ough, vigorous  and  intelligent  campaign,  brought  the  several  ranks  into  unity, 
gained  their  undivided  support  and  won  a  glorious  victory. 

The  Republican  Convention  nominated  Governor  Hawkins  for  reelection. 
The  greenbackers  nominated  John  R.  Beasley ;  and  the  extreme  state  credit 
wing  of  the  democratic  party,  known  as  the  ' '  Sky  Blues, ' ' 33  nominated  J.  H. 
Fussell.  The  vote  was  as  follows:  Bate,  120,637;  Hawkins,  93,168;  Beasley, 
9,660;  Fussell,  4,814. 

The  Forty-third  General  Assembly  organized  by  the  election  of  B.  F.  Alex- 
ander, speaker  of  the  Senate  and  W.  L.  Ledgerwood,  speaker  of  the  House. 

Governor  Bate  was  inaugurated  on  January  15,  1883,  and  on  February  8, 
1883,  sent  a  strong  message  34  to  the  Legislature  in  regard  to  a  settlement  of 
the  state  debt.  This  was  one  of  the  most  thorough  and  able  of  the  governors' 
messages  in  the  history  of  the  state ;  and,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, paved  the  way  for  the  passage  of  an  act  35  which  proved  to  be  the  final  ad- 
justment of  this  vexatious  question.  The  act  provided  for  the  payment  of  the 
"state  debt  proper"  which  was  admitted  by  all  to  be  valid.  That  payment 
was  to  be  in  full  including  principal  and  accrued  interest,  except  the  interest 
which  had  accrued  during  the  Civil  war.    It  consisted  of  the  following  items : 

Capitol  Bonds $493,000 

Hermitage  Bonds 35,000 

Agricultural  Bonds 18,000 

Union  Bank  Bonds 125,000 

Bank  of  Tennessee  Bonds 214,000 

Bonds  Issued  to  Turnpike  Companies 741,000 

Hiwassee  Railroad  Bonds 280,000 

East  Tennessee  and  Georgia  Railroad  Bonds 144,000 

Memphis  &  LaGrange  Railroad  Bonds 68,000 

Total   $2,118,000 

It  was  provided  that  the  remainder  of  the  indebtedness,  of  which  it  was 
charged  a  part  was  tainted  with  fraud,  another  part  illegally  issued,  and 
still  another  part  had  equitable  offsets,  should  be  funded  into  bonds  covering 
one-half  of  the  principal  and  accrued  interest,  that  these  bonds  should  bear 


33  These  were  bolters  from  the  Democratic  State  Convention  which  was  held  in  June, 
1882,  who  were  unwilling  to  accept  the  plank  in  the  platform  adopted  for  the  settlement 
of  the  state  debt. 

34  House  Journal,  1883,  p.  311. 

36  Chapter  LXXXIV,  Acts  of  1883,  p.  76. 


564  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

interest  al   :>  per  cent,  payable  in  thirty  years,  but   redeemable  after  five  years 
at  the  option  of  the  state.     Of  these  bonds  there  were  five  classes  as  follows : 

Ante-war  Railroad  Bonds $  8,583,000 

Post-war  Railroad  Bonds 2,638,000 

Funded  under  Act  of  1866 2,246,000 

Funded  under  Act  of  1868 569,000 

Funded  under  Act  of  1873 4,867,000  86 

Total   $18,903,000 

While,  of  course,  the  Si  ale  Debt  Aet  was  the  most  important  act  passed 
at  this  session,  another  act  of  great  importance  was  also  passed.  This  was 
called  the  railroad  bill37  and  was  entitled,  "A  Bill  to  be  entitled,  An  Act 
to  provide  for  the  regulation  of  railroad  companies,  and  persons  operating 
railroads  in  this  state;  to  prevent  discrimination  upon  railroads  in  this  state; 
and  to  provide  for  the  punishment  for  the  same ;  and  to  appoint  a  railroad 
commission."  The  first  commission  appointed  were  Col.  John  H.  Savage, 
J.  A.  Turley,  and  Gen.  George  W.  Gordon. 

The  excellent  work  done  by  the  Department  of  Education  for  a  number 
of  years  was  continued  during  this  administration  under  the  efficient  direction 
of  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Paine.  The  teachers'  institutes  which  had  done  so  much 
good  as  professional  agencies  were  popularized  and  helped  greatly  in  gaining 
favor  for  the  public  school  system.  General  Bate  was  renominated  for 
governor  by  the  democrats  in  1884. 

The  passage  of  the  State  Debt  Act  and  of  the  Railroad  Commission  Bill, 
both  of  which  had  been  recommended  by  Governor  Bate,  made  him  very  un- 
popular with  the  "sky  blue"  element  and  a  few  others.  So  that  the  repub- 
licans thought  that  with  the  assistance  of  this  faction  and  of  the  railroad 
influence  they  might  with  a  strong  candidate  be  successful  in  the  forthcoming 
election.  With  the  hope,  therefore,  of  defeating .  Governor  Bate  and  of  de- 
stroying the  railroad  commission  the  republicans  nominated  Judge  Frank 
T.  Reid,  of  Nashville,  as  their  candidate  for  governor.  Reid  was  an  ex- 
Confederate  soldier,  well  thought  of,  a  bright,  keen,  cultivated  man  and  a 
fine  speaker.     He  had  been  elected  judge  as  a  republican  over  a  democrat. 

Bate  and  Reid  canvassed  the  state  in  joint  debate.  Both  candidates  acquitted 
themselves  well  on  the  stump.  They  covered  almost  the  entire  state  with  the 
railroad  commission  as  one  of  the  leading  issues.  Governor  Bate  faced  the  issue 
boldly,  maintained  that  he  was  right  and  upheld  the  men  whom  he  had  appointed 
as  members  of  the  railroad  commission  who  were  now  the  democratic  candidates. 
They  were,  however,  defeated  by  approximately  five  thousand  votes ;  but  such  was 
the  strength  and  personality  of  Governor  Bate  that  he  was  not  only  reelected  but 
he  came  within  a  few  hundred  votes  of  securing  as  many  votes  as  were  cast  in 
Tennessee  for  Grover  Cleveland  for  President. 

The  vote  cast  was  as  follows : 

For  governor,  Bate,  democrat,  132,201 ;  Reid,  republican,  125,246 ;  Buchanan, 
greenbacker,  549.  For  railroad  commissioners,  democrats — John  H.  Savage, 
115,416;  G.  W.  Gordon,  115,692;  J.  A.  Turley,  115,714.  Republicans— W.  W. 
Murray,  120,708 ;  A.  M.  Hughes,  120,667 ;  M.  J.  Condon,  120,768. 

36  This  sum  plus  $1,790,000,  which  was  included  in  the  state  debt  proper,  makes  up  the 
sum  of  $6,657,000  which  was  funded  by  Act  passed  in  1873. 

37  Chapter  CXCIX,  Acts  of  1883,  p.  271,  passed  March  29,  1883.  This  law  was  repealed 
iu   1885. 


GENEEAL  W.  B.  BATE,  1826-1905 
Governor,  1883-1887.     United  States  Senator,   1887-1905 


THE  LIBRARY 

or  THE 

UNIVERS1V    '      ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  567 

The  administration  of  Governor  Bate  measured  up  fully  to  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him  by  people  of  all  shades  of  political  belief,  and  historians  are 
united  in  declaring  that  his  services  as  governor  are  conspicuous  among  the 
achievements  of  the  ablest  occupants  of  the  gubernatorial  chair  of  this  state. 

The  Forty-fourth  General  Assembly  held  its  regular  session  from  January  5 
to  April  9,  1885.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  C.  R.  Berry,  speaker  of  the 
Senate,  and  J.  A.  Manson,  speaker  of  the  House.  Among  the  important  acts 
passed  at  this  session  were  those  for  the  following  purposes:  "To  erect  a  hos- 
pital for  the  insane  in  West  Tennessee " ;  "To  repeal  the  Railroad  Commission 
Act";  "Appointing  William  E.  Tilson,  F.  II.  Hamner,  and  David  White,  com- 
missioners to  ascertain  the  true  boundary  line  between  North  Carolina  and 
Tennessee";  "To  establish  taxing  districts  of  the  second  class";  "To  provide 
for  the  redemption  of  'post-notes'  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee";  "To  organize 
and  incorporate  an  independent  militia";  "To  appropriate  $10,000  to  exhibit 
the  state's  products  at  the  New  Orleans  Exposition." 

A  strong  and  successful  effort  was  made  to  repeal  the  Railroad  Commission 
Act.  The  repeal  act  was  passed  on  March  28,  1885,  was  vetoed  by  the  governor 
on  April  3,  1885,  and  was  passed  over  his  veto  on  the  same  day. 

On  May  16,  1885,  Governor  Bate  issued  a  proclamation  summoning  the 
General  Assembly  to  meet  on  Monday,  May  25,  1885,  the  reason  for  this  action 
being  that  "the  regular  session  of  the  Forty- fourth  General  Assembly  of  Ten- 
nessee adjourned  under  conditions  which  have  worked  a  hardship  in  some  de- 
partments of  the  public  service,  and  if  not  remedied  by  proper  and  needed 
legislative  enactments,  will  further  and  more  seriously  embarrass  the  state  gov- 
ernment in  meeting  necessary  expenses,  and  likewise  force  a  suspension  of  cer- 
tain public  improvements,  the  early  completion  of  which  demands  additional 
legislation  to  render  available  the  public  funds  already  invested,  and  to  secure 
to  the  public  the  benefits  intended  by  such  improvements." 

Among  the  acts  passed  were  those  on  the  following  subjects:  "To  allow 
convicts  good  time  in  diminution  of  their  sentences";  "To  divide  the  state  into 
judicial  and  chancery  districts  as  are  now  existing." 

After  retiring  from  the  governorship  in  1887,  General  Bate  was  elected 
United  States  senator  for  the  term  beginning  March  4,  1887,  and  retained  this 
office  by  continual  reelections  until  his  death  March  5,  1905. 

The  late  Senator  E.  W.  Carmack,  the  colleague  of  Senator  Bate,  delivered  a 
notable  address  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  William  B.  Bate,  in  the  United 
States  Senate,  on  January  17,  1907.     In  it  he  said: 

"He  was  elected  governor  at  a  time  when  the  refunding  of  the  state  debt 
followed  as  a  result  of  the  settlement  which  was  an  issue  in  this  campaign.  An 
incident  in  connection  with  this  shows  the  extreme  punctiliousness  of  his  sense 
of  duty.  The  law  required  that  the  new  bonds  issued  should  be  signed  by  the 
governor.  When  it  was  proposed  to  prepare  a  stamp  by  which  the  facsimile  of 
his  signature  might  be  placed  upon  the  bonds  he  insisted  upon  an  exact  com- 
pliance with  the  letter  of  the  law  and  of  undergoing  the  immense  physical  labor 
and  writing  the  signature  upon  each  with  his  own  hand.  In  all  his  career  this 
same  nice  and  self -exacting  sense  of  duty  governed  his  public  and  his  private 
conduct. 

"After  his  second  term  as  governor  came  his  election  to  the  Senate.  It  was 
a  battle  of  the  Titans  in  which  he  prevailed.  Intellectual  giants  like  ex- 
Governor  Marks  and  ex-Congressman  John  F.  House  contended  with  him  in 
friendly  and  chivalrous  rivalry ;  and  yielded  him  the  palm  without  bitterness 
as  to  a  victor  worthv  of  their  steel.     *     *     # 


:><;*  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"In  his  service  here  lie  was  faithful,  industrious,  diligent,  a  close  student  of 
the  business  of  the  Senate,  having-  a  clear  understanding  of  the  questions  of 
the  day,  and  when  he  chose  to  do  so  he  presented  his  views  with  great  ability, 
learning,  and  power.  A  speech  on  the  tariff  question  in  the  early  years  of  his 
service  showed  him  to  be  a  profound  student  of  national  taxation,  and  his  speech 
upon  what,  in  our  part  of  the  country,  was  usually  denominated  the  'Force 
bill,'  was  liberally  quoted  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other. 

"But  above  all  other  qualities,  he  bore  among  his  associates  here  a  reputa- 
tion  for  honor  and  integrity  that  was  without  a  stain.     No  suspicion  of  an 
unworthy  motive  was  ever  imputed  to  any  act  of  his.     No  man  here  or  else- 
where ever  felt  one  moment's  doubt  as  to  the  absolute  rectitude  of  his  in 
tentions. ' '  38 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  ROBERT  L.  TAYLOR 

The  year  1886  was  memorable  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  and  also  in  the 
history  of  the  Taylor  family.  That  year  for  the  only  time  in  the  history  of  the 
state  witnessed  the  novel  sight  of  two  brothers  running  as  opposing  candidates 
for  governor  of  Tennessee.  The  Republican  State  Convention  met  in  Nashville 
on  June  16,  1886,  and  nominated  Hon.  Alfred  Alexander  Taylor  as  the  repub- 
lican candidate  for  governor.  On  August  11-12,  1886,  the  Democratic  State 
Convention  met  at  Nashville  and  nominated  Hon.  Robert  ("Our  Bob")  Love 
Taylor,  as  the  democratic  candidate  for  governor. 

The  brothers  made  a  joint  canvass  of  the  state  and  their  speeches  were  essen- 
tially political.  While,  at  times  they  indulged  in  pleasantry  they  refrained 
from  personalities.  This  campaign  is  known  in  Tennessee  history  as  the  "War 
of  the  Roses,"  after  the  famous  British  "War  of  the  Roses,"  when  all  England 
was  rent  in  twain  by  the  strife  between  the  houses  of  York  and  Lancaster. 
Robert  L.  Taylor  wore  a  white  rose  and  was  triumphant  by  the  vote  of  126,151 
to  109,837. 

In  an  interview  published  in  the  Nashville  Tennessean,  on  January  17,  1923, 
the  day  after  the  inauguration  of  his  successor,  Austin  Peay,  Governor  Alfred 
A.  Taylor,  governor  from  1921-1923,  gave  the  following  explanation  relative  to 
the  difference  in  political  belief  of  the  two  brothers: 

"How  did  it  come  about  that  you  and  your  brother  chose  different  political 
parties?"  he  was  asked. 

He  was  ready  to  reminisce. 

"Well,"  he  began,  "that  was  a  long  time  ago.  It  started  before  the  war. 
In  the  days  of  the  whigs  and  democrats. 

"Our  father  was  a  whig  leader,  a  member  of  the  Thirty-third  Congress 
from  our  district,  and  it  was  natural  that  I  should  have  been  a  whig. 

"Col.  Robert  Love,  a  lawyer  and  landowner  who  lived  near  us  was  close  kin 
of  our  father's.     They  were  brothers'  and  sisters'  sons.     He  was  a  democrat. 

"Our  father  thought  so  much  of  Colonel  Love  that  when  another  son  was 
born  he  gave  him  his  name,  Robert  Love  Taylor.  Of  course  Colonel  Love  was 
very  much  interested  in  Bob,  since  he  was  his  namesake,  and  liked  to  give  him 
presents — suits  of  clothes  and  dollars  and  such. 

"He  and  our  mother's  brother,  who  was  a  democrat  and  one  of  the  electors 
for  the  state  at  large  in  1860,  made  Bob  say  early — when  he  was  a  little  chap — 
that  he  was  a  'dimmycrat.'    And  Bob  stuck  to  it.     They  shaped  his  politics. 

' '  And  that 's  why  we  fell  out ;  because  I  was  a  whig  and  he  was  a  '  dimmycrat. ' 

"Our  father  owned  a  great  estate,  with  a  great  many  negroes.  lie  had 
twenty  or  thirty  hired  hands,  white  men,  besides.    When  Bob  and  I  were  boys 


as  Marshall's  "Life  of  Wm.  B.  Bate."  pp.   263-267. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  569 

we  would  work  in  the  cornfield  with  the  negroes  and  the  white  hands.  And 
we'd  cause  them  to  lose  a  lot  of  time  in  their  work. 

"When  we'd  get  to  the  end  of  a  row  we'd  stop  work  for  a  while  and  get 
under  the  shade  trees.  Bob  and  I  would  start  a  debate  on  the  merits  of  the 
two  parties.  The  white  men  were  interested  in  politics,  and  the  negroes  loved 
Bob's  jokes;  they  would  urge  us  on  and  we'd  debate  for  the  whole  afternoon. 

"These  debates  were  perpetual,  and  so  we  sought  for  information  on  politics. 
Because  of  it,  when  we  got  grown  we  knew  politics  from  one  end  to  the  other. 
We  studied  the  party  platforms,  and  we  read  all  the  speeches  congressmen  and 
senators  made.  Our  father  subscribed  to  the  National  Intelligencer,  published 
at  Washington,  which  had  most  of  the  speeches  made  in  Congress. 

"Then  the  democrats  took  Bob  and  had  him  make  stump  speeches  all  over 
the  district,  while  the  republicans  took  me.  The  first  thing  we  knew  he  was 
nominated  for  Congress  because  of  a  split  in  the  republican  party.  The  split 
was  over  me.  I  had  the  republican  nomination  for  Congress  by  instruction, 
but  at  the  convention  three  delegates  sold  out  for  $33%  and  a  suit  of  clothes 
apiece  and  another  man  was  nominated  by  one  and  a  quarter  votes. 

"Well,  I  and  my  crowd  wouldn't  stand  for  such  corruption,  so  we  went  to 
the  democratic  leaders  and  told  them  we  would  support  a  good  clean  man  if 
they  would  nominate  one.  I  didn't  have  any  idea  they  would  nominate  Bob, 
but  they  went  to  his  office  and  told  him  he  was  to  be  nominated  for  Congress. 

HIS  PIEST    JOINT   DEBATE 

"I  never  will  forget  the  first  joint  debate  of  that  campaign.  It  was  at 
Bristol,  and  10,000  people  were  there  to  hear  Bob  speak  against  Pettibone,  his 
distinguished  opponent.  Nobody  knew  anything  about  Bob,  and  the  democrats 
were  frightened  out  of  their  wits.  Pettibone  spoke  first,  and  his  speech  fright- 
ened the  democrats  more.  Then  Bob  got  up.  All  the  politics  he  had  learned  in 
our  cornfield  debates  came  to  him,  and  then  he  began  to  tell  his  jokes  at  Petti- 
bone's  expense.  The  audience  just  shouted.  Pettibone  got  mad  and  Bob  had 
him  beaten  right  there.  The  same  thing  was  repeated  all  over  the  district. 
Bob  overcame  a  regular  7,000  majority  and  won  by  850  votes." 

Since  the  year  1835,  when  Governor  William  Carroll  ended  his  second  series 
of  three  administrations,  only  one  governor  has  succeeded  in  being  reelected 
after  having  retired.  This  one  exception  was  Robert  L.  Taylor,  who,  after  hav- 
ing served  as  governor  from  1887  to  1891,  was  again  elected  and  served  as 
governor  from  1897  to  1899.  This  fact  speaks  volumes  for  the  popularity  of 
this  governor.  It  is  doubtless  true,  as  has  been  repeatedly  said  by  many  of 
his  admirers,  that  he  was  the  best  beloved  man  who  ever  lived  in  Tennessee. 
And  it  may  be  added  that  no  man  who  over  lived  in  this  state  made  so  many 
people  happy  in  his  lifetime. 

Robert  Love  Taylor  was  born  in  Happy  Valley  (Watauga  Valley),  on  July 
31,  1850,  a  region  made  historic,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  earliest  permanent 
settlers  in  the  state  and  by  their  descendants  even  to  the  present  day.  "Our 
Bob"  spent  most  of  his  boyhood  "seeing  visions  and  dreaming  dreams"  on  the 
banks  of  the  Watauga  River,  whose  beauty  has  been  eloquently  described  by  his 
uncle,  Landon  C.  Haynes,  as  follows: 

"I  was  born  in  East  Tennessee  on  the  banks  of  the  Watauga,  which,  in  the 
Indian  vernacular  means  'beautiful  river,'  and  beautiful  river  it  is.  I  have 
stood  on  its  banks  in  my  childhood  and  looked  through  its  glassy  waters  and 
have  seen  a  heaven  below,  and  then  looked  up  and  beheld  a  heaven  above, 
reflecting  like  two  mirrors,  each  in  the  other,  its  moon  and  its  planets  and 
trembling  stars.  Away  from  its  banks  of  rocks  and  cliffs,  hemlock  and  laurel, 
stretches  a  vale  back  to  the  distant  mountains  as  beautiful  and  as  exquisite  as 


570  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

any  in  Italy  or  Switzerland.  There  stand  the  great  Unakas,  the  great  Smoky 
Mountains,  among  the  loftiest  in  America,  on  whose  summit  the  clouds  gather 
of  their  own  accord  even  on  the  brightest  day." 

The  Taylor  family  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent  in  East  Tennessee. 
Andrew  Taylor,  the  great-great-grandfather  of  Robert  and  Alfred  Taylor  came 
to  what  is  now  East  Tennessee  (then  a  part  of  North  Carolina)  in  the  days  of 
the  Revolution.  Col.  Nathaniel  Taylor,  son  of  Andrew  Taylor  was  colonel  of  a 
Tennessee  regiment  under  Andrew  Jackson  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  and 
was  afterward  made  a  major-general  of  Tennessee  militia  as  a  reward  for  gal- 
lant and  meritorious  conduct  in  that  battle.  James  P.  Taylor,  son  of  Gen. 
Nathaniel  Taylor  was  attorney-general  of  the  First  Judicial  Circuit  from  1814 
to  1816.  He  married  Mary  Carter,  daughter  of  Landon  Carter.  Nathaniel 
Green  Taylor,  son  of  James  P.  Taylor,  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and 
brilliant  of  East  Tennessee's  sons.  He  was  educated  at  Washington  College  and 
at  Princeton.  He  married  Miss  Emma  Haynes,  daughter  of  David  Haynes  and 
sister  of  the  famous  Landon  C.  Haynes.  Before  the  war  he  was  a  whig  and  was 
a  member  of  Congress  from  1853  to  1857.  During  the  war  he  was  a  stanch 
Unionist,  whereas  his  brother-in-law,  Landon  C.  Haynes,  was  a  Secessionist  and  a 
member  of  the  Confederate  Congress.  In  1865,  Nathaniel  G.  Taylor  was  again 
elected  to  Congress  from  the  First  District  and  was  afterwards  appointed  Indian 
commissioner  by  President  Johnson. 

It  is  seen,  therefore,  that  Robert  Love  Taylor  was  descended  from  a  long 
line  of  soldiers,  statesmen  and  orators.  The  gifts  and  graces  of  oratory  he  in- 
herited he  increased  by  assiduous  cultivation  and  training.  As  a  consequence, 
he  went  into  the  gubernatorial  office  with  special  equipment  for  service  and 
success. 

His  great  gifts  of  mind  and  heart,  of  optimism  and  good  will,  were  never 
more  manifest  than  in  his  inaugural  address,39  delivered  January  17,  1887. 
In  it,  besides  many  other  striking  utterances,  he  said : 

"The  times  seem  ripe  for  the  development  of  Tennessee.  The  progressive 
spirit  of  the  age  demands  it ;  the  onward  march  of  the  New  South  requires  it ; 
necessity  will  force  it.  It  may  be  consummated  in  the  near  future.  Great 
thoroughfares  will  be  carved  through  the  unusual  treasure  fields  of  the  state ; 
labor  and  capital  will  unlock  the  dark  and  silent  chambers  of  the  slumbering 
coal  and  iron ;  they  will  call  them  forth  into  the  glorious  light  of  day,  to  meet 
and  embrace  in  the  nuptial  fires  of  a  thousand  furnaces !  New-born  towns  and 
cities,  teeming  with  population  and  wealth,  with  multiplied  machine  shops  and 
factories,  will  be  the  offspring  of  their  union ;  all  the  arts,  industries,  and  trades 
will  flourish ;  agriculture  will  receive  fresh  momentum ;  the  energies  of  the 
people  will  be  aroused  into  full  activity,  and  a  new  era  of  growth  and  pros- 
perity will  be  established  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  state.   *   *   * 

"The  animosities  of  the  war  are  dead.  The  causes  that  precipitated  that 
war  are  dead.  Slavery  is  forever  dead.  If  the  South  sinned,  she  has  sought  to 
make  amends.  If  she  was  wronged,  she  has  freely  forgiven.  Tennessee,  today, 
offers  the  hand  of  friendship  to  all  her  sister  states  of  the  Union  and  opens 
wide  her  gates  of  welcome  to  all." 

The  first,  or  regular,  session  of  the  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  3, 
1887,  and  adjourned  on  March  29,  1887.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  Z.  W. 
Ewing,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  W.  L.  Clapp,  speaker  of  the  House.     It  was 


sn  House  Journal,  1887,  pp.  217-220. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  571 

this  General  Assembly  which  elected  Gen.  W.  B.  Bate  to  the  United  States 
Senate  for  the  first  time. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  "Four  Mile"  law  was  passed  in  1877.  The 
authorities  of  the  University  of  the  South,  at  Sewanee,  Tenn.,  were  largely 
responsible  for  the  passage  of  this  law,  as  they  wished  to  have  the  sale  of  in- 
toxicants prohibited  within  four  miles  of  their  institution.  But  the  passage  of 
this  law  so  encouraged  the  prohibitionists  of  the  state  that  they  kept  up  their 
agitation  with  increasing  vehemence  until  they  succeeded  in  having  an  amend- 
ment 40  to  the  state  constitution  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  people  in  1887. 
This  amendment  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  145,197  to  117,504. 

In  1888,  after  a  long  and  spirited  contest  in  the  Democratic  State  Convention, 
Robert  L.  Taylor  was  nominated  as  a  candidate  for  governor  and,  after  a  hard- 
fought  battle  with  his  republican  competitor,  was  triumphantly  elected.  The  vote 
was  as  follows :  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  democrat,  155,888 ;  Samuel  W.  Hawkins,  re- 
publican, 139,014;  J.  C.  Johnson,  prohibitionist,  6,843. 

The  Forty-sixth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  7,  1889,  and  ad- 
journed on  May  7,  1889.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  Benj.  J.  Lea,  speaker 
of  the  Senate,  and  W.  L.  Clapp,41  speaker  of  the  House. 

Governor  Taylor  was  inaugurated  for  the  second  time  on  January  23,  1889, 
and  his  inaugural  address 42  breathes  the  same  genial  and  helpful  optimism 
which  characterizes  his  previous  inaugural  address. 

EDUCATION 

The  strong  tendency,  already  noted  in  the  administration  of  Governor  Bate, 
with  regard  to  improvements  in  the  public  school  system,  was  still  more  marked 
in  Taylor's  administration,  especially  in  the  increased  number  of  high  graded 
schools  established  by  municipalities.  In  1888,  the  Public  School  Officers'  Asso- 
ciation was  organized  under  call  of  Hon.  Frank  M.  Smith,  state  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  and  has  held  annual  meetings  ever  since.  It  has  proven  a 
very  valuable  factor  in  the  system  of  public  schools.43  In  1889,  the  National 
Education  Association  held  its  annual  meeting  at  Nashville.  The  Tennessee  In- 
dustrial School,  which  had  been  assisted  by  the  state  by  virtue  of  an  act  entitled, 
"An  Act  for  the  benefit  and  protection  of  orphan,  helpless  or  abandoned  chil- 
dren,"44 was  taken  over  by  the  state  by  an  act45  entitled,  "An  Act  to  accept 
a  surrender  of  the  charter,  and  a  donation  to  the  state  of  the  property  of  the 
Randall  Cole  Industrial  School,  to  provide  for  its  management  as  a  state  institu- 
tion, and  to  make  an  appropriation  for  its  improvement. ' '  This  institution  had 
been  founded  and  maintained  by  Col.  E.  W.  Cole,  of  Nashville.  It  has  year 
by  year  increased  in  scope  and  usefulness  and  is  today  one  of  the  most  efficient 
and  valuable  institutions  in  the  state. 


4°  This  was  effected  through  a  Joint  Eesolution  adopted  March  30,  1885  (see  p.  349, 
Acts  of  1885),  providing  to  add  to  article  11  of  the  State  Constitution,  Section  18,  as  follows: 
See.  18.  No  person  shall  manufacture  for  sale,  as  a  beverage,  any  intoxicating  liquors  what- 
ever, including  wine,  ale  and  beer.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  by  law,  prescribe  regula- 
tions for  the  enforcement  of  the  prohibition  herein  contained,  and  shall  thereby  provide  suit- 
able penalties  for  the  violation  of  the  provisions  hereof. 

41  He  was  the  only  speaker  of  the  House  honored  with  a  second  term  since  Frederick 
W.  Huling  in  1833. 

«  Senate  Journal,  1889,  pp.  131-134. 

43  See  Tennessee  School  Reports  for  1890  and  1891. 

44  Chapter  15,  Acts  of  1885,  p.  57. 
*6  Chapter  165,  Acts  of  1887,  p.  286. 


572  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE  HERMITAGE  ASSOCIATION  AND  THE  SOLDIERS'  HOME 

Ai  Ihc  death  of  Andrew  Jackson,  on  June  8,  1845,  his  estate  passed  into  the 
hands  of  his  adopted  son,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.  In  1856,  the  adopted  son  sold 
500  acres  of  the  farm  to  the  State  of  Tennessee  for  $48,000  and  moved  to  a 
plantation  in  .Mississippi.  After  the  Civil  war  broke  out,  Governor  Isham  G. 
Harris  requested  him  to  return  and  become  the  custodian  of  the  Hermitage. 
He  did  so,  and  died  there  in  1865.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson,  and 
her  sister,  Mrs.  Marion  Adams,  were  permitted  to  retain  their  residence  there. 
Mrs.  Jackson  died  in  1887,  several  years  after  the  death  of  her  sister. 

On  March  29,  1889,  the  Legislature  passed  a  bill40  entitled,  "An  Act  for 
the  benefit  of  disabled  and  indigent  ex-Confederate  soldiers  of  Tennessee." 
Four  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  were  donated  as  a  home  for  "maimed  and 
disabled  Confederate  soldiers  with  honorable  records."  and  an  appropriation  of 
$25,000  was  made  for  the  erection  of  suitable  buildings.  The  management  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  nine  trustees,  two  from  East  Tennessee,  two  from  "West 
Tennessee  and  five  from  Middle  Tennessee,  to  be  appointed  by  the  governor, 
"upon  the  recommendation  and  indorsement  of  the  organization  and  incor- 
porated body,  known  as  the  Association  of  Confederate  Soldiers,  Tennessee 
Division."  An  appropriation  of  $10,000  was  made  for  carrying  out  the  pur- 
poses of  the  act.  The  appropriations  for  this  laudable  care  have  been  gradually 
increased  until  that  made  by  the  Sixty-second  General  Assembly  (1921)  aggre- 
gated $23,400,  besides  $300  per  capita  for  maintenance  and  $75  per  capita  for 
burial  expenses. 

By  the  provisions  of  section  10  of  this  act  the  residence  and  twenty-five 
acres  surrounding  it  were  reserved,  and  by  an  act 4T  entitled,  "An  Act  to  con- 
ditionally convey  to  a  board  of  trustees  for  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association 
twenty-five  acres  of  the  tract,  including  the  mansion  house  and  tomb  of  Gen. 
Andrew  Jackson,"  this  historic  mansion  passed  into  the  care  of  the  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association,  which  has  done  a  wonderfully  unselfish,  patriotic  and 
efficient  service  to  the  state.48 

THE   PENITENTIARY   LEASE   SYSTEM 

In  1889,  the  state  leased  the  convicts  in  the  penitentiary  to  the  Tennessee 
Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company  for  a  period  of  six  years.  Permission  was 
given  to  this  company  to  sub-lease  the  convicts  for  work  in  various  mines  and 
guards  were  employed  by  the  lessees  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  convicts.  The 
free  miners  of  the  state  were  incensed  at  the  operation  of  this  system  that 
brought  convict  labor  which  was  cheap  into  competition  with  free  labor,  en- 
abling the  corporations  to  dictate  the  price  of  labor  to  the  free  miners  and  to 
impose  upon  them  unjust  and  unlawful  regulations. 

On  February  11,  1890,  Governor  Taylor  issued  a  proclamation  convening 
the  General  Assembly  in  extraordinary  session  on  February  24,  1890,  to  con- 
sider twenty-eight  matters  set  out  in  the  call,  of  which  the  following  were  the 
most  important:  the  laws  relating  to  elections,  assessment  laws  and  to  provide 
for  the  adoption  of  a  history  of  Tennessee  to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools. 


«  Chapter  180,  Acts  of  1889. 

47  Chapter  239,  Acts  of  1889,  passed  April  5,  1889. 

48  For    a    complete    and    charming    account    of    the    activities    of    this    association,    see 
1  Preservation  of  the  Hermitage, ' '  by  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Dorris. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  573 

Suitable  laws  were  passed  in  regard  to  elections  and  assessment  and  taxation, 
whereby  the  progress  of  the  state  was  promoted. 

After  retiring  from  the  governorship  in  1891,  Governor  Taylor  went  on  the 
lecture  platform  where  his  peculiar  and  pleasing  personality  and  genius  brought 
him  instant  success.  In  an  interview  in  the  Nashville  Tennessean  of  January 
17,  1923,  ex-Governor  Alfred  A.  Taylor  speaks  interestingly  of  this  episode  as 
follows : 

NEW  STORY  ABOUT  "BOB" 

The  ex-governor  confesses  readily  that  he  would  rather  talk  on  the  career 
of  his  famous  brother  than  on  any  other  subject. 

"You  want  something  about  Bob  that  never  has  been  told  before?''  he  asked 
the  young  man  who  was  interviewing  him. 

"Yes." 

"Well,  I  guess  you  know  Bob's  famous  lecture,  'The  Fiddle  and  the  Bow.'  " 

The  interviewer  did  know  it,  very  well. 

''Bob  made  $75,000  out  of  that  lecture,  and  he  certainly  needed  it." 

"After  he  went   out   of  the  governor's  office  he  went  to  Chattanooga   to 
practice   Jaw  with  Frank  M.   Thompson,   who   is  state  attorney   general  now 
Bob  didn't  have  a  penny  when  he  came  out  of  the  governor's  office— which  is 
to  his  credit— and  he  owed  some  bills,  grocery  bills  and  such  as  that. 

"The  climate  at  Chattanooga  didn't  agree  with  him.  He  had  malaria 
because  of  the  low  elevation.  I  was  in  Congress  then,  and  just  before  I  started 
back  to  Happy  Valley,  I  remember,  I  got  a  telegram  from  him  saying  he 
wanted  me  to  meet  him  in  Bristol.  We  met  there— and  he  looked  like  death 
on  a  pale  horse.  He  told  me  his  financial  troubles,  and  told  me  that  he  couldn't 
stay  in  Chattanooga  and  keep  his  health.  He  had  had  cases  in  Chattanooga,  but 
a  lawyer's  fees  come  after  his  work  is  completed,  and  he  had  no  money.'  He 
asked  my  advice. 

SPURNED  STAGE  CAREER 


<<  <- 


Well,  Bob,'  I  said,  'you  are  a  natural  comedian,  and  could  make  a  big 
success  on  the  stage,  but  if  you  were  to  go  on  the  stage— particularly  after 
having  been  governor— the  family  would  have  fits.  The  best  thing  I  can  sug- 
gest is  that  you  go  on  the  lecture  platform. ' 

"He  said  he  couldn't  write  a  lecture  at  Chattanooga,  because  he  had  no 
privacy  there.     So  I  asked  him  to  come  home  with  me,  which  he  did. 

"He  started  work,  and  he  tried  all  sorts  of  subjects  for  his  lecture,  but  none 
of  them  pleased  him.  One  day  when  we  were  sitting  in  the  house  an  old  gentle- 
man by  the  name  of  Tyler,  who  had  been  a  schoolmate  of  our  father's  at  Wash- 
ington College  and  at  Princeton,  came  riding  by.  'Is  the  Governor  in«'  he 
asked  me.  I  said  he  was,  and  called  Bob.  'Well,'  Mr.  Tyler  said,  'I  want  to 
shake  hands  with  the  son  of  my  old  college  roommate,  Nat  Taylor';  I  want  to 
shake  hands  with  the  young  man  who  fiddled  himself  into  Congress  and  then 
fiddled  himself  into  the  Governor's  office.' 

"The  old  man  got  on  his  horse  and  rode  up  the  valley.  Bob  stood  looking 
after  him,  and  then  he  hit  his  hand  with  his  fist  and  said,  'Alf,  I've  got  my 
lecture.  It's  the  Fiddle  and  the  Bow.'  So  he  started  work,  and  in  three  weeks 
had  finished.  We  gave  a  dinner  and  tried  it  out  on  some  of  the  big  laughers 
of  the  community.  One  of  them  rolled  out  of  his  chair  and  fell  on  the  floor 
We  thought  he'd  had  a  stroke  of  apoplexy. 

"Bob  did  his  work  on  a  little  island  in  the  Nolachucky  River  jus!  in  front 
of  my  house. 

"Fifty  yards  from  the  house,  at  the  edge  of  a  grove  of  beeches  and  oaks 
and  locust  trees  the  bank  of  the  river  is  perpendicular  and  steep,  and  al  the 
toot  of  the  little  cliff  is  a  plot  of  green  grass.  Just  opposite  thai  green  spot 
is  the  beautiful  little  island  where  Bob  worked  on  his  Lecture." 


Vol.  1—3  7 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
FROM  BUCHANAN  TO  COX 

THE  FARMERS'  ALLIANCE — ADMINISTRATION  OP  GOVERNOR  JOHN  P.  BUCHANAN — 
ADMINISTRATIONS  OP  GOVERNOR  PETER  TURNEY — THIRD  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
GOVERNOR  ROBERT  L.  TAYLOR — TENNESSEE  CENTENNIAL  EXPOSITION — TENNESSEE 
IN  THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN  WAR — ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  GOVERNOR  BENTON  MC- 
MILLIN- — THE  TENNESSEE  CENTRAL  RAILROAD — ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR 
JAMES  B.  FRAZIER — TENNESSEE  AT  THE  LOUISIANA  PURCHASE  EXPOSITION  AT 
ST.   LOUIS — ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  JOHN  I.   COX. 

THE   FARMERS'   ALLIANCE 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  an  organization  of  farmers 
became  a  factor  in  the  gubernatorial  race  of  1890.  For  many  years  prior  to 
this  time  a  feeling  had  been  growing  among  the  farmers  that  their  interests  had 
been  neglected  by  national  and  state  governments.  Sporadic  attempts  had  been 
made  to  organize  them  under  various  designations,  such  as  "Grangers"  and 
"Wheels."  These  various  organizations  were  secret  societies  and  none  but 
their  own  members  were  admitted  to  their  meetings.  A  similar  movement  had 
simultaneously  been  going  on  among  the  laboring  men.  Finally,  a  union  of 
various  societies  and  orders  was  effected  and  the  organization  was  known  as 
the  "Farmers'  and  Laborers'  Union,"  which  was  popularly  called  the  Farmers' 
Alliance.  In  Tennessee  it  was  composed  mostly  of  democrats  and  principally 
affiliated  with  the  democratic  party.  Its  president  was  John  P.  Buchanan,  a 
great-grandson  of  Maj.  John  Buchanan,  the  founder  of  Buchanan's  Station,1 
one  of  the  early  pioneer  forts.  He  had  been  a  young  private  in  the  Confederate 
army  in  which  he  acquired  a  good  record  for  bravery  and  reliability.  After  the 
war  he  returned  to  the  farm  and  was,  at  this  time,  conspicuous  as  a  democratic 
leader,  having  been  a  delegate  to  conventions  and  having  served  two  terms  in 
the  General  Assembly.  In  the  Democratic  Convention  of  1890,  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  governor.  His  candidacy  was  strongly  opposed  on  the  ground  that 
he  was  officially  connected  with  a  secret  organization  which  had  some  tenets 
inconsistent  with  the  creed  of  the  democratic  party.  Jere  Baxter  and  Josiah 
Patterson,  father  of  the  late  Governor  Malcolm  R.  Patterson,  were  also  can- 
didates for  the  democratic  nomination.  Jere  Baxter  was  the  son  of  Judge 
Nathaniel  Baxter,  one  of  the  ablest  jurists  of  his  day,  and  was  recognized  in 
railroad  and  business  circles  as  a  strong,  energetic,  broad-minded  and  progres- 
sive business  man.  Josiah  Patterson  was  also  a  jurist  and  was  acknowledged  to 
be  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  state.  He  was,  a  little  later,  member  of  Congress 
from  the  Tenth  Congressional  District  of  Tennessee.  After  a  prolonged  contest, 
a  compromise  platform  was  adopted  and  Buchanan  was  nominated  as  the 
democratic  candidate. 


1  For  an  account  of  this  station,  see  chapter  on  Historic  Spots  and  Places. 

574 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  575 

The  republicans  nominated  Hon.  Lewis  T.  Baxter,  a  son  of  the  previous 
Judge  John  Baxter,  and  at  that  time  a  prominent  attorney  of  the  Nashville  bar. 
They  made  no  joint  canvass  of  the  state  and  the  campaign  was  rather  listless 
until  Governor  Robert  L.  Taylor  enlivened  it  by  taking  the  stump  in  behalf  of 
the  democratic  ticket.  Buchanan  was  elected  over  Baxter  by  a  handsome  ma- 
jority. The  election  returns  were  as  follows:  John  P.  Buchanan,  democrat, 
113,549;  Lewis  T.  Baxter,  republican,  76,081;  David  C.  Kelly,  prohibitionist, 
11,082. 

The  Forty-seventh  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  5,  1891,  and 
adjourned  on  March  30,  1891.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  W.  C.  Dismukes 
as  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  Thos.  R.  Myers  as  speaker  of  the  House.  Governor 
Buchanan  was  inaugurated  on  January  19,  1891.  His  high  mindedness  was 
indicated  in  his  utterances  in  his  inaugural  address2  from  which  the  following 
quotation  is  made : 

"With  the  eternal  principles  of  right  and  justice  as  guides,  you  can  walk 
boldly  in  the  pathway  of  duty,  in  the  fear  of  God  and  without  fear  of  man. 
In  whatever  will  make  our  fields  more  productive,  our  manufactures  more 
numerous,  our  business  more  prosperous,  the  investments  of  our  capital  more 
secure,  the  rewards  of  labor  more  remunerative  and  just;  in  whatever  will 
lighten  and  equalize  the  burdens  of  taxation,  make  stronger  the  State  Govern- 
ment, benefit  and  elevate  the  masses  of  the  people,  you  will  have  my  hearty 
sympathy  and  best  efforts." 

Among  the  important  acts  passed  were  the  following:  "To  set  apart  the 
first  Monday  in  September  of  each  and  every  year  as  a  legal  holiday,  to  be  known 
as  Labor  Day";  "To  create  a  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  to  provide  for  the 
inspection  of  mines";  "Giving  assistance  to  Peabody  Normal";  "For  the  benefit 
of  indigent  and  disabled  soldiers  of  the  late  "War  between  the  States " ;  "  An 
amendment  to  the  act  adopted  March  6,  1873";  "To  establish  and  maintain  a 
uniform  system  of  public  schools." 

Of  these  acts  the  one  known  as  the  Confederate  Pension  Bill  was  the  direct 
result  of  the  act  adopted  in  1889  establishing  the  Confederate  Soldiers'  Home, 
although  the  idea  of  pensioning  deserving  soldiers  of  Tennessee  was  by  no  means 
new.  The  Confederate  Pension  Bill  was  strongly  advocated  by  Governor 
Buchanan  and  by  many  others,  among  whom  it  is  said  that  former  Federal 
soldiers  made  the  most  eloquent  speeches  in  advocacy  of  it.  The  first  section  of 
the  act  states  "that  the  comptroller,  attorney-general  of  the  state,  and  three 
ex-Confederate  soldiers,  to  be  suggested  by  the  Tennessee  Division  of  Confederate 
Veterans,  appointed  by  the  governor,  and  hold  their  office  for  two  years,  without 
pay,  shall  constitute  the  'Board  of  Pension  Examiners.'  "  The  second  section 
provides  "that  only  disabled  soldiers,  Federal  and  Confederate,  that  enlisted 
from  the  State  of  Tennessee  in  Tennessee  regiments,  or  citizens  of  this  state  at 
the  time  of  their  enlistment  in  regiments  of  other  states,  who  are  now  residents 
of  this  state;  or  citizens  of  other  states  who  enlisted  in  Tennessee  or  other  states, 
but  who  are  now  and  have  been  citizens  of  this  state  for  one  year,  shall  be 
entitled  to  the  benefits  of  this  act." 

The  state  appropriated  $60,000  per  annum  to  provide  pensions  under  this 
law.  In  1899  the  annual  appropriation  for  this  purpose  was  increased  to 
$100,000.  At  present  (1923),  the  state  is  expending  approximately  $980,000 
per  annum  for  Confederate  pensions  to  5,552  pensioners,  of  whom  2,411  are  men 


2  Chapter  64,  Acts  of  1891,  p.  150.    See,  also,  Chapter  93  ibid.,  p.  210. 


576  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

and  3,141  widows  of  soldiers.     There  are  now  (1923)  only  about  seven  thousand 
five  hundred  living  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  state. 

LEGISLATION  FOR  SCHOOLS 

At  this  session  was  passed  the  act3  previously  referred  to  to  amend  the  ad 
passed  March  6,  1873,  entitled,  "To  establish  and  maintain  a  uniform  system 
of  public  schools."     This  act  is  generally  called  the  "Secondary  School  Law." 

It  divided  the  public  schools  into  two  classes,  called  the  primary  schools  and 
the  secondary  schools,  elevated  the  standard  of  public  schools,  extended  the 
curriculum  and  introduced,  as  a  required  study,  in  every  primary  school,  the 
teaching  of  the  History  of  Tennessee  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

The  Legislature  also  appropriated  $1,500  to  pay  the  expenses  of  holding 
summer  institutes  for  teachers.4 

MINING   INSURRECTIONS 

Notwithstanding  the  poise,  dignity  and  reputation  for  equitable  dealing 
which  characterized  Governor  Buchanan,  his  term  was  one  of  the  stormiest 
known  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  1870. 
This  condition  was  brought  about  by  a  conjunction  of  circumstances  for  which 
Buchanan  was  in  no  way  blamable.  It  will  be  remembered  that  for  some  years 
Tennessee,  as  well  as  many  other  states,  had  leased  its  convicts  and  that  during 
the  preceding  administration  (in  1889)  this  state  had  made  a  contract  with  the 
Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company  whereby  the  state  convicts  were 
leased  to  this  company  for  a  period  of  six  years ;  and  also  that  the  free  miners 
were  very  much  irritated.  In  his  first  message  5  to  the  General  Assembly  he 
spoke  feelingly  of  the  State  Penitentiary  which  he  said  was  "not  sufficiently 
large  to  accommodate  the  prisoners,  and  is  lacking  in  the  proper  sanitary  condi- 
tions needful  for  the  preservation  of  health  *  *  *  "that  instead  of  being  a 
place  of  reform  it  is  a  school  of  crime. ' '  He  therefore  favored  the  construction 
of  a  new  penitentiary.  He  also  said  that  while  the  lease  system  presented  some 
objectionable  features  yet  that  "in  the  ruin,  desolation,  and  indebtedness  in- 
cident to  the  Civil  war,  the  lease  system 6  has  been  the  best  solution  of  this 
vexed  question  which  they  (the  Southern  states)  have  yet  been  able  to  reach. 
It  would  be  injurious  to  criminals,  as  well  as  injustice  to  taxpayers,  to  keep  con- 
victs in  idleness."  He  said  further  that  it  was  not  practicable  for  the  state, 
at  that  time,  to  employ  all  the  convicts  on  public  works  in  which  they  would 
not  come  in  competition  ' '  with  honest  labor. ' '  The  conclusion  was  obvious  that 
the  lease  system  must  be  continued  for  a  while. 

Prior  to  July,  1891,  the  mines  worked  by  convict  labor  were  at  Tracy  City, 
Inman,  Oliver  Springs,  and  Coal  Creek.     The  Tennessee  Coal  Mining  Company 


s  Chapter  132,  Acts  of  1891,  p.  295. 

*  In  his  first  message  to  the  Legislature,  Governor  Buchanan  said:  "Among  the  potent 
agencies  devised  by  the  officers  of  the  public  schools  for  the  improvement  of  public  instruc- 
tion, none  has  been  more  useful  than  the  Teachers'  Normal  Institutes." 

s  See  Senate  Journal,  1891,  p.   152. 

0  The  lease  system  in  Tennessee  began  in  1867  when  a  contract  was  made  with  Ward  & 
Briggs  at  40  cents  per  day  for  each  convict.  They  established  shops  in  the  penitentiary 
which  the  convicts  worked.  The  convicts,  dissatisfied,  burned  a  part  of  the  shops  in  1867. 
The  lessees  then  refused  to  pay  for  the  labor  of  convicts  and  claimed  damages  for  their 
losses.  The  state  thereupon  paid  the  damages  and  canceled  the  contract.  On  December  1, 
1871,  the  state  made  a  lease  to  Cherry,  O'Connor  &  Co.,  which  continued  until  January  1, 
1884,  when  the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company  became  the  lessees.  Under  the 
lease  system  the  penitentiary  brought  in  a  revenue  of  more  than  $100,000  a  year. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  577 

worked  its  mines  at  Briceville,  Anderson  County,  with  free  labor.  At  this  place 
a  strike  occurred  because  of  a  dispute  between  the  workmen  and  the  company 
with  regard  to  a  "check-weighman, "  and  the  use  of  "scrip."  Thereupon,  early 
m  July,  1891,  the  company  leased  some  convicts  and  put  them  to  work  in  their 
mines.  Soon  after,  in  the  night  of  July  14th,  the  stockade  was  seized  by  a 
mob  of  about  three  hundred  men,  the  guards  were  overpowered  and  the  warden 
was  compelled  to  remove  the  convicts  who  were  taken  to  Knoxville.  Two  days 
later  Governor  Buchanan  arrived  at  Briceville  with  two  companies  of  militia 
which  had  been  called  into  service.  In  a  conference  with  the  miners  the  gov- 
ernor appealed  to  their  patriotism  and  advised  them  to  seek  an  adjustment  of 
their  grievances  through  the  law,  not  by  violence.  He  assured  them,  too,  that 
the  law  would  be  obeyed  whatever  "the  cost  of  blood  or  treasure."  He  caused 
the  convict  miners  to  be  returned  to  the  stockade  and  reached  the  capitol  on 
the  18th. 

Hardly  had  he  returned  to  Nashville  when  a  more  determined  insurrection 
broke  out.  Fearing  this  the  governor  had  instructed  the  State  Adjutant  General 
Henry  H.  Norman,  a  strong  and  influential  official,  to  proceed  personally  to 
Briceville,  but  before  his  arrival,  a  determined  mob  of  about  one  thousand 
armed  miners  had  assembled  at  Briceville  and  Coal  Creek  and  again  had  com- 
pelled the  removal  of  the  convicts  from  the  stockades.  The  governor  thereupon, 
on  July  20th,  ordered  Brig.  Gen.  Samuel  T.  Carnes,  commander  of  the  State 
Guard,  to  mobilize  his  troops  at  Knoxville.  On  the  following  day,  such  was  his 
efficient  expedition,  that  the  following  organizations  were  at  the  rendezvous : 
the  First  Regiment,  250  men,  commanded  by  Capt.  Chas.  Robinson ;  the  Second 
Regiment,  250  men,  commanded  by  Col.  A.  R.  Taylor;  the  Third  Regiment, 
200  men,  commanded  by  Lieut.  Col.  J.  P.  Fyffe.  However,  on  the  arrival  of  the 
governor  at  Knoxville,  a  delegation  of  the  miners  and  others  met  him  and 
assured  him  that  the  miners  would  submit  and  would  refrain  from  further  acts 
of  violence.  The  convicts  were  returned  to  their  stockades  and  the  members  of 
the  State  Guard  were  ordered  to  their  homes. 

AN  EXTRA  SESSION  CALLED 

In  ordering  out  the  State  Guard  Governor  Buchanan  had  undoubtedly  over- 
stepped his  authority,  but  he  justified  his  action  on  the  ground  of  necessity. 
Realizing  now  that  there  might  be  a  recrudescence  of  the  labor  troubles  at  any 
time,  he  determined  to  call  the  General  Assembly  in  extraordinary  session  that 
he  might  be  clothed  with  power  to  cope  with  the  situation  should  another  insur- 
rection arise.  Accordingly,  on  August  7th,  he  issued  a  proclamation  for  the 
convening  of  the  Legislature  on  August  31,  1891.  The  first  matter  in  the  call 
was  "to  pass  such  statutes  as  will  enable  the  executive  to  comply  with  the  re- 
quirements of  the  Constitution,  'that  he  shall  execute  the  laws,'  and  to  this 
end  to  create  and  place  at  his  disposal  such  force,  civil  or  military,  or  both,  as 
will  be  sufficient  for  that  purpose."  He  also  asked  appropriate  legislation  with 
regard  to  the  penitentiary,  the  criminal  laws,  the  use  of  scrip,  the  election  laws 
and  a  few  other  matters  of  less  importance.  The  governor's  message,7  a  very 
able  document,  covered  all  phases  of  these  matters  and  contained  a  complete  ac- 
count of  the  "Briceville  trouble."  The  Legislature,  which  was  in  harmony  with 
the  governor,  passed  acts :    Requiring  railroad,  mining  or  manufacturing  cor- 

7  Senate  Journal,  Extraordinary  Session,   August  31  September  21,  1891,  p.   7. 


578  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

porations  to  pay  their  employes  in  lawful  money  of  the  United  States;8  "to 
provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the  national  guard  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  or 
army  of  Tennessee,  in  times  of  peace;"11  "to  invest  the  governor  of  the  state 
with  power  to  repel  invasion  and  suppress  insurrections,  mobs,  or  other  like 
unlawful  assemblages";10  making  a  felony  the  "hindrance,  -interruption  or 
interference  in  any  way  with  the  working  of  convicts  or  workhouse  prison- 
ers"; 11  a  uniform  ballot  law,12  and  a  very  comprehensive  revenue  law.13 

The  legislation  effected  seemed  generally  satisfactory  to  all  interests  ex- 
cept the  miners  who  thought  that  the  laws  which  pertained  directly  or  indi- 
rectly to  their  affairs  would  not  bring  speedy  enough  relief.  Hence,  on  October 
30th  and  31st,  but  a  few  weeks  after  the  adjournment  of  the  extra  session  they 
resorted  to  a  third  insurrection.  They  overpowered  the  guards  at  Oliver  Springs, 
Coal  Creek  and  Briceville,  destroyed  the  stockades,  and  turned  the  convicts 
loose.  The  convicts  were  not  recaptured  until  December,  when  the  stockades 
were  rebuilt  and  the  convicts  again  placed  in  them.  The  mines  in  which  the  in- 
surgent workmen  had  been  employed  were  guarded  by  a  special  company, 
organized  for  the  purpose,  under  the  advice  of  General  Carnes.  On  January  1, 
1892,  this  company  was  placed  in  "Fort  Anderson"  near  the  mines,  under 
command  of  Capt.  Kellar  Anderson. 

No  further  outbreak  occurred  until  the  summer  of  1892,  when  the  fourth 
insurrection  broke  out  on  August  13th.  This  began  at  Tracy  City,  Grundy 
County,  where  an  armed  mob  of  miners  forced  the  warden  to  remove  the  con- 
victs. On  August  15,  1892,  there  was  a  similar  occurrence  at  the  Inman  mines 
in  Marion  County.  These  two  mines  were  far  separated  from  the  region  of 
the  former  insurrections  and  no  military  force  was  stationed  near  them. 

Only  a  few  days  later  the  convicts  at  Oliver  Springs  were  again  released 
by  a  force  of  miners,  and  on  August  18,  1892,  the  miners  sent  a  committee  to 
Captain  Anderson  to  demand  a  surrender  of  the  fort.  In  an  endeavor  to  pacify 
the  miners  and  to  bring  about  peace,  Captain  Anderson  went  to  Coal  Creek 
Station  and  was  discussing  the  situation  with  some  of  the  leaders  when  a  shot 
from  Walden's  Ridge  brought  on  general  firing  from  both  the  fort  and  the  force 
outside.  Captain  Anderson  meanwhile  had  been  taken  by  friends  into  the 
neighboring  hills  for  safety  until  early  on  the  following  morning  when  he  was 
brought  into  the  lines  of  the  guard.  The  desultory  firing  was  followed  by  an 
attack  on  the  fort  which  was  repulsed  by  the  garrison. 

Upon  information  of  these  events,  Governor  Buchanan,  on  August  17th,  in- 
structed Adjutant-General  Norman  to  telegraph  General  Carnes  to  mobilize 
his  brigade,  and  to  proceed  to  relieve  Fort  Anderson  and  suppress  the  insur- 
rection. Of  this  brigade  the  Third  Regiment,  under  the  command  of  Col.  Cator 
"Woolford,  upon  leaving  the  cars  at  Knapps  on  the  18th,  marched  to  a  point 
on  Walden's  Ridge  about  a  half  mile  opposite  Fort  Anderson,  where  at  dawn 
they  were  attacked  and  driven  from  the  hills  with  a  loss  of  three  men  killed. 
On  the  same  day  the  First  Regiment,  under  Col.  J.  L.  Fox,  and  the  Second 
Regiment,  under  Col.  A.  R.  Taylor,  together  with  a  posse  of  150  men  armed 
with  "Winchester  rifles,  all  under  the  command  of  General  Carnes,  arrived  at 


s  Chapter  5,  Acts  of  Extraordinary  Session,  August  31-September  21,  1891,  p.  18. 

o  Chapter  7,  ibid.,  p.  21. 

io  Chapter   8,   ibid.,   p.   22. 

«  Chapter  13,  ibid.,  p.  31. 

12  Chapter  21,  ibid.,  p.  21. 

is  Chapter  25,  ibid.,  p.   50. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  579 

Coal  Creek  in  the  morning  and  entered  the  town  unopposed  by  the  miners,  who 
fled.  While  there  were  about  two  thousand  miners  engaged  in  the  attack  on 
the  fort,  the  casualties  were  few.  Only  three  dead  miners  were  found  and  175 
were  arrested.  Some  of  them  were  tried  and  convicted  and  many  others  left 
the  state.  The  Second  Regiment  was  held  at  Coal  Creek  until  October  30,  1892. 
when,  on  recommendation  of  its  commander,  Col.  A.  R.  Taylor,  its  soldiers  were 
sent  home.  The  garrison  of  the  fort  was  retained  in  service  there,  as  a  safe- 
guard until  1893,  when  it  was  relieved  from  duty  by  Governor  Turney. 

During  Governor  Buchanan's  administration  the  interest  on  $469,000  worth 
of  bonds  was  reduced  from  6  per  cent  to  4  per  cent  by  refunding. 

Governor  Buchanan's  last  message14  to  the  Legislature,  delivered  January 
9,  1893,  was  another  very  able  document.  Some  of  the  recommendations  em- 
bodied in  his  first  message  had  not  been  carried  out  and  these  he  particularly 
stressed,  such  as  the  construction  of  a  new  penitentiary  and  the  abolition  of 
the  convict  lease  system.  He  also  discussed  at  length  the  methods  of  prison 
management  which  were  in  vogue  in  other  states  and  strongly  urged  that  the 
state  account  system  of  labor  be  speedily  put  into  operation  in  Tennessee.  He 
also  called  attention  to  the  need  of  a  new  constitution,  saying:  "The  present 
constitution  has  been  in  force  since  1870.  That  it  is  inadequate  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  present  day  is  manifest.  I  believe  that  the  time  has  come 
when  the  initial  step  looking  toward  holding  a  convention  for  the  purpose  of 
revising  it  should  be  taken."  He  also  said:  "There  are  many  reasons  too 
numerous  to  mention  which  make  this  work  of  revising  the  constitution  both 
necessary  and  desirable,  in  order  to  place  our  fundamental  law  upon  a  plane 
in  keeping  with  the  progress  and  spirit  of  the  times." 

ADMINISTRATIONS  OF  GOVERNOR  PETER   TURNEY 

When  the  Democratic  State  Convention  met  in  Nashville  on  August  9,  1892, 
considerable  opposition  developed  to  the  renomination  of  Governor  Buchanan 
who  was  a  candidate.  He  finally  withdrew  his  name  from  consideration  before 
the  convention  and  announced  that  he  would  be  an  independent  candidate.  In 
the  ensuing  election  he  received  the  populist  vote.  Judge  Peter  Tumey,  chief 
justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  at  the  time,  was  nominated  in  this 
convention.  One  of  the  delegates  was  Arthur  Handly  Marks,  son  of  ex-Gov- 
ernor Marks,  a  very  brilliant  young  man  who  died  only  a  few  weeks  later.  When 
the  name  of  Peter  Turney  was  placed  before  the  convention  young  Marks  sec- 
onded the  nomination  as  follows : 

"Mr.  Chairman  and  Fellow  Democrats:  Speaking  for  Franklin  County, 
whose  red-clay  hills  today  swell  with  mother's  pride,  I  second  that  nomination. 
We  know  the  man  that  you  have  named.  He  is  all  a  Tennessean  and  a 
democrat.  He  springs  from  that  sturdy,  pioneer  stock  which,  if  democracy 
had  not  existed,  would  have  invented  it  in  Tennessee.  Invited  by  their  own 
bold  hearts,  they  crossed  the  mountains  and  here  in  the  virgin  freedom  of  the 
wilderness  they  founded  this  state  in  that  liberty  which  is  democracy.  We  are 
wedded  to  its  doctrines.  Andrew  Jackson  did  the  wooing  and  in  the  name  of 
the  volunteer  state  married  our  destiny  to  it  forever.  In  the  executive  chamber 
below  us  the  portrait  of  our  great  sponsor  hangs  on  the  wall,  scanning  with 
stern  scrutiny  the  democracy  of  each  succeeding  governor.  Peter  Turney  is  the 
man  who  can  sit  easy  in  that  searching  presence. 

"He  sums  within  himself  the  ideal  Tennessean  and  democratic  citizen.    Born 


i*  House  Journal,   1893,  pp.  35-60. 


580  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

on  a  farm,  and  himself  a  farmer,  he  has  crowned  that  noble  calling  with  the 
ripest  learning  of  the  law.  In  war  his  courage  made  him  a  leader,  and  in  peace 
his  justice  made  him  a  judge.  Learned  without  pedantry;  strong  yet  gentle; 
stern  yet  merciful,  not  with  a  thorn  of  arrogance  in  all  the  roses  of  his  form, 
the  man  is  so  great  that  honors  would  grow  humble  when  they  touched  him,  did 
he  not  bear  them  with  such  grace  as  makes  them  more  worth  the  wearing.  He 
is  a  Roman  in  every  inch  of  his  noble  person,  in  every  impulse  of  his  noble  heart. 
For  thirty-five  years  he  has  walked  in  the  public  presence,  and  not  an  eye  has 
marked  a  single  swerving  step  in  all  that  stately  march.  This  son  of  hers,  in 
whose  rearing  she  has  honored  this  state,  Franklin  County,  at  your  bidding, 
proudly  gives  for  Tennessee  to  honor. ' ' 

Hon.  G.  W.  Winstead  was  nominated  by  the  republicans  and  Hon.  E.  H. 
East  by  the  prohibition  party.  After  a  contest  characterized  by  much  bitter- 
ness, Turney  was  elected.15  The  vote  was  as  follows :  Peter  Turney,  democrat, 
126,348;  Geo.  W.  Winstead,  republican,  100,577;  J.  P.  Buchanan,  populist  and 
independent,  29,918 ;  Edward  H.  East,  prohibitionist,  4,906. 

The  Forty-eighth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  2,  1893,  and  ad- 
journed on  April  10,  1893.  It  was  organized  by  the  election  of  Hon.  "W.  C.  Dis- 
mukes,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  J.  A.  Trousdale,  speaker  of  the  House.  Mr. 
Dismukes  is  the  only  man  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  since  the  election  of  Ed- 
ward "Ward,  in  1817,  who  has  served  two  terms  in  succession  as  speaker  of  the 
Senate. 

On  account  of  the  ill  health  of  Governor  Turney,  the  inauguration  cere- 
monies took  place  at  his  home  in  Winchester,  on  January  16,  1893,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  joint  committee  of  the  Senate  and  the  House,  members  of  the  Supreme 
Court  and  other  state  officials  and  many  citizens  of  the  state.16 

Governor  Turney 's  first  message17  to  the  Legislature,  delivered  on  January 
26,  1893,  was  brief,  covering  only  the  following  matters :  the  Intermediate  Court 
bill,  salaries  of  Supreme  judges,  coal-oil  inspection,  the  penitentiary  question, 
registration  law,  road  law  and  stock  at  large.  The  salient  points  of  Governor 
Turney 's  first  administration  are  so  well  covered  in  a  resume  by  Garrett  and 
Goodpasture  that  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  account  can  be  improved  upon. 
They  say : 

"Early  in  his  administration,  Governor  Turney  dismissed  the  State  Guard 
from  active  service  in  the  mining  districts.  April  4,  1893,  he  approved  the  final 
act 18  of  the  Legislature,  providing  for  the  erection  of  a  new  penitentiary,  with 
workshops,  stockades,  etc.,  and  the  purchase  of  farming  lands  and  mining  lands, 
looking  to  the  abolition  of  the  convict  lease  system. 

"Under  this  law,  a  Building  and  Purchasing  Committee  was  appointed.  In 
1895,  a  permanent  Prison  Commission  was  created.  In  1894,  9,000  acres  of 
mining  lands  were  purchased  in  Morgan  County,  known  as  the  Brushy  Moun- 
tain tract.  Upon  this  tract  was  erected  a  new  branch  prison,  which  was  com- 
pleted January  1,  1896. 

"A  tract  of  farming  land  of  1,175  acres  was  purchased  for  the  location  of 
the  main  prison,  and  about  2,200  acres  of  farming  land  19  adjacent  were  leased 
for  a  term  of  years.  On  this  farm,  seven  miles  from  Nashville,  an  eligible  site 
was  selected  and  the  building  of  the  main  prison  was  begun. 


is  At  the  time  of  his  election  Turney  was  the  oldest  man  (sixty-five  years  of  age)  to 
serve  as  governor  of  Tennessee  and  this  distinction  remained  his  until  the  inauguration  of 
Governor  Alfred  A.  Taylor  in  January,  1921,  when  he  was  seventy-two  years  of  age. 

is  See  Senate  Journal,  1893,  p.  94;  also  Senate  Joint  Resolution,  No.  20,  Acts  of  1893, 
p.  460. 

it  Senate   Journal,   1893,  pp.   152-155. 

is  Chapter  78,  Acts  of  1893,  p.  96. 

is  A  few  years  ago  this  land  was  bought  by  the  state  from  Nat.  Baxter,  Jr. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  581 

"January  1,  1896,  the  contract  by  which  the  convicts  were  leased  to  the 
Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company  expired,  and  the  state  was  free 
to  adopt  a  more  humane  policy.  The  state  mines  at  Brushy  Mountain  were 
already  in  operation  by  convict  labor.  As  soon  as  the  main  prison  should  be 
completed,  the  new  system  in  all  the  departments  of  the  penitentiary  could  be 
put  in  operation.20 

"During  this  administration,  the  contest  with  the  railroads  and  other 
moneyed  corporations,  which  had  for  many  years  been  an  irritating  factor  in 
state  politics,  was  waged  with  increased  bitterness. 

"During  Governor  Turney's  first  term  of  office,  educational  affairs  were 
under  the  efficient  supervision  of  Frank  M.  Smith,  who  was  succeeded  at  the 
beginning  of  Governor  Turney's  second  term  by  Hon.  S.  G.  Gilbreath,  an  able 
officer.  Important  legislation  was  enacted.  A  law  was  passed  increasing  the 
powers  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  municipal  corporations.  Another  law 
provided  for  the  examination  of  County  Superintendents  of  Public  Instruction, 
and  increased  the  powers  of  the  State  Board  of  Education.  Several  important 
enactments  were  made,  regulating  the  financial  management  of  the  system, 
providing  for  more  frequent  reports,  etc.  The  appropriation  to  the  Peabody 
Normal  College  was  increased  to  $20,000,  and  the  Chair  of  American  History 
was  established,  to  be  devoted  to  instruction  in  American  history,  and  especially 
to  the  history  of  Tennessee,  and  to  the  collection  and  publication  of  historical 
material." 

In  1894,  the  democrats  again  selected  Peter  Turney  as  their  candidate.  The 
republicans  nominated  Col.  H.  Clay  Evans ;  and  the  people 's  party  chose  Hon. 
A.  L.  Mims  as  their  candidate.  Colonel  Evans  ranked  among  the  ablest  and 
most  attractive  speakers  in  the  republican  party  of  Tennessee.  He  entered  at 
once  upon  a  thorough  and  vigorous  canvass  arousing  much  enthusiasm  by  the 
clearness  and  directness  with  which  he  discussed  state  issues.  The  democrats, 
on  the  other  hand,  put  forth  little  effort,  relying  upon  their  normal  majority 
in  this  state.  The  result  was  that  when  the  returns  came  in  it  appeared  that 
Evans  had  been  elected  by  the  following  vote  :  Peter  Turney,  democrat,  104,356  ; 
H.  Clay  Evans,  republican,  105,104 ;  A.  L.  Mims,  populist,  23,088.  Governor 
Turney,  however,  contested  the  election,  saying  in  his  petition  to  the  Forty-ninth 
General  Assembly,  on  January  10,  1895,  that  he  had  been  informed  "that 
H.  Clay  Evans  received  the  highest  number  of  votes  cast.  I  am  also  reliably 
informed  that  this  result  is  due  to  gross  and  fraudulent  disregard  and  violation 
of  law,  and  that  an  investigation  will  establish  the  fact." 

On  February  5,  1895,  the  Senate  and  the  House  met  "in  joint  convention 
relative  to  vote  for  governor."  In  this  convention  was  considered  the  able  and 
exhaustive  protest  of  H.  Clay  Evans  which  was  spread  upon  the  minutes.  The 
speaker  of  the  Senate,  Ernest  Pillow,  then  opened  the  certified  returns.  After 
the  call  of  the  roll  of  the  counties,  all  persons  not  members  or  officers  were  re- 
quested to  retire.  The  report  of  the  tellers  gave  the  returns  as  already  stated. 
Thereupon  a  joint  committee  (five  from  the  Senate  and  seven  from  the  House) 
was  appointed  on  the  governor's  election.  The  evidence,  reports  and  accounts 
of  proceedings  occupy  more  than  one  hundred  and  ten  pages  of  Senate  Journal 
for  1895.  Maj.  E.  B.  Stahlman  and  Col.  A.  S.  Colyar  were  attorneys  for  H.  Clay 
Evans,  and  Judge  J.  J.  Turner  was  attorney  for  Governor  Turney.  Finally, 
on  May  3,  1895,  the  majority  report  which  favored  Governor  Turney,  was 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  70  to  57.  The  revised  returns  were  stated  to  be  as  fol- 
lows: Peter  Turney,  94,794;  H.  Clay  Evans,  92,440;  A.  L.  Mims,  23,088.  The 
following  resolution  was  then  adopted:     "Resolved  that  Peter  Turney,  having 


20  See  Biennial  Report  of  John  H.  Trice,   Superintendent  of  Prisons,   1896,  and  Report 
of  Prison  Commissioners,   1896. 


582  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

received  the  highest  number  of  votes  at  the  election  in  November  last,  has  been 
elected  and  shall  be  governor  of  Tennessee."  The  president  of  the  Senate  there- 
upon declared  Peter  Turney  duly  and  constitutionally  elected  governor. 

On  May  6,  1895,  Governor  Turney  issued  a  proclamation  for  an  extraordi- 
nary session  of  the  General  Assembly  on  May  27,  1895,  because,  as  he  said,  the 
regular  session  had  expired,  "leaving  important  and  vital  matters  of  legislation 
undisposed  of."  The  legislation  required  pertained  particularly  to  the  prison 
affairs,  to  appropriations,  to  revenues,  the  calling  of  a  Constitutional  Convention 
and  making  an  appropriation  for  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition.21  After 
passing  bills  on  most  of  these  subjects  and  some  others,  this  extraordinary  ses- 
sion adjourned  on  June  17,  1895. 

Again,  on  August  14,  1896,  Governor  Turney,  by  proclamation,  called  the 
General  Assembly  in  extraordinary  session  on  September  7,  1896,  "to  provide 
a  sufficient  assessment  of  property  and  privileges,  the  increase  of  privileges, 
and  such  other  assessment  as  may  be  legitimate  and  proper  to  take  care  of  the 
credit  of  the  state  and  meet  its  indebtedness  and  expenses."  Acts  were  passed 
on  the  following  subjects:  appropriations,  to  provide  for  the  election  of  dele- 
gates to  a  Constitutional  Convention  and  to  authorize  the  people  to  vote  on  a 
Constitutional  Convention. 

THE    THIRD    ADMINISTRATION   OP    GOVERNOR    ROBT.    L.    TAYLOR 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Governor  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  after  the  completion 
of  his  second  term  as  governor,  went  upon  the  lecture  platform  in  which  sphere 
his  success  was  instant  and  very  great.  He  found  this  field  much  more  con- 
genial and  infinitely  more  profitable  than  that  of  politics.  In  it  he  said  he  could 
"think  and  dream  in  peace,  safe  from  the  sickening  sting  of  unjust  criticism; 
safe  from  the  talons  of  some  old  political  vulture ;  safe  from  the  slimy  kiss  and 
keen  dagger  of  ingratitude." 

But  this  life  of  joy  and  peace,  of  poetry,  music  and  "visions  and  dreams," 
was  destined  to  be  interrupted.  The  democratic  party  in  Tennessee  was  in 
dire  need  of  a  strong  candidate  for  governor  and  Robert  L.  Taylor  seemed  the 
very  man  for  this  emergency.  He  was  appealed  to  and  demurred,  but,  when 
the  matter  was  placed  before  him  as  a  duty  to  the  party,  he  consented.  His 
republican  opponent  was  the  Hon.  Geo.  N.  Tillman,  of  Nashville.  They  met 
only  once  in  joint  debate  and  then  each  went  his  own  way  in  presenting  his 
canvass.  The  election  returns  were  as  follows :  Robert  L.  Taylor,  democrat, 
156,228 ;  G.  N.  Tillman,  republican,  149,374 ;  A.  L.  Minis,  populist,  11,971 ;  Jo- 
sephus  Hapwood*  prohibitionist,  2,894. 

The  Fiftieth  General  Assembly  convened  January  4,  1897,  and  adjourned 
on  May  1,  1897.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  John  Thompson,  speaker  of  the 
Senate,  and  Morgan  C.  Fitzpatrick,  speaker  of  the  House.  On  January  5th, 
the  Hon.  G.  N.  Tillman  presented  a  petition  for  a  contest  of  the  returns  in 
the  gubernatorial  election.  On  January  16th,  however,  he  abandoned  the  con- 
test, because,  he  said,  a  law  had  been  enacted  since  his  notice  of  a  contest  re- 
quiring a  contestant  to  enter  into  a  bond  in  the  penal  sum  of  $25,000.  ' '  I  have 
determined,"  said  he,  "not  to  assume  so  large  a  liability  as  a  bond  of  $25,000, 
enforceable  at  the  will  of  the  joint  assembly  of  the  Legislature.  I  think  such 
an  act  is  deserving  of  the  severest  condemnation." 


2i  The  state  appropriated  $50,000  for  this  purpose. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  583 

Governor  Taylor  was  inaugurated  on  January  21st.  The  great  outstanding 
event  of  the  first  year  of  this  administration  was,  of  course,  the  Tennessee  Cen- 
tennial Exposition  which  was  held  for  six  months  beginning  May  1,  1897.  In 
his  address  to  the  Legislature,  on  January  29th,  Governor  Taylor  spoke  as  fol- 
lows concerning  it : 

"Here,  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  century  of  our  existence  as  a  state,  I  am 
sure  that  it  ought  to  be  the  pride  of  every  patriotic  Tennessean  to  join  in  the 
great  movement  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of  our  proud  commonwealth.  The 
great  Centennial  Exposition,  which  will  be  open  to  the  world  on  the  first  of 
May  next,  has  been  inaugurated  to  commemorate  the  state 's  natal  day ;  and 
surely  the  state  itself  should  preside  on  that  great  occasion  of  rejoicing.  It  will 
not  only  be  an  occasion  of  festivity  and  rejoicing,  but  it  will  bring  millions  of 
wealth  within  our  borders,  and  open  up  a  new  era  of  progress  and  development. 
I,  therefore,  recommend  that  your  honorable  bodies  make  a  generous  appropria- 
tion in  order  that  the  state  may  take  her  proper  place  on  this  great  occasion, 
and  exhibit  to  the  world,  with  pride  and  credit,  her  own  products  and  resources. ' ' 

During  the  continuance  of  the  exposition,  Governor  Taylor  received  officially 
the  numerous  visiting  delegations  from  the  different  states  and  from  foreign 
governments  and  on  all  of  those  occasions  his  speeches  were  veritable  models  of 
propriety  and  good  taste  and,  moreover,  were  expressed  most  felicitously.  Every 
citizen  of  Tennessee  who  experienced  the  privilege  of  listening  to  him  at  such 
times  was  invariably  rendered  proud  of  his  state  and  of  her  gifted  and  brilliant 
governor  who  always  seemed  to  know  indubitably  exactly  what  to  say  and  how 
to  say  it  to  make  the  best  possible  impression  upon  the  audience.  Day  after 
day  he  was  compelled  to  make  these  addresses,  each  entirely  different  from  all 
the  others,  and  each  a  gem  in  itself — all  in  all,  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
achievements  in  the  history  of  oratory. 

THE  .TENNESSEE  CENTENNIAL  EXPOSITION 

The  underlying  inspiration  of  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition  was  pure 
patriotism.  It  was  the  desire  to  commemorate  Tennessee's  admittance  into  the 
Union,  which  occurred  on  June  1,  1796.  It  may  be  well  here  to  rehearse  briefly, 
what  has  already  been  related  in  this  history,  that  the  first  Constitutional  Con- 
vention of  Tennessee  convened  on  January  11,  1796;  that  it  completed  its  work 
on  February  6th;  that  the  first  General  Assembly  met  on  March  28th,  elected 
its  United  States  senators  and  enacted  some  laws;  and  that  Congress,  on  May 
31st,  passed  the  bill  admitting  Tennessee  into  the  Union,  which  bill  was  ap- 
proved by  President  Washington  on  June  1st,  the  last  day  of  the  session.  We 
have  seen  the  difficulties  with  which  the  early  pioneers  were  forced  to  contend, 
the  growth  of  the  state,  rapid  at  times  and  slow  at  others,  but  always  advanc- 
ing until,  notwithstanding  the  ravages  of  war  and  the  deterrents  of  reconstruc- 
tion it  had  reached,  in  1890,  a  proud  eminence  with  a  gloriou%  history.  About 
that  time  the  close  proximity  of  the  centennial  year  of  the  state's  nativity 
caused  thoughtful  men  and  women  to  begin  considering  and  planning  how  this 
monumental  event  might  be  fittingly  celebrated. 

It  was  Douglas  Anderson,  the  litterateur,  then  a  member  of  the  Nashville 
bar,  who  was  the  first  to  give  public  expression  to  the  idea  which  developed  into 
the  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition. 

In  a  letter  published  in  the  Chattanooga  News,  on  August  10,  1892,  he  said: 


584  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"Tennessee  will  be  one  hundred  years  old  on  June  1,  1896.  Tennesseans 
should  celebrate  the  occasion  by  holding  a  Centennial  Exposition.  They  should 
do  this  because,  being  a  patriotic  people,  they  love  and  revere  the  memory  of 
their  brave  ancestors  who  suffered  privation,  endured  great  hardships,  and 
endangered  their  scalps  for  the  benefit  of  their  descendants." 

Later,  Laps  D.  McCord  published  a  communication  on  the  same  subject. 
But  little  attention  seems  to  have  been  paid  to  either  of  these  communications 
at  the  time,  although  subsequent  developments  showed  that  it  was  good  seed 
sown. 

In  the  fall  of  1893,  Capt.  W.  C.  Smith  brought  the  subject  before  the  Nash- 
ville Commercial  Club.  A  general  committee  was  appointed  of  which  Hon. 
J.  M.  Head  was  made  chairman  and  a  call  was  issued  for  a  state  convention  to 
be  held  in  Nashville  on  June  19,  1894.  It  was  held  in  the  Senate  chamber  at 
the  Capitol  and  Col.  W.  A.  Henderson,  of  Knoxville,  was  appointed  chairman. 
Permanent  organization  was  effected  with  Judge  R.  P.  Morgan,  of  Memphis,  as 
permanent  chairman.  A  well-thought-out  plan  was  reported  by  a  committee 
appointed  for  the  purpose.  The  board  of  directors  met  on  July  10,  1894,  a 
form  of  charter  was  adopted  and  on  July  24th  by-laws  were  adopted.  All 
the  directors  were  required  to  take  stock  in  the  Exposition  Company,  which 
was  capitalized  at  $300,000.  A  strong  executive  committee  was  appointed  whose 
activity  was  marvelous.  They  literally  evolved  the  nucleus  of  the  gigantic  en- 
terprise within  a  few  months.  On  September  25th  it  was  decided  to  invoke  the 
aid  of  the  Federal  Government  in  "furthering  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Expo- 
sition." The  Davidson  County  Court  was  petitioned  for  help  and  lent  its  credit 
to  the  enterprise  to  the  extent  of  $50,000.  During  the  next  six  months  much 
difficulty  was  experienced  in  the  effort  to  secure  finances  and  friction  developed 
among  the  promoters  of  the  exposition  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  reorganize 
the  Exposition  Company.  On  July  23,  1895,  the  following  officers  were  elected : 
Maj.  John  W.  Thomas,  president ;  V.  L.  Kirkman,  vice  president ;  W.  A.  Hen- 
derson, second  vice  president ;  John  Overton,  Jr.,  third  vice  president ;  W.  P. 
Tanner,  treasurer;  Frank  Goodman,  auditor.  Major  Thomas  selected  Chas.  E. 
Currey  as  secretary  and  Maj.  E.  C.  Lewis  as  director  general.  When  nominat- 
ing the  latter  before  the  executive  committee,  Major  Thomas  said : 

"After  carefully  considering  the  selection  of  a  director  general,  I  would 
suggest  a  man  of  pleasing  address,  competent  to  fill  and  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  position,  a  man  of  general  information,  with  executive  ability,  good 
judgment,  sterling  integrity,  and  unsullied  reputation.  I  take  pleasure  in 
presenting  the  name  of  Maj.  E.  C.  Lewis." 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  great  success  of  the  exposition  is  due  to  the 
tireless  energy,  creative  force,  dauntless  courage  and  resourcefulness  of  those 
two  able  and  patriotic  men,  Maj.  John  W.  Thomas  and  Maj.  E.  C.  Lewis. 

After  the  election  held  for  the  purpose  on  October  10,  1895,  the  people  of 
Nashville  authorized  a  subscription  of  $100,000  to  the  enterprise.  Following 
this  action  subscriptions  poured  in  rapidly  and  soon  the  Exposition  Company 
had  sufficient  resources  to  proceed  without  further  interruption. 

It  had  been  originally  intended  that  the  Centennial  Exposition  should  open 
on  May  1,  1896,  or,  at  any  rate,  some  time  in  1896 ;  but  the  management  quickly 
realized  that  that  year,  being  a  presidential  election  year,  was  not  propitious  for 
the  holding  of  the  exposition ;  so  it  was  wisely  concluded  to  postpone  the  open- 
ing until  May  1,  1897. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  587 

In  the  admirable  history  of  the  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition,  edited  by 
Herman  Justi,  is  the  following  statement  which  concisely  and  truly  summarizes 
the  excellence  of  the  administration  of  this  remarkable  enterprise : 

"The  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition  ran  its  full  course  without  a  single 
serious  casualty,  without  the  slightest  suspicion  of  fraud,  and  without  the 
faintest  approach  to  scandal  of  any  kind.  Its  affairs  were  managed  with  such 
skill,  economy  and  honesty  that,  at  its  close,  it  was  singled  out  by  the  press  of 
the  country  as  a  wholesome  example  to  be  kept  always  before  the  eyes  of  the 
public,  and  to  be  impressed  on  the  minds  of  all  who  were  entrusted  with  public 
office." 

The  Centennial  Park,  in  Nashville,  was  selected  as  the  site  of  the  exposition 
and  it  was  formally  dedicated,  on  June  1,  1896,  with  suitable  ceremonies.  The 
exposition  was  opened  brilliantly  on  May  1,  1897,  with  more  than  ten  thousand 
persons  in  the  parade,  notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  storm  of  rain  which 
continued  without  cessation.  The  grounds  were  beautiful,  the  buildings  and 
exhibits  attractive  and  varied.  The  United  States  Government  Building,  the 
state  buildings,  the  buildings  for  manufactures,  agriculture,  scientific,  social, 
art  and  educational  purposes  were  all  excellent ;  but  of  all,  the  Parthenon  sur- 
passed in  nobility  and  attractiveness.  This  building  was  used  for  the  art  exhibit 
and  now,  rebuilt  with  stone,  is  the  only  complete  reproduction  of  the  original 
Parthenon  on  the  Acropolis  of  Athens  that  now  exists  in  the  world.  The  Erec- 
theum  of  the  Acropolis  was  the  model  for  the  history  building. 

The  prominence  given  to  history  was  one  of  the  most  gratifying  features 
of  the  exposition.  Gen.  G.  P.  Thruston  was  chairman  of  the  history  committee 
and  Mr.  Robt.  T.  Quarles,  afterwards  the  first  Archivist  of  the  state,  was  the 
superintendent  of  the  building  in  which  was  installed  what  has  generally  been 
admitted  to  have  been  the  most  remarkable  collection  of  historical  relics  ever 
exhibited.  These  were  supplied  principally  by  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society, 
other  historical  organizations,  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  the  Ladies ' 
Hermitage  Association,  Colonial  Dames,  United  Confederate  Veterans,  Daugh- 
ters of  the  Confederacy,  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  many  individual 
contributors.22 

The  effect  of  the  Centennial  Exposition  on  the  history  of  the  state  was  most 
remarkable.  No  other  single  event  in  its  entire  annals,  up  to  1919,  has  done 
so  much  to  stimulate  the  interest  of  Tennesseans  in  the  unique  and  wonderfully 
varied  and  romantic  history  of  their  own  state.  The  establishment  of  the  Anti- 
quarian Society  by  Judge  John  Haywood,  in  1820,  and  of  the  Tennessee  His- 
torical Society,  in  1849,  had  done  much  to  arouse  the  interest  of  Tennesseans 
in  their  history.  Just  before  the  opening  of  the  exposition  Dr.  R.  L.  C.  White 
published  in  the  Nashville  American  a  remarkable  production  entitled  "A  Cen- 
tennial Dream,"  in  which  were  100  questions  on  Tennessee  history  and  a  prize 
was  offered  for  correct  answers.  Another  prize  contest  held  a  little  later  was 
entitled  "A  Century  of  Errors,"  and  Judge  John  H.  DeWitt,  now  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society,  won  the  first  prize  of  $100. 

These  contests  and  the  American  Historical  Magazine  published  as  the  organ 
of  the  Chair  of  History  of  the  Peabody  Normal  College  and  the  Tennessee  His- 
torical Magazine,  the  publication  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society — all  these 
have  been  valuable  factors  in  the  promotion  of  interest  in  Tennessee  history. 
It  is  not  doubted,  however,  that  the  Tennessee  Historical  Committee,  established 

22  See  the  American  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  3  et  seq. 


:»ss  TKNNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

by  the  state  in  1919,  will  ultimately  prove  the  most  powerful  factor  of  all  in 
promoting  and  maintaining  a  keen  and  abiding-  enthusiasm  in  everything  per- 
taining to  the  history  of  the  Volunteer  State.* 

OTHER    IMPORTANT   EVENTS    IN    THE    THIRD   ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR    ROBT.    L. 

TAYLOR 

Among  the  important  acts  passed  at  the  regular  session  of  the  Fiftieth  Gen- 
eral Assembly  were  those  on  the  following  subjects :  the  assessment  laws,  regu- 
lation of  building  and  loan  associations,  sale  of  cigarettes  prohibited,  coal  com- 
bines prohibited,  constitutional  convention  submission,  railroad  commission  cre- 
ated, to  regulate  insurance  companies,  for  the  protection  of  schools  and  colleges 
for  females  (known  as  the  "Johnnie  Bill"). 

On  July  8,  1887,  Senator  Isham  G.  Harris'  death23  saddened  the  entire 
state.  Hon.  Thomas  B.  Turley,  of  Memphis,  was  appointed  by  Governor  Taylor 
to  fill  the  vacancy  pending  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature.  This  was  a  very 
suitable  appointment  as  Mr.  Turley  had  been  Senator  Harris'  law  partner  and 
was  considered  as  being  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  Tennessee.  The  General 
Assembly  recognized  Turley 's  fitness  by  electing  him  to  fill  Harris'  unexpired 
term. 

The  new  state  penitentiary  near  Nashville  was  completed  and  formally  oc- 
cupied on  February  12,  1898,  and  the  system  of  prison  reform  and  state  account 
was  put  into  operation  with  gratifying  results. 

During  this  administration  the  state  contest  with  the  railroads  reached  an 
acute  stage.    An  act  24  was  passed,  April  7,  1897,  entitled : 

"An  Act  to  create  a  Railroad  Commission  in  the  state  and  define  its  duties 
and  powers ;  to  prohibit  extortion,  unjust  discrimination  and  undue  or  un- 
reasonable preferences  by  railroad  companies  and  other  persons  operating  rail- 
roads in  this  state ;  in  their  charges  for  the  transportation  of  freight  and  pas- 
sengers ;  to  secure  just  and  reasonable  rates  and  charges  for  all  such  service ; 
and  to  impose  penalties  and  to  provide  adequate  civil  remedies  for,  and  punish 
violations  of,  this  Act,  and  to  secure  the  due  execution  and  enforcement  of  its 
provisions  and  all  lawful  orders,  rules  and  regulations  of  the  said  Railroad 
Commission." 

The  governor  appointed  E.  L.  Bullock,  Newton  H.  White,  and  Frank  M. 
Thompson  to  serve  until  the  induction  of  the  next  administration.  DeLong 
Rice  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  board.  The  railroads  brought  suit  in  the 
Federal  courts  to  resist  the  assessment  of  their  property  made  by  the  commis- 
sion and  an  injunction  was  granted. 

In  the  election  of  1899,  N.  W.  Baptist,  Thomas  L.  Williams  and  J.  N.  Mc- 
Kenzie  were  elected  railroad  commissioners.  Frank  Avent  was  appointed  by 
them  as  secretary  of  the  board. 

On  December  29,  1897,  Governor  Taylor  issued  a  proclamation  for  an  ex- 


*  Since  this  paragraph  was  written  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission  has  been  abol- 
ished and  its  work  is  now  being  performed  by  the  History  Division  of  the  Department  of 
Education. 

23  The  committee  appointed  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Tennessee  drafted  to  his 
memory  resolutions  of  unusual  excellence  which  will  be  found  in  full  in  Senate  Journal  of 
the  Extraordinary  Session  of  1898,  pp.  116-121.  In  it  appears  the  following  significant 
and  succinct  paragraph:  "He  knew  little  of  books,  but  much  of  men.  He  was  sagacious. 
He  was  wise.  He  had  the  resistless  and  self-sustaining  power  which  is  born  of  the  union 
of  courage   and  will." 

24  Chapter  10,  p.  113,  of  the  Acts  of  1897,  passed  March  24,  1897. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  589 

traordinary  session  of  the  Legislature,  giving  as  his  reason  that  "various  mat- 
ters of  public  interest,  requiring  immediate  legislation,  are  apparent,  creating 
extraordinary  occasion  for  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  of  the  state." 
Among  these  matters  he  stressed  particularly  two,  the  enactment  of  laws  relative 
to  the  assessment  of  railroad,  telephone  and  telegraph  property,  devoting  no  less 
than  five  paragraphs,  under  as  many  different  numbers,  to  separate  phases  of 
this  subject.  He  also  suggested  legislation  for  the  benefit  of  the  City  of  Mem- 
phis, which  wished  to  protect  itself  against  the  menace  of  yellow  fever.  A  few 
other  matters  of  comparatively  less  importance  were  adverted  to. 

The  Legislature  convened  on  January  17,  1898,  and,  on  the  same  day,  the 
governor  transmitted  his  message  to  both  houses,  a  well  conceived,  serious,  thor- 
ough and  able  paper,  in  which  the  railroad  assessment  question  was  discussed 
fully  and  impartially. 

After  suitable  legislation  had  been  effected,  this  session  adjourned  on  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1898. 

TENNESSEE  EST  THE  SPANISH-AMERICAN   WAR 

For  upwards  of  one  hundred  years  Spanish  misrule  in  Cuba  had  evoked  the 
condemnation  of  American  citizens.  An  uprising  of  the  Cubans  in  1895  had 
been  suppressed  by  Spain  with  great  severity.  Death  and  destruction,  sorrow 
and  suffering  were  the  lot  of  the  Cubans  and  the  rights  of  American  citizens  in 
Cuba  were  not  respected  by  the  Spanish.  The  feelings  of  hostility  between  the 
people  of  Spain  and  those  of  the  United  States,  so  long  existent,  became  irrepres- 
sible as  time  passed  and  the  woes  of  the  Cubans  were  not  lessened.  Early  in 
President  McKinley's  administration  Congress  had  voted  $50,000  for  the  relief 
of  the  Cubans.  This  action  still  further  alienated  Spain  and  the  United  States ; 
and  when  the  United  States  battleship,  Maine,  was  blown  up  in  the  harbor  of 
Havana,  on  February  15,  1898,  with  a  loss  of  266  men,  it  did  not  require  the 
gift  of  prescience  to  foretell  that  war  would  ensue.  Formal  declarations  of  war 
were  issued  by  Spain  and  by  the  United  States  on  April  24th  and  25th,  re- 
spectively. 

In  Tennessee  the  utmost  enthusiasm  for  the  war  was  manifest  from  the  very 
first — the  undying  spirit  which  fittingly  gave  to  Tennessee  the  name  of  the  "Vol- 
unteer State."  She  furnished  her  full  quota  of  troops  and  many  others  volun- 
teered their  services.  The  United  States  Government  accepted  four  regiments 
from  Tennessee.  Of  these  the  First  Tennessee,  commanded  by  Col.  "William 
Crawford  Smith,  was  the  only  regiment  which  was  engaged  in  active  fighting. 
This  regiment  was  sent  first  to  San  Francisco  and  thence  to  the  Philippine  Is- 
lands. Its  record  there  for  heroic  daring  in  the  war  against  Aguinaldo  was  an 
enviable  one.  In  an  engagement  in  front  of  Manila,  Colonel  Smith  died  on  the 
firing  line,  overcome  by  the  intense  heat,  and  Lieut.-Col.  Gracey  Childers  was 
promoted  to  colonel  and  commanded  with  distinction.  All  the  officers  of  this 
contingent  took  an  honorable  part  in  the  service.  Among  the  officers  were  the 
following  well-known  names:  Maj.  Frank  Cheatham,  son  of  the  gallant  Con- 
federate general  of  the  same  name;  Major,  afterwards  Col.  Albert  Bayless; 
Judge  Clem  J.  Jones,  who  pulled  down  the  Filipino  flag  of  Aguinaldo;  and 
Maj.  W.  C.  Whitthorne.  Among  the  valuable  historical  relics  collected  by  the 
Tennessee  Historical  Commission  for  inclusion  in  the  State  Historical  Museum 
in  the  new  Memorial  Building  in  front  of  the  state  eapito]   in   Nashville,  is  a 


590  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Filipino  flag  captured  at  the  taking  of  Fort  Malete,  on  the  shore  of  Manila  Bay, 
on  February  5,  1899.    This  was  donated  by  Oscar  Glenn,  of  Columbia,  Tenn. 

The  Second  Tennessee  Regiment  was  commanded  by  Col.  Kellar  Anderson 
and  the  Third  Tennessee  by  Col.  J.  P.  Fyffe.  Both  of  these  officers,  it  will  be 
remembered,  served  with  distinction  in  the  campaign  to  suppress  the  insurrec- 
tion of  the  miners  during  Governor  Buchanan's  administration.  The  Fourth 
Tennessee,  commanded  by  Col.  George  Leroy  Brown,  with  Harvey  H.  Hannah 
as  lieutenant-colonel,  served  for  a  short  time  in  Cuba,  but  arrived  too  late  to 
meet  the  enemy  in  battle. 

According  to  the  Register  of  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  the  following 
officers  from  Tennessee  served  in  the  navy  during  the  war : 

Iii  the  naval  service :  Com.  Washburn  Maynard,  Lieut. -Corns.  Albert  G. 
Berry,  Valentine  S.  Nelson,  Robert  M.  Doyle,  William  B.  Caperton  (now  ad- 
miral), Charles  C.  Rogers;  Lieuts.  Thomas  F.  Ruhm,  Albert  Gleaves  (now 
admiral),  Albert  L.  Key,  Edwin  H.  Tillman,  Joseph  J.  Cheatham,  Robert  F. 
Lopez,  William  H.  McGrann,  David  Van  H.  Allen,  Ridley  McLean ;  Ensigns 
Charles  K.  Mallory,  Dudley  W.  Knox,  Henry  C.  Mustin ;  Surgeon  Charles  T. 
Hibbett;  Asst.  Surgeons  Will  T.  Arnold  and  Jas.  C.  Pryor. 

Commander  Maynard,  of  the  Gunboat  Nashville,  fired  the  first  shot  in  the 
Spanish-American  war.  Lieut.  Thos.  F.  Ruhm  was  the  constructor  in  charge 
of  the  building  of  the  Oregon  and  the  Olympia. 

The  First  Tennessee  Regiment  was  the  last  regiment  to  reach  home  after  the 
Spanish- American  war  had  ended.  They  arrived  at  Nashville  on  November  29, 
1899,  and  were  given  a  royal  welcome.  A  breakfast  and  a  banquet  were  given 
in  their  honor  by  the  ladies.  In  a  grand  parade  they  were  escorted  to  the  Taber- 
nacle (now  called  the  Ryman  Auditorium)  where  they  were  greeted  enthusiasti- 
cally by  an  immense  audience.  The  meeting  was  presided  over  by  John  Wesley 
Gaines,  and  eloquent  addresses  were  delivered  by  Governor  McMillin,  by  J.  M. 
Head,  mayor  of  Nashville,  and  by  Tully  Brown,  the  last  of  whom  represented  the 
soldiers  of  Tennessee  in  previous  wars  as  well  as  in  this. 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  BENTON    MCMILLIN 

In  1898,  the  democratic  party  still  needed  a  strong  candidate  for  governor, 
for  the  republicans,  elated  by  their  success  in  the  national  election  of  1896,  and 
irritated  and  disappointed  by  the  defeat  of  H.  Clay  Evans  and  G.  N.  Tillman, 
their  candidates  for  governor  in  1894  and  1896,  were  strong  and  aggressive. 
The  choice  of  the  democrats,  Benton  McMillin,  was  a  happy  one.  For  the  pre- 
ceding twenty  years  he  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  fourth  dis- 
trict of  Tennessee,  and,  in  that  position,  had  performed  notable  service  for  this 
state  and  had  gained  a  great  reputation  for  himself,  as  a  statesman  and  as  a 
faithful  public  servant.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the  House  committee  on  ways 
and  means  for  fourteen  years  and  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  rules  at 
the  time  his  service  ended.  At  the  time  of  his  retirement,  he  had  a  longer  record 
for  continuous  service  in  the  national  House  of  Representatives  than  any  other 
democrat  possessed.  He  was  the  author  of  the  first  income  tax  bill  passed  In- 
Con  gr  ess. 

The  republican  candidate  for  governor  was  James  A.  Fowler,  who  was  the 
republican  presidential  elector  for  the  state  at  large  in  1896.  His  greatest 
strength  was  naturally  in  East  Tennessee,  which  is  normally  strongly  repub- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  591 

lican,  and  in  which  he  was  born  and  educated.  The  election  took  place  on 
November  8,  1898,  and  resulted  in  a  pronounced  victory  for  McMillan  by  the 
following  vote :  Benton  McMillin,  democrat,  105,640 ;  James  A.  Fowler,  repub- 
lican, 72,611 ;  Newton  Richardson,  populist,  1,722;  W.  1).  Turnley,  prohibitionist, 
2,411;  A.  B.  Woodward,  1. 

The  Fifty-first  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  2,  1899,  and  ad- 
journed April  24,  1899,  after  a  long  and  useful  session  of  seventy-seven  days. 
It  organized  by  the  election  of  Seid  Waddell,  speaker  of  the  senate  and  Joseph 
W.  Byrns,  speaker  of  the  House.  Important  acts  were  passed  on  the  following 
subjects  besides  others :  Assessment,  creating  board  of  pardon,  providing  for 
inspection  of  coal  oil,  creating  office  of  inspector  of  shops  and  factories,  re- 
organizing courts,  creating  and  defining  powers  and  duties  of  park  commis- 
sioners, providing  for  text-book  commission  and  establishing  a  uniform  system 
of  text-books,  railroads,  schools,  creating  sinking  fund  to  liquidate  funded  state 
debt,  taxes,  Virginia-Tennessee  line. 

Governor  McMillin  was  inaugurated  on  January  16,  1899,  and  immediately 
began  his  great  work  of  placing  Tennessee  in  a  better  condition.  The  results 
which  he  achieved  testify  eloquently  to  his  ability,  patriotism  and  wisdom. 

In  his  message  to  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  delivered  only 
four  days  after  his  inauguration,  he  suggested  legislation  on  many  subjects. 
The  first  subject  he  discussed  was  education  and  in  regard  to  one  phase  of  it 
he  wrote  one  sentence  which  led  directly  to  the  enactment  of  the  Uniform  Text- 
Book  Law.2"'     That  sentence  was  as  follows : 

"I  am  persuaded  that  there  are  very  few  things  of  daily  occurrence,  in 
which  the  people  have  to  submit  to  a  more  extortionate  charge,  than  in  the 
purchase  of  school  books  for  our  common  schools.  *  *  *  I  call  it  to  your 
attention  so  that  if  there  be  a  remedy,  you  may  apply  it,  and  insure  to  the 
children  of  the  state  books  at  a  reasonable  price." 

It  is  said  that  the  "remedy,"  the  Uniform  Text-book  Law,  was  suggested 
by  Morgan  C.  Fitzpatrick,  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction.  Mr. 
Fitzpatrick  also  suggested  two  other  laws  of  prime  importance,  viz. :  an  increase 
from  $1,500  to  $2,500  annually  in  the  appropriation  for  the  holding  of  teachers' 
institutes ;  and  the  County  High  School  Law,  which  enabled  any  county  to 
establish  a  complete  system  of  schools  within  its  own  borders. 

Since  then  the  Uniform  Text -book  Law  has  been  amended  several  times,  but 
as  constituted  at  that  time  the  state  text-book  commission  was  composed  of  the 
governor,  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  and  three  members  of 
the  state  board  of  education  named  by  the  governor.  A  sub-commission  also 
was  provided  which  was  required  to  examine  all  books  offered  for  adoption  and 
to  report  upon  the  merits  of  them  to  the  text-book  commission.26 

When  the  official  circular  giving  a  list  of  books  adopted,  the  prices  of  them 
and  the  regulations  for  handling  them,  was  issued  by  Superintendent  Fitzpatrick 


zs  Chapter  205,  Acts  of  1899,  p.  423,  passed  April  4,  1899.  The  caption  is  as  follows: 
"An  Act  to  create  a  state  text-book  commission,  and  to  procure  for  use  in  the  public  free 
schools  in  this  state  a  uniform  series  of  text-books;  to  define  the  duties  and  powers  of  said 
commission,  and  other  officers;  to  make  appropriation  for  the  carrying  into  effect  this  act, 
and  to  provide  punishment  and  penalties  for  the  violation  of  the  same. ' ' 

28  The  text-book  commission  was  composed  of  the  governor,  Morgan  Fitzpatrick,  Thos. 
H.  Paine,  Prof.  A.  D.  Wharton,  Chas.  D.  Douglas.  The  sub-commission  consisted  of  Prof. 
Wharton  S.  Jones,  Prof.  Chas.  Mason,  Prof.  F.  M.  Bowling,  Prof.  J.  G.  Stimson,  and  Prof. 
W.  N.  Billingsley. 


592  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

on  Augusl  25,  1899,  ii  was  ascertained  thai  a  Large  economy  -7  had  been  effected. 
The  short  time  between  this  date  and  September  1,  1899,  when  the  adoption 
went  into  effect,  caused  a  little  delay  in  some  places  and  the  adoption  was  re- 
sisted by  some  cities;  but,  on  the  whole,  the  law  went  into  effect  promptly  and 
uniform  state  adoption  of  school  textbooks  has  prevailed  ever  since  in  this  state. 

WHAT   GOVERNOR   MCMILLIN   ACCOMPLISHED  FOR   THE  FINANCES   OF   TENNESSEE 

In  his  first  message 2S  to  the  Legislature,  already  referred  to,  Governor 
McMillin  said : 

"The  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  state  consists  of  $16,455,200.  Our  floating 
debt  is  $850,000.  The  interest  we  pay  on  our  bonded  debt  is  $542,426  per 
annum." 

Governor  Taylor  had  recommended  the  establishment  of  a  sinking  fund 
with  which  gradually  to  pay  off  the  bonded  state  debt,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  adjusted  in  Governor  Bate's  first  term  and  new  bonds  issued.  The 
state  treasurer,  Mr.  E.  B.  Craig,  also  recommended  a  sinking  fund.  On  January 
26,  only  six  days  after  Governor  McMillan  issued  his  message,  the  Legislature 
passed  an  act29  entitled  "An  Act  to  create  a  sinking  fund  for  the  liquidation 
and  retirement  of  the  funded  debt  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  to  provide  for 
the  custody,  control,  use,  application  and  disbursement  thereof." 

Governor  McMillin  also  accomplished  the  following  economic  reforms :  The 
fee  system  of  coal-oil  inspectors  was  abolished  and  the  inspectors  were  paid 
salaries ;  reforms  were  effected  in  the  judiciary  system  whereby  the  state  revenue 
was  increased ;  a  tax  of  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent  was  imposed  on  the  issuance 
of  charters  to  corporations;  the  new  penitentiary  system,  under  the  excellent 
management  installed  turned  into  the  treasury  a  handsome  profit ;  an  adjust- 
ment was  effected  by  the  state  administration  with  railroad,  telephone  and 
telegraph  companies,  whereby  suits  pending  in  the  state  and  Federal  courts 
were  compromised  equitably  and  the  payment  of  the  taxes  which  had  been 
held  up  still  further  helped  the  financial  condition  of  the  state. 

By  these  reforms  and  adjustments  and  the  exercise  of  economy  which, 
nevertheless,  did  not  impair  the  functioning  of  the  state  government  in  all 
the  lines  of  progress,  Governor  McMillin  succeeded  in  putting  Tennessee  on 
a  much  better  basis  than  had  existed  since  the  war  between  the  states.  At 
the  end  of  his  administration,  the  entire  floating  debt  had  been  paid  and  more 
than  one  million  dollars  of  the  bonds  had  been  retired. 

In  1901,  the  democrats  again  nominated  Benton  McMillin  as  their  standard 
bearer  and  the  republicans  nominated  John  E.  McCall.  Judge  McCall  was  a 
strong  man  with  a  clean  and  honorable  record.  He  was  a  native  Tennessean, 
was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Tennessee,  had  been  assistant  district 
attorney  for  the  Western  District  of  Tennessee  and  a  member  of  the  54th 
Congress,  1895-1897.  It  was  believed  by  many  that  the  race  would  be  close ; 
but  McMillin  had  proven  to  be  so  good  a  governor  that  he  won  by  a  large 
majority.  The  vote  was  as  follows :  Benton  McMillin,  145,708 ;  John  E.  Mc- 
Call, 119,831;  R.  S.  Cheves,  3,364;  H.  J.  Mullens,  1,176;  Chas.  H.  Stockell,  257. 

The  Fifty-second  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  7,  1901,  after  a 
session  of  seventy-nine  days.     It  organized  by  the  election  of  E.  B.  Wilson, 


27  In  his  message   to   the   Legislature,   January   9,   1901,   Governor   McMillin    said    "the 
saving  to  the  people  would  be  about  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars. ' ' 
zs  Senate  Journal,  1899,  pp.  133-146. 
29  Chapter  8,  Acts  of  1899,  p.  12. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  593 

speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  Newton  H.  White,  speaker  of 
the  Senate.  The  governor's  message30  submitted  to  the  Legislature  on  Jan- 
uary 9,  1901,  was  a  very  able  paper  evincing  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
condition  and  needs  of  the  state  and  how  to  meet  them.  The  first  subject  he 
took  up  was,  as  was  the  case  two  years  previously,  education.  Other  subjects 
were :  paying  the  state  debt,  taxation  of  personal  property,  revenue  and  assess- 
ment bills,  economy,  uniform  textbooks,  improvement  of  the  capitol,  settlement 
between  the  United  States  and  Tennessee,31  state  line  settlement,32  Ladies' 
Hermitage  Association,  Soldiers'  Home,  the  national  guard,  land  grants,  parks 
and  preservation  of  forests,  age  of  consent,  charitable  institutions,  cigarettes, 
Industrial  School,  Pan  American  and  South  Carolina  expositions,  trusts,  agri- 
culture, manufactures,  the  penitentiary,  fruit  tree  inspection,  railroad  taxation, 
comptroller's  report,  the  preservation  of  free  institutions.  Much  legislation 
suggested  by  Governor  McMillin  was  enacted  at  this  session  so  that  the  state 
was  in  a  far  better  condition  at  the  end  of  his  administration  than  at  the 
beginning  of  it. 

TENNESSEE    CENTRAL    RAILROAD 

After  his  defeat  for  the  democratic  nomination  for  governor  in  1890, 
Col.  Jere  Baxter,  who  had  made  and  lost  several  fortunes  in  spectacular  enter- 
prises in  which  his  genius  shone  brilliantly,  conceived  the  idea  of  building  an 
independent  line  of  railroad  from  the  West  through  Nashville  to  the  East, 
making  connection  with  trunk  lines  at  each  terminal.  He  had  no  capital  and 
his  credit  was  limited,  but  his  ability  and  his  courage  were  great.  The  reasons 
why  he  undertook  that  enterprise  which,  in  the  circumstances,  was  hazardous 
and  onerous  in  the  extreme,  were  given  by  Colonel  Baxter  himself  in  his 
newspaper  interview  in  the  Nashville  American,  of  April  26,  1903,  in  which 
he  explained  why  he  had  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  Tennessee  Central 
Railroad  which  he  had  built  under  so  great  difficulties.  The  following  para- 
graph from  that  interview  gives  the  crux  of  his  reason : 

"For  more  than  a  decade  I  have  been  struggling  arduously  and  constantly 
against  difficulties  and  obstacles  which  can  never  be  fully  known  to  any  but 
myself  to  build  a  railroad  through  the  coal  measures  of  the  Cumberland  Plateau 
to  the  capital  of  the  state  and  to  relieve  the  people  of  the  state  from  the 
blighting  effects  of  a  railroad  monopoly  permeating  its  entire  length  and  breadth 
and  entrenched  especially  in  its  central,  most  populous  and  richest  division,  by 
the  construction  of  an  independent  line  of  transportation  giving  access  to  the 
great  markets  of  the  country  and  inviting  the  investment  of  capital  in  the  de- 
velopment of  the  State's  marvelous  and  unsurpassed  resources." 

On  May  27,  1902,  the  first  train  over  the  Tennessee  Central  arrived  in 
Nashville  and  its  advent  was  fittingly  and  publicly  celebrated.  The  Manufac- 
turers Record  of  Baltimore,  in  an  issue  in  June,  1902,  had  the  following  to 
say  in  regard  to  this  event: 

"When,  with  boom  of  cannon,  blare  of  trumpets  and  pageantry  of  militia 
and  all  the  organizations  of  the  city,  there  was  recently  celebrated  in  Nashville 

so  House  Journal,  1901,  pp.  15-35. 

31  This  grew  out  of  the  seizure  by  the  Government  of  the  railroads  of  Tennessee  during 
the  Civil  war  and  of  bonds  of  Tennessee  held  by  the  United  States  in  trust  for  certain 
Indian  tribes. 

32  This  was  regarding  the  long-standing  controversy  between  Virginia  and  Tennessee  as 
to  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  states. 


594  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  arrival  of  the  first  train  over  the  Tennessee  Central,  the  occasion  took  the 
form  of  a  most  enthusiastic  demonstration  by  the  people  of  Tennessee's  capital 
of  their  joy  over  the  advent  of  an  additional  railroad  system.  The  road  for 
which  Col.  Jere  Baxter  has  battled  so  long  and  so  valiantly  was  welcomed  as 
no  community  has  welcomed  a  like  enterprise  for  years,  and  a  buge  mass- 
meeting  was  held  to  give  voice  to  tbe  enthusiastic  approval  of  the  people.  The 
governor  of  the  state,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  as  well  as  many  of  those  eminent 
citizens  of  St.  Louis  who  have,  by  their  financial  aid  made  possible  the  comple- 
tion of  the  road,  were  present  to  share  in  the  glory  of  the  occasion  and  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  zeal  and  indomitable  will  of  the  founder  of  the  enterprise." 

The  Tennessee  Central  now  extends  from  Hopkinsville,  Ky.,  to  Harriman, 
Tenn.,  and  has  a  mileage  of  approximately  three  hundred  miles. 

ADMINISTRATION    OF    GOVERNOR    JAMES    B.    FRAZIER 

In  1902,  the  democratic  candidate  for  governor  was  James  B.  Prazier,  of 
Chattanooga.  Mr.  Frazier  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the  state,  a  strong 
party  man,  clean,  able  and  one  of  Tennessee's  best  speakers.  It  was  his  father, 
Judge  Thomas  N.  Frazier,  who,  during  the  Brownlow  regime,  had  the  courage 
to  grant  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  upon  application  of  Mr.  Williams,  of  Carter 
County,  who  had  been  arrested  and  confined  in  the  eapitol.  The  Legislature 
refused  to  acknowledge  Judge  Frazier 's  authority  and  he  was  impeached  and 
convicted.  Judge  Frazier  had  been  a  refugee  to  Nashville  from  East  Tennessee 
and  had  been  appointed  Judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Davidson  County,  by 
Andrew  Johnson,  when  he  was  military  governor.  He  was  a  conscientious 
citizen,  a  good  lawyer,  and  an  upright  judge.  The  Constitutional  Convention 
of  1870  removed  from  him  all  the  pains  and  disabilities  from  which  he  suffered 
in  consequence  of  his  conviction  on  impeachment.  He  was  subsequently  elected 
by  vote  of  the  people  to  the  same  position  from  which  he  had  been  deposed  and 
served  the  full  term  of  eight  years. 

James  B.  Frazier 's  republican  opponent  in  the  race  was  Judge  H.  T.  Camp- 
bell,33 generally  referred  to  as  Judge  Henry  T.  Campbell,  of  Carter  County, 
who  came  from  a  noble  ancestry  and  was  supposed  to  represent  the  full  repub- 
lican strength  in  the  state.  However,  it  was  an  "off"  year  in  politics  and  the 
vote  for  all  candidates  was  light.  The  result  of  the  election,  November  8,  1902, 
was  as  follows:  James  B.  Frazier,  democrat,  98,902;  II.  T.  Campbell,  repub- 
lican, 59,007 ;  R.  S.  Cheves,  prohibitionist,  2,193. 

The  Fifty-third  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  5,  1903,  and  ad- 
journed on  April  16,  1903,  after  a  session  of  seventy-six  days.  It  organized  by 
the  election  of  L.  D.  Tyson,  speaker  of  the  House,  and  Ed  T.  Seay,  speaker  of 
the  Senate. 

Governor  Frazier  was  inaugurated  on  January  20,  1903,  and  transmitted 
his  message34  to  the  Legislature  on  January  23rd.  The  excellent  condition  of 
the  state  was  set  forth  as  follows: 

"It  is  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  peace  and  orderly  government  prevail 
within  our  borders,  that  a  reasonable  degree  of  health  and  prosperity  has  blessed 

33  Hon.  Sam  W.  Hawkins,  who  nominated  Judge  Campbell  in  the  Kepubliean  State  Con- 
vention, June  18,  1902,  said:  "The  man  I  am  about  to  name  was  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four  made  attorney-general  at  his  home,  and  at  the  end  of  eight  years  was  elevated  to  the 
bench  and  served  there  eight  years,  and  during  all  that  time  no  man  was  turned  away  with- 
out full  justice.  He  is  a  strong  man  morally  and  intellectually,  and  is  well  fitted  to  meet 
the  democrats  in  debate. ' ' 

34  House  Journal,   1903,   pp.   99-120. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  595 

our  people,  and  that  the  state's  fiscal  affairs  are  in  a  healthful  and  sound  con- 
dition. For  this  fortunate  condition  of  the  state's  affairs  great  credit  is  due  to 
your  and  my  predecessors  in  office  and  to  those  who  have  had  the  management 
of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  the  state  for  the  past  several  years,  as  well  as  to  the 
people  who  have  patriotically  paid  the  taxes  which  have  made  the  condition 
possible. ' ' 

In  the  message  he  ably  discussed  the  same  subjects  which  Governor  Mc- 
Millin  had  handled  so  well,  with  the  addition  of  some  others  which  sound 
statesmanship  indicated  ought  to  be  considered  and  acted  upon. 

Like  Governor  McMillin,  Governor  Frazier  perceived  clearly  the  necessity 
of  improving  the  conditions  of  the  public  schools  of  the  state.  "In  this  age," 
said  he,  "of  civilization  and  intelligence  and  of  close  and  sharp  competition  in 
every  line  of  human  endeavor  it  is  impossible  to  overestimate  the  subject  of 
public  education  to  the  people  of  Tennessee."  His  recommendation  to  the 
General  Assembly  for  progress  along  educational  lines  resulted  in  the  passage 
of  an  act,35  on  February  12th,  entitled,  "A  Bill  to  be  entitled,  'An  Act  to 
provide  for  the  disposition  of  the  surplus  remaining  in  the  treasury  at  the  end 
of  each  year  by  appropriating  it  to  use  for  scholastic  purposes  in  the  State 
of  Tennessee,'  etc."  Governor  Frazier  appointed  as  state  superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  Capt.  Seymour  A.  Mynders,  who  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  efficient  superintendents  Tennessee  has  had.  Under  his  wise  administra- 
tion and  with  an  increased  public  school  fund  the  educational  interests  of  the 
state  made  great  advances. 

An  Act,  which,  in  the  light  of  later  events,  was  significant  of  progress 
toward  state-wide  prohibition  was  an  act  3G  "to  prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicating 
liquors  as  a  beverage"  in  towns  of  not  more  than  five  thousand  inhabitants 
hereafter  incorporated."  The  Anti-Saloon  League,  the  W.  C.  T.  U.  and  the 
Committee  of  One  Hundred,  organized  at  Nashville,  exerted  the  weight  of 
their  influence  in  favor  of  this  law  and,  from  that  time  on,  were  very  active 
in  their  opposition  to  the  liquor  interests. 

TENNESSEE    AT    THE   LOUISIANA    PURCHASE    EXPOSITION 

Another  mark  of  the  progressive  spirit  that  characterized  this  administra- 
tion was  the  passage  of  the  bill  37  making  an  appropriation  of  $40,000  to  enable 
Tennessee  to  be  fittingly  represented  and  its  resources  and  products  displayed 
at  the  World's  Fair  held  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  in  1904.  The  purpose  of  the  act 
is  shown  by  the  following  wording  in  section  1 :  "  For  the  purpose  of  paying 
the  expenses  of  the  selection,  purchase,  preparation  and  installation  and  care 
of  such  objects  and  things  as  may  be  necessary  to  make  a  creditable  exhibil 
of  the  resources  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  and  for  transporting  such  objects 
and  things  to  and  from  the  said  exposition  at  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  and  all  other 
contingent  and  necessary  expenses  incident  to  making  said  exhibit."  A  com- 
mission of  ten38  men  and  three  ladies  was,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions 

ss  Chapter  105,  Acts  of  1903,  p.  199. 

so  Chapter  2,  Acts  of  1903,  p.  5,  passed  January  26,  1903.  This  was  commonly  known 
as  the  Adams  Bill. 

37  This  was  Chapter  251,  Acts  of  1903,  p.  582,  passed  April  10,  1903. 

38  The  personnel  of  this  committee  was:  Hon.  Ben  F.  Dulaney,  Hon.  E.  Watkins, 
Hon.  J.  M.  Shoffner,  Hon.  Jno.  W.  Fry,  Hon.  Thos.  W.  Neal,  Prof.  A.  M.  Soule,  Hon.  Jno.  E. 
McNutt,  Hon.  E.  C.  Lewis,  Hon.  Hu  C.  Anderson,  Hon.  G.  D.  Raine,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Smartt, 
Mrs.   Mary  C.   Dorris,  Mrs.  A.   S.  Buchanan. 


596  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  the  act,  appointed  by  the  governor.  The  governor  was  ex-officio  chairman, 
B.  A.  Enloe  was  appointed  secretary  and  D.  F.  Wallace,  Jr.,  assistant  secre- 
tary. Mr.  Wallace  and  Mr.  A.  P.  Foster  traveled  in  all  sections  of  the  state 
and  secured  a  large  part  of  the  exhibits.  Mr.  Foster  also  wrote  a  book  on 
the  resources,  commerce,  products  and  advantages  of  Tennessee,  of  which  a 
large  edition  was  published  by  the  commission  and  distributed  gratuitously 
at  the  exposition.  Mr.  Foster  was  also  superintendent  of  horticulture  for  the 
state  at  the  exposition. 

Tennessee  had  remarkably  fine  exhibits  in  minerals,  agriculture,  horticul- 
ture, forestry,  and  education,  besides  special  exhibits  of  tobacco,  copper  and 
coal.  Some  manufacturers  and  breeders  of  live  stock  and  poultry  also  made 
exhibits  separate  from  those  of  the  state.  Tennessee  exhibitors  won  218  awards 
for  exhibits  in  the  different  departments,  52  having  been  secured  in  the  horticul- 
tural department  alone.  The  Thruston  collection  in  the  section  of  anthropology 
also  was  one  of  the  most  notable  at  the  exposition. 

Unfortunately  the  Legislature  made  no  appropriation  for  the  erection 
and  maintenance  of  a  Tennessee  State  building  at  the  exposition.  Therefore, 
patriotic  men  and  women  interested  themselves  to  secure  the  means  privately 
to  bring  about  that  desideratum.  An  organization  was  formed,  subscriptions 
were  obtained  and  the  state  building  erected.  It  was  a  reproduction  of  the 
Hermitage,  and  was  placed  in  charge  of  Mr.  Will  T.  Hale  and  Mrs.  Rachel 
Jackson  Lawrence,  the  granddaughter  of  Andrew  Jackson.  In  it  many  im- 
portant official  and  social  functions  took  place  during  the  progress  of  the 
exposition. 

THE    STATE    MINING    LAW 

One  of  the  most  comprehensive  and  thorough  laws  passed  during  Frazier's 
administration  was  the  mining  act  39  approved  by  the  governor  on  April  15, 
1903,  entitled  "A  Bill  to  be  entitled  an  Act  to  provide  for  the  regulation  and 
inspection  of  mines  in  the  State,  and  for  the  safety,  welfare  and  protection  of 
persons  employed  therein,  and  providing  for  penalties  for  violations  of  this 
Act."  It  is  believed  that  this  bill  was  drawn  by  R.  A.  Shiflet,  state  mine 
inspector,  at  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Frazier.  Certainly  it  showed  great 
breadth  of  thought  and  of  investigations  in  other  states  and  guaranteed  thence- 
forth to  the  miners  every  safeguard  to  protect  their  lives  and  health  and  gave 
to  the  mine  operators  more  frequent  and  thorough  inspections,  thereby  stimu- 
lating them  to  conduct  more  intelligently  the  operations  of  their  properties. 
It  was  of  great  assistance  to  Governor  Frazier  when,  in  February,  1904,  he 
went  to  Coal  Creek  to  see  the  miners  who  were  on  a  strike  which  threatened  to 
become  serious.  Governor  Frazier's  firmness  and  appeals  to  their  sense  of 
fairness  and  public-spiritedness,  with  the  irresistible  force  of  his  eloquence, 
readily  put  an  end  to  all  troubles  complained  of.  In  regard  to  the  mining 
law  Governor  Frazier  said  later :  40 

"Prior  to  1903  there  had  been  a  number  of  disastrous  explosions  in  the  coal 
mines  of  the  state,  resulting  in  great  loss  of  life  and  property.  Upon  investiga- 
tion, I  became  convinced  that  these  explosions  could  be  largely,  if  not  entirely, 
prevented  by  proper  mining  laws,  and  by  frequent  and  rigid  inspections.  Upon 
my  recommendation  a  carefully  prepared  and  comprehensive  mining  act  was 

39  Chapter  237,  Acts  of  1903,  p.  520. 

4°  Message  to  General  Assembly,  Senate  Journal,  1905,  p.  26. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  597 

passed,  providing  for  two  assistants  to  the  Chief  Mine  Inspector,  and  for  fre- 
quent and  thorough  inspections.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  not  an  explosion 
of  any  consequence  has  occurred,  and  not  a  life  has  been  lost  from  that  cause 
in  the  mines  of  the  state  since  said  law  went  into  operation." 

REELECTION  AND  RESIGNATION  OF  GOVERNOR  FRAZIER 

In  1904,  Governor  Frazier  was  again  nominated  by  the  democrats  to  suc- 
ceed himself.  His  republican  opponent  this  time  was  Hon.  Jesse  M.  Littleton, 
who  was  born  on  a  farm  in  Roane  County,  Tennessee.  From  early  youth  both 
he  and  his  brothers  gave  evidence  of  the  ability  which  blazed  the  way  for  their 
distinguished  careers.  Jesse  Littleton  began  his  career  along  business  lines; 
then  became  successively  a  newspaper  reporter,  a  lawyer,  president  of  the  Win- 
chester Taxing  District,  mayor  of  Winchester,  circuit  judge  of  the  Chattanooga 
Circuit,  republican  candidate  for  governor,  and  mayor  of  Chattanooga.  He  and 
Governor  Frazier  stumped  the  state  in  joint  debate  and  Frazier  was  elected, 
as  was  expected.  The  vote  was  as  follows:  Jas.  B.  Frazier,  democrat,  131,503; 
Jesse  M.  Littleton,  republican,  103,409 ;  John  M.  Ray,  socialist,  1,109. 

The  Fifty-fourth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  2,  1905,  and  ad- 
journed on  April  17,  1905.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  John  I.  Cox,  speaker 
of  the  Senate,  and  of  W.  K.  Abernathy,  speaker  of  the  House.  In  his  bien- 
nial message  to  the  Legislature  on  January  3rd,  Governor  Frazier  discussed 
ably  the  following  topics:  Education,  the  state  finances,  the  penitentiary,  coal 
lands,  prisoners,  reformatory,  criminal  insane,  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposi- 
tion, bureau  of  immigration  and  statistics,  state  equalization  board,  mining- 
laws,  national  guard,  carrying  concealed  weapons,  fire  insurance,  the  capitol, 
Confederate  pensions,  soldiers'  home,  Confederate  cemeteries. 

On  January  11,  1905,  Gen.  Wm.  B.  Bate  was  reelected  United  States 
senator  and,  on  March  9,  1905,  died.41  On  March  22nd,  the  Legislature,  being 
still  in  session,  elected  Governor  Frazier  to  serve  Bate's  unexpired  term  and 
Frazier  thereupon  resigned  on  March  27th.  By  this  action,  in  accordance 
with  the  provision  of  Article  III,  Section  12  of  the  State  Constitution,  Hon. 
John  I.  Cox,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  automatically  became  governor  and  took 
the  oath  of  that  office  on  the  same  day.  Hon.  E.  Rice  was  elected  to  succeed 
Cox  as  speaker  of  the  Senate. 

During  Governor  Frazier 's  administration  $615,500  of  the  bonded  debt  of 
the  state  was  paid. 

ADMINISTRATION  OP  GOVERNOR  JOHN  I.   COX 

With  the  exception  of  some  rioting  by  striking  miners  at  Whitwell  and 
Tracy  City,  the  administration  of  Governor  Cox  encountered  no  difficulties. 
It  continued  upon  the  same  general  lines  which  had  been  so  successfully  pur- 
sued by  the  preceding  administration.     Governor  Cox  made  few  changes  among 


4i  In  transmitting  to  the  General  Assembly  the  news  of  General  Bate 's  death,  Governor 
Frazier  paid  this  beautiful  tribute  to  him:  "In  the  death  of  Senator  Bate  the  state  loses 
one  of  its  ablest  and  purest  sons  and  the  nation  one  of  its  wisest  and  most  patriotic  states- 
men. Senator  Bate  served  the  people  of  Tennessee  long  and  faithfully.  As  a  soldier,  amid 
the  red  glare  of  battle,  he  was  the  personification  of  chivalric  courage.  As  governor  of 
this  Commonwealth  he  was  able,  honest  and  faithful  to  every  obligation.  As  senator  in 
the  halls  of  Congress,  he  was  wise,  conservative  and  patriotic.  In  every  walk  of  life  Sen- 
ator Bate  stood  upon  the  high  plane  of  purest  and  noblest  citizenship.  In  all  his  long 
career  of  public  service  he  never  once  wavered  in  his  devotion  to  duty  and  in  his  absolute 
fidelity  to  the  interests  of  the  people  who  honored  and  trusted  him." 


598  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  state  officials  and  earnestly  endeavored  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  state 
according  to  the  dictates  of  sound  business  principles  and  efficiency.  Special 
attention  was  given  to  school  matters,42  to  payments  on  the  state  debt,43  and 
to  the  enforcement  of  the  quarantine  laws  against  yellow  fever.  Due  largely  to 
the  governor's  interest  also  the  appropriation  for  pensions  to  old  soldiers  was 
increased. 

THE  STATE   FLAG 

Dining  the  administration  of  Governor  Cox  a  state  fiag  was  adopted  on 
April  17,  1905,  in  pursuance  of  the  following  act  of  the  General  Assembly : 

Chapter  498.  An  Act  to  designate,  adopt  and  declare  a  flag,  or  banner,  for 
the  State  of  Tennessee. 

Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
That  a  flag  or  banner  is  hereby  designated  and  adopted  and  declared  to  be  the 
flag  or  banner  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  which  flag  or  banner  shall  be  of  the 
following  design,  colors,  and  proportions — to  wit: 

An  oblong  flag  or  banner  in  length  one  and  two-thirds  times  its  width  the 
large  or  principal  field  of  same  to  be  of  color  red,  but  said  flag  or  banner  ending 
at  its  free  or  outer  end  in  a  perpendicular  bar  of  blue,  of  uniform  width,  run- 
ning from  side  to  side — that  is  to  say,  from  top  to  bottom  of  said  flag  or  banner 
— and  separated  from  the  red  field  by  a  narrow  margin  or  stripe  of  white  of 
uniform  width ;  the  width  of  the  white  stripe  to  be  one-fifth  that  of  the  blue 
bar ;  and  the  total  width  of  the  bar  and  stripe  together  to  be  equal  to  one-eighth 
of  the  width  of  the  flag.  In  the  center  of  the  red  field  shall  be  a  smaller  cir- 
cular field  of  blue,  separated  from  the  surrounding  red  field  by  a  circular  margin 
or  stripe  of  white  of  uniform  width  and  of  the  same  width  as  the  straight  mar- 
gin or  stripe  first  mentioned.  The  breadth  of  diameter  of  the  circular  blue  field, 
exclusive  of  the  white  margin,  shall  be  equal  to  one-half  of  the  width  of  the 
flag. 

Inside  the  circular  blue  field  shall  be  three  five-pointed  stars  of  white  dis- 
tributed at  equal  intervals  around  a  point,  the  center  of  the  blue  field,  and  of 
such  size  and  arrangement  that  one  point  of  each  star  shall  approach  as  closely 
as  practicable  without  actually  touching  one  point  of  each  of  the  other  two 
around  the  center  point  of  the  field ;  and  the  two  outer  points  of  each  star  shall 
approach  as  nearly  as  practicable  without  actually  touching  the  periphery  of 
the  blue  field.  The  arrangement  of  the  three  stars  shall  be  such  that  the  centers 
of  no  two  stars  shall  be  in  a  line  parallel  to  either  the  side  or  end  of  the  flag, 
but  intermediate  between  same;  and  the  highest  star  shall  be  the  one  nearest 
the  upper  confined  corner  of  the  flag. 

Section  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  Act  shall  take  effect  from  and 
after  its  passage,  the  public  welfare  requiring  it. 

This  flag  was  designed  by  LeRoy  Reeves,  of  the  Third  Regiment,  Tennes- 
see Infantry,  who  gives  the  following  explanation : 

"The  three  stars  are  of  pure  white,  representing  the  three  grand  divisions 
of  the  state.  They  are  bound  together  by  the  endless  circle  of  the  blue  field, 
the  symbol  being  three  bound  together  in  one — an  indissoluble  trinity.  The 
large  field  is  crimson.     The  final  blue  bar  relieves  the  sameness  of  the  crimson 


42  Of  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  he  said:  "The  state  is  to  be 
congratulated  on  having  at  the  head  of  its  public  school  system  Supt.  S.  A.  Mynders.  With 
his  training  in  the  public  schools,  his  great  energy  and  love  for  the  cause  of  education, 
he  has  aroused  the  greatest  interest  in  education  ever  known  in  the  history  of  the  state. 
His  administration  has  improved  the  mode  of  teaching,  increased  the  number  of  attendance 
in  the  schools  and  the  days  of  school  in  each  year.  No  greater  work  could  be  done  for  the 
future  development  of  our  state,  no  greater  security  could  be  given  for  law  and  order  and 
good  citizenship. ' ' 

*3  During  Cox's  administration  state  bonds  amounting  to  $1,874,200  were  paid. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  599 

field  and  prevents  the  flag  from  showing  too  much  crimson  when  hanging  limp. 
The  white  edgings  contrast  more  strongly  the  other  colors." 

In  1906  Malcolm  R.  Patterson,  who  had  just  served  three  consecutive 
terms  in  Congress  as  the  representative  from  the  10th  District  of  Tennessee, 
opened  his  campaign  for  the  democratic  nomination  for  governor.  To  promote 
Patterson's  success  and  Cox's  defeat,  the  friends  of  Patterson  established  at 
Nashville  a  campaign  paper,  named  The  Tennessee  Lancet,  in  the  columns  of 
which  the  record  of  Cox,  prior  to  his  term  as  governor,  was  fiercely  assailed. 
In  the  democratic  convention  many  turbulent  scenes  were  witnessed,  and,  finally. 
Patterson  secured  the  coveted  nomination.  His  republican  opponent  was  the 
experienced,  active,  able  and  clean  H.  Clay  Evans,  but  Patterson  won  the  fight 
by  the  following  vote:  Malcolm  R.  Patterson,  democrat,  111,856;  IT.  Clay 
Evans,  republican,  92,804 ;  John  M.  Ray,  socialist,  879. 

In  December,  1906,  the  state  purchased  the  tract  of  land  in  Bledsoe,  White 
and  Van  Buren  counties  known  as  the  Herbert  Domain,  covering  an  area  of 
11,000  acres  and  costing  $12  per  acre.  It  was  supposed  to  have  large  deposits 
of  coal  and  very  valuable  forests.  In  1907  the  prison  commission  was  em- 
powered to  build  a  railroad  to  the  domain  but  the  great  expense,  aggregating, 
it  is  supposed,  about  one  million  dollars,  has  so  far  deterred  the  construction  of 
the  road. 


CHAPTER  XXV1I1 
FROM  PATTERSON  TO  RYE 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  MALCOLM  R.  PATTERSON — DEVELOPMENT  OP  TEMPERANCE 
AND  PROHIBITION  IN  TENNESSEE — DEATH  OP  SENATOR  E.  W.  CARMACK — THE  IN- 
DEPENDENT MOVEMENT — ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOV.  BEN  W.  HOOPER ADMINISTRA- 
TION OF  GOV.   T.   C.   RYE. 

The  Fifty-fifth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  7,  1907,  and  ad- 
journed on  April  16,  1907.  It  organized  by  the  election  of  E.  G.  Tollett,  speaker 
of  the  Senate,  and  John  T.  Cunningham,  Jr.,  speaker  of  the  House.  Governor 
Patterson  was  inaugurated  January  17,  1907.  In  his  message  delivered  to  the 
General  Assembly  on  January  23,  1907,  he  discussed  the  following  subjects: 
state  debt,  revenue,  appropriations,  judicial  salaries,  public  buildings,  Confed- 
erate pensions,  state  guard,  agriculture,  education,  State  University,  Peabody 
Normal  School,  public  roads,  game,  fish,  forestry,  temperance  legislation,  emer- 
gency fund  to  protect  against  contagious  disease,  pure  food  law,  election  laws, 
party  nominations,  free  transportation  to  public  officials,  insurance  laws,  uni- 
formity of  assessment,  back  tax  assessors,  publicity,  state  auditor,  bank  exam- 
iners, jurors  and  challenges  in  criminal  cases,  juvenile  reformatory  and  other 
questions  relating  to  the  penitential,  taxation. 

Besides  much  other  legislation  acts  were  passed  on  the  following  subjects: 
The  "anti-spit"  law,  to  create  a  state  board  of  elections,  to  create  a  board  of 
education  for  each  county,  to  develop  the  Herbert  Domain,  to  provide  for  per 
capita  distribution  of  school  fund,1  to  establish  a  court  of  chancery  appeals,  to 
create  commissioners  of  elections  in  every  county,  the  Cox  labor  law,  to  estab- 
lish department  of  immigration,  to  extend  the  Four  Mile  Law,  forestry  law,  to 
prohibit  gambling  on  horse  races,  to  provide  a  mansion  for  the  governor,  to 
create  a  state  highway  commission,2  to  suppress  "night-riders,"  the  pure  food 
law,  to  create  a  state  reformatory  for  boys,  to  increase  appropriation  for  sol- 
diers' pensions.3 

Patterson's  administration  was  remarkable  for  many  things — for  the  large 
number  of  new  laws  enacted,  for  the  able  handling  of  the  state's  affairs  by  the 
governor  and  other  state  officers,  including  the  continuance  of  the  fiscal  policy 
which  resulted  in  still  further  reducing  the  bonded  indebtedness  of  the  state, 
in  the  advancement  of  the  state  along  so  many  lines  of  progress;  and  yet,  not- 
withstanding that  situation  so  encouraging  in  so  many  respects,  there  was  an 
amazing  restlessness  and  dissatisfaction  in  some  social  and  political  and  indus- 
trial matters  which  at  times  bade  fair  to  lead  to  conditions  akin  to  chaos. 

Such  was  particularly  the  case  with  the  so-called  "night  riders."  These 
lawless  men  operated  principally  in  the  tobacco  regions  of  Northern  Tennessee 


i  Commonly  called  the   ' '  Chestnut  Bill. ' ' 

2  Sometimes   called   the   ' '  Tollett   Highway   Commission. ' ' 

3  Soldiers'  pensions  were  increased  to  $300,000  per  year  and  widows'  pensions  to  $125,000 
per  year. 

(500 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  601 

and  Southern  Kentucky  and  their  actions  originated  in  dissatisfaction  with  the 
tobacco  trust,  to  fight  which  they  made  agreements  among  themselves.  Those 
who  refused  to  enter  into  the  agreements  were  visited  at  night  by  the  "night 
riders,"  armed,  masked  and  mounted  men,  by  whom  their  tobacco  plant  beds 
were  destroyed  and  sometimes  the  recalcitrants  were  punished  in  various  ways. 
Sometimes  the  victims  resisted  and  homicides  occurred.  It  was  also  asserted 
at  the  time,  not  without  plausibility,  that  this  organization  of  "night  riders"  was 
used  by  evil  minded  men  for  accomplishing  private  revenge  in  matters  entirely 
disconnected  with  the  tobacco  industry.  The  depredations  of  the  "night  riders" 
finally  became  so  menacing  that  the  Legislature  was  constrained  to  pass  two 
acts.  One  of  them4  was  entitled  "An  Act  to  preserve  the  public  peace,"  the 
first  section  of  which  reads  as  follows : 

"That  any  person  or  persons  who  shall  wilfully  prowl  or  travel  or  ride  or 
walk  through  the  country  or  towns  of  this  state  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace 
or  to  the  alarming  of  the  citizens  of  any  portion  of  the  state,  or  for  the  purpose 
of  damaging  or  destroying  property,  or  for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  or 
terrorizing  any  citizen  or  citizens  of  this  state,  or  for  the  purpose  of  causing 
through  threats  or  intimidation  or  other  improper  means  any  citizen  or  citizens 
of  this  state  to  do  or  not  to  do  any  unlawful  thing  shall  be  guilty  of  a  mis- 
demeanor, and,  upon  conviction,  shall  be  fined  not  less  than  $50  or  more  than 
$100  and  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  for  not  less  than  six  months  or  more 
than  twelve  months,  said  imprisonment  to  be  within  the  discretion  of  the  judge 
trying  the  case." 

The  other  act5  is  sufficiently  explained  by  its  caption  which  is  as  follows: 

"An  Act  to  prevent  the  damaging  or  destroying  tobacco  plant  beds,  tobacco 
crops,  growing  or  otherwise,  or  any  other  crop  or  crops,  growing  or  otherwise, 
and  aiding  and  abetting  the  same ;  and  to  fix  the  penalty  for  the  violation  of 
this  act." 

These  laws,  while  salutary,  did  not  immediately  put  an  end  to  the  maraud- 
ings of  the  "night  riders."  For  some  years  previous  there  had  been  violent  dis- 
putes and  suits  in  regard  to  lands  bordering  on  Reelfoot  Lake  and  the  right  to 
rish  in  that  lake.  A  land  company  in  seeking  to  protect  its  rights  was  thought, 
correctly  or  incorrectly,  to  be  endeavoring  to  deprive  the  fishermen  of  their 
rights.  In  October,  1908,  Col.  R.  Z.  Taylor  and  Quentin  Rankin,  both  of  Trenton 
and  both  lawyers,  who  were  suspected  of  being  in  the  employ  of  the  Land 
company,  were  seized  by  masked  men,  supposed  to  be  "night  riders,"  and 
taken  to  the  shore  of  Reelfoot  Lake.  Mr.  Rankin  was  hung  and  shot  but  Colonel 
Taylor  escaped.  Governor  Patterson  immediately  abandoned  his  canvass  for 
reelection,  called  out  a  part  of  the  state  guard  and  had  some  of  the  "night 
riders"  arrested  and  tried.  Eight  were  convicted,  six  of  whom  were  condemned 
to  death  and  two  to  serve  twenty  years  each  in  the  penitentiary.  On  appeal  to 
the  Supreme  Court  the  cases  were  remanded  to  the  lower  court  for  a  new 
trial,  and  those  accused  of  murder  finally  received  no  punishment. 

DEVELOPMENT   OF    TEMPERANCE    AND   PROHIBITION    IN    TENNESSEE 

The  most  potent  cause  of  restlessness  in  Tennessee,  at   thai   time,  however, 
was  the  struggle  on  the  liquor  question.     It  had  been  brewing  for  many  years; 


♦Chapter  437.  Acts  of  1007.  p.  1456,  passed  April  11,  1907. 
o  Chapter  529,  Acta  of   1907,  p.  1780,  passed  April   15,    L901 


602         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

it  continued  through  Patterson's  administration  in  which,  and  in  Hooper's 
administration  following,  it  became  acute  and  finally  was  settled  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
in  1919.  For  a  proper  understanding,  therefore,  of  certain  phases  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  state  in  this  administration  and  the  administrations  of  the  three 
succeeding  governors,  it  is  desirable  that  at  least  a  brief  survey  of  the  develop- 
ment of  temperance  and  prohibition  in  Tennessee  be  made  here. 

The  tirst  prohibition  law  in  Tennessee  was  an  act  °  passed  by  the  Legislature 
of  North  Carolina,  on  December  29,  1785,  entitled  "An  Act  to  Prevent  the 
Distillation  of  Spirituous  Liquors  for  the  Time  Therein  Mentioned  in  the  County 
of  Davidson." 

One  reason,  probably  the  paramount  one,  for  this  action  was  the  necessity 
to  conserve  grain  for  the  population,  so  rapidly  increasing.  It  must  be  re- 
membered that  the  prices  for  intoxicants  in  those  days  were  very  low.  Even 
in  1796,  according  to  John  Sevier's  diary,7  a  quart  of  brandy  cost  only  one 
shilling  and  three  pence  and  a  gallon  of  brandy  only  five  shillings. 

On  November  18,  1823,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act8  entitled,  "An  Act 
regulating  the  manner  of  granting  Licenses  to  Innkeepers,  and  to  restrain 
Tippling  houses,"  the  first  part  of  the  first  section  of  which  is  as' follows: 

"No  county  court  in  this  state  shall  hereafter  grant  a  license  to  any  person 
whatever  to  keep  a  public  inn  or  house  of  entertainment  unless  the  person 
applying  for  such  license  shall  first  prove  in  open  court  by  the  testimony  of 
creditable  witnesses  that  the  person  applying  has  a  good  moral  character,  and 
that  he,  she,  or  they  are  provided  with  bedding,  stableage  and  house  room  for 
the  accommodation  of  travelers  and  lodgers,  and  in  no  case  shall  such  license 
be  granted  if  the  court  should  be  of  the  opinion  that  the  retailing  of  spirituous 
liquors  is  the  principal  object  in  obtaining  such  license." 

The  passage  of  this  act  constituted  the  first  feeble  beginning  of  the  fight 
against  intemperance  in  Tennessee,  and  no  notable  progress  was  made  in  it 
until  1829  when,  on  August  31st,  the  Nashville  and  Davidson  County  Temper- 
ance Society  was  organized  and  made  auxiliary  to  the  American  Temperance 
Society.0  The  influence  on  society  of  that  organization  may  have  been  re- 
flected in  Governor  Carroll's  message  10  to  the  General  Assembly  in  1831,  when 
he  said : 

"It  is  a  source  of  melancholy  regret  that  three-fourths  of  the  unhappy  in- 
mates of  prisons  acknowledge  that  the  too  frequent  use  of  ardent  spirits  was 
the  leading  source  of  the  commission  of  crimes  for  which  they  were  convicted. 
Nor  is  it  less  the  subject  of  regret  that  nine-tenths  of  the  pauperism  arises  from 
intemperance.  Is  there  no  remedy  for  this  alarming  evil  which  cuts  off  so  many 
citizens  in  early  life,  and  brings  so  much  sorrow  and  misery  on  innocent  families  ? 
I  answer  then  that  there  is.  Pass  a  law  prohibiting  the  county  courts  from 
granting  to  any  one,  a  license  to  retail  spirituous  liquors,  unless  he  be  a  man 
of  known  character  for  honesty,  whose  business  is  that  of  an  innkeeper,  with 
suitable  accommodations  for  travelers ;  and  punish  with  severity  those  who 
violate  the  law.  Little  hesitation  should  be  felt  in  adopting  this  course,  espe- 
cially as  it  is  well  known  that  drunkenness,  theft,  robbery,  gambling  and  murder 
generally  have  their  origin  in  the  grog  shops  of  our  towns  and  villages.     When 


«The  State  Records  of  North  Carolina,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  771. 

7  See  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V,  p.  187. 

"Chapter  XXXIII,  Acts  of  1823,  p.  41. 

"National  Banner,  October  10,   1829;    Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  V,  p.   142. 

'o  House  Journal,  1831,  p.   13. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  603 

we  see  the  wise  and  the  virtuous  everywhere  uniting  their  influence  for  the 
suppression  of  intemperance,  and  when  we  consider  its  destructive  effect  upon 
the  peace  and  morals  of  society,  it  is  surely  our  duty  to  aid  in  counteracting 
its  influence." 

In  1838  was  passed  the  first  state-wide  prohibition  law,11  the  second  sec- 
tion of  which  reads  as  follows:  "That  hereafter  all  persons  convicted  of  the 
offense  of  retailing  spirituous  liquors  shall  be  fined  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court,  as  in  the  other  cases  of  misdemeanor."  This  law  remained  in  force 
for  eight  years. 

In  1846  a  law12  was  passed,  "That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  any 
person  or  persons  to  vend  or  sell  spirituous  or  vinous  liquors  by  any  quantity 
the  purchaser  may  desire,"  with  certain  conditions  and  restrictions  which 
were  very  stringent.  Among  these  restrictions  may  be  mentioned  the  fact 
that  the  retailer  of  liquors  was  required  to  make  oath  that  his  stock  of  liquors 
did  not  amount  to  more  than  $250;  all  the  partners  and  agents  also  had  to 
make  oath  and  a  violation  of  the  oath  was  punishable  as  perjury;  also  no 
liquor  could  be  sold  to  slaves  without  written  permission  of  their  owners;  also 
that  gambling  should  not  be  permitted  on  the  premises  and,  if  it  should  occur, 
information  would  be  given  to  the  grand  jury. 

In  1846,  also,  was  established  in  Tennessee  the  Grand  Division  of  the 
Sons  of  Temperance  and  the  Grand  Division  of  the  Sisters  of  Temperance. 

The  first  law  passed  by  the  Legislature  after  the  Civil  war  was  entitled 
"An  Act  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  near  institutions  of  learn- 
ing."13 

In  1887  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  the  sale  of  liquors 
in  the  state,  was  defeated  by  more  than  twenty-seven  thousand  votes,  yet  the 
vote  cast  for  prohibition,  117,504,  was  large  enough  to  show  a  strong  sentiment 
for  prohibition  even  at  that  early  date. 

In  1887  the  Law  of  1877  was  broadened  to  apply  to  "any  schoolhouse,  pub- 
lic or  private,"  whether  in  session  or  not. 

The  Legislature  of  1899  passed  an  act 14  which  allowed  all  incorporated 
towns  in  the  state  with  a  population  not  more  than  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
to  surrender  their  charters  and  to  secure  new  charters  which  prohibited  the 
sale  of  liquors  within  their  borders. 

In  1903  this  law  was  amended  by  an  act 15  making  it  apply  to  towns  of  not 
more  than  five  thousand  inhabitants. 

In  1907,  by  act 16  of  the  Legislature,  this  law  was  extended  to  all  cities 
and  towns  in  the  state.  It  is  known  as  the  "Pendleton  Law"  because  it  was 
introduced  and  earnestly  advocated  by  Senator  I.  L.  Pendleton,  of  Davidson 
County.  Under  this  law  all  but  four  towns  in  the  state,  namely,  Nashville', 
Memphis,  Chattanooga,  and  Lafollette,  surrendered  their  charters  and  rein- 
corporated as  "dry"  towns. 

By  1908  the  liquor  question  had  gotten  into  politics  as  a  burning  question. 
Senator  E.  W.  Carmack,  who  had  been  defeated  by  Robert  L.  Taylor  in  the 
primary  election  of  1906  for  United  States  senator,  came  out  as  a   candidate 


ii  Chapter  XXX,  Acts  of  1838,  p.  186,  passed  January  26,  1838. 
12  Chapter  XC,  Acts  of  1846,  p.  154. 

is  Chapter  XXIII,  Acts  of  1877,  passed  March  19,  1877.     This  is  known  in  history  as 
the  "Four  Mile  Law,"  and  by  this  act  applied  to  incorporated  institutions  of  learning, 
i*  Chapter  221,  Acts  of  1899,  p.  474. 
is  Chapter  2,  Acts  of  1903,  p.  5. 
"Chapter  17,  Acts  of  1907,  p.  81. 


604  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

for  governor  against  Patterson  in  1908  and  was  defeated.  He  then  became  the 
editor  of  the  Nashville  Tennessean  and  led  the  fight  against  the  liquor  plank 
in  the  democratic  platform.  While  Patterson  was  reelected,  the  differences 
among  the  democrats  over  prohibition  caused  a  split  in  their  ranks  and  in- 
augurated the  "Independent  movement"  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Ben 
W.  Hooper  in  1910. 

When  the  Legislature  convened  in  January,  1909,  the  first  law  passed17 
prohibited  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  "within  four  miles  of  any  school- 
house,  public  or  private,  where  a  school  is  kept,  whether  the  school  be  then 
in  session  or  not,  in  this  state.''  It  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Patterson  on 
January  19,  1909,  for  the  following  reasons: 

"1.  As  a  democratic  governor,  I  feel  it  a  duty  and  a  sacred  obligation  to 
sustain  the  platform  of  the  democratic  party,  which  distinctly  states  the  doctrine 
of  local  self-government;  and  this  doctrine  directly  opposes,  defies,  and  de- 
si  roys  it. 

"2.  As  the  governor  of  all  the  people,  holding  my  commission  from  the 
majority,  I  protest  in  their  name  against  an  act  which  will  set  aside  and  hold 
for  naught  their  recorded  will. 

"3.  I  veto  this  bill  because  experience  has  taught  the  lesson,  without  a 
single  exception,  that  no  arbitrary  prohibition  law  was  ever  obeyed,  and  that 
its  enaction  brings  no  settlement  of  the  question,  but  rather  leaves  it  like  a  burr 
on  the  body  politic  to  irritate  and  inflame." 

He  also  mentioned  six  other  points  on  which  he  disapproved  the  measure, 
viz. :  The  mistaken  notion  of  morality,  that  it  was  an  intemperate  measure, 
that  it  would  make  weaklings  of  men,  that  it  would  teach  duplicity  and  evasion, 
that  it  would  bring  women  into  political  strife,  and  that  he  protested  in  the 
name  of  "an  indignant,  protesting,  and  outraged  people." 

Nevertheless,  there  were  enough  members  in  both  houses  of  the  General 
Assembly,  who  said  they  had  been  instructed  by  their  constituents  to  vote  for 
such  a  bill,  to  pass  it  over  the  governor's  veto  on  January  20,  1909.  It  was 
provided  that  this  law  go  into  effect  on  July  1,  1909.  On  that  date  the 
saloons  were  de  jure  dismantled  and  passed  out  of  existence.  Such  was  the 
actual  fact  for  a  short  time,  but  gradually  many  of  them  were  again  reestab- 
lished and  conducted  their  business  in  defiance  of  the  law.  De  Facto  saloons 
were  almost  as  much  in  evidence  in  the  large  cities  as  before  and  there  was 
bitter  complaint,  strife  and  controversy  throughout  the  state  which  condition 
was  reflected  in  the  sessions  of  the  General  Assembly,  where  one  faction  com- 
plained of  the  prohibition  law  and  the  other  faction  of  the  non-enforcement 
of  the  law.  No  legislation,  however,  was  effected  to  mitigate  the  conditions 
complained  of  until  the  second  extra  session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1913 
passed  twelve  acts  in  regard  to  liquor,  all  of  which  legislation  centered  around 
two  acts  called  "The  Jug  Bill"18  and  "The  Nuisance  Bill."19  The  first 
section  of  the  former  declares  "That  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person,  firm 
or  corporation  to  ship,  carry,  transport,  or  convey  any  intoxicating  liquor 
into  this  state,  or  from  one  point  to  another  within  this  state,  for  the  purpose 
of  delivery,  or  to  deliver  the  same  to  any  person,  firm,  company  or  corporation 
within  the  state,   except  as  hereinafter  provided."     The  principal   exceptions 


"  Chapter  I,  Acts  of  1909,  p.  3,  passed  January  13,  1909. 
is  Chapter  I,  Acts  of  Second  Extra  Session  of  1913,  p.  659. 
19  Chapter  II,  Ibid.,  p.  665. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  605 

were  those  permitting  a  person  to  transport  one  gallon  for  personal  use  and 
transportation  for  sacramental  purposes." 

"The  Nuisance  Bill"  declared  that  the  business  of  selling  intoxicating 
liquors  and  places  where  they  were  sold  were  public  nuisances  and  could  be 
abated  "upon  the  relation  of  ten  or  more  citizens  and  freeholders  of  the 
county  wherein  such  nuisances  may  exist,"  when  the  police  or  other  officials 
would  not  act. 

In  1915  an  act-"  was  passed,  called  the  "Ouster  Law,"  entitled  "An  Act 
to  provide  for  the  removal  of  unfaithful  public  officers,  and  providing  a  pro- 
cedure therefor,"  which  doubtless  originated  in  the  irritation  caused  by  non- 
enforcement  of  the  liquor  laws,  but  which  wisely  applied  to  all  public  officers 
who  wilfully  misconduct  themselves  or  prove  derelict  in  the  performance  of  their 
sworn  duties. 

In  1919,  by  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  I,21  the  Eighteenth  Amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly 
in  the  following  words: 

"A  joint  resolution  ratifying  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  prohibiting  the  manufacture,  sale,  or  transportation  of  intoxicating 
liquors  within,  the  transportation  thereof  into,  or  the  exportation  thereof  from 
the  United  States  and  all  territory  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  for  bever- 
age purposes,  and  giving  to  Congress  and  the  several  states  concurrent  power  to 
enforce  the  same  by  appropriate  legislation." 

OTHER    EVENTS    IN    GOVERNOR    PATTERSON'S    ADMINISTRATION 

During  this  administration  Tennessee  for  the  first  time  bought  a  home  for 
its  chief  magistrate.  This  provision  was  made  by  an  act22  entitled  "An  Act 
to  provide  for  the  securing  of  a  Governor's  mansion  to  be  used  and  occupied 
by  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  to  make  an  appropriation  therefor,"  in 
which  the  reason  is  given  out  that  "the  prominent  position  of  Tennessee  in 
the  sisterhood  of  states,  the  exalted  office  of  governor,  and  every  consideration 
of  state  pride  demand  that  such  provisions  be  made  for  the  state's  chief 
executive  officer."  The  sum  of  $35,000  was  appropriated  and  a  commission 
consisting  of  the  governor,  a  member  of  the  Senate  and  a  member  of  the 
House  was  appointed  to  negotiate  the  purchase  and  furnishing  of  the  mansion. 
A  suitable  home,  located  on  Seventh  Avenue  (Vine  Street),  Nashville,  only 
a  half  block  from  the  Capitol  grounds,  was  purchased  from  John  M.  Gray,  Jr., 
and  in  it  the  successive  governors  of  Tennessee  have  lived  until  1922,  when, 
with  the  neighboring  structures  it  was  razed  to  make  room  for  Tennessee's  new 
Memorial  Building  and  Capitol  Annex. 

Another  mark  of  progress  in  this  administration  was  the  passage  of  the 
"Pure  Food  and  Drugs"  Act.23  The  caption  indicates  its  purpose  and  scope 
as  follows:  "An  Act  to  be  entitled  'An  Act  to  prohibit  the  manufacture  or 
sale  of  adulterated  or  misbranded  food  or  drugs  affecting  the  health  of  the 
people  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  to  provide  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
same.'  " 

This  was  the  first  step  in  the  establishment  of  the  State  Food  and  Drugs 
Department  which  was  effected  during  the  administration  of  Governor  Hooper. 


20  Chapter  II,  Acts  of  1915,  p.  20,  passed  January  28,  1915. 
2i  Adopted  January  13,  1919,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  821. 

22  Chapter  38,  Acts  of  1907,  p.  132,  passed  February  12,  1907. 

23  Chapter  297,  Acts  of  1907,  p.   1005,  passed  April  4,  1907. 

Vol.  1—39 


606  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE    PATTERSON-CARMACK    CAMPAIGN 

Iii  1908  Governor  Patterson  was  a  candidate  to  succeed  himself  and  Senator 
E.  W.  Carmack,  who,  in  1906,  had  been  defeated  in  the  primary  for  United 
States  senator  by  ex-Governor  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  became  an  aspirant  for  the 
democratic  nomination  for  governor.  A  primary  election  -4  for  the  guber- 
natorial nomination  was  ordered  by  the  state  democratic  committee  and  the 
two  candidates  stumped  the  state  in  joint  debate.  As  the  leading  issue  be- 
tween them  was  the  liquor  question,  which  at  that  time  had  reached  an  acute 
stage  in  the  consideration  as  to  whether  Tennessee  should  have  state-wide  pro- 
hibition, and  as  both  candidates  were  men  of  unusual  ability,  both  splendid 
speakers,  skillful  in  debate  and  quick  in  repartee,  the  keenest  interest  attended 
the  campaign,  not  unmixed  with  apprehension  that  those  two  doughty  and 
spirited  opponents  might  some  time  come  into  personal  encounter. 

The  joint  debate  between  Governor  Patterson  and  ex-Senator  Carmack  -■"' 
was  opened  at  Chattanooga,  April  16,  1908.  Patterson  stood  for  local  option 
on  the  liquor  question  and  Carmack  for  state-wide  prohibition.  For  four 
hours  the  two  candidates  laid  the  issues  before  their  fellow  democrats  and  sub- 
mitted their  claims  to  political  preferment.  This  debate  was  truly  a  battle  of 
giants.  The  crowd  packed  the  Chattanooga  auditorium  to  its  capacity.  Inter- 
est was  at  fever  heat,  but  though  the  lines  of  partisanship  were  so  closely 
drawn,  there  was  not  one  disorderly  act.  There  were  frequent  interruptions, 
how7ever,  and  occasionally  an  over-zealous  admirer  attempted  to  aid  and  sug- 
gested his  favorite.  In  a  general  sense  this  meeting  was  repeated  wherever 
they  spoke  in  joint  debate. 

In  that  contest  Patterson  appeared  as  a  ready  debater,  cool  and  deliberate, 
knowing  what  he  wished  to  say  and  how  to  say  it.  He  did  not  strain  for 
effect  by  highly  seasoned  sentences,  but  he  made  his  impression  by  the  force 
of  his  logic,  his  earnestness,  honesty  and  boldness.  He  was,  moreover,  dignified 
and  never  stooped  to  low  arts  and  methods  calculated  to  appeal  to  the  lower 
passions  and  the  prejudices  of  the  thoughtless. 

Carmack  had  already  won  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  speaker.  He  had 
a  remarkable  vocabulary  and  command  of  language.  He  was  ready  in  retort 
and  aggressive  in  criticism.  He  was  assertive,  sometimes  explosive,  always 
brilliant  and  fond  of  invective.  His  admirers  were  legion  and  they  thought 
him  invincible.  His  speech  at  Chattanooga,  opening  the  campaign,  can  be 
found  in  full  in  the  Nashville  American  for  April  17,  1908. 

The  primary  election  was  held  on  June  27,  1908,  and  Patterson  won  by  a 
"majority  of  7,137.  The  republicans  nominated  Hon.  Geo.  N.  Tillman  as  their 
candidate  and  in  the  ensuing  election  in  November,  1908,  Patterson  was  re- 
elected governor  by  the  following  vote :  Malcolm  R.  Patterson,  133,166 ;  Geo.  N. 
Tillman,  113,233;  W.  A.  Weatherhall,  1,422. 

DEATH    OP    SENATOR    CARMACK 

Soon  after  the  primary  in  which  he  had  been  defeated  by  Governor  Pat- 
terson,   Senator    Carmack    became    the    editor    of    the    Nashville    Tennessean. 


-'*  The  primary  plan  adopted  was  published  in  the  Nashville  American  of  April  12,  1908, 
in  which  issue  also  will  be  found  Governor  Patterson's  speech  on  the  opening  of  his  cam- 
paign  at  the   Vendome   Theater,   Nashville,  April   11,   1908. 

25  Austin  Peay,  of  Clarksville,  now  governor  of  Tennessee,  was  Patterson's  campaign 
manager,   and   George  H.   Armistead,   of   Franklin,  was   Carmack 's   campaign   manager. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  607 

Through  that  newspaper  he  continued  his  fight  for  prohibition  and  was  much 
gratified  when  the  election  returns  indicated  that  a  sufficient  number  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  had  been  elected  to  insure  the  passage  of  a  state-wide 
prohibition  law.  About  the  same  time  it  was  rumored  that  the  former  ill 
feeling  which  it  was  said  had  existed  between  Governor  Patterson  and  Gov- 
ernor Cox  had  been  removed.  For  this  reconciliation  Senator  Carmack  gave 
credit  to  Col.  Duncan  Cooper,  an  intimate  friend  of  Governor  Patterson,  who 
became  much  incensed  at  some  tilings  which  Carmack  said  in  his  editorials, 
especially  in  an  editorial  entitled  "Across  the  Muddy  Chasm,"  published  on 
November  8,  1908,  and  in  another  entitled  "'The  Diplomat  of  the  Zweibund." 
On  the  afternoon  of  November  9,  1908,  Colonel  Cooper  and  his  son,  Robin 
Cooper,  encountered  Senator  Carmack  on  Vine  Street  (Seventh  Ave.)  in  Nash- 
ville and  Carmack  was  killed  and  Robin  Cooper  was  wounded.  The  Coopers 
were  tried  and  convicted  and  the  case  was  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court 
which  affirmed  the  verdict  relative  to  Colonel  Cooper,  who  was  thereupon 
pardoned  by  Governor  Patterson.  The  Supreme  Court  remanded  the  case  of 
Robin  Cooper  to  the  Criminal  Court  for  new  trial,  where  it  was  finally  nolle 
prossed. 

In  the  trial  of  the  case  the  speeches  made  by  the  able  attorneys  for  the  pros- 
ecution and  the  defense  were  so  remarkable  as  to  attract  universal  attention  and 
to  warrant  the  insertion  here  of  the  following  article  written  by  M.  W.  Connolly, 
which  appeared  in  the  Nashville  American  of  February  4,  1910 : 

THREE  GREAT   SPEECHES 
BY    M.   W.   C. 

The  case  of  the  Coopers  against  the  state  on  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  has 
passed  over  for  final  consideration  and  adjudication.  What  the  five  justices 
will  do  is,  of  course,  beyond  the  reach  of  legitimate  surmise.  The  court  en  banc 
heard  the  arguments  and  have  now  the  briefs  of  both  sides  and  the  record  in 
their  keeping,  and  in  due  time  will  hand  down  their  decision,  which  will  be 
accepted  as  their  honest  conclusions  after  toilsome  and  patient  investigation. 
The  issues  must  be  left  to  them  wholly  and  exclusively. 

The  case  has  been  a  remarkable  one  throughout,  and  comment  on  at  least  one 
phase  of  it  is  permissible.  It  produced  three  great  speeches.  Great  speeches 
are  not  uncommon  in  impartial  lawsuits.  The  uncommon  thing  about  the 
speeches  in  this  case  is  that  each  of  these  three  speeches  was  great,  the  greatest 
thing  being  matter  only  for  taste  or  sentiment.  In  lawsuits  great  and  small  it 
usually  happens  that  one  lawyer  outstrips  all  the  rest,  erecting  a  standard, 
which  no  one  else  in  the  case  may  approach.  In  the  hearing  just  ended  such 
was  not  the  fact.  The  speeches  in  this  case  may  be  looked  upon  as  forming  a 
master  sonata  in  three  movements,  each  differing  from  the  other,  yet  each 
splendid  to  a  dazzling  perfection  in  its  theme  and  execution.  Then,  too,  three 
gentlemen  of  eminent  abilities,  trained  in  the  same  school  of  thought,  inured 
to  the  same  forensic  conflicts,  accustomed  to  the  same  juridical  or  jurispru- 
dcntical  proceedings,  and  arguing  the  same  case,  will  necessarily  maintain  much 
similitude ;  and,  while  contending  and  representing  opposing  sides,  like  gladi- 
ators in  the  arena,  will  preserve  in  a  large  measure  symphonic  unity.  This  is 
what  happened  in  the  lawsuit  just  argued. 

*je.  jf.  jj,  jb 

Jr  tp  w  1r 

Judge  Anderson,  the  speaker  who  occupied  the  time  of  the  court  the  first 
day,  enjoyed  an  advantage  that  was  denied  the  other  counsel,  and  especially  is 
this  true  of  General  Wright.  He  had  tried  the  case  in  the  lower  court,  had  heard 
the  witnesses,  was  familiar  with  the  details  down  to  the  minor  details,  knew 
the  geographical  situation,  the  streets,  the  houses,  and  the  entire  mise  en  scene. 
Every  fact  and  feature  of  the  drama  was  a  familiar  picture  to  him,  and  his 


608  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

recital  of  the  testimony,  as  he  interpreted  it,  was  easy,  cogent  and  plausible  to 
convincing.  Passing  with  composure  from  event  to  event  along  the  long  and 
sometimes  sinuous  history  of  the  case,  he  deftly  cast  aside  the  immaterial  and 
cognate.  He  was  talking  to  judges  who,  like  himself  are  lawyers,  and  he  pre- 
sented his  facts  and  arguments  with  a  directness  and  simplicity  that  was  true 
eloquence  unadorned. 

In  presenting  the  law  applicable  to  the  case,  he  seemed  to  be  entirely  at  home. 
It  was  an  open  book  to  him.  While  not  dogmatic  he  was  never  tentative.  He 
was  always  sure  of  his  approaches,  and  the  judges  on  the  bench  apparently 
realized  the  fact.  His  was  a  great  speech  and  delivered  without  apparent  effort. 
And  here  it  may  be  observed  that  the  advantage  enjoyed  by  Judge  Anderson 
by  reason  of  his  familiarity  with  the  facts  and  law  in  the  case  was  minimized 
in  some  degree  by  the  fact  that  he  had  argued  it  once  before.  This  may  seem 
paradoxical.  Be  it  so.  Every  speaker  and  writer  knows  that  there  is  a  warmth 
and  ardency  about  original  composition  or  other  creative  effort  that  is  inspiring 
and  filled  with  urge  and  propulsive  power  than  can  never  be  invoked  on  a 
repetition  of  the  effort. 

Attorney  General  Cates  occupied  the  attention  of  the  court  on  the  second 
day.  He  alone  represented  the  state,  and  had  to  cover  the  entire  ground  from 
beginning  to  end.  His  duty  was  to  defend  the  verdict  of  the  jury  and  the 
findings  of  the  court  below.  He  had  to  present  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses 
for  the  state  and  argue  its  consistency  and  credibility.  He  had  to  argue  the 
testimony  presented  by  the  defense  and  show  where  to  his  mind  and  according 
to  the  theory  of  the  state,  this  testimony  was  unfirm,  conflicting,  unreliable  and 
inconsistent  with  the  facts  as  he  understood  them.  He  had  to  argue  the  legal 
points  raised  which  would  be  raised  by  opposing  counsel.  He  had  to  see  to  it 
that  no  weak  spot  in  his  defense  was  left  to  attract  vigilance  of  counsel  for  the 
appellants.  All  this  and  these  he  had  to  do  in  one-half  the  time  allowed  the 
other  side,  and  that  he  did  so  with  remarkable  force  and  lucidity,  with  remark- 
able ability  and  effectiveness,  is  admitted  by  everyone.  Nor  was  his  progress 
wholly  unobstructed  by  thwarts  and  trammels.  It  is  shrewdly  suspected  that 
there  were  certain  things  in  the  record  that  would  not  have  been  there  had  he 
tried  the  case  in  the  lower  court.  General  Cates  showed  himself  to  be  not  only 
a  logician,  but  a  speaker  of  rare  eloquence.  The  writers  of  old  would  have  said 
that  the  bees  had  kissed  his  lips.  His  classic  features  and,  indeed,  his  presence, 
his  graceful  gestures  and  excellent  modulated  voice  gave  dramatic  effect 
to  his  utterances.  He  is  in  no  wise  theatrical.  Frequently  he  leaps  away  from 
a  mere  rehearsal  of  law  and  fact  to  soar  on  the  wings  of  some  splendid  apos- 
trophe, or  he  rises  to  burst  forth  in  flowers  of  rhetoric ;  but  he  is  never  volatile 
or  tenuous;  there  is  always  "body"  in  what  he  says.  His  effort  was  splendid 
as  well  as  strong,  and  its  strength  could  not  be  concealed  even  by  the  rich  and 
lush  foliage  of  choice  fruit  that  draped  it. 

#     #     *     #     # 

."  For  the  Appellants,  Gen.  Luke  E.  Wright,  of  Memphis,  closed  the  case. 
General  Wright  is  not  as  young  as  he  was  some  thirty  years  ago,  when  he 
measured  swords  with  the  greatest  lawyers  of  the  day,  among  the  greatest  being 
his  own  honored  father,  the  late  Judge  Archibald  Wright.  He  has  frequently 
been  where  the  steel  flashed  and  where  the  friction  of  mind  upon  mind  bright- 
ened the  intellect,  until  it  flamed  in  eoruscant  brilliancy.  Apparently  more 
subdued,  but  really  holding  his  reserve  forces  better  in  hand,  he  approached  the 
task  set  for  him  with  almost  Fabian  deliberation.  He  took  no  steps  forward 
without  first  making  sure  that  his  foot  would  rest  on  firm  ground.  He  knew 
of  the  case  only  from  the  record  placed  in  his  hands,  and  it  was  remarkable  to 
witness  his  familiarity  with  the  material  points  in  the  voluminous  4,000  pages, 
a  volume  greater  than  "Les  Miserables. "  He  indulged  in  short  sentences  and 
frequent  pauses.  He  does  not  seek  to  bring  about  a  cataclysm  or  a  sudden 
destruction  of  the  edifice  of  the  opposition.  He  attacks  it  stone  by  stone,  and 
while  the  superficial  observer  is  led  to  suppose  he  is  making  little  progress,  in 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  609 

less  than  a  little  while  the  pillars  have  tumbled  from  plinth  to  pedestal,  the 
friezes  had  fallen  and  the  walls  have  collapsed  in  ruin.  He  accomplishes  his 
purpose  before  the  less  alert  know  what  he  purposes,  and  he  is  not  satisfied  with 
mere  destruction.  He  insists  on  total  annihilation.  Seldom  in  a  court  of  law 
was  a  question  more  convincingly  and  forcefully  handled  than  was  General 
Wright's  presentation  of  the  "physical  facts"  connected  with  the  unfortunate 
homicide.  By  argument,  by  suggestion,  by  sympathy  he  led  the  minds  of  his 
hearers  along  with  him  into  the  very  goal  of  his  own  contention,  and  there  was 
no  escape  from  it,  for  a  time,  at  least.  The  picture  he  presented  to  the  mind's 
eye  was  unforgetably  vivid,  and  the  plausibility  of  his  arguments  disarmed 
doubt.     In  this  incident  he  surely  scored  a  triumph  of  skill. 

Another  feature  of  his  speech  which  was  noteworthy  was  in  reference  to  the 
finding  of  a  pistol  scabbard  in  an  overcoat  pocket.  In  this  the  speaker  found 
himself  in  a  most  delicate  predicament.  He  was  walking  over  a  volcano  on  a 
bridge  of  ashes,  and  only  a  supremely  skillful  pedestrian  would  have  escaped 
falling  through.  Yet  he  got  his  points  to  the  court  and  to  the  cognoscente  by 
saying  practically  nothing.  It  was  a  test  of  address  and  adroitness  to  which 
few  lawyers  are  ever  subjected. 

^P  ^P  ^r  ^P  ^  • 

On  the  whole,  it  must  be  said  that  this  famous  case,  about  which  so  much 
has  been  said  and  written,  and  over  which  so  much  feeling  has  been  expended, 
has  ended  for  the  present  in  a  meeting  of  three  great  lawyers  who  argued  the 
issue  with  moderation  and  courtesy,  without  any  manifestation  of  passion,  and 
without  abstracting  one  jot  or  tittle  from  the  opportunities  which  occasion  offered 
for  a  display  of  acumen,  skill,  intellectual  dexterity  and  eloquence. 

The  Fifty-sixth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  4,  1909,  and  organ- 
ized by  the  election  of  Wm.  Kinney,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  Hillsman  Taylor, 
speaker  of  the  House.  On  January  11,  the  governor  transmitted  to  the  Senate 
and  the  House  a  special  message  on  the  liquor  question  in  which  he  embodied 
the  same  arguments  he  had  used  in  his  recent  political  campaign,  but  all  to  no 
effect  on  the  Legislature,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  passed  a  state-wide  prohibition 
act  (the  first  one  of  the  session)  only  two  days  later,  and,  when  he  vetoed  it, 
passed  it  promptly  over  his  veto. 

Besides  the  legislation  on  the  liquor  question,  important  bills  were  passed 
on  the  following  subjects :  education,  including  appropriation  for  the  agricultural 
and  industrial  normal  school  for  negroes,  which  has  developed  so  remarkably 
and  has  been  an  instrument  for  much  good ;  an  appropriation  of  +250,000  for 
the  Geo.  Peabody  College  for  Teachers  which  institution  has  prospered  continu- 
ously under  the  administration  of  Dr.  Bruce  R.  Payne,  who  has  served  without 
interruption  from  that  time  to  the  present  (1923)  ;  the  general  education  bill 
and  no  less  than  nineteen  special  education  bills ;  assessments,  banks,  bonds  to 
prohibit  bucket  shops,  bad  checks,  to  create  the  Department  of  Game,  Fish  and 
Forestry,  to  establish  a  compulsory  system  of  primary  elections,  to  create  d 
state  board  of  embalmers,  to  create  boards  of  fair  trustees,  food  sanitation,  to 
create  geological  survey  of  state,  to  organize  the  national  guard  of  Tennessee, 
roads,  to  provide  a  State  Highway  Commission,  amending  act  creating  State 
Board  of  Elections. 

THE   GENERAL    EDUCATION    BILE 

Of  all  the  important  acts  mentioned  in  the  preceding  paragraph,  the  one 
on  education  called  the  General  Education  Bill,  deserves  the  most  unstinted 
praise.     The  bill  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Stewart,  of  Cannon  County,  was  sup- 


010  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ported  ardently  by  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  Hon.  R.  L. 
Jones,  and,  indeed,  by  prominent  and  influential  men  of  all  shades  of  politieal 
belief  and  partisan  affiliation.  The  caption  of  this  act26  explains  its  breadth 
and  its  wisdom   can   be  discerned.      It    is  as  follows: 

"An  Act  to  provide  for  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  public  education 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee — that  is  to  say,  to  establish  a  general  education  fund 
by  appropriating  thereto  annually  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  gross  revenue  of 
the  .state;  to  provide  for  the  apportionment  of  this  fund  and  specifying  what 
part  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  several  counties  of  the  state  on  the  basis  of 
scholastic  population;  what  part  shall  be  used  to  equalize  more  nearly  the  school 
facilities  of  the  several  counties,  and  the  conditions  on  which  this  part  shall  be 
apportioned;  what  sum  shall  be  used  to  assist  in  paying  salaries  of  county 
superintendents,  and  on  what  conditions;  what  part  shall  be  used  to  encourage 
and  assist  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  public  county  high  schools, 
and  on  what  conditions;  and  providing  for  the  grading  and  inspection  of 
high  schools ;  what  part  shall  be  used  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  school  libraries  and  on  what  conditions ;  what  part  shall  be  used  for  the  estab- 
lishment and  maintenance  of  three  normal  schools  for  white  teachers,  one  in 
each  grand  division  of  the  state,  and  one  agricultural  and  industrial  normal 
school  for  negroes,  and  providing  for  the  location,  establishment,  and  control 
of  said  schools ;  and  what  part  shall  be  apportioned  to  the  University  of  Ten- 
nessee and  its  various  stations." 

CONTROVERSY  OVER  THE  ELECTIONS  ACTS 

The  elections  acts  were  passed  by  the  General  Assembly,  all  of  which  were 
opposed  by  the  regular  democrats.  On  February  25,  1909,  a  resolution  had 
been  passed  providing  for  a  joint  session  to  nominate  and  elect  members  of 
the  primary  boards  of  election  commissioners  as  provided  for  in  Chapter  102, 
passed  February  12,  1909,  and  passed  over  the  governor's  veto  on  February  19. 
On  the  next  day  it  was  ascertained  that  thirteen  members  of  the  Senate  were 
absent.  Of  these  twelve  were  democrats  and  one  a  republican.  It  was  ascer- 
tained that  they  had  gone  to  Hopkinsville,  Kentucky,  in  order  that  the  elec- 
tion law  might  be  rendered  futile.  Nevertheless,  the  matter  of  putting  the 
law  into  effect  was  accomplished  and,  realizing  that  further  absence  was  use- 
less the  absentees  returned.  This  precedent  of  absenteeism  was  followed  in 
1911  by  a  contingent  of  fusionists  in  the  House  of  Representatives. 

THE  INDEPENDENT  MOVEMENT 

During  the  period  of  pronounced  and  successful  opposition  to  the  liquor 
traffic  in  Tennessee  and  especially  during  that  part  of  it  covered  by  Governor 
Patterson's  second  term  as  chief  executive,  there  had  developed  a  faction 
among  the  democrats  that  could  not  subscribe  to  the  liquor  plank  in  the  demo- 
cratic platform  of  1908.  Among  them  were  three  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court 
and  two  judges  of  the  Court  of  Civil  Appeals  who,  in  1910,  were  candidates 
for  reelection  and  refused  to  enter  the  primary  ordered  by  the  democratic  state 
committee,  because,  it  has  been  stated,  they  believed  that  this  committee  was 
dominated  by  Governor  Patterson,  and  that  Patterson,  so  it  was  construed  by 
some,  had  sought  to  intimidate  them  into  rendering  a  decision  in  favor  of 
Colonel  Cooper.  Be  that  as  it  may,  their  attitude  was  the  occasion  for  the 
calling  of  a  mass  meeting  in  Nashville  which  organized  the  independent  fac- 


26  Chapter  264,  Acts  of  1909,  p.  907,  passed  April  20,  1909. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  611 

tion,  nominated  the  five  judges  referred  to,  and  split  the  democratic  party  for 
the  ensuing  four  years.  With  the  help  of  the  republicans  who  put  out  no 
ticket,  the  independents  elected  their  candidates  for  the  judiciary  by  a  majority 
of  more  than  forty  thousand. 

Elated  by  their  success,  the  independents  held  a  convention  of  their  own 
on  September  14,  1910,  and  endorsed  the  candidacy  of  Ben  W.  Hooper,  who, 
on  August  16,  1910,  had  been  made  the  republican  nominee  for  governor. 
Soon  afterwards  Governor  Patterson,  who  had  been  put  forward  by  the  demo- 
crats (the  regulars)  as  their  gubernatorial  candidate  for  the  third  time,  in  an 
effort  to  harmonize  the  discordant  elements  in  the  party,  withdrew  from  the 
race.  The  democratic  state  committee  also  resigned  and  a  state  convention  was 
called  to  reorganize  the  party  on  a  basis  that  would  be  satisfactory  to  both 
factions.  This  convention  appointed  a  new  state  democratic  committee  and 
nominated  Senator  Robt.  L.  Taylor  for  governor.  The  platform  adopted  was 
silent  on  the  liquor  question.  Senator  Taylor  made  a  splendid  campaign  and 
aroused  the  enthusiasm  and  admiration  of  his  auditors,  as  he  had  always  done. 
He  proved  himself  the  same  peerless  campaigner  as  in  many  former  races,  but 
the  coalition  opposed  to  him  was  too  strong.  He  was  defeated  for  governor  by 
the  following  vote :  Ben  W.  Hooper,27  133,074 ;  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  121,694 ;  Seth 
McCallen,  1,707. 

ADMINISTRATION   OP   GOVERNOR   BEN   W.    HOOPER 

The  Fifty-seventh  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  2,  1911,  and 
organized  by  the  election  of  N.  Baxter,  Jr.,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  A.  M. 
Leach,  speaker  of  the  House.  It  adjourned  on  July  7,  1911,  after  a  stormy 
session  of  145  days.  From  the  very  beginning  it  was  realized  that  there  would 
be  a  fierce  fight  between  regulars  and  the  coalition  of  independents  and  repub- 
licans. The  regulars  wished  to  secure  the  repeal  or  amendment  of  the  prohibi- 
tion and  election  laws  passed  in  1909  and  the  republicans  and  independents 
wished  them  to  remain  without  change  or,  if  changed,  to  be  made  even  more 
stringent.  Charges  of  corruption  were  made  by  both  factions  at  the  very  out- 
set. The  temper  of  both  is  indicated  by  the  following  excerpt  from  an  editorial 
in  the  Nashville  Tennessean  of  January  3,  1911,  the  next  day  after  the  Legis- 
lature convened : 

"It  is  not  a  new  thing  in  Tennessee  to  see  bribe  givers  plying  their  nefarious 
avocation,  for  during  the  past  few  years  they  have  infested  the  capital  city  like 
a  loathsome  brood  of  vultures  seeking  whom  they  may  devour,  but  during  all 
this  time  until  now  they  have  been  cautious  and  skillful.  They  have  covered 
their  trail  of  slime  with  decorum  and  circumspection,  but  now  in  the  hour  of 
desperation  these  defilers  and  desecraters  of  the  public  virtue  and  public  honor 
parade  themselves  in  open  defiance  of  decency  and  seek  to  buy  the  servants  of 
the  people. 

"Let  the  debaueher  beware!" 

No  less  than  eight  contests  were  filed  in  the  House  and  one  in  the  Senate. 
At  first  a  constitutional   quorum  was  not  present   in  the  House  because  some 


2"  Tennessee  has  had  only  five  republican  governors.  Rrownlow  was  made  governor 
by  war  conditions;  Renter  by  a  union  of  conservative  republicans  and  ox  Confederates ; 
Hawkins  and  Hooper  by  splits  in  the  democratic  ranks,  and  Alfred  A.  Taylor,  by  his  own 
popularity,  the  popularity  of  his  brother,  Robert  L.  Taylor,  plus  some  dissatisfaction  with 
politics  advocated  by   Governor  Roberts. 


612  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

members-elecl  did  not  present  themselves  to  be  sworn  in.  On  January  5,  1911, 
the  striking  regulars  issued  a  statement  addressed  "To  the  People  of  Ten- 
nessee," in  which  they  said  in  substance  that  if  the  contests  were  decided  in 
favor  of  the  fusionists  the  latter  would  have  a  majority  in  the  House  and  a 
majority  on  joint  ballot.  This  manifesto  was  signed  by  thirty-seven  members- 
elect  of  the  House  who  had  not  been  sworn  in.  At  last,  however,  the  warring 
factions  came  to  an  understanding,  thirty-four  of  the  thirty-seven  recalcitrants 
were  sworn  in  on  January  10th  and  all  the  contests  were  withdrawn.  On  the 
same  day  was  begun  a  strong  contest  to  elect  a  successor  to  Senator  Jas.  B. 
Frazier,  whose  term  would  soon  expire.  This  contest  continued  until  January 
23,  1911.  Many  ballots  were  taken  and,  from  time  to  time,  many  prominent 
men  voted  for,  including  the  incumbent,  Senator  Frazier,  ex-Governor  Benton 
McMillin,  Hon.  Hal.  B.  Haynes,  G.  T.  Fitzhugh,  Col.  B.  A.  Enloe,  Hon.  Jas.  R. 
Wooldridge,  Newell  Sanders,  Col.  L.  D.  Tyson  and  Hon.  K.  D.  McKellar.  On 
January  19th,  Colonel  Enloe  came  within  three  votes  of  securing  the  coveted 
prize.  On  January  23d,  Enloe 's  name  was  withdrawn  and  Hon.  Luke  Lea 
was  nominated  and  elected.  This  was  a  victory  for  the  fusionists.  The  fight 
by  the  Fusionists  for  law  enforcement  and  by  the  regulars  for  modification  of 
what  they  considered  too  stringent  legislation  was  now  on.  Preparatory  to 
this  contest  the  Anti-Saloon  League  held  a  state  convention  in  Nashville  on 
January  23  and  24,  1911,  and  shortly  the  anticipated  conflict  in  the  Legislature 
ensued.     The  brunt  of  the  fight,  of  course,  fell  upon  Governor  Hooper. 

Hooper's  inauguration  took  place  on  January  25,  1911,  and,  in  his  inaugural 
address  he  left  no  doubt  as  to  his  attitude  on  law  enforcement.  A  part  of  what 
he  said  on  this  subject  follows : 

"In  our  patriotic  ambition  to  witness  the  material  development  and  progress 
of  our  state  we  must  not  forget  that  civic  righteousness  is  the  essential  founda- 
tion of  genuine  and  lasting  civic  greatness.  In  this  connection  it  must  be 
known  that  our  state  can  not  command  the  respect  of  the  people  at  home  or 
abroad  so  long  as  any  law  is  ignored  and  flagrantly  violated  in  an  organized 
and  systematic  way,  with  the  tacit  approval  of  public  officials  whose  sworn  duty 
it  is  to  enforce  it.  The  isolated  offense  of  an  occasional  bootlegger  is  a  small 
matter,  but  the  open,  public  and  unhindered  sale  of  whisky  in  the  saloons  of 
our  cities  in  violation  of  the  law  is  organized  anarchy  and  can  not  be  tolerated 
by  the  self-respecting  citizens  of  a  sovereign  state." 

In  his  appointments,  Governor  Hooper,  although  a  republican,  having  in 
mind  the  fact  that  he  was  elected  by  the  combined  votes  of  the  republicans  and 
independents,  selected  both  republicans  and  democrats  for  the  positions  at  his 
disposal.  Of  the  democrats  he  appointed  Dr.  Gus  W.  Dyer,  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  Vanderbilt  University,  as  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 
There  was,  however,  so  much  feeling  against  Doctor  Dyer  for  the  part  he  had 
taken  in  the  election  of  Governor  Hooper,  that  the  Senate  rejected  his  appoint- 
ment by  a  vote  of  twenty  to  twelve.  Two  months  later  the  Senate  confirmed 
the  appointment  of  Prof.  J.  W.  Brister,  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  George 
Peabody  College  for  Teachers,  as  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

An  unexpected  alignment  of  contending  forces  appeared  in  the  race  before 
the  Legislature  for  state  treasurer.  DeLong  Rice  had  been  nominated  by  the 
regulars  for  this  responsible  position,  but  when  the  election  came  on  in  the 
General  Assembly,  it  became  evident  to  his  friends  that  he  could  not  win 
and  his  name  was  withdrawn.     After  a  spirited  contest  Hon.  G.  T.  Taylor  was 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  613 

elected  through  a  coalition  of  the  Regulars  and  a  few  Republicans  over  Hon. 
Reau  E.  Folk,  who  had  served  as  state  treasurer  continuously  from  1901  to 
1911.  After  this  Mr.  Rice  was  appointed  custodian  of  the  national  park  on  the 
battle  field  of  Shiloh,  which  position  he  still  retains. 

Up  to  April,  1911,  it  was  agreed  by  the  partisans  of  both  factions  that 
harmony  was  "a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished,"  but  both  sides  asserted 
that  harmony,  gained  by  surrender  of  the  principles  and  policies  in  behalf  of 
which  they  had  gone  to  war,  would  be  a  mockery  and  a  sham.  Hence,  in  Ten- 
nessee at  that  time,  there  was  strife  and  bitterness  and  factional  differences 
resulted  in  animosities  and  hatreds. 

Such  was  the  situation  when  on  April  12,  1911,  the  elections  bill,  an  amend- 
ment of  the  elections  act  of  1909,  was  passed  amidst  stormy  scenes  in  the  House, 
some  of  the  republicans  and  independents  joining  the  regulars  in  bringing 
about  this  result.  The  next  day  thirty-four  fusion  members  left  for  Decatur, 
Ala.,  to  preclude  the  passage  of  the  bill  over  the  governor's  veto  which  was 
anticipated.  On  the  day  of  their  departure  they  issued  a  statement  addressed 
"To  the  People  of  Tennessee"  in  which  they  sought  to  justify  their  action  on 
the  ground,  in  part,  that  the  defection  of  five  votes  from  their  ranks  to  the 
columns  of  the  regulars  was  in  violation  of  pledges  usually  held  the  most  sacred 
both  to  their  constituents  and  to  their  fellow  members  and  that,  therefore, 
the  only  course  left  was  to  break  a  quorum  and  preserve  the  will  of  the  people. 
The  absentees  returned  on  June  23rd  and  the  work  of  the  Legislature  pro- 
ceeded with  a  quorum  in  the  House.  It  was  understood  that  their  return  was 
secured  by  assurances  from  the  regulars  that  they  would  not  seek  the  repeal 
or  amendment  of  the  laws  pertaining  to  liquor  and  to  elections.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  every  one  was  tired  of  the  legislative  turmoil  and  it  was  hoped  by  most 
persons  that  tranquillity  might  reign  on  the  basis  of  the  status  quo. 

BRISTOL    TO    MEMPHIS    HIGHWAY 

Notwithstanding  the  tempestuous  career  of  the  Fifty-seventh  General  As- 
sembly, besides  the  maintenance  of  the  laws  pertaining  to  elections  and  to 
liquor  a  number  of  important  acts  were  passed.  At  the  very  outset  of  the 
session  and  before  Governor  Hooper's  inauguration,  Governor  Patterson  sent  a 
special  message  28  to  the  Legislature,  the  first  paragraph  of  which  is  as  follows : 

"On  my  recommendation,  the  Acts  of  1909,  Chapter  561,  passed  May  1,  1909, 
approved  May  1,  1909,  was  passed  by  the  last  Legislature,  providing  for  a 
State  Highway  Commission,  whose  duty  was  to  consider  the  general  subject  of 
improving  our  public  road  system  and  to  make  report  to  the  General  Assembly. 
Acting  under  authority  of  this  law,  I  appointed  the  Hon.  E.  C.  Lewis,  of 
Nashville,  as  chairman ;  the  Hon.  W.  J.  Oliver,  of  Knoxville,  and  the  Hon. 
II.  W.  Brennan,  of  Memphis,  as  the  other  members  of  the  board." 

He  also  attached  and  made  a  part  of  his  message  the  report  of  this  com- 
mittee which  was  able  and  comprehensive,  and,  while  it  did  not  result  in  legisla- 
tion at  this  session,  it  did  arouse  a  sentiment  favorable  to  good  roads  through- 
out the  state  and  led  directly  to  the  formation  on  January  19,  1911,  of  the 
Bristol  to  Memphis  Highway  Association  with  that  whole-souled  enthusiast,  Geo. 
A.  Gowan,  as  president.  This  was  designated  to  be  a  model  or  demonstration 
road. 


28  See  Senate  Journal,  1911,  p.  21. 


614         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

IMPORTANT  LAWS   OP   GOVERNOR   HOOPER 's   FIRST   TERM 

Iii  his  biennial  message29  to  the  Legislature  sent  on  January  18,  1911,  Gov- 
ernor Patterson  discussed  with  his  accustomed  ability  the  following  topics:  edu- 
eation,  agriculture,  good  roads,  labor,  health,  juvenile  reformatory,  criminal 
laws,  penitentiary,  election  laws,  constitutional  amendments,  Federal  income 
tax,  and  prohibition  laws,  and  concluded  with  the  following  words: 

"My  successor  is  not  of  my  political  faith,  but  lie  will  be  the  governor  of 
Tennessee,  and,  as  such,  will  represent  all  our  people. 

"No  friend  of  mine  will  embarrass  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  which 
I  know  will  be  heavy  and  often  embarrassing;  nor  will  his  motives  be  causelessly 
or  recklessly  assailed  by  any  one  who  claims  my  regards,  for  both  the  person 
and  the  office  of  governor  of  Tennessee  should  be  safe  from  the  detractor  and 
def  amer. ' ' 

For  reasons  which  have  already  been  given  fewer  general  laws  were  passed 
during  Governor  Hooper's  first  term  than  had  been  the  case  in  recent  years. 
And  no  laws  at  all  were  passed  during  the  first  month  of  the  session  of  the 
Fifty-seventh  General  Assembly.  The  first  act 30  was  passed  on  February  2, 
1911,  and  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  Confederate  Soldiers'  Home.  This  was 
followed  on  February  7,  by  two  acts  which  were  popular  with  all  factions,  viz. : 
Chapter  6,  which  appropriated  $520,000  "for  the  benefit  of  indigent  and  dis- 
abled soldiers  of  the  late  war  between  the  States, ' '  and  Chapter  7,  which  appro- 
priated .$210,000  "to  provide  relief  for  the  dependent  and  indigent  widows  of 
soldiers  who  served  in  the  Civil  war." 

On  February  8th  an  act  31  was  passed  appropriating  $50,000  for  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings  and  purchase  of  equipment  for  the  Tennessee  Reformatory 
for  Boys.  This  was  consequent  upon  recommendations  of  Governor  Patterson 
who,  in  his  biennial  message32  of  1911,  said: 

"I  have  strongly  recommended  to  two  previous  Legislatures  the  establish- 
ment of  a  Juvenile  Reformatory  for  the  detention  and  care  of  the  youthful 
criminals  of  the  state.  The  last  Legislature  appropriated  the  sum  of  $10,000 
to  this  purpose,  and  I  appointed  a  commission  under  authority  of  law  to  take 
charge  of  this  fund  and  to  proceed  with  the  work  of  establishing  the  reformatory. 
They  found,  however,  that  the  sum  appropriated  was  only  sufficient  to  buy  a 
tract  of  land,  which  was  to  be  used  as  a  farm,  but  entirely  insufficient  to  build 
and  equip  an  institution  for  the  care  of  this  class  of  unfortunates." 

Governor  Patterson  had  also  recommended  3:!  in  his  message  of  1911  the 
establishment  of  a  "Tuberculosis  Hospital,  where  the  greatest  plague  that  afflicts 
mankind  may  be  studied  and  controlled,  and  in  order  that  patients  suffering 
from  this  dread  malady  may  not  be  forced  to  go  to  other  states  for  relief." 
Acting  on  this  recommendation  the  Davidson  County  delegation  introduced  a 
bill  "to  authorize  cities  and  municipalities,  or  a  board  of  hospital  commissioners 
within  cities  or  municipalities,  to  purchase  property  without  the  corporate 
limits  and  erect  and  equip  buildings  for  tuberculosis  hospitals."  This  bill34 
was  passed  on  February  2nd  and  has  proven  extremely  advantageous. 

Chapter  11,""'  passed  on  February  9,  1911,  permitted  municipalities  or  coun- 


ts Senate  Journal,  1911,  pp.  67-82. 
so  Chapter  1,  Acts  of  1911,  p.  17. 
si  Chapter  5,  Acts  of  1911,  p.  22. 

32  Senate  Journal,  1911,  p.  70. 

33  Ibid. 

s*  Chapter  9,  Acts  of  1911,  p.  27. 
35  Acts  of  1911,  p.  30. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  615 

ties  to  issue  and  sell  bonds  for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  sites  and  erecting 
and  equipping  buildings  for  the  state  normal  schools. 

Chapter  53, 36  passed  on  June  26,  1911,  amended  the  Pure  Food  and  Drugs 
Act  of  1907  so  as  to  protect  the  public  more  thoroughly  against  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  adulterated  food  and  drugs,  constituting  a  law  which  has  been  most 
beneficial  to  the  people  of  this  state. 

Chapter  20, 37  established  a  law  to  secure  the  married  working  women  pay- 
ments of  the  wages,  salary,  or  other  compensation  due  for  their  services. 

Chapter  36, 38  raised  the  age  of  consent  from  eighteen  to  twenty-one  years. 

Chapter  57, 39  protects  child  labor,  making  it  unlawful  to  employ  any  child 
under  fourteen  years  of  age  in  any  business  or  service  which  interferes  with 
his  attendance  at  school,  except  conditionally  in  agricultural  or  domestic  serv- 
ice, and  protecting  children  at  work  in  factories,  mines  and  quarries. 

Governor  Hooper  strongly  favored  many  if  not  all  of  these  laws.  In  his 
biennial  message  to  the  Legislature,  sent  on  February  1,  1911,  he  discussed  the 
following  subjects :  public  schools,  the  juvenile  reformatory,  the  state  peniten- 
tiary, the  agricultural  department,  public  roads,  Confederate  pensions,  the 
National  Guard,  anti-pass  bill,  election  laws,  fellow-servants'  bill,  divorce,  in- 
itiative and  referendum,  refunding  the  state  debt,  inspection  of  state  banks, 
investigation  of  state  mines  and  penitentiary,  factory  inspection,  jury  commis- 
sion law,  junketing  committees,  the  temperance  laws. 

In  his  vetoes  of  acts  which  he  did  not  approve,  Governor  Hooper  sometimes 
used  language,  not  merely  plain  and  to  the  point,  but  positively  scathing.  For 
example,  in  his  veto  of  Senate  Bill  No.  546,  the  General  Assessment  Bill,  which 
was  passed  over  his  veto  on  July  6,  1911,  he  said : 

"No  more  cunningly  devised  scheme  was  ever  concocted  for  fleecing  the 
people  and  piling  up  graft  than  this  most  iniquitous  amendment  to  an  already 
iniquitous  law.  It  simply  means  a  return  to  the  conditions  that  existed  when 
there  was  a  revenue  agent  in  each  county  and  the  people  revolted. ' '  40 

Nevertheless,  he  seems  to  have  preserved  his  good  humor  to  the  very  end. 
for  in  his  last  message  sent  on  the  final  day  of  the  session,  July  7,  1911,  he  said: 

"Permit  me  now,  in  the  closing  hours  of  the  session,  to  felicitate  each  mem- 
ber upon  whatever  acts  of  disinterested  public  service  he  may  have  performed, 
and  to  commend  the  loyal  and  patriotic  devotion  to  principle  and  constituency 
that  has  been  exhibited  by  many  of  you.  *  *  *  Each  member  of  the  Senate 
and  House  will  carry  with  him  my  sincere  good  wishes  for  his  future  happiness 
and  success." 

DEATH   OP  SENATOR  ROBERT   L.   TAYLOR 

After  a  brief  illness  of  but  a  little  more  than  two  weeks,  on  March  31,  1912, 
the  serene  and  beautiful  spirit  of  Senator  Taylor  passed  to  the  other  shore. 
In  making  announcement  of  the  sad  event  Col.  R.  M.  Gales,  the  correspondent 
of  the  Memphis   Commercial  Appeal,   wrote : 

"Washington,  D.  C,  March  31.  'Our  Bob'  is  dead.  Upon  every  hearth- 
stone in  Tennessee  this  simple  announcement   will   fall   witli   the  weight  of  a 

36  Acts  of  1911,  p.  98. 
a?  Ibid.,  p.  45. 

38  Ibid.,  p.  70. 

39  Ibid.,  p.  108. 

±o  Senate  Journal,  1911,  p.  988. 


616  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

personal  sorrow,  and  in  thousands  of  homes  within  the  borders  of  other  states 
it  will  receive  the  spontaneous  tribute  of  a  tear.  *  *  *  Death  stilled  his 
good  and  noble  heart,  in  a  room  which  overlooked  a  little  park  whose  reviving 
symbols  of  life  and  resurrection  and  message  of  gladness  to  mankind  he  was 
wont  to  interpret  in  eloquent  tongue." 

A  committee  of  twelve  senators  and  eighteen  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  were  appointed  to  accompany  his  remains  from  Washington  to 
Nashville  by  special  train.  On  April  4th  the  cortege  passed  from  the  railway 
station  to  the  state  capitol,  through  crowds  that  lined  the  streets,  and  the 
casket  was  placed  in  front  of  the  speaker's  stand  "in  the  sombre-shadowed  hall 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  where  he  had  three  times  taken  the  oath  of 
office  as  governor,  and  within  whose  walls  he  had  known  defeat  and  victory 
in  achieving  his  senatorial  ambition,"  and  where  it  was  said  by  the  guardsmen 
that  60,000  persons  passed  to  gain  a  view  for  the  last  time  of  Tennessee's  most 
beloved  son  of  all  time. 

Accompanied  by  the  same  official  escort  the  casket  was  then  taken  to  Knox- 
villc  where  funeral  exercises  were  held  in  the  Auditorium.  An  unusual  cir- 
cumstance of  this  occasion  was  the  fact  that  five  ex-governors  of  the  state 
.were  present  as  honorary  pallbearers.  Those  were  Governors  Malcolm  R. 
Patterson,  Benton  MeMillin,  J.  B.  Frazier,  John  I.  Cox,  and  John  P.  Buchanan. 

DeLong  Rice,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  his  for  many  years,  said : 

"On  July  31,  1850,  Heaven  loaned  to  Earth  the  spirit  of  Bob  Taylor  and 
charged  him  with  a  glorious  mission — to  interpret  to  men  the  mystic  messages 
of  Nature. 

"He  heard  and  understood  the  tongueless  tattle  of  brooks  and  rivers — the 
thunder — spoken  language  of  the  storm.  He  caught  the  sylvan  stories  of  the 
forest  that  whispers  with  the  borrowed  breath  of  vagrant  winds.  He  learned 
the  jagged  dialects  of  thorns  and  thistles  and  the  sweet  vernacular  of  flowers 
that  woo  the  air  with  the  wordless  speech  of  fragrance.  He  led  us  to  the 
trysting  places  of  silent  blooming  things,  where  timid  violets  rest  in  the  arms 
of  caves  that  croon  with  songs  of  birds ;  where  the  wild  honeysuckle,  pink- 
gowned  princess  of  the  woods,  blows  breath  of  dreams  in  the  faces  of  the 
enamored  hills. 

"With  the  magic  of  his  words  he  opened  our  ears  to  melodies  that  sing  in 
all  the  sounds  that  din  the  world.  From  a  single  blast  of  the  hunter's  horn  he 
evolved  the  merry  music  of  the  chase;  he  saddened  the  landscape  with  the 
mournful  notes  of  a  dove,  and  wrapped  the  vague  beauty  of  the  evening  twi- 
light hour  in  the  mellow  harmonies  of  distant  bells. 

"With  eyes  that  conned  the  mute  mysteries  of  trooping  worlds  he  read  far- 
away signals  of  love  that  twinkle  from  the  fields  of  space  and  warmed  of  souls 
before  the  sun-kindled  fires  that  burn  on  the  cloud-hills  of  dawn.  He  played 
on  keys  that  sound  beyond  the  ken  of  flesh  and  blood,  and  thrill  the  senses 
of  the  spirit." 

There  has  never  been  another  character  like  him  in  Tennessee  history  nor 
will  there  ever  be. 

"But,"  as  his  brother  Alfred  A.  Taylor,  said  of  him,  "he  has  passed  into 
the  shadowy  mysteries  that  obscure  and  deepen  the  starless  night  of  death.  He 
has  escaped  from  the  chrysalis  of  mortality  and  now  lives  in  the  immortality 
of  the  spirit.  And  yet  he  is  near  us  and  about  us  still ;  for  his  words  of  love 
and  his  kindly  deeds  of  service,  quickened,  as  planted  seeds,  by  the  tears  of 
sorrow,  spring  immortal  from  his  grave  into  perennial  bloom  to  hallow  his 
dust  and  to  bless  the  living  with  their  glory  and  their  fragrance.  And  the 
angel  Memory  lifts  the  veil  of  the  Past  and  we  see  him  face  to  face  as  he  was, 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  617 

and  call  him  'Our  Bob';  we  hear  the  music  of  his  magic  voice  and  we  thrill  at 
the  pressure  of  his  hand.  And  on  the  mere  of  mortal  life,  that  narrow  boundary 
line  that  divides  the  Hither  side  from  the  Beyond,  the  angel  Mercy  has  planted 
a  cross,  and  above  it  the  angel  Hope  has  set  the  Morning  Star  of  Bethlehem ; 
and  the  angel  Faith  lifts  another  veil  and  we  catch  a  faint  gleam  of  another 
Sunrise  and  the  low  murmurings  of  a  silvery  surf  that  beats  on  another  shore ; 
and  we  hear  the  ripple  of  ineffable  music  from  the  river  of  harmony  that  flows 
eternal  from  another  orchestra  and  another  choir ;  and  then  our  spiritual  eyes 
glimpse  him,  transfigured,  glorified,  redeemed,  and  clothed  with  the  radiant 
beauty  of  immortal  youth;  and  as  the  shining  curtain  gently  falls  he  smiles 
and  beckons  us;  and  then  our  rapt  souls  join  in  that  sweet  old  refrain, 
'Nearer,  My  God,  to  Thee!'  "41 

THE   GUBERNATORIAL    CAMPAIGN    OF    1912 

In  1912  the  State  of  Tennessee  reflected  in  a  general  way  the  political  con- 
ditions which  prevailed  throughout  the  country.  The  democrats  were  united, 
enthusiastic,  hopeful  of  victory  with  Woodrow  Wilson  as  their  national  stand- 
ard bearer.  The  republicans  were  rent  and  despondent,  Taft  being  the  can- 
didate of  the  conservatives  and  Roosevelt  the  candidate  of  the  progressives  or 
"Bull  Moose"  paBty.  So,  in  Tennessee,  Benton  McMillin,  stanch,  reliable,  able 
and  popular,  was  the  gubernatorial  candidate  of  the  regulars  on  a  platform' 
which  declared  against  state-wide  prohibition.  Moreover,  Senator  Luke  Lea 
had  led  another  movement  for  harmony  in  the  democratic  party  and  a  majority 
of  the  members  of  the  state  committee  of  the  independents  had  agreed  to  a 
harmony  plan  and  announcement  was  made  that  the  democratic  party  was  re- 
united again. 

Governor  Hooper,  being  in  favor  of  President  Taft,  was  naturally  antag- 
onized by  the  progressives  in  Tennessee,  who  brought  forward,  as  a  candidate 
for  governor,  Hon.  William  F.  Poston,  an  attorney  of  Crockett  County,  of 
excellent  character  and  ability,  who  had  served  the  republican  party  long,  well 
and  faithfully.  He  was  supported  by  Roosevelt  who  came  into  Tennessee  and 
opposed  Hooper's  reelection  with  all  the  force  of  his  tremendous  personality. 
Hooper's  race  was  made  on  virtually  the  same  platform  as  before  with  state- 
wide prohibition  and  law  enforcement  as  the  planks  most  stressed. 

The  campaign  was  a  strenuous  one  and  the  result  was  in  doubt  on  the  day 
of  election,  but  Hooper  won  by  the  continued  support  of  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  independents  who  still  refused  to  be  harmonized.  The  vote  was  as  fol- 
lows: Ben  W.  Hooper,  republican,  124,641;  Benton  McMillin,  democrat,  116,- 
610;  Wm.  F.  Poston,  progressive,  4,483;  C.  G.  Harold,  socialist,  3,053. 

GOVERNOR   HOOPER'S   SECOND   TERM,    1913-1915 

The  Fifty-eighth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  6,  1913,  and 
organized  by  the  election  of  Newton  H.  White,  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  W.  M. 
Stanton,  speaker  of  the  House.  One  of  the  first  matters  which  engaged  the 
attention  of  this  Legislature  was  the  election  of  the  United  States  senators. 
After  the  death  of  Senator  Robt.  L.  Taylor,  in  the  previous  spring,  Governor 
Hooper  had  appointed  Hon.  Newell  Sanders,  of  Chattanooga,  to  succeed  Senator 
Taylor  until  the  meeting  of  the  next  General  Assembly. 

In  the  interim  there  was  much  speculation  as  to  who  would  be  elected  by; 

«  "Life  and  Career  of  Senator  Eobert  Love  Taylor,"  pp.  352-353. 


618  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  Legislature  to  succeed  both  Senator  Taylor  and  Senator  Prazier,  whose 
term  would  expire  on  March  4,-1913.  For  Senator  Frazier's  successor  the 
aspirants  finally  were  reduced  to  Judge  John  K.  Shields,  who,  at  that  time, 
was  Chief  Justice  of  Tennessee,  and  Hon.  Charles  T.  Cates,  attorney-general 
of  the  state,  both  of  whom  were  from  Knoxville.  On  the  seventh  ballot,  taken 
on  January  23,  1913,  Judge  Shields  was  elected  by  the  close  vote  of  sixty-nine 
to  sixty-one  on  joint  ballot.  On  January  24,  1913,  W.  R.  Webb,  of  Bellbuekle, 
was  elected  United  States  senator  to  fill  out  the  unexpired  term  of  Robt.  L. 
Taylor.  His  principal  competitor  for  this  honor  was  Hon.  M.  T.  Bryan,  of 
Nashville. 

On  January  16,  1913,  Governor  Hooper  transmitted  to  the  Legislature  his 
biennial  message  42  in  which  he  discussed  the  following  subjects :  inspection  of 
state  banks,  interest  on  state  funds,  Confederate  pensions,  anti-pass  law,  ex- 
press companies,  shop  and  factory  inspection,  fellow-servants'  law,  workmen's 
compensation  law,  headlight  bill,  an  act  to  forbid  legislators  practicing  before 
departments  of  state  government,  state  auditing  department,  the  divorce  evil, 
compulsory  primaries,  corrupt  practices  act,  agricultural  department,  immigra- 
tion bureau,  state  geological  survey,  water  power  conservation,  state  board  of 
health,  pure  food  and  drugs  department,  capitol  annex,  governor's  mansion, 
free  libraries,  public  education,  compulsory  education,  refunding  state  debt, 
Tennessee  reformatory,  Bristol  to  Memphis  highway,  public  roads,  the  state 
prisons,  penal  legislation,  state  board  of  charities,  state  board  of  examiners  of 
nurses,  and  appropriations.  He  ended  this  long  and  well-considered  paper  as 
follows : 

"I  trust  that  the  record  of  this  General  Assembly  may  be  creditable  to  its 
members  and  the  state.  I  bespeak  the  cooperation  of  each  individual  legislator, 
and  assure  him  of  my  earnest  sympathy  and  support  in  every  movement  that 
promises  good  for  Tennessee." 

And  it  was  expected  that  harmony  would  prevail,  for  it  was  thought  that 
the  fusionists  were  in  control.  There  was  at  the  start  a  well-working  coalition 
of  republicans,  independents  and  the  Shelby  County  delegation.  It  is  true  ; 
that  this  delegation  favored  a  modification  of  the  liquor  laws  and  the  election 
laws.  But  it  was  understood  that  they  would  not  press  their  wishes  in  these 
respects  upon  the  Legislature  so  long  as  Governor  Hooper  and  his  adherents 
remained  quiescent  upon  them.  When,  however,  the  latter  began  urging  more 
stringent  legislation  (called  at  the  time  "force  bills")  on  liquor  and  elections, 
the  Shelby  delegation  went  over  to  the  regulars  and  trouble  ensued.  The 
fusionists  who,  with  the  Shelby  delegation,  had  had  a  majority  in  the  Legis- 
lature, had  now  become  a  minority  faction,  and  could  not  prevent  the  passage 
of  an  act  repealing  the  election  law  and  they  feared,  with  reason,  that  the 
prohibition  laws  would  be  repealed.  These  laws  had  been  strengthened  by 
the  passage  of  a  law  by  Congress,  which  had  been  introduced  by  Senator  Webb, 
to  prevent  the  shipment  of  liquor  from  wet  states  to  dry  states.  The  opera- 
tion of  this  law  in  Tennessee  they  had  sought  to  fortify  by  the  passage  of 
additional  laws.  But  the  Shelby  delegation  changed  its  alignment,  and  con- 
sequently on  April  1,  1913,  in  order  to  thwart  the  repeal  of  the  liquor  laws, 
and  the  passage  over  the  governor's  veto  of  the  amendment  to  the  election 
law,  a  sufficient  number  of  republicans  and  independents  in  the  House,  to 
break  a  quorum,  left  the  state  and  went  to  Middlesboro,  Ky.,  notwithstanding 


42  House  Journal,  1913,  pp.  56-83. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  619 

the  fact  that  on  March  28th  the  Legislature  had  passed  an  act43  "to  make  it 
a  crime  for  any  member  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee 
to  wilfully  obstruct  the  transaction  of  the  business  of  said  General  Assembly 
by  absenting  himself  from  its  sessions."  Probably  they  believed  that  Governor 
Hooper  would  veto  this  act.  At  any  rate  he  did  so,44  but  it  was  passed  over 
the  veto  on  April  3,  1913.  On  April  3,  also,  the  absconders  issued  a  statement 
to  the  people  of  Tennessee,  reciting  the  reasons  which  actuated  them  in  tak- 
ing their  filibustering  action,  and  saying  they  intended  staying  where  they 
were  "until  every  man  in  Tennessee  is  guaranteed  the  right  to  cast  his  vote 
and  have  it  counted  right  and  until  Tennessee  is  assured  of  no  further  retro- 
gression."    This  statement  was  signed  by  nineteen  members. 

While  the  absconded  members  were  still  recalcitrant,  the  remaining  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  were  proceeding  to  pass  laws  even  though  they  did 
not  possess  a  constitutional  quorum  of  the  House  for  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness. Indeed,  from  April  14,  to  June  19,  1913,  the  House  possessed  a  con- 
stitutional quorum,  only  on  one  roll  call,  on  the  final  passage  of  the  General 
Appropriation  Bill,  April  11,  1913,  when  nine  of  the  absentees  returned  and 
enabled  the  House  to  act  legally  in  the  passage  of  that  bill.  On  June  19th 
the  House  again  had  a  constitutional  quorum  when  some  of  the  absentees  re- 
turned on  the  appeal  of  Governor  Hooper,  in  a  special  message  sent  on  June 
17th,  for  the  passage  of  a  bill  to  give  the  state  funding  board  power  to  make 
a  short  time  loan  so  that  the  state  might  not  default  in  the  payment  of  in- 
terest on  its  bonds  which  would  be  due  on  July  1,  1913.  On  June  19th  he 
still  further  emphasized  the  exigency  in  a  message  and,  on  roll  call  eighty 
members  were  found  to  be  present.  On  June  21,  1913,  an  act  45  was  passed 
embodying  the  desired  legislation.  With  the  exception  of  these  three  days, 
June  19  to  21,  the  House  thenceforward  possessed  no  constitutional  quorum 
to  the  very  end  of  the  session,  August  23,  1913,  when  it  adjourned,  after 
continuing  for  202  days. 

THE  EXTRA   SESSION  OP   1913 

On  August  29,  1913,  Governor  Hooper  issued  a  proclamation  summoning 
the  General  Assembly  to  meet  on  September  8,  1913.  He  asked  them  to  act  on 
no  less  than  sixty-one  subjects  of  general  legislation  and  148  subjects  of  local 
legislation.  Of  these  matters  of  a  general  nature  he  stressed :  appropriations, 
which  had  not  been  provided  for  at  the  regular  session,  law  enforcement  meas- 
ures, back  taxes,  railroad  passes  and  other  favors  from  public  service  corpora- 
tions to  public  officials.  On  the  law  enforcement  question,  he  also  sent  in  a 
special  message  on  September  9,  and  another  on  September  22d.  No  legisla- 
tion, however,  was  effected  at  this  session,  or  law  enforcement  on  liquor  mat- 
ters and  the  fight  was  carried  into  the  second  extra  session  which  was  called 
for  October  13,  1913,  by  a  proclamation  issued  by  Governor  Hooper  on  Septem- 
ber 30,  1913.  His  proclamation  was  devoted  entirely  to  the  necessity  for 
legislation  on  law  enforcement  and  amendments  to  the  refunding  law.  In  it 
he  said  that  "a  majority  of  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  proved  the  enact- 


«  Chapter  38,  Acts  of  1913,  p.  99. 

44  He  vetoed  the  Act  on  two  grounds:  (1)  that  it  was  unconstitutional,  and  (2)  that 
it  was  contrary  to  public  policy  and  the  interests  of  the  people.  See  House  Journal,  1913, 
p.  751. 

45  Chapter  51,  Acts  of  1913,  p.  156. 


620  TKNNESNKE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ment  of  certain  legislation  to  terminate  the  nullification  of  laws  now  prevalent 
in  several  communities  of  the  state,  but  the  majority  in  the  House  failed  to 
reach  a  vote  on  any  of  these  measures."  The  sequel  showed  that  he  was 
righl  for  only  three  days  after  the  Legislature  convened,  viz.:  on  October  16th, 
three40  law  enforcement  and  anti-liquor  bills  were  passed,  and  on  the  next 
day  the  refunding  bill  was  passed.  Then,  after  a  session  of  only  five  days  this 
extra  session  adjourned. 

IMPORTANT    LAWS    ENACTED    IN     1913 

Because  of  the  filibustering  tactics  pursued  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
regular  session  of  1913,  and  the  turbulence  which  characterized  many  of  the 
meetings  surpassing  in  bitterness,  vituperation,  anathema,  charge  and  counter- 
charge even  the  many  times  disorderly  session  of  1911,  not  so  many  bills  were 
considered  as  was  common  and  as  the  public  welfare  demanded.  Nevertheless, 
some  of  the  laws  enacted  were  of  supreme  importance. 

One  bill  on  which  all  factions  could  and  did  unite  was  chapter  23, 47  which 
amended  the  education  act  of  1909  by  appropriating  33%  per  cent  of  the  gross 
revenues  of  the  state  "for  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  public  education 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee,"  instead  of  25  per  cent  as  it  had  been  theretofore. 

Other  important  acts  in  regard  to  education  were:  Chapter  4,48  authoriz- 
ing county  boards  of  education  to  consolidate  schools,  and  Chapter  9,40  called 
the  "compulsory  school  law,"  "to  regulate  and  require  the  attendance  of  school 
children  upon  schools  in  the  State  of  Tennessee." 

The  banking  act  50  was  another  very  important  law  whose  scope  is  indicated 
by  its  caption  as  follows:  "Creating  a  Banking  Department  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  and  through  this  department  regulating,  examining,  controlling,  and 
supervising  banks  and  banking  and  liquidation  of  banks ;  providing  means  and 
agencies  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  hereof,  and  providing  penalties  for 
violations  of  this  act,"  Chapter  2,r>1  created  the  office  of  state  auditor.  Chap- 
ter 8  5-  provided  for  "the  indeterminate  sentence  of  persons  convicted  of  crime, 
and  to  authorize  and  regulate  the  paroling  of  prisoners  so  sentenced,"  and  lias 
proven  a  salutary  as  well  as  a  merciful  provision.53  Chapter  11  created  a  state 
department  of  workshop  and  factory  inspection,  provided  for  the  appointment 
of  a  chief  inspector  and  deputy  inspectors  of  workshops  and  factories  and  pro- 
vided for  the  division  of  the  state  into  inspection  districts.  The  result  of  the 
passage  and  enforcement  of  this  law  has  been  a  wonderful  improvement  in 
the  sanitary  conditions  and  protection  against  fire  and  accidents  to  employes 
in  the  factories  of  the  state. 

In  harmony  with  this  law  was  the  act  54  creating  a  workmen's  compensation 


■*e  Two  of  these  were  called  respectively  the  "Anti-Shipment"  or  "Jug  Bill"   and  the 
"Nuisance  Bill."    The  nuisance  law  was  contested  at  Memphis,  on  April  1,  1914,  and  sustained. 

47  Acts  of  1913,  p.  51. 

48  Ibid.,    p.    7.      The    bonds    were    authorized    to    provide    for    transportation    of    pupils 
residing  too  far  from  the  schools  to  attend  without  transportation. 

■»»  Ibid.,  p.  19.     This  law  required  children  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years 
to  attend  school  for  eighty  days  in  each  year. 
so  Chapter  20,  Acts  of  1913,  p.  192. 
si  Acts  of  1913,  p.  3. 
62  Ibid.,  p.  15. 

53  Ibid.,  p.  26. 

54  Chapter  43,  Acts  of  1913,  p.  120. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  621 

commission  consisting:  of  five  members  to  investigate  and  report  to  the  next 
General  Assembly. 

By  House  Joint  Resolution  No.  49,55  the  Legislature  ratified  the  amendment 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  providing  that  United  States  senators 
shall  be  elected  by  the  people  of  the  several  states. 

A  law  which  had  been  much  needed  for  many  years,  called  the  "Blue  Sky 
Law,"50  was  passed  on  September  27,  1913.  It  was  entitled  "An  Act  to  pro- 
vide for  the  regulation  and  supervision  of  investment  companies  and  providing 
penalties  for  the  violation  thereof."  This  law  has  saved  the  investors  many 
thousands,  possibly  millions  of  dollars. 

THE  GUBERNATORIAL  CAMPAIGN   OP   1914 

Early  in  1914  the  state  democratic  committee  declared  for  the  maintenance 
and  enforcement  of  the  prohibition  and  election  laws.  It  was  predicted  by  many 
that  all  democrats  would  get  together  on  the  same  platform  and  that  past  dif- 
ferences would  be  forgotten  in  the  effort  to  secure  success  for  the  democratic 
party  in  the  forthcoming  election. 

On  April  21,  Hon.  Tom  C.  Rye,  of  Paris,  Tennessee,  announced  his  can- 
didacy for  the  democratic  nomination  for  governor,  "assuming,"  as  he  said, 
"that  the  representatives  of  the  party  in  convention  assembled  on  the  27th  of 
May  will  adopt  a  platform  in  keeping  with  the  declaration  of  the  state  execu- 
tive committee  for  the  maintenance  of  the  present  election  laws,  fairly  admin- 
istered, the  temperance  laws,  and  declare  for  their  rigid  enforcement  and  the 
enactment  of  other  laws  that  may  be  necessary  for  their  enforcement." 

On  the  next  day  the  independents  held  their  state  convention  in  Nashville 
and  renominated  for  governor  Ben  W.  Hooper,  who  had  already  been  renom- 
inated by  the  republicans.  Even  at  this  time  the  defections  from  the  ranks 
of  the  independents  were  noticeable.  But  the  enthusiasm  for  Governor  Hooper 
seemed  unabated,  and  in  the  platform  he  was  strongly  commended  and  planks 
were  adopted  in  regard  to  prohibition,  elections  and  a  free  judiciary  similar  to 
those  in  preceding  independent  platforms. 

Before  the  democratic  state  convention  held  in  Nashville  on  May  27-28,  1914, 
Hon.  Tom  C.  Rye,  of  Henry  County,  and  Hon.  T.  R.  Preston,  of  Hamilton 
County,  were  the  principal  contestants  for  the  gubernatorial  nomination.  After 
a  spirited  contest,  Rye  was  nominated  on  the  ninth  ballot  and,  while  it  was 
remarked  at  the  time  that  he  failed  to  receive  a  single  vote  from  four  large 
counties  in  the  state,  the  nomination  was  generally  pleasing.  The  platform 
adopted  declared,  as  had  been  forecast,  for  temperance  and  law  enforcement, 
saying,  "We  are  opposed  to  the  repeal  of  any  of  the  temperance  laws  now  in 
force,  and  we  pledge  the  democratic  party  to  their  maintenance  and  to  such 
additional  legislation  as  may  be  necessary  to  insure  their  rigid  enforcement." 

On  this  crucial  point  there  was  no  difference  between  the  democrats  on  the 
one  side  and  the  independents  and  republicans  on  the  other.  Hence,  many  of 
the  independents  came  back  to  the  democratic  fold.  Some,  however,  did  not  do 
so,  openly  declaring  their  disbelief  in  the  sincerity  of  the  democrats.  The  result 
of  the   election,   nevertheless,   was  a  reunited   democratic   party    in    Tennessee 


55  Acts  of  1913,  p.  272. 

56  Ibid.,  p.  500. 


622  TKNNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

which  stood  solidly  behind  Rye  who  was  elected  l>y  the  following-  vote:    T.  C. 
Rye,  137,656;  Hen  W.  Hooper,  116,677;  J.  N.  Lotspeieh,  1,671. 

ADMINISTRATION    OP    GOVERNOR   TOM    C.    RYE 

The  Fifty-ninth  General  Assembly  met  on  January  4,  1915,  and  organized 
by  the  election  of  Hon.  Hu  C.  Anderson,  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  Hon.  Win. 
P.  Cooper,  speaker  of  the  House.  On  account  of  the  death  of  Speaker  Ander- 
son, Hon.  A.  E.  Hill,  who  had  been  speaker  pro  tern,  was  elected  speaker  on 
.March  9,  1915. 

Before  the  inauguration  of  Governor  Rye,  on  January  15th,  Governor 
Hooper  sent  in  four  messages  to  the  Legislature,  one  biennial  message  and 
three  special  messages.  In  his  biennial  message  transmitted  on  January  5th, 
he  discussed  the  following  subjects:  the  state  prisons,  parole  law,  convict  labor, 
the  Baxter  Farm,  convicts  on  roads,  insurance  department,  agricultural  depart- 
ment, pure  food  and  drugs,  health  department,  state  geological  survey,  bank- 
ing department,  auditing  department,  department  of  game,  fish  and  forestry, 
charitable  institutions,  workshop  and  factory  inspection,  adjutant  general's 
office,  mining  department,  educational  department,  Tennessee  Industrial  School, 
cost  of  charitable  institutions,  the  state's  finances,  budget  system,  Tennessee's 
per  capita  expenses  and  economy. 

In  his  special  message,"'7  transmitted  on  January  6th,  he  discussed  the  follow- 
ing subjects:  anti-pass  law,  fellow-servants  law,  legislators  practicing  before 
departments,  laws  of  taxation,  the  prerogatives  of  the  governor,  state  highway 
department,  amendments  to  criminal  laws,  Sunday  baseball,  power  for  auditor 
and  board  of  state  charities,  passenger  fare  litigation,  constitutional  conven- 
tion and  legislative  apportionment,  lynching,  San  Francisco  Exposition,  the 
back  tax  investigation,  fee  bill,  state  deposits,  workmen's  compensation,  election 
laws,  corrupt  practices  act,  compulsory  primaries,  force  and  fraud  in  elections, 
compulsory  service  as  election  officials,  woman's  suffrage. 

On  January  12th,  he  sent  in  a  special  message58  on  the  subject  of  the  en- 
forcement of  the  prohibition  laws  of  the  state,  in  which  message  he  discussed 
the  question  in  his  bold  and  trenchant  style  and  gave  a  history  of  the  prohibi- 
tion movement  from  1909  to  the  time  of  his  writing  and  suggested  the  passage 
of  laws  to  meet  the  situation  then  existent. 

On  January  14th,  he  sent  to  the  Legislature  a  special  message50  on  the 
state  debt  in  which  he  discussed  the  modern  aspects  of  the  debt  from  the  year 
1883,  its  history  since  that  date  and  the  urgent  desirability  that  the  members 
of  the  Legislature  aid  in  every  movement  for  the  successful  refunding  of  the 
debt,  "regardless  of  party  affiliations." 

Governor  Rye  in  his  inaugural  address  60  spoke  of  the  principles  and  pledges 
made  by  the  platform  on  which  he  had  made  his  campaign  and  said : 


57  Senate  Journal,  1915,  p.  36. 

ss  Ibid.,  p.  87. 

59  Senate  Journal,  1915,  p.   120. 

so  Governor  Hooper  declined  to  take  part  in  the  inaugural  exercises,  saying,  in  sub- 
stance, that  he  was  not  piqued  but  that  he  had  been  inaugurated  on  January  25,  1911,  and 
that  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  his  successor  was  inaugurated  on  January  15th  he  was  un- 
justly deprived  of  ten  days  in  office.  Governor  Rye's  friends,  however,  pointed  to  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  in  Sec.  5  of  Article  VII  of  the  Constitution :  ' '  The  term  of  office  of  the 
governor  and  other  executive  officers  shall  be  computed  from  the  fifteenth  of  January  next 
after  the  election  of  the  governor."  The  episode  caused  much  talk  at  the  time  throughout 
the   state. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  623 

"Let  us,  here  and  now,  resolve  that  a  new  precedent  shall  be  established  in 
Tennessee  politics  by  discarding'  and  repudiating  the  idea  that  platforms  are 
made  for  campaign  purposes  alone — or,  in  other  words,  to  'get  in  on.'  :  He 
also  said  in  the  same  address:  "We  enter  upon  the  important  and  exacting 
duties  of  a  new  year  and  new  administration  with  an  empty  treasury,  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  business  depression  occasioned  by  what  seems  to  be  a  needless, 
bloody  war  in  the  old  world." 

He  entered  upon  his  duties  with  a  scrupulous  conscientiousness  which  went 
far  toward  making  his  administration  successful.  His  fidelity  and  devotion  to 
duty  are  reflected  in  his  state  papers,  his  public  addresses  and  in  his  private 
conduct.  They  are  clearly  discernible  in  his  very  first  biennial  message  in 
which  he  discussed  the  following  subjects:  The  state's  finances,  state  tax  com- 
mission, state  debt,  economy  in  administration,  examination  of  offices  and  de- 
partments, state  board  of  control  for  penal,  reformatory,  and  charitable  in- 
stitutions, law  enforcement  measures,  anti-pass  and  fellow-servants  law,  work- 
men's compensation  act,  legislative  abscondence,  the  fee  system,  deficiencies  in 
appropriations,  compidsory  primary  elections,  publicity  of  campaign  funds, 
prison  contracts  and  mining,  highway  legislation,  Torrens  land  title  law,  rural 
credit  and  cooperative  associations,  white  slave  traffic,  censors  for  moving  pic- 
tures, pistol  carrying,  state  department  of  archives  and  history,  office  of  mine 
inspector,  weekly  deposit  of  state  funds,  public  schools,  agricultural  depart- 
ment. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  this  message  was  an  able,  thorough  and  well- 
nigh  complete  state  paper,  which  met  the  requirements  of  the  commonwealth 
at  that  time  and  specifically  and  emphatically  set  forth  the  principles  and  poli- 
cies of  the  democratic  party  of  the  state. 

Many  important  bills  were  passed,  including  acts  on  most  of  the  subjects  on 
which  the  democratic  platform  had  made  pledges  and  which  had  been  recom- 
mended by  the  governor  in  his  biennial  message. 

THE   OUSTER   BILL 

Probably  the  most  important  bill  passed  during  this  session  was  the  so-called 
"Ouster  Bill."61  The  caption,  however,  is  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  re- 
moval of  unfaithful  public  officers,  and  providing  a  procedure  therefor." 

It  has  been  called  the  most  drastic  and  far-reaching  law  enforcement  bill 
ever  enacted  by  any  constitutional  government.  In  his  message  to  the  Legis- 
lature Governor  Rye  said : 

"There  can  be  no  difference  of  opinion  upon  a  question  of  law  enforcement, 
and  no  state  can  prosper  as  it  should  whose  citizens  tamely  submit  to  the  open 
nullification  and  disregard  of  the  laws  of  the  land.     *     *     * 

"I  recommend  the  passage  of  a  law  conferring  upon  some  court  of  com- 
petent jurisdiction  the  power  to  speedily  remove  state,  county  and  municipal 
officers  who  refuse  and  wilfully  neglect  to  discharge  their  duties  as  such  officers 
in  enforcing  existing  laws." 

Considerable  opposition  developed  as  to  the  bill  itself  and  especially  to  section 
3  which  reads  as  follows : 

"That  the  petition  or  complaint  shall  be  in  the  name  of  I  he  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  may  be  filed  upon  the  relation  of  the  attorney-general  of  the  state 

si  Chapter  11,  Acts  of  1915,  p.  20,  passed  January  28,  1915. 


624  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

or  the  district  attorney  for  the  state,  or  the  county  attorney  in  the  ease  of 
county  officers  and  of  the  city  attorney,  or  the  district  attorney  for  the  state, 
in  the  case  of  municipal  officers,  and  in  all  cases  it  may  he  filed  without  the 
concurrence  of  any  of  said  officers  upon  the  relation  of  ten  or  more  citizens 
and  freeholders  of  the  state,  county  or  city  as  the  case  may  be  upon  their 
giving  the  usual  security  for  costs." 

The  greatest  opposition  was  made  to  the  provisions  permitting  "the  rela- 
tion of  ten  or  more  citizens"  on  the  ground  that  the  law  would  be  abused,  a 
danger  which  has  not  been  borne  out  by  results. 

An  outcropping  of  the  agitation  caused  by  the  "Night-riders"  appeared  in 
the  passage  of  Chapter  15  G2  "to  protect  those  holding  farm  products  from  in- 
terference on  the  part  of  the  night-riders,  and  other  lawless  persons  on  the 
sale  and  delivery  of  same." 

BOARD    OP    CONTROL 

in  his  biennial  message*13  to  the  Legislature  Governor  Rye  also  said:  "I 
recommend  to  your  bodies  the  enactment  of  a  law  creating  a  Board  of  Control 
for  Penal,  Reformatory,  and  Charitable  Institutions,  controlled  by  the  state." 
He  proceeded  to  make  a  full  and  forceful  exposition  of  his  views  on  this  sub- 
ject, the  result  of  which  was  the  passage  of  chapter  No.  20,04  the  object  of 
which  was  to  secure  by  uniform  and  systematic  management  the  highest  degree 
of  economy  in  the  administration  of  the  institutions  of  the  state.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  provisions  of  that  act  the  board  of  control  took  over  the  super- 
vision of  the  following  named  institutions:  The  Tennessee  School  for  the 
Blind,  The  Tennessee  School  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  The  Tennessee  Industrial 
School,  The  Central  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  The  Eastern  Hospital  for  the 
Insane,  The  Western  Hospital  for  the  Insane,  The  Tennessee  Reformatory  for 
Boys,  The  Tennessee  State  Penitentiary. 

EDUCATIONAL  MATTERS 

An  amendment  was  made  to  the  General  Educational  Bill  of  1909  which 
provided  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  the  Tennessee  Polytechnic 
Institute ,J5  at  Cookeville,  Tennessee.  Chapter  No.  73 66  provided  that  edu- 
cational institutions  may  own  and  operate  demonstration  farms.  Chapter  No. 
93  67  provided  for  more  nearly  equalizing  the  common  schools.  Chapter  No. 
116 68  reorganized  the  state  board  of  education,  increased,  the  number  of 
members  of  the  board  from  six  to  nine  members,  consisting  of  three  mem- 
bers from  each  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  state  appointed  by  the  governor 
who  was  also  to  name  the  chairman  but  who  was  not  to  be  a  member  of  the 
board  himself.  This  board  was  also  authorized  to  elect  the  state  superintendent 
of  public  instruction.  The  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Normal  School  for 
Negroes  was  also  established  at  Nashville. 


ez  Acts  of  1915,  p.  36. 

63  Senate  Journal,  p.  134. 

64  Acts  of  1915,  p.  44. 

65  Chapter  No.  35,  Acts  of  1915,  p.  101.  By  Chapter  No.  155,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  the  University  of  Dixie  were  empowered  to  sell  or  donate  their  grounds  and  buildings. 
Those  furnished  the  home  for  the  Tennessee  Polytechnic  Institute  and  additions  have  since 
been  made. 

ee  Acts  of  1915,  p.   200. 
67  Ibid.,  p.  245. 
es  Ibid.,  p.  329. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  625 

IMPORTANT  LEGISLATION   ON   VARIOUS  SUBJECTS 

Chapter  44  <i!l  was  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  preliminary  examina- 
tion of  all  persons  who  may  hereafter  desire  to  practice  medicine,  surgery, 
osteopathy,  or  any  other  form  of  the  healing  art,  in  the  State  of  Tennessee ; 
to  create  a  state  board  of  preliminary  examination,  and  to  define  its  powers 
and  duties." 

By  chapter  45  7"  a  state  commission  of  public  printing  was  established. 

By  chapter  100  71  a  state  highway  department  was  established  and  a  state 
highway  commission  of  six  was  created. 

By  chapter  105  72  fraudulent  advertising  w7as  made  a  misdemeanor. 

Chapter  110  73  authorized  the  people  to  decide  by  vote  whether  they  would 
call  a  constitutional  convention. 

Chapter  121  74  created  the  office  of  divorce  proctor  in  each  of  the  large 
counties  of  the  state. 

Chapter  124  7r>  was  enacted  "to  prevent  back  or  re-assessment  of  real  and 
personal  property  which  has  been  assessed  by  the  regularly  assessing  author- 
ities. ' ' 

By  chapter  131  7G  the  office  of  state  fire  prevention  commission  was  created. 

By  chapter  152  77  the  state  department  of  game  and  fish  was  created. 

Chapter  169  78  is  a  most  thorough  and  comprehensive  act  providing  for  the 
regulation  and  inspection  of  mines  in  Tennessee  and  for  the  safety,  welfare 
and  protection  of  persons  employed  therein. 

What  is  known  as  the  "Bad  Cheek  Law"70  was  drawn  by  Hon.  W.  B. 
Marr,  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Davidson  County,  and  has  been 
the  means  of  preventing  much  fraud  entailing  loss  by  the  use  of  spurious 
checks.  By  House  Joint  Resolution  No.  61  s0  the  second  Sunday  in  May  of 
each  year  is  appointed  and  set  apart  as  "Mother's  Day, "  an  action  which 
reflected  the  noblest  impulses  of  every  member  and  their  constituents. 

The  movement  to  secure  votes  for  women,  which  began  to  attract  marked 
attention  in  1911,  when  the  first  league  of  women  voters  was  organized  in 
Nashville,  a  movement  which  had  gained  strength  in  the  intervening  years, 
came  to  a  climax  when  House  Joint  Resolution  No.  16  S1  was  adopted  on  May 
14,  1915.  It  was  proposed  by  this  resolution  "That  Article  III,  Section  I 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  be  amended  so  as  to  read  as 
follows : 

"Every  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  resident  of  this  state  for  twelve  months,  and  of  the  county  wherein 
he  or  she  may  offer  his  or  her  vote  for  six  months  next  preceding  the  day  of  the 
election,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and 
other  civil  officers  for  the  county  or  district  in  which  he  or  she  resides,"  etc. 


09  Acts  of  1915,  p.  123,  passed  March  30,  1915. 

to  Ibid.,  p.  127,  passed  March  30,  1915. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  256,  passed  March  11,  1915. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  309,  passed  March  14,  1915. 

"Ibid.,  p.  314,  passed  May  12,  1915. 

™  Ibid.,  p.  336,  passed  May  14,  1915. 

75  Acts  of  1915,  p.  344,  passed  May  15,  1915. 

70  Ibid.,  p.  371,  passed  May  6,  1915. 

77  Ibid.,  p.  423,  passed  May  13,  1915. 

78  Ibid.,  p.  462,  passed  May  17,  1915. 

79  Chapter  178,  Acts  of  1915,  p.  527,  passed  May  12,  1915. 
so  Acts  of  1915,  p.  593,  adopted  Mav  7,  1915. 

s'  Acts  of  1915,  p.  575. 


626  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  resl  of  the  resolution  refers  to  the  requirement  of  the  poll  tax,  military  duty 
by   male  citizens  and  the  enactment  of  proper1  election  laws. 

The  agitation  for  equal  suffrage  began  early  in  the  session  in  January  and 
was  prosecuted  vigorously.  The  amendment  adopted  was  to  be  submitted  by  the 
next  Legislature  to  a  vote  of  the  people. 

For  some  time  prior  to  this  session  Mr.  Duke  C.  Bowers,  a  wealthy  busi- 
ness man  and  philanthropist  of  Memphis,  had  been  conducting  an  active  and 
skillful  campaign  advocating  the  abolishment  of  the  death  penalty  in  Tennessee 
except  in  case  of  rape.  During  the  regular  session  of  this  General  Assembly 
he  and  his  assistants  and  those  who  favored  such  legislation  were  extremely 
ardent  in  the  cause  and  sedulously  endeavored  to  influence  the  members  of  the 
Legislature.  They  were  not  successful  in  securing  the  passage  of  their  bill, 
however,  until  March  27,  1915. S2     This  law  was  repealed  in  1919.83 

The  " An ti- Tippling  Bill"84  was  passed  March  24,  1915,  and  all  subsequent 
attempts  to  amend  or  repeal  it  have  been  successfully  resisted. 

On  February  6,  1915,  Gen.  Charles  T.  Gates,  former  attorney-general  of 
the  state,  and  Gen.  Frank  M.  Thompson,  state  attorney-general  entered  into  an 
agreement  with  Gen.  T.  W.  Bickett,  attorney-general  of  North  Carolina  whereby 
the  following  committee  was  selected  to  run  a  new  line  between  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina  in  the  Slick  Rock  section  of  the  Great  Smoky  Mountains:  W.  D. 
Hale,  of  Tennessee;  D.  B.  Burns,  of  North  Carolina;  and  Joseph  Hyde  Pratt,  of 
the  University  of  North  Carolina.  Of  these  Tennessee  selected  the  first,  North 
Carolina  the  second,  and  these  two  selected  the  third.  This  action  was  the  re- 
sult of  a  suit  between  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  in  which  suit  North  Carolina  was  successful.  It  involved  a 
valuable  tract  along  a  part  of  the  state  line. 

In  the  enactment  of  the  important  laws  passed  at  this  session  it  should  be 
said  that  most  of  the  legislation  advocated  in  the  democratic  platform  was 
effected.  The  most  noteworthy  exceptions  were  the  primary  bill,  the  anti-pass 
bill  and  the  fellow-servants'  bill,  which  were  fought  fiercely  and  successfully  by 
a  determined  opposition.  In  the  next  session,  however,  a  compulsory  primary 
law  was  passed.  There  was  a  very  strong  desire  that  an  anti-pass  bill  be  passed. 
On  this  subject  the  governor  said  in  his  message,85  January  18,  1915 : 

"There  are  two  subjects  of  legislation  about  which  all  parties  agree  and 
have  agreed  in  their  platform  declarations  and  public  utterances  of  candidates 
for  some  time  past;  I  refer  to  the  fellow-servants'  and  anti-pass  laws." 

And  again  in  his  message,80  of  March  4,  1915,  he  said : 

"It  must  be  remembered  that  the  democratic  party  is  solemnly  pledged  to 
enact  a  law  against  the  issuance  or  use  of  free  railroad  passes  and  also  to  the 
passage  of  a  fellow-servants'  law." 

The  press  of  the  state  quite  generously  favored  the  passage  of  an  anti-pass 
law  and  expressed  their  sentiments  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  session.  As- 
sertions were  made  that  the  railroads  had  issued  thousands  of  passes  to  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  or  upon  their  requests.  According  to  the  Bristol-Herald- 
Courier  there  were  18,000  passes  so  issued  in  1913  alone. 


as  Chapter  181,  Acts  of  1915,  printed  in  Vol.  II,  p.  5. 

83  Chapter  4,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  27. 

8*  Chapter  185,  Acts  of  1915,  printed  in  Vol.  II,  p.  10. 

85  Senate  Journal,  1915,  p.  143. 

86  Ibid.,  p.  311. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  627 

The  reason  why  the  workmen's  compensation  law  was  not  passed  was  as- 
serted to  be  because  of  the  business  conditions  of  that  time,  the  opposition  hav- 
ing taken  the  ground  that  the  passage  of  it  would  add  burdens  on  the  manu- 
facturer which  in  some  cases  would  be  ruinous. 

IMPEACHMENT  OF  EDGINGTON  AND  ESTES 

Notwithstanding  the  salutary  effects  which  followed  the  passage  of  the 
Ouster  Law,  complaint  was  frequently  made  that  officials  in  some  of  the  larger 
cities  were  guilty  of  corrupt  practices.  Finally,  charges  were  made  of  official 
misconduct  against  Judge  Jesse  Edgington,  judge  of  Division  I  of  the  Criminal 
Court  of  Shelby  County  and  against  Z.  Newton  Estes,  attorney-general  for 
Shelby  County.  Therefore,  on  March  11,  1916,  Governor  Rye  issued  a  procla- 
mation S7  convening  the  General  Assembly  in  extraordinary  session  on  March 
21,  1916,  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  official  conduct  and  fidelity  of 
Circuit  and  Criminal  Court  judges  and  district  attorneys  for  the  state,  "and 
especially  into  the  conduct  and  fidelity  of  Judge  Edgington  and  General  Estes, 
and,  if  the  facts  should  warrant,  to  remove  or  to  impeach  either  or  both  of 
them." 

Accordingly  the  Legislature  convened  on  March  21st,  and  on  that  date 
adopted  House  Resolution  No.  2,S8  which  provided  that  nine  members  of  the 
House  be  appointed  by  the  speaker  to  take  proof  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
to  the  House  articles  of  impeachment  against  Judge  Edgington  and  General 
Estes. 

Witnesses  were  summoned,  proof  was  taken,  and,  on  March  29th,  Edging- 
ton and  Estes  were  impeached  by  the  House.  The  vote  was  unanimous  with 
regard  to  Edgington  and  there  was  but  one  negative  vote  in  the  case  of  Estes. 
The  following  named  members  of  the  House  were  appointed  a  prosecuting  com- 
mittee in  the  case  of  Edgington,  viz.:  Clyde  Shropshire,  of  Davidson  County; 
Edward  E.  Creswell,  of  Sevier  County ;  and  R.  A.  Ashley,  of  Dyer  County. 

The  personnel  of  the  committee  appointed  to  prosecute  Estes  was :  Hoyte 
T.  Stewart,  of  Cannon  County;  Lewis  Emerson  Elkins,  of  Gibson  County;  and 
Lon  A.  Scott,  of  Hardin  County. 

Edgington  was  tried  first  on  twenty-nine  articles  of  impeachment  presented 
to  the  Senate  sitting  as  a  court.  The  trial  began  on  April  24th  and  ended  June 
16,  1916,  when  Edgington  was  convicted  on  eight  of  the  charges,  was  removed 
from  the  bench  and  was  deprived  of  the  right  to  hold  office. 

The  Estes  trial  was  begun  on  June  16th,  immediately  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  Edgington  ease,  but  after  the  twenty-five  articles  of  impeachment  presented 
by  the  House  of  Representatives  had  been  read  a  recess  was  taken  until  July 
5th.  On  July  27th  Estes  was  convicted  and  removed  from  office  but  it  was 
decreed  "that  this  judgment  shall  not  extend  or  go  further  than  removal  from 
office — that  is  to  say,  the  said  Z.  Newton  Estes  is  not  disqualified  from  hereafter 
holding  office  in  Tennessee."  8!) 

An  effort  was  made  also  to  oust  J.  A.  Riechman,  sheriff  of  Shelby  County, 
but  in  an  opinion  issued  by  Chancellor  Heiskcll  on  April  3,  1916,  he  was  de- 
clared not  guilty  of  official  misconduct. 


87  Acts  of  Extraordinary  Session  of  1910,  p.  23. 

ss  Ibid.,  p.  49. 

89  Impeachment  Proceedings,  State  of  Tennessee  vs.  Z.   Newton  Estes,  p.  128. 


628  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

GUBERNATORIAL    CAMPAIGN    OK    191(> 

On  March  13,  1916,  Governor  Rye  made  an  announcement  of  his  candidacy 
for  reelection,  in  which  announcement  lie  said: 

"In  making  this  announcement,  I  am  assuming'  that  the  party  I  have  the 
honor  to  represent  will  take  no  backward  step,  but  will  adopt  a  platform  de- 
claring for  needed  progressive  legislation  and  at  the  same  time  strictly,  adhere 
to  the  principles  of  the  party,  as  announced  by  the  last  convention." 

It  was  generally  conceded  that  Governor  Rye  had  exercised  his  authority 
with  wisdom  and  moderation,  that  he  had  attended  to  the  duties  of  his  office 
quietly  but  firmly,  and  that  he  had  carried  out  his  pledges  to  the  people.  For 
this  reason  he  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  democratic  nomination. 

The  republicans  nominated  Hon.  John  W.  Overall,  of  Liberty,  De  Kalb 
County,  a  strong  and  deservedly  popular  man  with  an  excellent  record,  having 
been  United  States  marshal  for  the  district  of  Middle  Tennessee  three  separate 
terms,  delegate  to  various  republican  national  conventions,  and  having  high 
standing  in  the  business  world.  The  returns  were :  Tom  C.  Rye,  146,758 ; 
John  W.  Overall,  117,817 ;  L.  D.  Wiles,  2,066. 

There  was  also  a  spirited  contest  for  United  States  senator  this  year.  In 
the  democratic  primary,  K.  D.  McKellar  won  the  nomination  over  Senator 
Luke  Lea  and  ex-Governor  Patterson.  McKellar  also  defeated  ex-Governor 
Hooper,  the  republican  candidate  for  United  States  senator  by  more  than  24,000 
votes. 

LEGISLATION  OP  GOVERNOR  RYE'S  SECOND  TERM 

The  Sixtieth  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  1,  1917,  and  organized 
by  the  election  of  Clyde  Shropshire,  as  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
and  W.  R.  Crabtree,  as  speaker  of  the  Senate.  Two  days  later  Governor  Rye 
read  his  biennial  message  90  to  the  two  houses  in  joint  convention  and  it  is 
worthy  of  note  that  this  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  state  when  a 
governor  appeared  in  person  to  deliver  his  message  to  the  Legislature.  In  the 
message  he  considered  the  following  subjects:  state  debt,  revenue  and  appropria- 
tions; democratic  platform,  1914;  the  financial  condition  of  the  state  treasury: 
the  fee  system;  budget  commission;  enlarging  the  power  of  state  auditor,  uni- 
form book-keeping. 

It  was  hoped  and  believed  that  this  session  of  the  Legislature  would  be  har- 
monious and  would  enact  many  much-needed  laws,  for  there  was  nothing  of  a 
specially  political  character  to  come  before  it  and  there  was  no  factional  con- 
tention that  was  likely  to  disturb  the  serenity  of  its  deliberations.  To  be  sure 
there  were  still  violations  of  the  liquor  laws  and  these  laws  were  made  still  more 
stringent  by  the  enactment  of  seven  laws  which  were  designed  to  supplement 
and  render  more  efficient  the  prohibition  laws  already  on  the  statute  books.  Four 
of  these  were  passed  very  early  in  the  session,  being  chapters  2,  3,  4,  and  5. 

The  absent  voters'  bill91  also  passed  early.  This  was  an  act  "to  enable 
voters,  required  by  their  duties  to  be  absent  from  their  voting  precincts  on  the 
day  of  election,  to  vote  by  registered  mail." 


so  House  Journal,  1917,  pp.  15-36. 

oi  Chapter  8,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  12,  passed  January  18,  1917. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  629 

This  law  was  strongly  favored  by  traveling  men  and  others,  who,  heretofore, 
had  been  deprived  of  the  right  to  vote  through  necessary  absence  from  home  on 
the  day  of  election. 

Chapter  9  92  provided  that  the  closed  season  on  migratory  game  birds  con- 
form to  the  closed  season  provided  under  the  Federal  regulations  for  the  protec- 
tion of  migratory  birds. 

For  many  years,  beginning,  indeed,  shortly  after  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  1870,  sporadic  efforts  had  been  made  looking  to  the  holding  of  an- 
other convention  for  the  framing  of  a  new  constitution  adapted  to  the  changed 
conditions  and  requirements  of  the  state.  Hence,  many  patriotic  and  progressive 
citizens  hailed  with  delight  the  passage  of  the  act93  "to  authorize  the  people 
to  decide  by  vote  whether  they  will  call  a  constitutional  convention,  and  to  pro- 
vide for  the  submission  of  said  question  to  the  voters  of  the  state  and  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  result."  July  28,  1917,  was  the  date  set  for  the  election 
and  in  the  five  months  preceding  that  time  strong  efforts  were  made  to  secure  a 
favorable  sentiment  and  vote.  Some  of  the  ablest  and  best  speakers  in  the  state 
made  many  addresses  on  the  subject  and  the  press  generally  was  heartily  in 
favor  of  the  new  constitution.  Nevertheless  it  was  defeated  principally  by  the 
large  negative  vote  of  the  rural  regions. 

Another  important  measure  °4  established  the  office  of  the  state  dairy  com- 
missioner and  defined  his  duties. 

The  act !)5  establishing  the  Tennessee  Commission  for  the  Blind  was  a  notable 
eleemosynary  achievement.  Its  importance  is  shown  in  its  caption  which  states 
that  it  is  "A  Bill  to  provide  a  register  of  the  blind  persons  within  the  state;  to 
provide  a  school  or  schools  for  training  and  employing  blind  persons,  including 
temporary  subsistence  and  to  provide  for  the  sale  of  products  of  the  training 
workshops;  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  the  officers  and  agents  and  for 
their  compensation ;  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  a  commission  and  for 
their  expenses,  and  to  appropriate  funds  for  the  work  of  the  commission  and 
to  regulate  the  disbursements  thereof." 

For  many  years  the  state  had  been  criticized  for  the  maintenance  of  its  sys- 
tem of  leasing  its  convicts  to  manufacturers.  Labor  leaders  were  especially 
vehement  in  their  denunciation  of  this  system,  saying  that  it  brought  free  labor 
in  disadvantageous  competition  with  convict  labor  and  gave  manufacturers  who 
employed  convict  labor  an  unfair  advantage.  The  long  cumulative  protests 
finally  attained  their  reward  by  the  enactment  of  a  law011  entitled  "An  Act  to 
abolish  the  system  of  contracting  or  leasing  the  labor  of  convicts  to  manufac- 
turers ;  declaring  the  policy  of  the  state  with  reference  thereto  and  empowering 
the  Tennessee  Board  of  Control  to  give  to  the  present  contractors  for  convict 
labor  in  manufactories,  the  six  months'  notice  required  by  law  for  the  termina- 
tion of  the  contracts  now  in  existence  and  providing  that  the  notice  shall  be  given 
so  that  the  present  contracts  will  be  made  to  terminate  not  later  than  April  1, 
1919." 

One  of  the  most  important  bills  from  a  financial  point  of  view  was  the  meas- 
ure which  purposed  the  placing  of  county  officers  upon  salary  instead  of  allow- 
ing them  fees.    Under  the  previous  system  the  state  was  deprived  of  much  rev- 


92  Acts  of  1917,  p.  21. 

93  Chapter  23,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  42,  passed  March,  1917. 

94  Chapter  30,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  60,  passed  March  8,  1917. 

95  Chapter  34,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  73. 

96  Chapter  46,  Acts  1917,  p.  98. 


630  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

enue  justly  due  it,  by  allowing  the  fees  that  should  have  been  paid  into  its 
treasury  to  enrich  county  officials  who  thus  in  many  cases  received  excessive 
pay  for  their  services.  The  object  of  the  bill  introduced  was  to  correct  the 
anomaly  and  to  apply  the  rules  of  good  business  sense.  This  bill  was  strongly 
urged  by  the  governor  9T  and  became  Chapter  47,'-'s  whose  caption  is  mainly  as 
follows:  "An  Act  to  be  entitled,  'An  Act  fixing  the  salaries  of  certain  county 
officials  in  the  state,  to-wit:  The  several  clerks  and  masters  of  the  Chancery 
Courts,  clerks  of  the  various  County  and  Probate,  Circuit,  Criminal  and  Special 
courts,  county  trustee,  register  of  deeds  and  sheriffs;  to  provide  for  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  fees  of  their  offices;  to  fix  the  salaries  of  said  offices  and  to  provide 
for  the  payment  thereof.'  :  The  rest  of  the  caption  pertains  to  the  assistants, 
office  expenses,  etc. 

The  salaries  were  determined  according  to  the  popidation  of  the  counties, 
for  which  purpose  the  state  was  divided  into  five  classes,  the  highest  salary  in 
class  one  being  .+6,000  a  year,  and  the  highest  in  class  five  being  $2,000  a  year. 

The  appropriation  for  pensions  for  Confederate  soldiers  was  increased  to 
.+900,000  per  annum.911 

The  legal  holidays  were  declared  to  be :  January  1st  and  19th ;  February 
22d ;  July  4th ;  First  Monday  in  September ;  December  25th ;  Good  Friday ; 
Decoration  Day ;  and  all  days  appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state  or  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  as  days  of  fasting  or  thanksgiving,  and  "all 
days  set  apart  by  law  for  holding  county,  state,  or  national  holidays  and  the 
period  from  noon  to  midnight  of  each  Saturday  which  is  not  a  holiday,  is  made 
a  half  holiday,  on  which  holidays  and  half  Jiolidays  all  the  public  offices  of  the 
state  may  be  closed  and  business  of  every  character,  at  the  option  of  the  parties 
in  interest  or  managing  the  same,  may  be  suspended.100 

Another  act  for  which  a  strong  fight  had  been  unsuccessfully  made  during 
the  previous  session  of  the  Legislature  was  the  "Compulsory  Primary  Law."  101 
By  this  act  all  party  nominations,  whether  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly, 
or  for  governor,  or  railroad  commissioners,  or  for  representatives  and  senators  in 
the  United  States  Congress  are  compelled  to  be  made  in  party  primaries  in  order 
to  secure  the  placing  of  the  names  of  candidates  upon  the  official  ballots  of  the 
state. 

Chapter  131  102  was  passed  "to  ratify  the  action  of  the  state  game  warden 
in  creating  'The  Appalachian  Fish  and  Game  Preserve  No.  1,'"  consisting 
of  the  counties  of  Sevier,  Blount,  Monroe,  and  Polk  (mountain  counties  on  the 
eastern  border  of  the  state),  and  to  cooperate  with  the  forestry  department  of 
the  United  States  Government  in  the  protection  of  wild  game,  fish  and  birds  in 
the  Appalachian  region,  where  the  United  States  had  purchased  tracts  of  land 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  national  forest  preserve  to  protect  the  timber 
and  game  and  for  use  as  a  park. 


»7  Acts  of  1917,  p.  100. 

»8  In  his  biennial  message  he  said:  "If  there  is  one  good  reason  for  continuing  the 
system  of  allowing  the  clerks  of  courts,  and  other  county  officers  in  the  more  populous 
counties,  to  receive,  for  their  own  use  and  benefit,  all  the  fees  which  it  is  their  duty  to 
collect,  I  have  failed  to  hear  it."  And  again,  "We  can  not  have  a  just  financial  system  so 
long  as  we  have  a  rotten,  iniquitous,  corrupting  fee  system." 

99  Chapter  82,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  263. 

ioo  Chapter  86,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  267.  To  the  holidays  herein  designated  was  added 
February  12th,  Lincoln's  birthday,  by  Chapter  28,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  74;  also  November  11th, 
to  be  known  as  "Victory  Day,"  by  chapter  34,  Acts  1919,  p.  83. 

ioi  Chapter  118,  Acts  1917,  p.  338. 

102  Acts  of  1917,  p.  399. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  631 

Another  extremely  commendable  act lon  was  that  "to  establish  a  general 
budgetary  system  for  the  State  of  Tennessee,  to  create  a  budget  commission 
(and)  prescribe  its  duties." 

Again,  as  in  previous  sessions,  a  fruitless  effort  was  made  to  pass  an  anti- 
pass  bill.  Indeed,  an  anti-pass  bill  was  among  the  first  bills  introduced,  but  in- 
terest in  it  noticeably  abated  when,  about  the  same  time,  it  was  declared  to  be 
the  policy  of  the  railroads  not  to  issue  "constituent"  passes,  that  is,  passes  to 
the  constituents  of  members  of  the  Legislature  upon  the  recjuest  of  such  mem- 
bers.    Passes  to  members  of  the  Legislature,  however,  would  still  be  honored. 

Another  important  bill  which  failed  of  passage  but  which  commanded  much 
attention  both  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  and  the  citizens  of  the  state  at 
large  was  the  "woman's  suffrage  bill,"  proposing  to  give  women  the  right  to 
vote  in  municipal  and  presidential  elections.  A  foundation,  however,  was  laid 
for  favorable  action  on  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
giving  women  the  elective  franchise,  which  action  was  taken  in  1919. 


103  Chapter  ]39,  Acts  of  1917,  p.  412. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 
TENNESSEE  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR— SERGEANT  ALVIN  C.  YORK 

TENNESSEE  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR 

The  manhood  of  Tennessee  has  ever  been  avid  of  military  glory.  This  pro- 
nounced penchant  was  proven  at  King's  .Mountain  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
in  all  the  sanguinary  wars  with  the  Indians,  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  in 
the  War  of  1812,  in  the  Mexican  war  when  Tennessee  acquired  the  proud  sobri- 
quet of  "The  Volunteer  State,"  in  the  War  between  the  States,  in  the  Spanish- 
American  war,  and,  recently,  in  that  most  terrible  of  all  wars,  the  great  World 
war. 

When  the  World  war  began  in  August,  1914,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  United  States  was  neutral,  the  imagination  of  large  numbers  of  adventurous 
youths  in  America  was  fired  to  such  an  extent  that  they  enrolled  themselves  for 
service  in  the  armies  of  Canada,  England  and  France.  Among  these  were  some 
from  Tennessee.  But  when  this  country,  forced  by  the  deeds  of  Germany  which 
had  horrified  mankind  and  especially  by  the  ruthless  sinking  of  vessels  on  which 
peaceable  Americans  were  traveling,  had  declared  war  against  the  Imperial 
German  Government  by  resolution  approved  April  6,  1917,  the  utmost  en- 
thusiasm for  the  conflict  prevailed  throughout  the  United  States  in  which 
enthusiasm  no  state  surpassed  Tennessee.  There  was  virtually  no  pro-German 
sentiment  in  this  state.  Every  member  of  Congress  from  Tennessee  supported 
the  joint  resolution  favored  by  President  Wilson  and  supported  him  and  the 
administration  in  all  the  measures  needed  to  raise  an  army,  drill  it  and  trans- 
port it  across  the  Atlantic  for  service  in  France. 

In  Tennessee  thousands  of  men,  of  all  ages,  did  not  wait  to  be  summoned, 
but  responded  at  once  as  volunteers,  as  became  loyal  sons  of  The  Volunteer  State. 
The  first  question  which  confronted  the  Wilson  administration  was  whether  this 
country  should  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  France  and  England  and  summon  to 
arms  and  war  work  every  available  person  or  should  rely  upon  volunteers.  Con- 
scription was  not  popular.  In  the  Civil  war  reliance  was  had  upon  voluntary 
enlistments  on  both  sides  until  necessity  forced  the  draft.  In  the  debates  in 
Congress  all  phases  of  this  question  were  developed.  In  the  end  it  was  decided 
that  the  burdens  of  war  should  be  distributed  as  equitably  as  possible.  In  May, 
1917,  Congress  passed  the  "selective  draft"  law  compelling  the  registration  of 
all  men  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  thirty  inclusive  and  providing  for 
the  selection  of  soldiers  by  lot  from  the  millions  thus  enrolled.  When  the  call 
came  to  Tennesseans,  they  were  ready,  gave  up  everything  that  men  hold  dear 
and  left  their  homes  for  the  camps  on  fire  with  patriotism  and  zeal  for  service. 
Most  of  them  wished  to  cross  to  Europe  at  once. 

The  men  and  women,  and  even  the  children  of  Tennessee,  who  could  not  be- 
come soldiers,  gave  proof  of  their  loyalty  by  service  for  the  Government  at 
home.    They  laid  aside  their  ordinary  pursuits  and  gave  time  and  money  to  the 

632 


MONUMENT  EEECTED  BY  THE  117TII  INFANTRY, 
59TH  BRIGADE,  30TH  DIVISION,  AT  KNOXVILLE, 
WITH  THE  NAMES  OF  453  OFFICERS  AND  MEN 
KILLED  IN  THE  WORLD  WAR  IN  BELGIUM  AND 
FRANCE 


OF  ^E 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  635 

furtherance  of  the  cause.  Tennessee  largely  over-subscribed  her  allotment  in 
every  Liberty  Loan  campaign  and  contributed  millions  more  than  she  was  asked 
to  contribute  to  the  Red  Cross,  the  Salvation  Army,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  the  Knights 
of  Columbus  and  to  other  agencies,  each  of  which  was  thoroughly  organized 
in  every  county  in  the  state. 

The  U-boat  warfare  of  the  Germans  was  so  unremitting  and  remorseless, 
"spurlos  versenkt"  (to  sink  without  a  trace),  being  an  expression  much  used  in 
connection  with  their  efforts,  that  it  was  recognized  by  our  Government  at  the 
very  beginning  that  the  transportation  of  our  troops  to  France  would  be  at- 
tended with  much  danger.  The  activities  of  the  German  submarines  and  their 
success  in  the  destruction  of  vessels  may,  indeed,  have  been  influential  in  their 
disregarding  the  danger  of  the  United  States  entering  the  war  against  the  Ger- 
mans in  the  thought  that  our  Government  would  not  dare  to  transport  large 
numbers  of  men,  and  in  any  event  they  thought  it  impossible  for  our  troops  to 
be  trained  and  transported  in  time  to  help  the  allies  win  the  war.  The  direction 
of  the  transportation  of  American  troops  to  France  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Rear  Admiral  Albert  Gleaves,  a  native  of  Tennessee,  whose  genius  was  so 
transcendant  that,  during  the  first  year  of  the  war,  he  placed  nearly  two  million 
soldiers  on  the  soil  of  France  with  a  loss  of  only  three  hundred  lives.  This  is 
justly  considered  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  in  warfare  that  the  world 
has  ever  known. 

Since  the  war  a  fine  oil  painting  of  Admiral  Gleaves  was  placed  in  the 
Tennessee  State  Library  for  the  Hall  of  Fame  of  the  state. 

When  the  American  troops  were  placed  on  the  battle  line  beside  the  French 
and  English  armies,  Tennessee  soldiers  were  among  the  first  to  be  sent  to  the 
front.  There  they  conducted  themselves  with  such  courage  and  brilliancy  that 
they  received  not  only  the  praise  of  their  own  officers  but  also  that  of  the  French 
and  English  commanders. 

The  Government  organized  Tennessee  by  the  appointment  of  Rutledge  Smith, 
of  Putnam  County,  as  disbursing  officer  and  chairman  of  the  National  Council 
of  Defense  and  made  him  a  major  of  infantry.  This  was  preeminently  a  case 
of  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  So  efficient  did  he  prove  in  the  induction 
of  men  into  the  service  and  in  the  performance  of  the  multifarious  duties  in- 
cumbent upon  him  that  he  was  placed  in  charge  of  all  the  southern  states  south 
of  the  Ohio  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  Potomac  River.  In  Ten- 
nessee alone  he  superintended  the  enlistment  of  approximately  one  hundred 
thousand  men. 

W.  E.  Myer,  of  Smith  County,  was  placed  in  charge  of  Federal  Fuel  Ad- 
ministration. Lee  Brock,  of  Davidson  County,  was  made  chairman  of  the  Fair 
Price  Committee,  and  Percy  Maddin,  of  Davidson  County,  was  placed  in  charge 
of  the  Legal  Advisory  Board.  All  these  were  most  admirable  selections  and  the 
work  they  performed,  ably  and  unselfishly,  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  appoint- 
ment in  each  ease. 

The  Tennessee  troops  were  diffused  in  all  the  branches  of  our  military  and 
naval  forces  and  entered  into  the  aeroplane  service,  too.  The  principal  divisions 
in  which  they  served,  however,  were  the  following:  The  30th  Division,  the  27th 
Division,  the  1st,  2nd,  3rd,  4th,  26th,  28th,  32nd,  42nd,  56th.  7th,  8th,  29th,  30th, 
31st,  32nd,  33rd,  34th,  35th,  36th,  37th,  38th,  39th,  40th,  41st,  42nd,  76th,  77th, 
78th,  79th,  80th,  81st,  82nd,  83rd,  84th,  85th,  86th,  87th,  88th,  89th,  90th,  91st, 
and  92nd  Divisions. 


636  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Tennessee  troops,  like  the  troops  of  other  states,  were  used  wherever  the  needs 
of  the  movement  were  greatest.  It  is  impossible,  therefore,  to  give  within  the 
limits  of  one  chapter  an  account  of  the  valiant  services  performed  by  all  the 
contingents  in  which  there  were  hoys  from  this  state.  The  fighting  operations 
of  most  of  the  Tennesseans,  however,  were  in  the  battles  of  St.  Mihiel,  and  the 
Argonne  Forest.  While  several  divisions  of  American  troops,  most  of  them 
containing  Tennesseans,  were  stationed  elsewhere  under  British  or  French  com- 
mand, the  St.  Mihiel  and  Argonne  battles  stand  out  most  prominently  so  far 
as  the  American  forces  are  concerned,  because  they  were  fought  in  American 
sectors,  under  American  leaders  and  largely  by  American  troops.  Twenty-four 
out  of  the  twenty-nine  divisions  of  American  troops  which  had  battle  experience 
engaged  in  one  or  both  of  these  great  offensive  operations,  and  in  both  Ten- 
nessean  troops  took  a  glorious  part. 

THE   THIRTIETH    DIVISION 

The  Thirtieth  Division,  dubbed  the  "Old  Hickory"  Division  in  honor  of 
Andrew  Jackson,  was  composed  of  National  Guard  troops  of  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  increased  by  some  thousands  of  selective  draft 
troops  from  the  states  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  North  Dakota, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Tennessee.  On  August  17,  1918,  this  divi- 
sion took  over  the  entire  sector  occupied  by  the  Thirty-third  British  Division. 
This  was  known  as  the  Canal  Sector.  The  Thirtieth  Division  included  the 
Fifty-ninth  and  Sixtieth  brigades,  in  both  of  which  were  Tennessee  troops,  and 
both  of  which  assisted  in  breaking  the  Hindenburg  Line.  The  Fifty-ninth 
Brigade  was  commanded  by  Gen.  Lawrence  D.  Tyson,  of  Knoxville,  who  went  to 
Camp  Sevier  at  the  head  of  all  the  Tennessee  National  Guard  troops.  He  com- 
manded this  brigade  through  all  its  period  of  training  at  Camp  Sevier,  in  all 
its  operations  overseas  and  until  it  was  mustered  out  of  service  in  April,  1919. 
General  Tyson  was  awarded  the  Distinguished  Service  Medal  by  General  Persh- 
ing for  his  skillful  leadership  during  the  battle  activities  of  the  brigade  and  a 
large  number  of  medals,  crosses  and  citations  were  bestowed  upon  officers  and 
men  under  him. 

The  attack  upon  this  part  of  the  line  began  on  September  29,  1918,  at  5  :50 
A.  M.  Most  of  the  companies  became  confused  in  the  thick  fog  but  made  good 
progress,  in  which  operations  the  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  Infantry,  un- 
der Col.  Cary  F.  Spence,  covered  itself  with  glory.  On  October  8th  the  Fifty- 
ninth  Brigade  renewed  its  offensive  which  was  taken  up  by  the  Sixtieth  Brigade 
two  days  later.  The  Fifty-ninth  also  started  the  great  drive  of  October  17th 
which  was  taken  up  by  the  Sixtieth  on  the  18th. 

For  distinguished  leadership  in  action  Colonel  Spence  was  cited  by  General 
Pershing  and  129  men  under  his  command  received  medals  and  decorations. 
The  One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  Infantry  also  shared  equally  in  the  ten 
citations  conferred  upon  the  whole  Thirtieth  Division  by  the  English  and 
Australian  High  Command.  Major-General  Lewis,  commander  of  the  Thirtieth 
Division,  decorated  the  colors  of  the  regiment  for  participation  in  the  following 
engagements :  Canal  Sector,  July  6  to  August  30 ;  Ypres-Lys  Offensive,  August 
31  to  September  2 ;  Somme  Offensive,  September  20  to  October  20. 

In  its  attack  of  September  29th  the  Thirtieth  Division,  on  a  front  of  3,000 
yards,  captured  the  entire  Hindenburg  System  of  that  sector  and  advanced 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  637 

farther,  capturing  the  tunnel  system  with  the  German  troops  in  it  and  took  the 
towns  of  Bellicourt,  Nauroy,  Riqueval,  Carriere,  Etricourt,  Guillaine  Ferme  and 
Ferme  de  Riqueval,  advanced  4,200  yards,  defeated  two  enemy  divisions  and 
captured  forty-seven  officers  and  1,434  men,  Besides  field  pieces,  machine  guns 
and  small  arms  in  large  numbers. 

THE    FIFTY-FIFTH    FIELD    ARTILLERY    BRIGADE 

The  regiments  destined  to  form  the  Fifty-fifth  Artillery  Brigade  arrived  at 
Camp  Sevier  after  it  was  opened  about  September  1,  1917.  The  First  Tennessee 
Field  Artillery  Regiment,  commanded  by  Lieut. -Col.  Luke  Lea,  arrived  there  on 
September  11th  and  became  the  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Field  Artillery. 
Soon  after  arrival  Lieutenant-Colonel  Lea  was  promoted  to  colonel  of  this  regi- 
ment. The  First  Tennessee  Infantry,  commanded  by  Col.  Harry  S.  Berry,  re- 
ported at  Camp  Sevier  on  September  9th,  and  was  changed  to  One  Hundred  and 
Fifteenth  Field  Artillery.  Troop  D,  Tennessee  Cavalry,  commanded  by  Capt. 
Ambrose  Gaines,  reported  at  this  camp  on  September  6th  and  was  changed  to 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Trench  Mortar  Battery. 

This  Brigade  was  made  a  part  of  the  Thirtieth  Division  but  was  detached 
from  it  on  reaching  France  and  sent  to  Camp  Coetquidan,  where  a  large  field 
artillery  school  was  being  conducted  by  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces. 
On  August  20,  1918,  it  moved  from  this  camp  to  the  Toul  Sector  and  took  part 
in  the  St.  Mihiel  offensive,  the  Meuse-Argonne  campaign  and  in  the  Woevre, 
where  it  was  when  the  Armistice  was  declared  on  November  11th,  in  all  of  which 
operations  the  conduct  of  both  officers  and  men  was  in  keeping  with  the  highest 
traditions  of  Tennessee  heroism.  After  the  Armistice  it  went  forward  to  the 
German  border,  where  it  remained  until  January  8,  1919,  when  orders  were  re- 
ceived for  its  removal  and  return  to  the  United  States.  On  its  arrival  in  this 
country  its  units  received  rapturous  welcome.  The  One  Hundred  and  Four- 
teenth Field  Artillery  paraded  in  Knoxville,  Chattanooga,  Nashville  and  Mem- 
phis. With  the  exception  of  eleven  days  the  Fifty-fifth  Field  Artillery  Brigade 
was  on  the  firing  line  from  August  27,  1918,  until  the  Armistice. 

THE   ONE   HUNDRED   AND   FOURTEENTH    MACHINE   GUN    BATTALION 

The  One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Machine  Gun  Battalion  was  organized 
and  commanded  during  its  period  of  training  and  its  operations  at  Ypres  by 
Maj.  James  P.  Fyffe,  of  Chattanooga.  It  was  attached  to  the  Thirtieth  Division 
and  took  part  in  the  operations  of  that  celebrated  division  near  Ypres  and  in 
breaking  the  Ilindenburg  Line.  The  captain  of  Company  A  was  Bruce  Douglas ; 
of  Company  B,  D.  N.  McMillin ;  of  Company  C,  Elsworth  Wilson ;  of  Company 
D,  Edward  B.  Cantey. 

SECOND   TENNESSEE   INFANTRY 

The  Second  Tennessee  Infantry  was  organized  largely  through  the  efforts 
of  Col.  James  A.  Gleason,  of  Knoxville.  It  was  organized  with  Charles  B. 
Rogan,  adjutant  general  of  Tennessee,  as  colonel,  and  James  A.  Gleason,  as 
lieutenant-colonel.  This  regiment  was  sent  to  Camp  Sevier  for  training.  Soon 
after  its  arrival  reorganization  of  various  units  took  place  and  the  Second  Ten- 
nessee became  a  part  of  the  Fifty-ninth  Depot  Brigade.     On  October  22.  1917. 

Vol.  1—41 


638  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

it   \v;is  distributed  in   several  different   commands,  most   of  them  being  assigned 
to  regiments  of  the  Sixtieth  Brigade. 

THE   SECOND    CORPS    ARTILLERY    PARK 

A  number  of  Tennessee  hoys  were  enrolled  in  the  Second  Corps  Artillery 
Park,  known  as  an  artillery  auxiliary  unit.  It  was  not  attached  to  any  division 
but  was  placed  where  its  services  were  most  needed,  lis  work,  therefore,  was 
almost  continuous  from  the  time  when  it  arrived  in  France  on  .Inly  21,  1918, 
until  the  Armistice  was  signed.  It  took  pail  in  the  Aisne-Marne  offensive, 
including  the  tremendous  fighting  in  the  famous  Chateau-Thierry  district; 
also  in  the  St.  Mihiel  drive,  in  the  Oise-Aisne  offensive  and  in  Argonne  Forest. 
It  was  three  times  cited  for  valuable  results  accomplished  by  it. 

TENNESSEE   IN    THE   NAVY 

Several  thousand  Tennessee  hoys  east  their  lot  with  the  navy  in  the  World 
war  and  wrote  equally  splendid  records  in  the  history  of  naval  warfare  as  their 
brothers  achieved  on  land.  For  nineteen  months  they  stood  guard  with  the 
English  at  the  month  of  the  Kiel  Canal  where  the  German  fleet  was  hidden,  or 
hunted  the  seas  upon  destroyers  and  cruisers  and  chasers  in  search  of  hostile 
submarines  or  manned  the  transports  and  convoy  vessels  in  moving  our  men 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  in  doing  so  achieved,  under  Admiral  Cleaves,  the 
astounding  achievement  of  placing  2,000,000  men  in  France  with  the  loss  of 
only  300. 

Nor  were  the  navy's  activities  confined  to  the  sea.  No  branch  of  the  service 
showed  more  sterling  qualities  of  steadiness  and  heroism  than  did  the  Marine 
< 'nrps.  Their  deeds  at  Belleau  Wood,  at  Bouresches,  at  Soissons,  at  St.  Mihiel 
and  in  the  Argonne  Forest  have  been  told  in  song  and  story. 

TENNESSEE    IN     \VI\TION    SERVICE 

The  fascination  of  flying  drew  many  Tennesseans  into  the  air  service  who 
possessed  strong  nerves  and  hardy  constitutions.  Because  of  a  lack  of  planes, 
our  airmen  did  not  become  factors  of  importance  until  the  last  two  months  of 
the  war.  American  flyers  received  their  first  real  chance  in  April,  1918,  when 
about  thirty-five  American  planes  were  assigned  to  one  sector.  Their  success 
was  so  immediate  and  pronounced  that  more  planes  were  turned  over  to  the 
Americans  and  the  sector  was  widened.  In  August,  1918.  the  first  American 
planes  came  into  use  and  by  November  there  were  forty-five  complete  squadrons. 
The  first  large  air  operation  in  which  our  squadrons  took  part  was  the  St.  Mihiel 
offensive.  American  aviators  constituted  about  one-third  of  the  total  force 
employed  and  they  gave  a  splendid  account  of  themselves.  We  also  had  fifteen 
balloon  companies  in  operation.  The  American  supremacy  in  the  air  during 
the  two  days  of  the  attack  was  very  pronounced.  The  enemy  planes  were  kept 
on  the  ground  mostly,  whereas  ours  penetrated  far  behind  the  German  lines. 
locating  their  reserves,  ammunition  dumps  and  many  constructions  and  directing 
the  long  range  artillery  fire. 

In  the  operations  in  the  Argonne  Forest  which  followed,  the  American 
aviators  were  put  to  a  severe  test,  as  many  of  the  English  and  French  aviators 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  ST  ATI-]  63!) 

had  been  withdrawn  to  other  fields.  Fighting,  therefore,  for  the  control  of  the 
air  was  hitter,  bnt  our  forces,  having  been  increased  by  the  receipt  of  more 
planes,  gained  the  supremacy,  although  losses  were  heavy.  Had  the  war 
continued  the  Americans  in  a  few  months  would  have  been  superior  to  any  other 
nation,  both  in  number  and  equipment.  Of  the  Tennessee  aviators,  Lieut. 
Edward  Buford,  of  Nashville,  became  an  "ace,"  and  Lieut.  McGhee  Tyson 
and  Incut.  Claude  0.  Lowe  lost  their  lives.  Lieutenant  Tyson,  son  of  Gen.  L.  D. 
Tyson,  was  killed  in  a  flight  eft"  the  French  coast  and  Lieutenant  Lowe  was  killed 
in  the  smash  of  his  plane  at  Arcadia,  Florida. 

THE    POWDER    PLANT 

During  the  World  war  the  Government  established  a  plant  for  making 
powder  at  Had'ey's  Bend  on  the  Cumberland  River  near  Nashville. 

This  site  was  selected  by  Secretaries  Baker,  Lane  and  Houston  after  they 
had  examined  many  other  promising  locations.  This  enterprise  cost  the  United 
States  more  than  eighty  million  dollars  and,  at  one  time,  employed  more  than 
forty-two  thousand  persons.  A  town,  named  Jacksonville,  in  honor  of  Andrew 
Jackson,  whose  home,  the  Hermitage,  is  near  by,  was  established  and  still  exists, 
although  its  population  is  now  small.  After  the  war  the  plant  was  sold  to  the 
Nashville  Industrial  Association.  The  E.  I.  Du  Pont  de  Nemours  Company, 
which  conducted  the  Government  powder  plant  during  the  war.  has  recently 
bought  a  large  tract  from  the  Nashville  Industrial  Corporation  on  which  to 
erect  a  $4,000,000  fibre  silk  plant. 

THE   TENNESSEE   HISTORICAL   COMMISSION 

For  the  purpose  of  collecting,  preserving  and  publishing  material  relative  to 
the  history  of  Tennessee,  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission  was  created  in 
1919  and  its  duties  were  specifically  outlined  in  Chapter  74  of  the  Acts  of  1921. 

These  duties  included  specifically  the  collection  for  preservation  in  the 
Archives  of  Tennessee  ''the  individual  records  of  the  Tennessee  soldiers,  sailors, 
airmen  and  marines  who  saw  service  in  the  great  World  war.'' 

Twenty-five  prominent  men  and  women  appointed  by  the  governor  consti- 
tuted the  commission  and  John  Trotwood  Moore  was  made  chairman. 

By  the  Reorganization  Bill  of  1923,  this  commission  was  abolished,  but  the 
work  it  inaugurated  is  being  carried  on  by  the  History  Division  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education. 

PROVISION   FOR  MARKING  THE  PLACE  WHERE  THE  HINDENBURG  LINE  WAS   BROKEN 

In  view  of  the  importance  of  the  achievement  of  the  Thirtieth  Division  in 
breaking  the  Hindenburg  Line,  the  subjoined  Senate  joint  resolution  was  passed 
by  the  Legislature  of  1921  and  General  Tyson  and  Colonel  Spence  have  since  per- 
formed the  task  imposed  upon  them  thereby  : 

SENATE   JOINT   RESOLUTION    NO.    53. 

(By  Mrs.  Worley) 

Whereas,  in  the  great  World  war  the  soldiers  of  Tennessee  upheld  the 
reputation  of  The  Volunteer  State  for  courage,  patriotism  and  devotion  to 
duty,  whether  in  camp  or  on  the  line  of  battle,  and 


640  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Whereas,  the  Si  ale  and  Nation  iii  gratitude  for  their  courage  and  sacrifices 
and  in  order  that  future  generations  and  historians  may  know  the  true  part 
played  by  Tennessee  troops  in  the  gigantic  struggle,  in  order  that  correct  his- 
torical data  shall  be  collected  now  while  those  who  participated  in  it  are  alive, 
and  the  records  are  available,  and 

Whereas,  one  of  the  greatest  drives  of  the  war  was  waged  in  the  final 
efforts  of  the  Allies  and  American  troops  to  break  and  to  penetrate  the  so-called 
impregnable  Hindenburg  line,  and 

Whereas,  the  records  show  that  this  line  was  broken  by  the  troops  of  the 
30th  or  Old  Hickory  Division,  composed  of  troops  chiefly  from  the  States  of 
Tennessee,  North  and  South  Carolina,  as  per  the  following  extract  from  the 
report  of  Marshal  Sir  Douglas  Haig,  Commander  of  the  British  forces,  in  a 
dispatch  dated  January  7,  1919,  as  follows: 

"North  of  Bellenglise,  the  30th  American  Division  (Maj.  Gen.  E.  M.  Lewis) 
having  broken  through  the  deep  defenses  of  the  Hindenburg  Line,  stormed 
Bellicourt  and  seized  Nauroy  on  their  left,  the  27th  American  Division  (Maj.- 
Gen.  0.  F.  O'Ryan)  met  with  very  heavy  enfilade  machine  gun  fire,  but  pressed 
on  with  great  gallantry  as  far  as  Bony,  where  a  bitter  struggle  took  place  for 
the  possession  of  the  place." 

Thus  the  highest  British  authority  testified  to  the  fact  that  the  30th  Division 
and  not  the  27th  Division,  as  claimed  by  some,  were  the  first  to  penetrate  the 
Hindenburg  Line. 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  resolved  by  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  the 
House  concurring,  That  since  this  great  historical  achievement  is  by  some  dis- 
puted, and  since  there  is  a  world  honor  which  will  be  more  highly  prized  as 
the  years  go  by  and  is  not  now  fully  substantiated  by  permanent  markers,  not 
fully  known  by  historians,  and  since  it  is  known  that  Brig.-Gen.  L.  D.  Tyson, 
commanding  the  Tennessee  troops,  and  Col.  Cary  F.  Spence,  commanding  the 
117th  Infantry,  are  preparing  to  visit  the  location  of  the  Hindenburg  Line  in 
France,  with  a  view  of  establishing  the  truth  of  the  historical  statement  above, 
and  since  funds  will  be  provided  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  on  the  Hin- 
denburg line  by  veterans  of  the  30th  Division, 

Now,  therefore,  be  it  resolved,  That  Gen.  L.  D.  Tyson  and  Col.  Cary  F. 
Spence  are  hereby  appointed  a  committee  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Tennessee 
to  visit  France,  without  expense  to  the  State,  and  to  make  such  investigations 
as  they  may  deem  desirable  and  necessary  to  establish  the  facts  in  the  case  and 
to  establish  the  points  where  the  marker  or  markers  shall  be  placed  so  as  truth- 
fully to  establish  the  part  that  the  Tennessee  troops  played  in  the  breaking  of 
the  Hindenburg  Line  near  Bellicourt  and  Nauroy,  France,  and  there  is  hereby 
appropriated  out  of  any  funds  in  the  Treasury  not  otherwise  appropriated  the 
sum  of  $500  to  supplement  the  funds  being  raised  by  the  veterans  of  the  30th 
Division  for  the  placing  of  a  marker  or  markers  as  above  set  out,  and  that  said 
sum  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Gen.  L.  D.  Tyson,  and  to  be  paid  on  warrant 
of  the  Comptroller  on  vouchers  approved  by  General  Tyson. 

And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  the  Director  of  Archives  and  History  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee  be  instructed  to  secure  from  General  Tyson  the  true 
facts  in  regard  to  the  part  played  by  the  Tennessee  troops  in  the  action  above 
set  out,  and  that  the  said  Director  of  Archives  and  History  shall  write  and 
have  published  by  the  State  Historical  Committee  a  correct  history  of  the  entire 
part  played  by  Tennesseans  in  all  the  battles  of  the  World  war  which  shall  be 
written  without  extra  cost  to  the  State.1 
Adopted  April  9,  1921. 

W.  W.  Bond, 

Speaker  of  the  Senate. 
Andrew  L.  Todd, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Approved  April  7,  1921. 
A.  A.  Taylor,  Governor. 


i  Acts  of  1921,  p.  646. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  641 

THE   TENNESSEE   MEMORIAL   BUILDING 

After  the  war  had  ended  and  our  heroic  boys  had  returned  home,  seemingly 
simultaneously  in  the  minds  of  all  the  question  arose :  How  shall  Tennessee 
fittingly  pay  tribute  to  the  valor  of  her  sons  who  took  part  in  that  cataclysmic 
struggle,  and  especially,  how  shall  it  establish  a  suitable  memorial  for  those  who 
made  the  supreme  sacrifice? 

After  many  suggestions  had  been  made,  it  was  decided  that  a  memorial 
building  should  be  erected  facing  the  state  capitol.  For  this  purpose  the  state, 
the  City  of  Nashville,  and  the  County  of  Davidson  united  in  this  tribute  of  love 
and  respect.  Land  between  Capitol  Boulevard  and  Seventh  Avenue  and  the 
Capitol  Boulevard  and  Sixth  Avenue,  and  between  Cedar  Street  and  Union 
Street  was  bought.  The  buildings  thereon  were  razed  and  the  memorial  building 
will  be  erected  on  the  western  part  of  the  property  and  a  beautiful  park  will 
he  constructed  fronting  it  on  the  east. 

In  connection  with  the  memorial  building  there  will  be  a  capitol  annex  for 
the  use  of  state  departments  which  can  not  be  accommodated  in  the  capitol  and 
which  now  occupy  scattered  buildings  and  offices.  It  is  expected  that  the 
memorial  building  will  be  completed  in  about  two  years,  that  is,  some  time  in 
1925. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  brave  Tennesseans  who  received  distinguished 
honors  for  heroic  conduct  in  the  World  war: 

Abele,  Herbert  A.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  624  Mississippi 
Avenue,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Adkinson,  Joseph  B.,  Sergeant,  Medal  of  Honor,  Atoka,  Tenn. 

Adler,  J.  O.,  Major,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Alsup,  Julian  W.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  528  N.  2nd  Street, 
Nashville,  Tenn. 

Anderson,  Leonard,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Hillsboro,  Tenn. 

Anthony,  Harold  B.,  Supply  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1122  Sharpe 
Avenue,  East,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Arrants,  William  R.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Decatur, 
Tenn. 

Barnwell,  Frank  H.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1732  Pea- 
body  Avenue,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Barnett,  Cecil  E.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Pittsburgh  Landing, 
Tenn. 

Bassi,  Joseph,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  415  Beal  Avenue,  Memphis, 
Tenn. 

Beaty,  Leslie,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jamestown,  Tenn. 

Bell,  Joe,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1104  Cummins  Street,  Mem- 
phis, Tenn. 

Blackburn,  Walden  E.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  No.  2, 
Bellbuckle,  Tenn. 

Blair,  George  A.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Bowman,  Silas  E.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Erwin,  Tenn. 

Boyd,  Richard  II.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville, 
Tenn. 


642  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Boyd,  Theodore   E.,  Second  Lieutenant,   Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Ashland 

City,  Tenn. 
Brinkley,   Amiel    W.,   Captain,    Distinguished    Service   Cross,    1 468   McLemore 

Avenue,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Brooks,  Elbert  E.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Trezevant,  Tenn. 
Brookshire,  Alberl   P.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Paris,  Tenn. 
Brown,   Berlin   Wesley,  Sergeant,   Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Tellieo  Plains, 

Tenn. 
Brown,  Lester,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  535  North  Academy  Street, 

Murfreesboro,  Tenn. 
Buck,    P>.    P..    Brigadier   General,    Distinguished    Service   Cross,   806   Jefferson 

Avenue,  Memphis,   Tenn. 
Cable,  Robert  P.,  First  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Maryville,  Tenn. 
Cagle,  Thomas  (i..  Private   (1st  el.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City, 

Tenn. 
Cannon,  Clarence  P.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City,  Tenn. 
Cardwell,   Henry   Warren,   Corporal,   Distinguished   Service   Cross,   Normandy, 

Tenn. 
Carr,  John  M.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1802  Jefferson  Avenue, 

Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Carter,   Paul    D.,    Second    Lieutenant,    Distinguished   Service   Cross,   955   Fifth 

Avenue,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Cates,  Clifton  P.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Tiptonville,  Tenn. 
Cinamon,  Archie,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Rodgersville,  Tenn. 
Clark,  William  L.,  Private  (1st  el.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Fountain  City, 

Tenn. 
Cooper,  William  N.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1824  Grand  Avenue, 

Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Coram.   Claude  A..    Private    (1st  el.).   Distinguished   Service  Cross,  Knoxville, 

Tenn. 
Costner.  Oley,  Private,  Distingiushed  Service  Cross,  London,  Tenn. 
Cotton,  Orvil  L.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Buntoin,  Tenn. 
Cox,  Omar  Clark,  Sergeant    (1st  el.),  Distingiushed  Service  Cross,  Lafollette, 

Tenn. 
Cross,  James,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Helmwood,  Tenn. 
Cross,  Willie,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jefferson  City,  Tenn. 
Daniels,  William  H.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  No.  3,  Rut- 
ledge,  Tenn. 
Davis,    Edgar   C,    First   Lieutenant,    Distinguished    Service    Cross,    Louisburg, 

Tenn. 
Diggs.    Benjamin    \\\,    Private    (1st    el.),    Distinguished    Service    Cross,    Oliver 

Springs,  Tenn. 
Dobbs,  Lain,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Mitchellville,  Tenn. 
Dozier,  Cannon,  Private  (1st  el.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Yorkville,  Tenn. 
Dudderar,  Marshall  P.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1613  Hawthorne 

Street,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Dudley,  Mack,  Private   (1st  el.).   Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  No.  3, 

Dickson,  Tenn. 
Duncan,  Charles  P.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  315  Ninth  Avenue. 

South.  Nashville.  Tenn. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEEK  STATE  643 

Duncan,  Basil  E.,  Private  (1st  el.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Route  13, 
Jonesboro,  Tenn. 

Eckel,  William  H.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  2524  Jeffer- 
son Avenue,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Edwards,  Garrett,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  No.  1,  Kitty- 
ton,  Tenn. 

Ellis,  Nathaniel  Watson,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Tellico 
Plains,  Tenn. 

Engle,  Joseph  C,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  553  South  Park  Way. 
Memphis,  Tenn. 

Epley,  Bruce,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Newport,  Tenn. 

Frierson,  Meade,  Jr.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  513  Broadway, 
Nashville,  Tenn. 

Folsom,  Lynn,  H.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Elizabethton, 
Tenn. 

Fontaine,  Hugh  L.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1839  Overton 
Park  Avenue,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

French,  Henry,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Maynardsville, 
Tenn. 

Fritz,  Leonard  B.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Laurel  Bloomery,  Tenn. 

Gilliam,  Rexie  E.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  110  Walnut 
Street,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Goodwin,  Robert  Hazen,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Bristol,  Tenn. 

Hatcher,  Samuel  H.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Route  2,  Walland, 
Tenn. 

Hill,  Frank  Y.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Billiard,  Grover  G,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  No.  4, 
Dover,  Tenn. 

Hobhs,  Avis  T.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lebanon,  Tenn. 

Home,  William  T.,  Private  (  1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  906  East  Main 
Street,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

Howard,  Charlie,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lafollette,  Tenn. 

Ilutson,  George  R.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  525  North  Broad 
Street,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

[gou,  Paid,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Farleigh  Street,  East,  Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn. 

Jerry,  Barney,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross.  Bigfoot  Branch,  Mem- 
phis, Tenn. 

Johnson,  Henry,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Creston,  Tenn. 

Jones,  Herbert  J.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Dresden, 
Tenn. 

Jones,  James  T.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1505  East  Fifth 
Avenue,    Knoxville,    Tenn. 

Karnes,  James  E.,  Sergeant,  Medal  of  Honor,  2501  North  Broadway  Avenue. 
Knoxville,    Tenn. 

Karnes,  James  Ernest,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  2501  North 
Broadway,   Knoxville,   Tenn. 

Kohlwyck,  Oren  C,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Humboldt,  Tenn. 

Leach,  John  W.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville. 
Tenn. 


644  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Lemert,  AI ilo,  First  Sergeant,  Medal  of  Honor,  Crossville,  Term. 

Leonard,    John    W.,    Lieutenant-Colonel,    Distinguished    Service    Cross,    303 

Kiihy  Avenue,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Lewis.    Prank    Nelson,    Captain,    Distinguished    Service    Cross,    1224   Exchange 

Building,    Memphis,    Tenn. 
Lilliard,  David  W.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Etowah,  Tenn. 
Lowe,  William  ().,  Second  Lieut.,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Fountain  City, 

Tenn. 
Lowe,  Thurman,   Sergeant,   Distinguished   Service  Cross,   Boma,   Tenn. 
Lunsford,  Bedford  B.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Mount  Vernon, 

Tenn. 
Lynch,    Roland   D.,    Private,   Distinguished    Service    Cross,    R.    F.    D.    No.    2, 

Elbridge,  Tenn. 
Lyons,  Douglas  M.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Fort  Henry, 

Tenn. 
Manier,  Will  R.,  Jr.,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1800  Acklen  Ave., 

Nashville,  Tenn. 
Mason,  Zelna,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
McKiddy,  Zona,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Miller,  George  F.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Dyersburg,  Tenn. 
Miller,  Hobart,  Private  (1st.  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jacksboro,  Tenn. 
Mingle,  Claude  L.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  8,  Knoxville, 

Tenn. 
.Mitchell,   John  A.,  First  Lieutenant,   Distinguished   Service   Cross,  Livingston, 

Tenn. 
Moody,  Rolf,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Box  201,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Morison,  James  H.  S.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Cumber- 
land Gap,  Tenn. 
Mottern,  Virgil  G,  Sergeant  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jonesboro, 

Tenn. 
Murrian,  John  H.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  6, 

Ross  Place,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Nowlin,  George  A.,  First  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Route  3,  Crosby, 

Tenn. 
Packett,  John  W.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City,  Tenn. 
Plemmons,  Russell  L.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City,  Tenn. 
Potter,  Walter,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Dayton,  Tenn. 
Pruitt,  Pink  S.,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Moscow,  Tenn. 
Quinn,  Jim,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Reece,  B.  Carrol,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Butler,  Tenn. 
Richmond,  Clarence  L.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Cleveland,  Tenn. 
Richards,  J.  N.  C,  Captain,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Sewanee,  Tenn. 
Ridley,  James  A.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Murfreesboro, 

Tenn. 
Rives,  John  S.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Mulberry,  Tenn. 
Roberts,  Sewell  K.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  7  Park  Drive,  Chat- 
tanooga, Tenn. 
Sackett,  Dayton  S.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,   Greenfield, 

Tenn. 
Sanderfer,  Paul  G,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Trenton,  Tenn. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  645 

Segraves,  Charles,  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Sellers,  Cecil  G.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  350  Stonewall 

Place,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Shannon,  Fred  B.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Sharpe,  Robert  E.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Chattanooga. 

Tenn. 
Short,  Gilbert  D.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jackson,  Tenn. 
Slover,  Robert,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Coal  Creek,  Tenn. 
Smith,  Charlie,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Copperhill,  Tenn. 
Spears,  George  W.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City,  Tenn. 
Srygley,   Ela  M.,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,   16  Academy 

Place,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Starkey,  Joseph,  First  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  501  Chamber- 
lain Avenue,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Stewart,  George  L.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Erwin,  Tenn. 
Strange,  George  F.,  Private   (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,   Box  132, 

Springfield,  Tenn. 
Stripling,   Walter  B.,    Corporal,   Distinguished  Service   Cross,   Oliver   Springs, 

Tenn. 
Swaggerty,  Allie,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Talley,  Edward  R,,  Sergeant,  Medal  of  Honor,  R.  F.  D.  No.  1,  Russellville,  Tenn. 
Taylor,  AVilliam  C,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Route  1,  Blountville. 

Tenn. 
Taylor,  Oscar,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Jonesboro,  Tenn. 
Thompson,  Charles  W.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Thompson,  John  W.,  Corporal,   Distinguished   Service  Cross,  Mount   Pleasant. 

Tenn. 
Thurman,  Litten  T.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Crossville,  Tenn. 
Tillery,  James  M.,  Sergeant,   Distinguished  Service   Cross,   938  North  Central 

Ave.,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Timothy,  James  S.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  206  Wood- 
lands, Nashville,  Tenn. 
Tucker,  Louis  J.,  Private.  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1201  Mississippi  Avenue. 

Memphis,  Tenn. 
Tune,   Horace   R.,   First   Lieutenant,   Distinguished    Service   Cross,    Shelbyville. 

Tenn. 
Vaughn,  Joe  H.,  Sergeant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Bon  Aqua,  Tenn. 
Vinton,   Thomas  W.,   First  Lieutenant,   Distinguished   Service   Cross,   Bank   of 

Commerce,  Memphis,  Tenn. 
Walker,  Hubbard  J.,  Private  (1st  cl.),  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Fruitland, 

Tenn. 
Ward,  Calvin  John,  Private,  Medal  of  Honor,  749  First  North  Street,  Morris 

town,  Tenn. 
Weaver,  Jesse  Frank,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  1,  Finger. 

Tenn. 
Weems,   James   Frederick,   Private,    Distinguished    Service   Cross,    Baileytown, 

Tenn. 
White,  John  B.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Milligan  College,  Tenn. 
Whitson,  Robert  Kenneth,  Captain,  Distinguished   Service  Cross,    Union   City, 

Tenn. 


646  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Wiles,  George  L.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  F.  D.  2,  Newmarket, 

Term. 
Wilkinson,    Thaddeus   R.,    Sergeant,    Distinguished   Service    Cross,    Capleville, 

Tenn. 
Wilson,   Josephus  B.,   First   Lieutenant,   Distinguished   Service   Cross,    Athens, 

Tenn. 
Wilson,  Shug,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Wilder,  Tenn. 
Wilson,  Thomas  J.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  1501  East  Thirteenth 

Street.  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 
Wright,  Clarence  S.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Kingston,  Tenn. 
Wright,  Joe  D.,  Corporal,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Lenoir  City,  Tenn. 
Woodard,  Willie  L.,  Private,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Ripley,  Tenn. 
York,  Alvin  C,  Corporal,  Medal  of  Honor,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  Pall 

Mall,  Tenn. 
Younger,  Raleigh  L.,  Second  Lieutenant,  Distinguished  Service  Cross,  R.  R.  1, 

Columbia,  Tenn. 

SERGEANT    ALVIN    YORK 

Among  all  the  heroes  who  performed  remarkable  achievements,  the  great, 
outstanding  figure  not  only  among  the  Tennessee  troops  but  also  among  all  the 
troops  of  the  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  was  Serg.  Alvin  C.  York,  of  Pall 
Mall,  Fentress  County,  Tenn.  He  had  the  honor  of  performing  the  greatest 
deed  accomplished  by  any  individual  soldier.  So  noteworthy  was  his  achieve- 
ment that  it  made  him  a  national  hero.  A  newspaper  man  who  interviewed 
York  gives  the  following  account  direct  from  the  sergeant  himself: 

VIVID   ACCOUNT   OE    YORK'S   ACHIEVEMENT 

"Yoi'k  was  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  advance,  his  platoon  being  the  support 
platoon  of  the  left  assault  company. 

"  'We  were  losing  a  lot  of  men,'  he  said.  'See  that  little  rise  just  where 
the  slope  of  the  hill  comes  down?  Well,  it  looked  like  we  couldn't  get  beyond 
that.     The  line  jusi  seemed  to  melt  away  when  it  reached  there.' 

UNDER   CROSS   FIRE 

"This  was  due  to  the  fact  that  boche  machine  guns  on  the  hill — now  known 
as  York's  Hill — had  the  Americans  enfiladed.  Therefore  Sgt.  Harry  M.  Par- 
sons, formerly  an  actor  who  was  in  command  of  the  platoon,  was  ordered  to 
advance  with  his  men  and  cover  the  left  flank.  The  fire  was  too  hot  in  the 
valley,  so  they  skirted  the  foot  of  the  hill  in  order  to  gain  some  protection. 

"Parsons  ordered  Acting  Sgt.  Bernard  Early  to  take  two  squads  and  put 
the  enemy  machine  guns  out  of  action.  That  was  when  the  real  business  began. 
Early  had  under  him  sixteen  men,  including  Corporal  York. 

"It  was  a  clear  day.  There  had  been  mists  in  the  valley  and  shrouding  the 
hills  just  after  dawn,  but  they  had  lifted,  so  that  the  movements  of  the  Amer- 
icans were  perfectly  visible  to  the  enemy  along  the  ridges.  As  the  little  party 
started  up  the  hill,  which  they  proposed  to  clear  of  boches,  machine  guns  pep- 
pered them  1'rom  the  Cornay  Ridge  at  their  backs;  but  the  trees  and  brush 
were  very  thick  and  they  escaped  beyond  observation  without  losing  a  man. 
The  nests  they  were  after  lay  on  the  other  side  of  a  slope ;  the  boches  were 
tiring  at  the  infantry  in  the  valley,  and  were  wholly  unconscious  of  the  detach- 
ment bent  on  circling  round  behind  them. 

"The  Americans  went  stumbling  upward  through  the  leafy  jungle. 

"About  two-thirds  of  the  way  up  they  came  upon  an  old  wide  trench,  prob- 


SERGEANT   ALVIN   YOKK 
Greatest  Hero  of  the  World  War 


jHt  IIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UMWSRSITY  QF  II  UNUiS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  649 

ably  built  by  the  French  early  in  the  war.     They  entered  this  and  followed  it. 
The  clamor  of  the  fight  on  the  other  side  of  the  hill  now  grew  less. 

"The  trench  led  over  the  crest.  Going  warily  in  single  file,  now  stopping 
to  listen  and  make  sure  that  no  enemy  lurked  near,  now  moving  with  painful 
caution,  lest  they  be  heard,  the  detachment  penetrated  upward  through  the 
dense  woods  and  began  to  descend  the  other  slope.  Sergeant  Early  was  in  the 
lead.  Until  wounded  he  directed  all  the  operations;  his  behavior  throughout 
the  entire  affair  was  of  the  highest  order. 

A  SHRIEKING  BEDLAM 

"Still  they  saw  no  Germans.  They  could  hear  firing  off  at  their  right,  they 
could  hear  it  ahead;  but  not  a  sign  of  the  enemy  did  they  see.  Finally  they 
debouched  upon  a  path,  and  there  in  the  wet  earth  were  fresh  footprints. 

"Which  way  had  we  better  take.'"  whispered  Sergeant  Early  to  Corporal 
York. 

••  'Let's  right-oblique,'  answered  the  mountaineer ;  and  they  right-obliqued 
and  went  downward  along  the  path. 

"Suddenly  they  espied  two  Germans  ahead  of  them  in  the  path.  Both  wore 
the  Red  Cross  brassard,  and  both  started  to  run  at  the  first  glimpse  of  the 
Americans.  Some  shots  were  fired  and  one  stopped.  He  surrendered;  the  other 
disappeared. 

"  'It  looked  like  a  battle  was  coming,'  said  York,  'so  we  went  into  skirmish 
order!' 

"They  scattered  out  amid  the  riot  of  brush  and  pushed  forward.  Presently 
the  leaders  of  the  party  arrived  at  the  stream,  and  there  on  the  other  side 
were  about  twenty  or  thirty  Germans,  gathered  near  a  small  hut  that  was 
evidently  some  kind  of  P.  C.  At  any  rate  several  officers  were  holding  a  con- 
ference and  a  number  of  the  men  were  squatted  on  the  ground  apparently  about 
to  eat. 

"The  Americans  instantly  let  fly.  A  few  of  the  enemy  returned  the  shots, 
but  the  majority  dropped  guns  and  equipment  and  threw  up  their  hands, 
shouting  'Kamerad!' 

"What  had  happened?     How  came  the  enemy  behind  them? 

"  'Don't  shoot!'  ordered  Sergeant  Early.    'They're  going  to  surrender." 
•Surrender  they  did,  the  whole  outfit,  including  the  major  in  command  of 
the  battalion. 

"  'What  are  you?     English?'  he  asked. 

"  'Americans,'  answered  York. 

' '  '  Good  Lord ! '  said  the  major. 

"Early's  detachment  now  made  preparations  to  take  them  out.  But  before 
they  could  move  all  hell  broke  loose.  Along  the  steep  slope  of  the  hill  facing 
them,  not  thirty  yards  away,  was  machine  gun  after  machine  gun,  snugly  placed 
in  fox  holes,  but  pointing  in  the  other  direction.  The  bodies  manning  them 
swung  these  guns  round  and  opened  up  a  fusillade  on  the  attackers.  The  valley 
became  a  chattering,  shrieking  bedlam.  Some  Heinies  on  a  hill  far  to  the  rear 
of  the  Americans  sensed  a  new  menace  and  opened  up  wildly  against  their 
own  position,  but  their  fire  was  many  yards  high  and  merely  seared  the  tops  of 
the  trees. 

"At  the  first  blast  of  fire  every  Heinie  prisoner  dropped  flat  on  his  stomach 
and  hugged  the  ground.  The  Americans  followed  their  example  but  six  were 
killed. 

"Nine  hundred  and  ninety -nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  men 
out  of  a  million  would  have  considered  the  situation  hopeless.  The  millionth 
man  was  Corp.  Alvin  C.  York.  The  second  elder  was  down  on  his  haunches 
amid  the  brush  picking  off  the  bodies  as  fast  as  he  could  shoot.  From  this 
moment  the  battle  became  all  York's. 

"Six  of  the  detachment  were  killed  almosl  immediately  after  the  machine 
guns  opened  up;  three  were  wounded,  including  the  sergeanl  in  command.  York 
and  seven   privates  remained. 

"He  never  thought  of  surrender.  His  problem  was  to  make  the  enemy  give 
up  as  quickly  as  possible  and  he  kept  yelling  to  them  to  'Come  down!" 


650  TKNNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"Bang!  Bang!  'Come  down!5  York  would  shout,  precisely  as  though  the 
surrender  of  a  battalion  to  an  individual  soldier  were  the  usual  thing — and  1 
really  believe  lie  regards  it  thai   way,  provided  the  soldier  be  an  American. 

"  'Somehow  I  knew  1  wouldn't  be  killed,'  he  said.  'I've  never  thought  I 
would  he— never  once  from  the  time  we  started  over  here.' 

"At  the  hrsl  crack  of  the  machine  guns  on  the  slope  opposite  him  York 
dropped  to  earth.  He  was  in  a  narrow  path  leading  toward  the  emplacements. 
Directly  in  front  lay  the  hoche  prisoners,  groveling  in  fear  of  their  comrades' 
tire.  The  machine  guns  were  less  than  thirty  yards  away  and  were  blazing 
straight  down.  Their  stream  of  fire  mowed  off  the  tops  of  the  bushes  as  though 
they  had  been  cut   with  a  scythe. 

"And  then  the  second  elder  got  going  on  Ins  own  account.  Sighting  as 
carefully  as  he  was  wont  to  do  in  the  turkey  matches  at  home  in  Tennessee  he 
began  potting  the  bodies  in  their  fox  holes  and  the  bodies  who  were  behind  trees, 
and  the  bodies  who  were  firing  at  him  from  the  shelter  of  logs.  And  with  every 
shot  he  brought  down  an  enemy.  No,  I  am  wrong ;  he  showed  me  a  crease  on  a 
tree  bole  later  and  confessed  his  belief  that  he  had  missed  that  one. 

"  'You  never  heard  such  a  clatter  and  racket  in  all  your  life/  he  said. 
'I  couldn't  see  any  of  our  boys.  Early  and  Cutting  had  run  along  toward  the 
left  in  front  of  me  just  before  the  battle  started,  but  1  didn't  know  where  they 
were. ' 

SHOT  THE  WHOLE  BUNCH 

"  'If  I'd  moved  I'd  have  been  killed  in  a  second.  The  Germans  were  what 
saved  me.  I  kept  up  close  to  them,  and  so  the  fellers  on  the  hill  had  to  fire  a 
little  high  for  fear  of  hitting  their  own  men.  The  bullets  were  cracking  just 
over  my  head  and  a  lot  of  twigs  fell  down.' 

"  'Well,  I  fired  a  couple  of  clips  or  so — things  were  moving  pretty  lively, 
so  I  don't  know  how  many  I  did  shoot — and  first  thing  I  knew  a  boche  got  up 
and  flung  a  bomb  about  the  size  of  a  silver  dollar.  It  missed  and  wounded  one 
of  the  prisoners  on  the  ground,  and  I  got  the  boche — got  him  square.' 

"  'Next  thing  that  happened,  a  lieutenant  rose  up  from  near  one  of  them 
machine  guns  and  he  had  seven  men  with  him.  The  whole  bunch  came  charging 
down  the  hill  at  me — like  this.     They  held  their  guns  like  this.' 

"  'I  had  my  automatic  out  by  then  and  let  them  have  it.  Got  the  lieutenant 
right  through  the  stomach  and  he  dropped  and  screamed  a  lot.  All  the  boches 
who  were  hit  squealed  just  like  pigs.     Then  I  shot  the  others.' 

"  'You  killed  the  whole  bunch  V 

"'Yes,  sir.  At  that  distance  1  couldn't  miss.'  He  killed  this  detachment 
before  they  could  charge  twenty  yards  downhill — eight  men. 

"  'As  soon  as  the  Germans  saw  the  lieutenant  drop,  most  of  them  quit  firing 
their  machine  guns  and  the  battle  quieted  down.  I  kept  on  shooting,  but  in  a 
minute  here  came  the  major  who  had  surrendered  with  the  first  bunch.  T 
reckon  he  had  done  some  shooting  at  us  himself,  because  I  heard  firing  from 
the  prisoners  and  afterward  I  found  out  that  his  pistol  was  empty. 

"  'He  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  like  this  and  said  to  me  in  English: 
"Don't  shoot  any  more,  and  I'll  make  them  surrender."  So  I  said  "All  right," 
and  he  did  so  and  they  did  so. ' 

"As  York  himself  would  phrase  it  the  battle  now  quieted  down,  and  the 
boches  descended  from  their  positions  on  the  hill.  They  came  in  droves;  their 
arrival  swelled  the  number  of  prisoners  to  ninety. 

"As  they  toiled  up  the  hill  the  major  tried  to  engage  York  in  conversation. 

"  'How  many  men  have  you  got?'  he  inquired. 

"  'I  got  aplenty,'  returned  the  second  elder  grimly,  and  made  him  step 
faster. 

"It  was  impossible  to  see  where  they  were  going,  on  account  of  the  thick 
brush,  but  York  knew  that  the  direction  was  right  to  bring  them  out  on  the  side 
of  the  hill  where  the  Americans  ought  to  have  established  a  post  of  command 
by  this  time.  A  hundred  yards  or  more,  and  they  were  challenged.  They 
stumbled   upon   another  boche   machine-gun   nest.     York   thrust   the   major   in 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  651 

front  of  him,  covered  the  crew  with  his  pistol  and  ordered  them  to  surrender. 
They  abandoned  their  weapons  and  equipment  and  joined  the  prisoners. 

BACK  TO  SAFETY 

"During  the  journey  back  they  flushed  several  more  nests.  In  one  the  crew 
offered  resistance. 

"  '1  had  to  shoot  a  man  there,'  remarked  Corporal  York  regretfully.  'When 
we  hit  the  next  nest  and  1  got  ready  to  settle  them  if  they  didn't  give  up,  the 
major  tapped  me  on  the  shoulder  and  said:  "Don't  kill  any  more  and  I'll  make 
them  surrender."     And  he  did.' 

"On  the  far  slope  of  the  hill  York  heard  a  loud  challenge  of  'Halt!'  and 
perceived  a  bunch  of  doughboys  about  to  tire.  He  shouted  to  them  that  he 
was  bringing  prisoners,  and  they  permitted  him  to  approach.  The  men  were 
part  of  a  detachment  that  had  taken  up  position  in  the  old  abandoned  trench 
York  and  his  party  had  followed  earlier  in  the  day. 

"  'I  certify  that  I  personally  counted  the  prisoners  reported  to  the  P.  C. 
of  the  Second  Battalion,  Three  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  Infantry,  by  Corp. 
Alvin  C.  York,  Company  C,  Three  Hundred  and  Twenty-eighth  Infantry  on 
October  8,  1918,  and  found  them  to  be  132  in  number. — Jos.  A.  Woods,  First 
Lieut.,  Asst.  Div.  Inspector.' 

"After  reporting  there  York  had  to  take  his  prisoners  farther  back.  Their 
route  lay  through  the  valley  for  some  distance,  and  a  boche  lookout  on  a  knoll 
atop  Cornay  gave  the  range  to  his  artillery.  A  few  seconds  and  shells  began 
bursting  close  to  the  column.  The  prisoners  yelled  and  squealed  and  some  of 
them  attempted  to  scatter.  The  Americans  herded  them  back  into  line  and 
York  broke  the  whole  column  into  a  run,  which  was  sustained  until  they  got 
beyond  the  shelling. 

JUST    A    PLAIN    MIRACLE 

"The  German  major  was  about  the  gloomiest  officer  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  that  night ;  not  even  Ludendorff  felt  half  so  bad.  Here  he  had  sur- 
rendered to  a  handful  of  the  enemy;  the  rest  of  his  command  had  been  put  out 
of  action  by  one  lone  redhead! 

"There  on  the  scene  of  the  fight  at  the  foot  of  York's  Hill  are  six  graves 
where  our  dead  lie  buried.  Simple  wooden  crosses  mark  them,  and  at  the  head 
repose  the  helmets,  rifles,  and  belts  of  the  soldiers  who  gave  their  lives.  Close 
beside  their  last  resting  place  purls  a  tiny  stream,  and  over  the  wooded  hills 
broods  a  cathedral  bush. 

' '  We  stood  long  beside  the  graves  in  silence.  At  last  I  said :  '  I  cannot 
understand,  even  now,  how  you  came  out  alive.' 

"York  replied,  simply  but  earnestly:  'We  know  there  were  miracles,  don't 
we?  Well,  this  was  one.  I  was  taken  care  of — it's  the  only  wray  I  can  figure  it.'  : 

THOSE   WHO    MADE    THE   SUPREME    SACRIFICE 

The  Division  of  History  of  the  Department  of  Education,  continuing  the 
work  begun  by  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission,  has  collected  the  names 
and  records  of  those  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  World  war.  To  facilitate  this 
work  a  mother  chairman  was  appointed  in  each  county  and  they  have,  with  few 
exceptions,  done  a  work  for  which  the  State  of  Tennessee  owes  them  a  debt  of 
gratitude.  Through  their  efforts  and  those  of  the  History  Division  of  the  State 
the  subjoined  list  has  been  compiled.  Necessarily,  it  is  incomplete.  But  it  is 
hoped  that  those  who  see  this  list  and  note  the  omission  of  any  man  who  lost 
his  life  in  the  war  will  promptly  communicate  the  fact  to  the  History  Division 
of  the  State,  in  care  of  the  Capitol,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

That  the  Tennessee  soldiers  were  brave  is  attested  by  the  fad  thai  nut  of  an 
enlistment  aggregating  nearly  one  hundred  thousand,  more  than  four  thousand 
lost  their  lives  and  many  thousands  were  wounded. 


652 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


TENNESSEE   GOLD   STAR    LIST 


OFFICERS 


Abel,  Lieut.  Win.  H. 
Aden,  Lieut.  Bernard  11. 
Armstrong,  1st  Lieut.  Henry  G. 
At  lee,  1st  Lieut.  Frank  II. 

Bailey,  1st  Lieut.  Oliver  W. 
Bell,  1st  Lieut,  Julius  E. 
Blanchard,  1st  Lieut.  Merrill 
Bohannan,  1st  Lieut.  Shirley   I). 
Boiee,  Lieut.  Charles  II. 
Boone,  1st  Lieut.  John  G.  (chaplain) 
Boyd,  2nd  Lieut.  Richard  H. 
Brasher,  Capt.  Lawrence  A. 
Bratten,  1st  Lieut.  Clyde  O. 
Brewer,  Lieut.  James  C. 
Brown,  1st  Lieut.  A.  Stuart 
Brown,  2nd  Lieut.  Robert  S. 
Browne,  2nd  Lieut.  Rolla 
Bruce,  Capt.  Roy 
Buchanan,  2nd  Lieut.  Robert  G. 
Bushsong,  2nd  Lieut.  William 

Calhoun,  1st  Lieut,  Paul  C. 
Cameron,  1st  Lieut.  Alvin  H.   (Col.) 
Gammon,  Lieut.  James 
Carter,  1st  Lieut.  Grover 
Clark,  Lieut.  Chas.  Win.  Loaring 
Clements,  Capt.  Paul 
Costen,  2nd  Lieut,  Charles  B. 
Crane,  1st  Lieut,  Leoline  0. 
Crow,  Lieut.  James  R. 

Dunbar,  Capt.  Merritt 
Duncan,  Capt.  Charles  B. 

Earle,  1st  Lieut.  Patrick  B.  W. 
Eckel,  1st  Lieut.  William  H. 
Everett,  1st  Lieut,  James  D. 

Finley,  1st  Lieut.  Neal  B. 
Frank,  Lieut.  James  E. 
Frank,  Capt.  Leonard 
Frazier,  Capt.  Harry  L. 
Frazier,  2nd  Lieut.  Hilary 
Frierson,  Capt.  Meade,  Jr. 
Fritts,  Capt.  Fred  W. 
Fry,  1st  Lieut.  Clarence  N. 

Gafney,  Capt.  Joseph  F. 
Garnsey,  Lieut.  Cyrus,  Jr. 
Gentry,  2nd  Lieut,  Rouda 
George,  Capt.  Wm.  C. 
Gilbreath,  2nd  Lieut.  Robert  B. 
Gillespie,  Lieut.  Gordon 
Gilmore,  Capt,  Robt.  T. 


Goddard,  1st  Lieut.  Thos.  W. 
Gohlson,  Capt,  Samuel 
Graham,  1st  Lieut.  Richard  H. 
Grayson,  1st  Lieut.  Clifford  B. 
Gregory,  1st  Lieut.  Hugh  T. 
Grider,  1st  Lieut.  Jno.  McGavoek 
Griffiths,  Lieut. -Col.  Richard 

Earner,  2nd  Lieut.  Thomas  M. 
Barper,  1st  Lieut.  Milton  L. 
Harris,  2nd  Lieut.  Hobert 
Hart,  Capt.  Leonard  K. 
Harvey,  Major  Harry  A. 
Hazelhurst,  Major  Jas.  N. 
Henderson,  Lieut.  F.  N. 
II  inkle,  2nd  Lieut.  Ben.  P. 
Houk,  Capt.  Elmer  E. 
Houston,  1st  Lieut,  Raymond  F. 
Hunt,  2nd  Lieut,  Jesse  P. 

Jeffries,  Capt.  Henry  M. 
Johnson,  2nd  Lieut.  James  Abel 
Jones,  2nd  Lieut.  Herbert  J. 
Journey,  2nd  Lieut.  James  Britt 

Kearney,  1st  Lieut.  Thos.  E. 
Kennedy,  2nd  Lieut.  Chester  H. 
Kinney,  2nd  Lieut.  Charles  L.,  Jr. 
Kirkpatrick,  2nd  Lieut.  Richard  F. 
Koeger,  Lieut.  Harry  A. 

Lacy,  1st  Lieut,  Frank  V. 
Latham,  1st  Lieut,  Frank  S.,  Jr. 
Lewis,  Capt.  Frank  N. 
Lewis,  Capt.  Orville  E. 
Lewis,  Lieut.  Samuel 
Linch,  1st  Lieut.  Ballard  C. 
Little,  Lieut.  Walter  M. 
Littleton,  Capt.  Augustine  B. 
Lodor,  2nd  Lieut.  James  C. 
Lones,  Capt.  Emerson  J. 
Long,  Lieut.  George  W.,  Jr. 
Long,  2nd  Lieut.  Jacob  F. 
Lowe,  1st  Lieut,  Claude  0. 
Lyons,  2nd  Lieut.  Douglas  M. 

McCalla,  Lieut.  Richard  P. 
McFarland,  1st  Lieut,  Noah  M. 
McNett,  1st  Lieut,  Frank  E. 
Manier,  1st  Lieut.  Emmett  M. 
Mitchell,  2nd  Lieut.  Robert  F. 
Mitchell,  Lieut.  Thos.  A. 
Mitchie,  Brig.  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee 
Monk,  Capt.  Charles  E. 
Montgomery,  Lieut.  Frank 
Moody,  Capt,  Rolfe 
Morehouse,  1st  Lieut.  Levi  S. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


653 


Neil,  Capt.  Roy  B. 
Newell,  i!nd  Lieut.  James  McC. 
Newland,  Lieut.  L.  W. 
Norris,  1st  Lieut.  Norwin  B. 
Norton,  Lieut.  John  E. 

Ohls,  2nd  Lieut.  William  A. 
O'Neal,  Lieut.  J.  S. 
Orr,  1st  Lieut.  Samuel  K. 
Overton,  1st  Lieut.  John  Williams 

Perkins,  Lieut.  Robert  E. 
Pigne,  1st  Lieut.  James  A. 
Price,  2nd  Lieut.    Charley   E. 
Puryear,  1st  Lieut.  George  W. 

Read,  Lieut.  George,  Jr. 
Reaveley,  Lieut.  Edward  E. 
Reed,  2nd  Lieut.  Lonus 
Reese,  Capt.  Isaac,  Jr. 
Reilly,  1st  Lieut.  Geary  Evans 
Richards,  Capt.  N.  C. 
Robb,  2nd  Lieut.  Joseph  Park 
Rockwell,  2nd  Lieut.  Kiffith  Y. 
Rogers,   Capt.   George  C. 
Rosenthal,  2nd  Lieut.  Jos.  II. 

Sage,  1st  Lieut.  Abner 
Seymour,  Capt.  Harry  A. 
Simm,  1st  Lieut.  Francis  R. 
Smith,  2nd  Lieut.  Tillman  H. 
Stanley,  2nd  Lieut.  Fernie  E. 
Stephens,  1st  Lieut.  Clay  G.,  Jr. 
Stephens,  Brig.-Gen.  John  E. 
St.  John,  2nd  Lieut.  Alvin  M. 
Stribling,  2nd  Lieut.  Roy 
Stuart,  1st  Lieut.  Edward  S. 
Summers,  1st  Lieut.  David  K. 

Tate,  1st  Lieut.  Thos.  S. 
Taylor,  1st  Lieut.  Herbert  J. 
Thompson,  Lieut.  Hugh  S. 
Timothy,  2nd  Lieut.  Christopher  S.,  Jr 
Timothy,  1st  Lieut.  James  S. 
Trezevant,  2nd  Lieut.  Roy  H. 
Tyson,  Lieut.  Charles  McGhee 

Underwood,  Capt.  Robert  B. 

Vitatoe,  Lieut.  Jesse  Arthur 

Wade,  Capt.  Edie  B. 
Wagner,  1st  Lieut.  Matthias  M. 
Ware,  1st  Lieut.  Baxter 
Ware,  1st  Lieut.  Ernest  A. 
White,  2nd  Lieut.  William  A. 
Wilson,  1st  Lieut.  Josephus  B. 
Witherspoon,  1st  Lieut.  Edwin  E. 
Wooten,  2nd  Lieut.  James  C. 

Yarbrough,  1st  Lieut.  Walter  S. 
Yeager,  2nd  Lieut.  Garrick  H. 


PRIVATES 

Abbott,  James  F. 

Abernathy,  Isaiah   (Col.) 

Aekley,  Earl  R. 

Aeklm,  Christopher  C,  Jr. 

Acuff,  James  T. 

Acuff,  John  F. 

Adams,  Clark    (Col.) 

Adams,  Douglas 

Adams,  Ellis  D. 

Adams,  James 

Adams,  John  W. 

Adams,  Joe 

Adams,  Lewis  B. 

Adams,  McKinley   (Col.) 

Adams,  Reese 

Adamson,  Robert 

Adcock,  Thomas  D. 

Aden,  Hugh 

Adkerson,  Robert  U. 

Adkison,  Barney  A. 

Agnew,  Herman  G. 

Ailor,  Lillard  E. 

Akard,  Wm.  P. 

Aken,  John 

Akin,  Ewell  W. 

Albertson,  Charles  H. 

Albright,  Elmer 

Alexander,  Bundy 

Alexander,  Ernest  J.    (Col.) 

Alexander,  Horace  L. 

Alexander,  John  Trimble 

Allbritton,  Elmo   (Col.) 

Allen,  Charlie   (Col.)    (Jefferson  Co.) 

Allen,  Charles   (Col.)    (Obion  Co.) 

Allen,  Eugene  M. 

Allen,  Fred  B. 

Allen,  Israel 

Allen,  James  M. 

Allen,  Jesse  E. 

Allen,  John  Q. 

Allen,  John  W. 

Allen,  Lavator 

Allen,  Leslie 

Allen,  Louis   (Col.) 

Allen,  Monty 

Allen,  Obev  L. 

Allen,  Tip  M. 

Alley,  Bruce  R. 

Allison,  Arthur  T. 

Allison,  Jesse 

Allison,  Joseph  P. 

Allison,  Stephen  C. 

Allman,  Ike   (Col.) 

Allred,  Everett 

Alsup,  Joseph  E. 

Amyx,  Riley  £>. 

Anderson,  Charles  L. 

Anderson,  Edgar  B. 


654 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Anderson,  Eenry  Anthony 
Anderson,  Henry  C. 
Anderson,  Horace  C. 
Anderson,  James  (Col.) 
Anderson,  James  D. 
Anderson,  Ollie  B. 
Anderson,  Robert  A. 
Anderson,  Walter  C. 
Anderson,  William  <H. 
Anderson,  William  L. 
Andes,  James  Cowan 
Andrews,  James   (Col.) 
Angel,  Henry  F. 
Angel,  Victor  L. 
Anthony,  Elmer  L. 
Anthony,  H.  B. 
Anton,  Thomas 
Archer,  John  W. 
Archer,  Sam 
Ardwell,  Donald   E. 
Armes,  Thos.  W. 
Arms,  James  H. 
Armstrong,  Fred    (Col.) 
Armstrong,  Henry  Guion 
Armstrong,  John  W. 
Armstrong,  Walter  R. 
Arnett,  John 
Arnold,  Bryan 
Arnold,  Charlie 
Arnold,  Edward  E. 
Arnold,  Jesse  N. 
Arnold,  James 
Arnold,  Robert  E. 
Arnold,  Seguine  A. 
Arterburn,  Elzie 
Ary,  Hubert  L. 
Ashe,  John  B. 
Ashley,  Robert  H. 
Ashworth,  Edward 
Ashworth,  Richard 
Aslinger,  Calvin 
Atchison,  Mose  (Col.) 
Atchley,  Amos 
Atkins,  William 
Atwell,  Dollan  B. 
Austin,  Amos  L. 
Austin,  Fred  Clay 
Austin,  William 
Ayers,  Sidney  S. 

Baber,  Frank  W. 
Baburek,  Charles 
Bachman,  Jos.,  Jr. 
Bacigalupo,  Anthony  W. 
Bacon,  Arthur  N. 
Bacon,  Roy  C. 
Baggett,  George  S. 
Bailey,  Frank  H. 
Bailey,  Hobart  M. 
Bailey,  Jesse 


Bailey,  Sam 
Bains,  Walter  C. 
Bain,  Cecil  C. 
Baird,   Charles  Uov 
Baird,  Millard 
Baker,  Claude  A. 
Baker,  George  N. 
Baker,  John  R. 
Baker,  Joseph   \V. 
Baker.  Roy  E. 
Baker,  Wi'lber   C. 
Balentine,  Johnnie   (Col.) 
Ball,  Evans 
Ballard,  William  A. 
Banholzer,  Albert  A. 
Baninster,  Augustus  R. 
Banks,  Ellis  M. 
Banks,  Wilkie  S.  J.   (Col.) 
Barbee,  Eddie  (Col.) 
Barbee,  Peter 
Barber,  Leonard  L. 
Barber,  Lunda  M. 
Barber,  Robert 
Barcroft,  William  L. 
Barker,  Alvis  Martin 
Barker,  Coleman   (Col.) 
Barksdale,  Todd   (Col.) 
Barnes,  John  S. 
Barnes,  Luke 
Barnes,  Raymond  E. 
Barnett,  Fred 
Barnett,  Lester  Akin 
Barnhill,  Sidnej'   (Col.) 
Barr,  James  L. 
Barr,  John  W. 
Barrett,  Cherry  M. 
Barrett,  Claude  A. 
Barron,  Hubert 
Barry,  Sidney  F. 
Bartlett,  John  L. 
Barton,  Charlie  L. 
Barton,  Gentry  Smith 
Baskin,  William  H. 
Basye,  William  T. 
Bates,  Clint 
Bates,  John  M. 
Bates,  John  P. 
Battle,  Alexander 
Baxter,  Henry  S. 
Baxter,  John  (Cocke  Co.) 
Baxter,  John  (Maury  Co.) 
Bayless,  Joseph  A. 
Bayless,  William  T. 
Bean,  Bedford  S. 
Bear,  Joseph 
Beard,  Tommie  L. 
Beasley,  Frank  H. 
Beasley,   Herman  O. 
Beatty.  Erwin 
Beatv.  James  R. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


655 


Beaty,  Virgil 
Beaty,  Wayne  S. 
Beavers,  .Morris 
Beckman,  Cleon  V. 
Bedford,  Oscar 
Bell,  Charles  E. 
Bell,  Edward   (Col.) 
Bell,  Fred  T. 
Bell,  Herbert 
Bell,  James  M. 
Bell,  Leonard 
Benford,  Ernest  (Col.) 
Benick,  John 
Bennett,  Charlie    (Col.) 
Bennett,  DeWitt 
Bennett,  Leander  A.    (Col.) 
Bennett,  Samuel  F. 
Bennett,  William  C. 
Bentley,  John  L. 
Berry,  Ilobert  .A I. 
Berry,  Lucian  T. 
Berry,  Philip  M. 
Berryhill,  William  R. 
Beshears,  James  1. 
Bevill,  Robert 
Bcwley,  Jesse 
Biggs,  Hugh  D. 
Biles,  Claude  L. 
Binklev,  George  R. 
Binkley,  William  M. 
Bishop,  Lafayette 
Bishop,   Roberl  Taylor 
Bishop,   William 
Bivens,  James  E. 
Black,  James  W. 
Black,  John  W. 
Black,  Leonard 
Blackburn,  Lounie  Lee 
Blackwell,  William  F. 
Blackwood,  Fred 
Blair,  Charley 
Blair,  James  W.   (Col.) 
Blalock,  Harvey 
Blalock,  James  M. 
Blankenship,  Dan  Moses 
Blansett,  William  J. 
Blazor,  Victor 
Blevins,  William 
Blocker,  Basil  Otie 
Bloodworth,  John  W. 
Blount,  Clyde 
Board,  George   (Col.) 
Boccia,  Clemente 
Bogart,  Lemuel  II. 
Buchanan,  Harry  R. 
Bolden,   Cleveland   (Col.) 
Boles,   Ralph  E. 
Boiling,   Edward  L. 
Bolton,  Samuel  H. 
Bond,  Frank  Nelson 


Bond,  Lewis  T. 
Bonner,   Oscar  M. 
Booker,  Howard  L.  (Col.) 
Boone,  Charles  E. 
Booth,  William  II. 
Horen,  Samuel  L.    (Col.) 
Boruft,  Lee  Houk 
Boswell,  Daniel  T. 
Boulton,  Wallace  F. 
Bowden,  Virgil 
Bowers,  Samuel  M. 
Bowling,  Edward  W. 
Bowling,  William  L. 
Bowman,  Albert  A. 
Bowman,  Elbert 
Bowman, '  George 
Boyee,  Leonard  H. 
Boyd,  Berry 
Boyd,  Harley 
Boyd,  Lake  C. 
Boyd,  William  H. 
Boyer,  Charles  Otto 
Boyer,  Walter  E. 
Boyland,  James  H.   (Col.) 
Bracey,  Walter  L. 
Bradford,  Nathaniel    (Col.) 
Bradford,  Paul  S. 
Bradley,  Ernest  H. 
Bradley,  Forrest 
Bradley,  Sam   Waldo 
Bradshaw,  John  W. 
Brady,  Fred  W. 
Bragg,  Thomas  G. 
Brakefield,  Joseph  D. 
Branan,  Jesse 
Branch,  Leslie  (Col.) 
Brandon,   Carl  D. 
Brann,  Cayce    K. 
Brannon,  John  J..  Jr. 
Brasher,  Wilson 
Brasier,  John  Carney 
Branzendine,  Al 
Breeden,  Lawrence 
Brewer,  Alva  McK. 
Brewer,  Jesse  S. 
Brewer,  Leonard  T. 
Brewer,  Nathan 
Brewer,  Robert  A. 
Brewer,  Robert  L. 
Brewer,  Tipton  J. 
Brewington,  Fred 
Briggs,  Archibald  L. 
Briley,  Macy  Lee 
Brison,  Oscar 
Biison,  Walter  C. 
Britt,  William 
Britton,  William  E.  (Col.) 
Broadwell,  Charlie  C. 
Brock,  Robert  L. 
Brooks,  Alfred 


656 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Brooks,  Lewis  II. 
Brooks,  Weaver  K. 
Brookshear,  William  E. 
Brown,  Alexander 
Brown,  Hud    |  Col.  i 
Brown,  Campbell  S. 
Brown,  Charlie  A. 
Brown,  Dock 
Brown,   Ezra  A. 
Brown,  George  E. 
Brown,  Harry 
Brown,  James  (Col.) 
Brown,  James  A. 
Brown,  John  F. 
Brown,  John   W. 
Brown,  John  W.   (Col.) 
Brown,  Lon 
Brown,  Louis   (Col.) 
Brown.   Martin  C. 
Brown,  Robert  T. 
Brown,  Sydney  H. 
Brown,  Tom   (Col.) 
Brown,  Walter  (Col.) 
Brown,  William 
Brown,  William  Herbert 
Browning,  John  W. 
Browning,  William  L. 
Broyles,  Cecil  C. 
Broyles,  Jesse 
Broyles,  Robert  F. 
Bruce,  Tom 
Brumley,  Herman  L. 
Brummitt,  Luther  J. 
Bryan,  William 
Bryant,  Cleveland    (Col.) 
Bryant,  George  D. 
Bryant,  James  H. 
Bryant,  Vraden 
Bucey,  Henry  C. 
Buchanan,  Claude    (Col.) 
Buchanan,  Elsie 
Buchanan,  Frederick    (Col.) 
Buck,  Charles  E. 
Buck,  Homer 

Buckingham,  Joshua   (Col.) 
Buckner,  Clyde  I. 
Bumpus,  Isaiah   (Col.) 
Bunch,  Joseph 
Bunn,  Paul  A. 
Bunyon,  Joseph  C. 
Burch,  Jas.  M. 
Burchfield,  D.  H. 
Burchfield,  John  Henry 
Burchfield,  William  R. 
Burdet,  Francis  Joseph 
Burdine,  Ballard   (Col.) 
Burdock,  Robert 
Burger,  Horace 
Burgess,  Charles 
Burgess,  Robert  T. 


Burgess,  Qrious  1. 
Burk,  Ernesl 
Burke,  Frank  E. 
Burkett,  John   K. 
Burkey,  Edgar  C. 
Burkhart,  Bruce 
Burkhart,  Walter  Wesley 
Burks,  Etherl  E. 
Burks,  Foster  N. 
Burks,  Thomas  C. 
Burlison,  Sherl 
Burnett,  Luther  L. 
Burnett,  Mack 
Burnett,  Thomas  II. 
Burnley,  Lee    (Col.) 
Burns,  Essex 
Burns,  George  H. 
Burns,  Lee 
Burns,  Robert  C. 
Burrell,  Carlton   (Col.) 
Burtis,  Governor   (Col.) 
Burton.  Albert  C. 
Burton^  H.  H. 
Busey,  Henry  C. 
Bush,  Albert  Franklin 
Bush,  Alexander    (Col.) 
Bush,  Eath 
Bush,  Juel 
Bush,  William  C. 
Butler,  Clarence  F. 
Butler,  Fletcher   W. 
Butler,  Lyman  C. 
Butler,  Martin  Alvin 
Butler,  Tillman 
Butts,  Bethel 
Byars,  Pleasant  V. 
Byram,  James  M. 
Byrd,  Dan  H. 
Byrd,  Ed  M. 
Byrd,  Wade  Hampton 

Cabe,  John  R. 
Caddis,  William  P.    (Col.) 
Cagle,  Thomas  G. 
Cain,  Thomas  M. 
Caldwell,  Dandridge  W. 
Caldwell,   George   H. 
Caldwell,  Joseph  H. 
Caldwell,   William   S. 
Calhoun,  Gus  B. 
Callahan,    Benjamin    F. 
Camp,  Lafayette 
Campbell,  Alex 
Campbell,  Ernest  J. 
Campbell,   Fred  R. 
Campbell,  Harrison 
Campbell,  Willard 
Campbell,  William 
Campbell,   William   C. 
Campbell,  William  W. 


TENNESSEE.  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


657 


Camper,  David  K. 
Canada,  Thomas  Ray 
Cannon,  Joseph  K. 
Cannon,  Walter  G. 
Cantrell,  Huly  McC. 
Cantrell,  Jas. 
Cantrell,  John  E. 
Carden,  James  E. 
Cardwell,  Donald  Eugene 
Carlock,  Albert  A. 
Carlyle,  William  C. 
Carnahan,   William 
Carne,  John  Boyd 
Carney,  Andrew  J. 
Carney,  Everett  F. 
Carothers,    Harland 
Carpenter,  Ernest 
Carpenter,   James 
Carpenter,  Robert  B. 
Carr,  Elisha 
Carr,  John  M. 
Carr,  Will  Roscoe 
Carriek,  George   W. 
Carroll,  Edward  L. 
Carroll,   Rush    (Col.) 
Carson,  Joseph  E. 
Carter,  Alonzo 
Carter,    Cleveland    (Col.) 
Carter,  Ernest  C. 
Carter,   Grover   C. 
Carter,  Hugh 
Carter,  James  L. 
Carter,  John  Buford 
Carter,  Ola  Kyle 
Carter,  Overton  (Col.) 
Carter,   Sanford   G. 
Carter,  Walter  0. 
Carter,  William 
Cartwright,   Clem    (Col.) 
Carver,   Rock 
Casey,  John 
Cassiola,   Sam   M. 
Cate,  Ashley  J. 
Cate,  Floyd  M. 
Cate,  Thomas  C. 
Gates,   Henry  C. 
Cates,  John  G. 
Cathey,  Elijah   (Col.) 
Cathey,  George 
Caton,   Arthur  E. 
Catron,   Guy    (Col.) 
Caudill,  James  E. 
Cavin,  Charlie  A. 
Cawood,  Fred. 
Caylor,  Grayson 
Chamberlain,   .Mike 
Chambers,  Angus 
Chambers,  William  A. 
Chambliss,  Bruce  S. 
Chandler,   Floyd 


Chandler,  Grover  C. 
Chaney,  Elder 
Chapped,  Elmer 
Charles,   Ollie 
Chatham,  Lewis  E. 
Chatham,   Ophelia    (Col.) 
( 'heat,  Vince  R. 
Cheatham,  Kirby   II. 
Cheers,   Esau    (Col.) 
Chenoweth,  Carl  C. 
Chenoweth,  Rufus  W. 
Cherry,  John 
Cherry,  Lexie 
Cherry,  Stone  F. 
Chest,"  William  O. 
Chewning,  Arthur  Wm. 
Childers,    Howard   D. 
Childress,   Murrow 
Chiles,  Frank  G. 
(Idles,    Walter   (Col.) 
Chilson,   Carl  A. 
Chitwood,  William 
Choate,   James 
Choate,    Stephens    I). 
Chord,  Alton  L. 
Chrisman,  Amos 
Christian,  Claude  R. 
Christian,  Paul  H. 
Christian,  Zollie  D. 
Christmas,  Lewis   (Col.) 
Christopher,  Culess  D. 
Christopher,  Reubin   T. 
Civils,  John  W. 
Clabo,  Hugh  C. 
Clabo,   Robert   P. 
Clark,   Buford 
Clark,   Charlie 
Clark,  Charlie  A. 
Clark,  Floyd  B. 
(lark,  George   K. 
Clark,   Harden   E. 
Clark.  Henry  M. 
Clark,  Jas.  A. 
Clark,  John  W. 
Clark,  Prichard 
Clark,   William   Oscar 
Claxton,    William  H. 
Clayton,  Grover  C. 
( 'layton,  Lebert  L. 
Clayton,  Virgil  A. 
Cleghorn,  Frederick  A. 
Cleghorn,  William  R. 
Clemens,    Edward   E. 
Clement,    Hugh   Tillman 
Clement,   Riley   Franklin 
Cliburn,  Edison  P. 
Clifford,    Robert    B. 
Clifton,    Fred 
Clifton,    Neal    0. 


658 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Clifton,   Samuel  J. 
Climer,  ( 'alvin  C. 
( llimer,  Riley  •). 
(Minion,  Clennie 
(  Mil i ton ,   John 
( lloud,  George  W. 
Cloys,   Hugh  A. 
(Muck.    Britton 
( lochran,  Prank  B. 
Cochran,  Lee 
Cochran,  Wilson  C. 
Cocke,   Robert   S. 
Cockrell,  Frank  T. 
Cockrum,  Lawrence  W. 
Corks,  .lames  E. 
Coffman,  Paschel   (Col.) 
Cogdill,  Benjamin  J. 
Cohen,  Albert,  Jr. 
Coker,  Ulysses 
Colboeh,  Bruce  M. 
Cole,  Emmett 
Cole,  James  W.   (Col.) 
Cole,  LeRoy 
Cole,    Simon 
Coleman,   Hubert 
Coley,  Lester  H. 
Collins,  Charles  G. 
Collins,   Claude  S. 
Collins,  Fred 
( 'oil ins,  Gordon  B. 
Collins,  James  A. 
( Jollins,  James  E. 
( lollins,  James  F. 
Collins,  Robert  (Col.) 
Colson,   Elmer  C. 
Colville,  Osborne  Lindsay 
Colwell,  Alvin 
Colwick,  Will 
Combs,   James  F. 
Combs,    Sherman 
Compton,  Jesse  G. 
Compton,  John  Fred 
Compton,  Porter  E. 
Condrey,  Thomas  W. 
Congdon,  Warren  A. 
Conger,  Hamilton 
Connell,  Claude  W. 
Conry,  James 
Cook,   Charles   E. 
Cook,  Robert 
Cook,  Sherman   (Col.) 
Cooley,  James  R. 
Cooney,  Aloysius  B. 
Coop,  Geoi'ge  P. 
Cooper,  Charles  E. 
Cooper,  Earl  R. 
Cooper,  Frank  H. 
Cooper,   Gus  A. 
Cooper,  Hampton 
Cooper,  Joseph  C. 


Cooper,    Lloyd   C. 
Cooper,  ( )scar   (  Col.) 
Cooper,   Pleas   II. 
Cooper.    William    P. 
Cooper,  William  X. 
Cooper,  Winfred  A. 
Corbin,  Samuel    F. 
Corey,   Henry 
Cornelius,  ( lharles  E. 
Coruni,   lion  1). 
Colter,  John  P. 
Cousins,  Lee 
Covington,  Dewey  A. 
Cowan,   Joseph 
Cowan,  Winslow  Edwin 
Cowans,  Brownlow  (Col.) 
Cox,  George  T. 
Cox,  Hunt 
Cox,  John  Mayberry 
Cox,  William  Thomas 
Crabtree,  Sewell  J. 
Craft,   Austin    (Col.) 
Craig,   Frank  R. 
Crank,  Guilford  L. 
Crank,  Waldow  1. 
Crawford,  Charlie  G. 
Crawford,  John   H. 
Crews,  Elliott  A. 
Crews,  Hubert  B. 
Crim,  William  M. 
Cripps,  William   11. 
Crisp,  Samuel 
Crisp,  Walter 
Crittenden,  Chester   U. 
Crofford,  John  A.,  Jr. 
Crofford,  W.  H. 
Croft,  William  G.   (Col.) 
Cross,  Comer 
Cross,  Isaac 
Cross,  Roger  II. 
Crossnoe,  Robert  E. 
Crowder,  Ernest  J.    (Col. 
Crowder,   John    (Col.) 
Crumbliss,  Claude  1). 
Crumley,  William  R. 
Crunk,  William  H. 
Crusenberry,   Robert 
Cudworth,  Joseph  II. 
Culp,  Charlie 
Cummings,  Jack   (Col.) 
Cummings,  James  D. 
Cummings,  Jesse 
Cummings,  Wade 
Cummings,  William 
Cuneo,  Aldino  Francis 
( Minningham,  Benjamin 
Cunningham,  James  D. 
Cunningham,  Wilsie  P. 
Cupp,   Oscar  P. 
Cupples,   Curry   C. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


659 


Curies,   Erroll   G. 
Curtain,  Roberl   E.   (Col.) 
Curtis,  Harrison   (Col.) 
Curtis,   James  H. 
Curtis,  Robert  L. 
Curtis,  Roy  C. 
Curtis,   Samuel  J. 
Curtis,  Thomas  A. 
Cutrell,  Albert  B. 
Cutshall,  Albert  D. 

Dalton,  William  E. 

Daly,  John  H.    (Col.) 

Daniel,   James  R. 

Daniel,  Marion  J. 

Daniels,  Bernie 

Daniels,   William    E. 

Darety,   John    H. 

Daugherty,  James  D. 

Daugherty,    Robert 

Davenport,   Cornelius  G. 

Davidson,  Ward 

Davis,  Abe  J. 

Davis,  Albert   (Col.) 

Davis,  Charlie  (Col.) 

Davis,  David 

Davis,   Donald  M. 

Davis,   Eugene 

Davis,   Francis 

Davis,  Frank  H. 

Davis,  Henry  Porter 

Davis,  Homer   (Col.) 

Davis,  Huffman 

Davis,  Jacob  C. 

Davis,  John 

Davis,  Jo  Johnston 

Davis,  Joseph    (Col.),   Hamilton   Co. 

Davis,  Joseph  (Col.),  Shelby  Co. 

Davis,  Mallie  L.  (Col.) 

Davis,  Oliver  L. 

Davis,  Oscar   (Col.) 

Davis,  Sawyer  (Col.) 

Davis,  Solomon  (Col.) 

Davis,  Tommie   D. 

Davis,   Thomas   L. 

Davis,  Thurman 

Davis,  Wallace  H. 

Davis,  Wesley 

Davis,  William  (Col.)   Shelby  Co. 

Davis,  Willie   (Col.)   Davidson  Co. 

Davis,   William   F. 

Davis,  Will  L.   (Col.) 

Dawn,  John  R. 

Daws,  Harrison 

Day,    Ethelbert 

Day,  Lafayette 

Day,  Norman  M. 

Dayton,  John    (Col.) 

Dayton,  John  Hooper 

Dean,   James  L. 


Dean,  Martin   (Col.) 
Deberry,    Colonel 
Decker,   George   W. 
Deere,  Jesse  L. 
Deffenbaugh,  Elmer  11. 
Delias,  Marcus  N. 
Del  ius,  Clinton  F. 
Deloach,    Walter 
Dement,  Clay  W. 
I )(  ming,    Hardeman  D. 
Dempsey,  Thomas  Earl 
Dennis,  John,  Jr. 
Dennis,  Joseph 
Dennis,   Judson    \V. 
Denson,  Fred    (Col.) 
Dent,   Grover  C. 
Denton,  Guilford 
Denton,   John   Lucas 
Dever,  Chaplain  John  A. 
Dickey,   Arthur  W. 
Dickson,  Earl  S. 
Dickson,  Richard  H. 
Dillard,  George  G. 
Dillard,  Wince  (Col.) 
Dinwiddle,  Green 
Disbonnett,  Curtis  E. 
Dishman,   Charles 
Dismukes,  George  R. 
Divens,  John  T.    (Col.) 
Dixon,  George  L.   (Col.) 
Dobbs,  Houston 
Dobbs,  Walter  T. 
Dobson,  James  T. 
Dockery,  John 
Dockins,  Mental  P. 
Docld,  Connie  Lee 
Dodin,  James 
Doclson,  Edward  0. 
Doggett,  Ahmid   (Col.) 
Doles,  Logan 
Donahoo,  John  (Col.) 
Donald,  Benjamin  F. 
Donaldson,  George  R. 
Donaldson,  James  H. 
Donati,  Joseph 
Doney,   John   I). 
Donahue,   William  J. 
Dorsey,   Mayfield 
Dotson,  Emanuel    (Col.) 
Dougherty,  John 
Douglas,  Abner  B. 
Douglas,  Arthur  B. 
Douglas,   Eugene,  Jr. 
Doward,  George  W.    (Col.) 
Dowell,  Carlos  Boyd,  Sr. 
Downing,  Robert 
Doyle,  John   Carroll 
Dozier,  Tobe 
Drake,  William  L. 


660 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Driver,  Dibrell 
Dubose,   William   (  Col.  I 
Dudderar,  Marshall  B. 
Dudney,  George  II. 
Duggan,  Roscoe  II. 
Dugger,  William  S. 
Dunavan,  James  M. 
Dunaway,  Fred  L. 
Duma  way,  Lewis  (i. 
Dunbar,  Henry  Clyde 
Dunbar,  Merritt 
Duncan,   Charles  T. 
Duncan,   Samuel  H. 
Dunkin,  Stanley  (Col.) 
Dunlap,  Dallas   (Col.) 
Dunmou,  James  C. 
Dunn,   Robert   T. 
Dunn,  William  B. 
Dunnagan,  Sam  R. 
Dunnavant,  Robert  H. 
Durham,  P. 
Duscall,  H.  I. 
Dyer,  Beryl 
Dyer,  Glenn  H. 
Dyer,  John  W. 
Dyer,  Robert  L. 
Dyer,  Samuel  ('. 
Dykes,  Robert  A. 
Dykes,  Sanders 
Dyson,  Richard  (Col.) 

Eads,  Walter 
Earle,  Charles  L. 
Earle,  Jackson  C. 
Earls,  Eugene 
Earps,  Elbert  A. 
Eason,  Paul  M. 
Eastridge,   James 
Eaton,  Charles  William 
Eatmon,  William  M. 
Eaves,  Eldee 
Eckles,  George  H. 
Edenton,   Charles    (Col.) 
Edge,    Floyd 
Edminston,  Wilmer  W. 
Edmonds,  Marion    Emmett 
Edmondson,  Finley 
Edmondson,  Homer  K. 
Edmondson,  John  K.   (Col.) 
Edmondson,  Marvin   E. 
Edwards,  Charles  C. 
Edwards,  Garrett 
Edwards,  Levi   (Col.) 
Eison,    Hosie 
Elam,  Linsey 
Elbon,  Benjamin  W. 
Elihue,  Patrick  (Col.) 
Ellery,   James  Elry    (Col.) 
Elliot,  Anderson 
Elliott,  Holice  Clinton 


Elliott,   Richard   H. 

Ellis,  Bunn  W. 

Ellis,  Fife  Vaughn 

Ellis,  James   (Col.) 

Ellis,    John    W. 

Ellis,  Nash   (Col.) 

Ellison,   Ernest  N. 

Ellison,  Major  G. 

Elrod,   Chester  F. 

Ely,  Ernest 

Ely,  Robert  L. 

Elza,  Grover 

Emerson,  Hobart  E. 

Emert,  Lon  E. 

Empson,  Robert  T. 

England,  Zummer 

Enloe,  Luna  Wesley 

Epperson,  Frank 

Erby,  Allie  D. 

Erwin,  Byrd  R. 

Erwin,  Louis  S. 

Escue,  Maynard  W. 

Esslinger,    Trice   H. 

Estes,  Idol 

Etheridge,  Morris 

Evans,  Arthur  G. 

Evans,  Earl 

Evans,  Ed 

Evans,   Eldee 

Evans,  Joseph  H. 

Evans,  Lester  N. 

Evans,  Luther 

Evans,  Richard  C. 

Evans,  Thomas  A. 

Evans,  Thomas  J. 

Evans,  William  T. 

Everett,  Raymond  E. 

Evitts,  William  J. 

Ewing,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Jr.   (Col. 

Ewing,  James   (Col.) 

Ewton,  Dallas  P. 

Ezell,  William  M. 

Fagg,  Auls 
Fagin,  Walter 
Falls,  Edward 
Pansier,   Claude 
Faris,  William  B. 
Karlow,    Charles   J. 
Farmer,  Fred 
Parmer,  Herbert 
Farmer,  Toby 
Farrar,  Clarence 
Farrell,  Cecil  0. 
Farris,  Wm.  Dean 
Fasio,  Lewis 
Feathers,  Edgar 
Feezel,  Meek 
Fender,  Hubert 
Fergus,  Ernest 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


661 


Ferguson,  Chas.  M.   (Col.) 
Ferguson,  Clarence  McK. 
Ferguson,  Harry  A. 
Ferguson,  John  H. 
Ferguson,  Robert  H. 
Ferguson,  Robert  Reid 
Ferguson,  Rufus  S. 
Fernandez,  Pack  D. 
Ferreter,  James 
Ferris,  Ernest 
Field,  Millard  R. 
Field,  Thoxnas  C. 
Fields,  Dennis  E. 
Fields,  Henry   (Col.) 
Filson,  John  W. 
Findley,  Joel   L. 
Fine,  John  F. 
Finley,  Joseph  T. 
Finney,  John  H. 
Fish,  Wm.  McKinley 
Fish,  Charlie  T. 
Fisher,  Everett 
Fisher,  Randall  D. 
Fitch,  Charlie 
Fitch,  Edwin  L. 
Fitzgerald,  "Walker  S. 
Fitzhugh,  John  Young 
Fitzhugh,  Luther 
Flatt,   James   L. 
Flatt,  Sidney 
Pleenor,  Nelson 
Fleenor,  Thedford  H. 
Fleming,  Frank  H. 
Fleming,  John  W. 
Fleming,  Willard 
Fleming,  Robert   (Col.) 
Flenniken,  John  J. 
Fletcher,  Dan 
Fletcher,  John  W. 
Fletcher,  Robert  N. 
Fletcher,  William  E. 
Flowers,  Arthur   (Col.) 
Flowers,  Earl 
Flowers,  Martin  L. 
Floyd,  Azle  B.  (Col.) 
Floyd,  James  C. 
Fly,  Ernest 
Fly,  Homer   (Col.) 
Fly,  Prentis 
Fly,  Richard  (Col.) 
Flynn,  Clarence  C. 
Fogg,  James  M. 
Follis,   William    Everett 
Ford,  Brady   (Col.) 
Ford,  Charles  Joseph 
Ford,  Jesse  B. 
Ford,  Robert  R. 
Ford,  Sam  (Col.) 
Ford,  Virpril 
Fore,  Birdo 


Forester,  Jodie  C. 

Forrest,  Alfred  C. 

Forrester,  John  W. 

Forsythe,  William  A. 

Fort,  Daniel  C.   (Col.) 

Foster,   Edgar 

Foster,  Enoch  S. 

Foster,   Jack 

Foster,   James   B. 

Foster,   Robert    C. 

Foster,  Roland  M.    (Col.) 

Foster,  Walter  McD. 

Foster,  William  E. 

Foutch,  James  M. 

Fowler,  Alvin    (Col.) 

Fowler,   Roscoe    (Jefferson   Co.) 

Fowler,  Roscoe   (Fentress  Co.) 

Fowler,   William 

Fowlkes,  Benjamin  M. 

Fowlkes,  Willie   (Col.) 

Fox,  Daniel 

Fox,  John  0. 

Fox,  Thomas  G. 

France,  William  F. 

Francisco,  James  I.,  Jr. 

Frazier,   Alfred 

Frazier,  Collins  (Col.) 

Frazier,  Frank  S. 

Frazier,  James  A. 

Frazier,  Walter  R. 

Free,   Charlie   C. 

Freeman,  Everett 

Freeman,  James  M. 

Freeman,  Joshua 

Freeman,  Thomas  J.   (Col.) 

Freeman,  William  T. 

Freeze,  Lawrence 

French,  Davis 

French,  Marshall  T. 

Friedman,  James  H. 

Frierson,  Watts  (Col.) 

Frith,   Thomas  R. 

Fritz,  William 

Froines,  Hans  P. 

Frost,    Elvin 

Frost,    Oscar 

Frost,  Robert  L. 

Fryar,  Guy  D. 

Frye,  John  W. 

Fuggitt,  John  W. 

Fulcher,   William    P. 

Fulkerson,  Joseph 

Fullerton,  Vera  J. 

Fulps,  Willie  G. 

Fults,  Henry 

Fuqua,  Boyd    (Col.) 

Fnqua,   Clyde 

Fuqua,  Isham  H. 

Furchess,  Wesley  M. 


GG2 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Gaddy,  .James 

Gadger,  Floyd  H. 

Gaines,  John   (Col.) 

Gairy,   Armistead 

Galyon,  Charley  S. 

( i amble,  Ethelbert 

Gamble,  John  B. 

Gamble,  Robert 

Gammon,  James 

(iann,  Bert  Davis 

Gann,   -James 

Gann,   William 

Gardner,  Eugene 

Gardner,  James  (Col.)    lUounl  Co. 

Gardner,  James  (Col.)  Shelby  Co. 

Gardner,   Roy 

Gardner,  William  L. 

Garland,  James  L. 

Gannon,  John  H.   (Col.) 

Gannon,  Joseph 

Garner,  Elbert  0. 

Garretson,  Teddy 

Garrett,  Elijah  Oren 

Garrett,  George  W. 

Garrett,  William  M. 

Garrison,  John 

Garrison,  William 

Gatlin,  Joshua  0. 

Gatlin,  Landon 

(iallis,    William 

Gavin,  Samuel  (Col.) 

Gawlet,  Ross 

Gay,  Rankin  D. 

Gaynor,  Edwin  B. 

Geisler,  James  R. 

Gentry,  Audie  F. 

Gentry,  Daniel  N. 

Gentry,  Jacob   W. 

George,  Allie   (Col.) 

George,   Howard 

George,  Ike    (Col.) 

George,  Matthew 

( lerald,  Jasper 

Gerard,  George  R. 

Gerber,  George  E. 

Gerlach,  Bennie  A. 

G  hoist  on,  James   (Col.) 

rdina,   Frank 
Gibbons,  Arthur  W. 
Gibbons,  Ed 
Gibson,  Herbert  D. 
Gibson,  James 
Gibson,   Jurd   Roy 
Gibson,   Samuel  0. 
Gilbert,  Luther   (Col.) 
Gilbreath,  Archie   (Col.) 
Gilbreath,  John  W. 
Gilchrist,  Luther  F. 
Giles,  Floyd  L. 
Gill,  Alvin 


Gill,    Louis    (Col.) 

Gill,  Theo.  II. 

Gill,    William  J. 

Gillahan,  Fred  A. 

Gillespie,  Guy  B. 

Gilliam,  Arthur  B. 

Gilliam,  Ernest   P. 

Girdner,   Curtis 

Givens,  Curtis   (Col.) 

Givens,  Samuel  0. 

Gladman,   Ottawae 

Gladson,  James    l>. 

Glasgow,  Herbert   W. 

Glidewell,  Richard  L. 

Glover,  James  L. 

Glover,  Robert  L.  (Col.) 

Goad,  William  M. 

Gobelet,  Obed  D. 

Goddard,  Cecil  French 

Godsey,  John  L. 

Godsey,  William 

Goff,  William  A. 

Goines,  Hubert 

Goins,   Grover   C. 

Goins,  Ollie 

Goldsby,  Ernest  E. 

Goll,  Marshall 

Gooch,  Clarence  C. 

Good,  John  S. 

Goode,  Ernest 

Goode,  Mark 

Goodwin,  Harold  G. 

Goodwin,  Lindsey  A. 

Goodwin,  Sam  Virgil 

Goodwin,  Walter  I). 

Goolsby,  Benton 

Goolsby,  Lex  Bryant 

Gordon,  Clifton   (Col.) 

Gordon,   George  W. 

Gore,  Sidney  E. 

Gose,  Charlie  Morton 

Gosnell,  William  W. 

Gossett,  Charles  W. 

Gossett,   Joseph 

Gotthardt,  William   0.    (Col.) 

Gourley,  David  M. 

Gourley,  Joseph  W. 

Gower,  Leslie  M. 

Goza,  Mark  Talmadge 

Graham,  Elmer  (Col.) 

Graham,  William  Perry 

Granberry,  James   (Col.) 

Grant,  Aubrey 

Grant,  Jesse  E. 

Graves,   Charley  W. 

Graves,  Henry  H. 

Graves,   Jesse   C. 

Graves,  Walter   (Col.) 

Graves,   Walter   S. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


663 


Graves,   William  B. 
(J ray,  Daniel  L. 
Gray,   Emery  J. 
Gray,   George  L. 
Gray,   William    (Col.) 
Green,  Claude 
Green,   Clifford 
Green,  Ford  (Col.) 
Green,  John 
Green,  Jonathan   M. 
Green,  Leo  L. 
Green,  Mack 
Green,  Neil 
Green,   Victor 
Green,   Virgil 
Green,  Walter   (Col.) 
Green,  Witt  C. 
Green,  Zach  A. 
Greener,  Elbert 
Greer,  Glenn  J. 
Greer,  Hugh  W.  (Col.) 
Greer,  Lindsey  B. 
Greer,  Orman  P. 
Greer,  Walter 
Greer,  William 
Gregory,  Lloyd  E. 
Gregory,   Schuyler 
Gresham,  Leland  C. 
Griffin,  Herbert  L. 
Griffin,  Rex  Hobson 
Griffin,  William   L. 
Griffith,  Alexander  C. 
Griffith,  John  C.    (Col.) 
Griggs,  Ernest 
Grigsby,   Melbane   E. 
Grimes,  Omer  B. 
Grimsley,  Earl  D. 
Grindstaff,  John  E. 
Grissom,  James  B. 
Grissom,   Sam 
Groner,    Lena.   Floyd 
Grooms,  Wallace  H. 
Grubb,  AVilliam   Allen 
Grubbs,  Charles  W. 
Grumley,  William  R. 
Gudger,   Fiord    H. 
Gulley,  Albert  B. 
Gulley,  Henry 
Gunn,  Ivory   (Col.) 
Gunnels,  Louis 
Gunter,  Hugh  Wiley 
G urley,  Andrew  J. 
Gurley,   Lawrence   J. 
Gurley,  Nathan  W.    (Col.) 
Gurley,  Thomas 
Guth,  Fred  C. 
Guthrie,  James  C. 
Gwaltney,   Pleasant   I). 
Gwyn,  James 


Haas,  Doss  B. 
Hackaby,    Eugene   W. 
Haekett,  Charles  II. 
Hackney,  Charles  B. 
Ilackthorne,  Clarence  E. 
Haekworth,  L.  M. 
Haddock,  Dolphie 
Hagan,  Wallace  L. 
Hagan,  William  W. 
Hager,   George  B. 
Hager,  George  W. 
Hagewood,  Edgar  A. 
Hagler,  Angus 
Haile,    Max 
Hair,  Luther  G. 
Ilaire,  Daniel  S. 
Hale,  Cyrus  A. 
Hale,  Edwin  S. 
Hale,   Horace 
Hale,  Walter 
Hall,  James  M. 
Hall,  Jesse  F. 

*   alter   (Col.) 
Hall,    William 
Ilallyburton,  Thomas  E. 
Halton,   Amos   B. 
Bambright,    Mark 
Hamby,   Lawson 
Hamby,  Samuel  M. 
Hamilton,  Armstead  E.  (Col.) 
Hamilton,  Burrett 
Hamilton,  Charles  W. 
Hamilton,  Dan  B. 
Hamilton,  George  W. 
Hamilton,  Howard  K. 
Hamilton,  Paul  J. 
Hamilton,  AVilliam  A. 
Hamilton,  William  E. 
Hamlett,  William  F. 
Hammer,    Charles    ( '. 
Hammer,  James  A. 
Hammill,  Joseph  E. 
Hammock,  Lee  C. 
Hammond,  Hagan 
Hammons,  Ernest    (Col.) 
Hampton,  Oscar 
Hampton,  Thurman    (Col.) 
Hancock,    Clifford    C. 
Hancock,  John  E. 
Hancock,   Robert   0. 
Haney,  James  0. 
Haney,  Senter 
Hannah,   Alexander  B. 
Hansard,  McKinley    W. 
Hanskins,   Norman 
Harbin,  Wylie 
Hardcastle,  Chester 
Harden,    Frank 
Harden.  Joe  Henry 
Harden,  Ollip 


M4 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Harder,  Noah  L. 
Hardinian,  Mack  V. 
Hardin,  Artie 
Hardy,  Clifford 
Hargett,  James  B. 
Hargett,  Ellihu 
Ilargis,  Marion  D. 
Harlan,   George 
Harlon,  Zebulon   (Col.) 
Harlow,  William  B. 
Harmon,  Claude  L. 
Harper,  Albert  S. 
Harper,    Harvey  L. 
Harper,  Walter  R. 
Harrel,  Archer  B. 
Harrington,  David  A. 
Harris,  Clarence  T. 
Harris,  Grady 
Harris,  Milton 
Harris,  Nelson   (Col.) 
Harris,  Oliver  L. 
Harris,  Robert 
Harris,  Samuel  E. 
Harrison,  Carl  E. 
Harrison,  Clarence   (Col.) 
Harrison,  James 
Harrison,  Oscar  B. 
Harrison,  Thomas  M. 
Harrison,  Thomas  0. 
Hart,  Johnnie   (Col.) 
Hart,  Porter 
Hart,  Samuel  H. 
Harvey,  Abraham   (Col.) 
Harvey,  Aubrey  E. 
Harvey,   Mark 
Harvill,  James  A. 
Harwell,  Howard  Lee 
Hassell,  Matthew  C. 
Hassell,  Nathan    (Col.) 
Hasting,  Walter  R. 
Hastings,  Eddie  H. 
Hastings,  James  W. 
Hatfield,  Clarence  (Col.) 
Hatfield,  Lester  M. 
Hathaway,  Fred  S. 
Hathcock,  James  E. 
Hathcock,  Robert 
Hatmaker,  Harvey 
Hawk,  Valdria  D. 
Hawkes,  Edgar 
Hawkins,  Carl  D. 
Hawkins,  Gordon  E. 
Hawkins,  Joseph 
Hawkins,  Marvin  (Col.) 
Hawkins,  Ross 
Hawks,  Closie 
Hawks,  Thurman   E. 
Hay,  Marcus  S. 


Hayes,  John    B. 
Hayes,  William  J. 
Haynes,  John  W. 
Haynes,  Leroy  B. 
Hays,  Leon 
Hays,  Robert  A. 
Hays,  Thomas  ('. 
Hays,  William  C. 
Hayton,  Joseph  K. 
Haywood,  Eli  R. 
Hazel,  Norman  L. 
Hazzard,  John  Cosbv 
Head,  John  W. 
Head,  Martin  B. 
Heaton,  Walter  II. 
Hefiey,  James  B. 
Heggie,  Donald 
Ilelft,  Loftin  E. 
Hellard,  Jesse  II. 
Hellem,  Benjamin    (Col.) 
Helton,  Lee  R. 
Hembree,  George  S. 
Henderson,  Otis  L. 
Henderson,  Robert  J. 
Hendriex,  Daniel  C. 
Hendrix,  Roby 
Hendrix,  Roy  T. 
Henley,  John 
Ilennessee,  William 
Henning,  Samuel  E. 
Henry,  Ernest  B. 
Henry,  John  S. 
Henry,  William  R. 
Hensley,  Walter 
Herbison,  Ellet  T. 
Herman,  Fred  B. 
Herriman,  William  S. 
Herrington,  Clinton   E. 
Hestand,  Clyde  F. 
Hester,  Taylor  D. 
Hibbett,  Charles  Y. 
Hice,  Benjamin  F. 
Hickerson,  Thomas 
Hickey,  Callie  M. 
Hickey,  David  C. 
Hickey,  Ed  H. 
Hickey,  Lee  L. 
Hickman,  Claude  D. 
Hickman,  Horace 
Hickman,  William  P. 
Hicks,  Arthur  W. 
Hicks,  Charles 
Hicks,  Charles  L. 
Hicks,  David 
Hicks,  Henry  L. 
Hicks,  John  D. 
Dicks,  Samuel  J. 
Hicks,  Tarence  David 
Hicks,  William  A. 
Hicks,  William  H.    (Col.) 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


665 


Higginbotham,  Jesse 
Higgins,  Elkins  B. 
Higgs,  John  P. 
High,  Benjamin  S. 
Highett,  Robert  M. 
Higlnnan,  John  W. 
Hightower,  George  G. 
Hill,  Henry 
Hill,  Henry   (Col.) 
Hill,  Horace  J. 
Hill,  James  R. 
Hill,  John  H. 
Hill,  Price  E. 
Hill,  Richard 
Hill,  Rufus 
Hill,  Samuel  M. 
Hillard,  James  (Col.) 
Hillis,  Alfred 
Hilton,  Charlie  A. 
Hindman,  James  Robert 
Hindman,  Thomas  Jehu 
Hinds,  Arthur 
Hinds,  Arthur  J. 
Bines,  Joseph  (Col.) 
Hines,  Wiley 
Hinkle,  James  T. 
Hinkle,  Lee 
Hinkle,  Porter 
Hinson,  Commodore 
Hinson,  Stewart 
Hipps,  Noah  G. 
Hirt,  Horace   (Col.) 
Hitchcock,  Albert  L. 
Hitner,  Fred 
Hittson,  Hence  H. 
Hodge,  George  A. 
Hodges,  Johnnie 
Hodges,  Leighton   (Col.) 
Hodges,  Thomas  A. 
Hoeft,  Lofton  E. 
Hogan,  Sutton 
Hoge,  Herbert 
Hoge,  Samuel   B. 
Holcombe,  Lynn  S. 
Holden,  Edward 
Holden,  Elbert  A. 
Holden,  Robert  N. 
Holder,  Doak 
Holdham,  August  B. 
Holdway,  Benjamin 
Holiday,  Lee   (Col.) 
Holland,  Grover  B. 
Holland,  Hurlbert  R, 
Hollis,  John  G. 
Hollis,  Joseph  F. 
Hollomon,  Chester  C. 
Ilollowell,  Ilobert 
Hollowell,  James  E. 
Holman,  Charles  J. 
Holman,  Wilson   D. 


Holston,  James  F. 
Holt,  Esther  C. 
Holt,  Henry   (Col.) 
Holt,  Hobert  M. 
Holt,  James,  Jr. 
Holt,  James  Win. 
Holt,  Melvin 
Holt,  W.  E. 
Holt,  William  II. 
Holton,  Lee  R. 
Honeycutt,  John  G. 
Honeycutt,  Oscar  C. 
Hooker,  Virgen   (Col.) 
Hooper,  Orbitt  P. 
Hooten,  Wilson  L. 
Hoover,  Houston 
Hoover,  William 
Hopkins,  Harrison 
Hopkins,  Marshall  N. 
Hopkins,  Wilson  G. 
Hopson,  Claude 
Horn,  Albert  M. 
Horton,  Ernest    (Col.) 
Horton,  Flavors  (Col.) 
Horton,  Henry   (Col.) 
Houk,  Isham  N. 
House,  James   (Col.) 
House,  James  E. 
House,  William  H.   (Col.) 
Housley,  Joseph  L. 
Houston,  Carl   (Col.) 
Houston,  Henry   (Col.) 
Houston,  William  (Col.) 
Houts,  Loyd 
Hovey,  George  E. 
Howard,  Benjamin  L. 
Howard,  Flury 
Howard,  Henry- 
Howard,  Philip 
Howard,  William    (Col.) 
Howell,  Carmack  M. 
Howell,  Charles  C. 
Howell,  Guy 
Howell,  Walter 
Howell,  William  L. 
Howlett,  H.  F. 
Howze,  Marvin  N. 
Huckaby,  Eugene  W. 
Huddleston,  Asberry    (Col.) 
Huddleston,  Corbett  A. 
Hudgens,  Hobart 
Hudgins,  George 
Hudgins,  Samuel  L. 
Hudgins,  Walter  J. 
Hudiburgh,  Alva  J. 
Hudson,  Charles  N. 
Hudson,  Hal  L. 
Hudson,  Harvey  Lee 
Hudson,  Jesse 
Hudson,  Leroy 


666 


TFA'NESSEE,  THE   VOLUNTEER  STATE 


I  [udson,   William   * '. 
Ilucv,  He  Witt   T. 
Buff,  (Maude   A. 
Hutr.  .lames  ( ). 

I I  ul'f.  Kenney  J. 
Huffman,  Andrew  (i. 
Hughes,  Cecil 
Hughes,   Dave  M. 
Hughes,  General  B. 
Hughes,  Harvey 
Hughes,  Otto  J. 
Hughes,  William   1>. 
Hughett,  Robert  M. 
llulsey,  Thomas  W. 
Humphreys,  George 
Humphreys,  James 
Humphreys,  William  J. 
Hunigan,  George  B. 
Hunt,  George  T. 
Hunt,  Jesse  G. 

Hunt,  John    (Col.) 

Hunt,  Oscar  (Col.) 

Hunt,  William    (Col.) 

Hunt,  William  Calvin   (Madison  Co.) 

Hunt,   William  C,  Jr.   (Shelby  Co.) 

Hunt,  William  1). 

Hunter,  Cleveland    (Col.) 

Hunter,  Conrad 

Hunter,  David  P. 

Hunter,  George  T. 

Hunter,  Luke  Duly 

Hunter,  Shellie    (Col.) 

Hurlbut,  Allen 

Hurst,  Miles 

Hurst,  Oliver 

Hurst,  Oscar 

Hurst,  Plina  C. 

Hurst.  William  J. 

Hutcherson,  Clifford  B. 

Hutchinson,   Shannon    (Col.) 

Hutton,  John  B.   (Col.) 

Hyde,  George 

Hyde,  Gilliam  H. 

Ingle,  James  W. 
I  n gram,  Charles  L. 
[ngram,  Edward 
Ingram,  John 
Ingram,  Hamilton  W. 
Ingram,  Peter 
Inlow,  James  L. 
Irons,  John  R    (Col.) 
(shell,  Warnie 
Isley,  Sam 
Ivey,  William  L. 
Ivy,  Elbert  C. 

Jackson,  Buford  W. 
•  lackson,  George  L. 
Jackson,  Harrison  B. 


■lackson,  .James  [. 

•  lackson,    William   P. 
Jacobs,  Earl  W. 
Jacobs,  Luther  D. 
Jacobs,   William 
Jacobs,   Wilton  B. 
James,  Harrison 
•lames,    Hugh  S. 
•lames.   Pleasant 

•  lames,   Robert  S. 

•  lames.   William 
Jamison,  Ellis 
Jamison,  Leslie  U. 
Janes,  Johnnie  R. 
Jarrett,  Elder    (Col.) 
Jarrett,  Matt    (Col.) 
Jean,  Homer  L. 
Jean,  Lonnie  Mack 
•lean,   William  R. 
Jeffers,  Clovis 
Jenkins.  Clarence  A. 
Jenkins,  Jack  G. 
Jenkins,  Meredith  G. 
Jenkins,  William  B. 
Jennings,  Odie  P. 
Jennings,  Robert  H. 
Jett,  Adrian  0. 
Jillson,  John  W. 
Jobe,  Andrew  K. 
Johnson,  Andrew  J. 
Johnson,  Aubrey   (Col.) 
Johnson,  Clarence 
Johnson,  Daniel  W. 
Johnson,  Dewey  M. 
Johnson,  D.  L. 
Johnson,  Edgar  Emory 
Johnson,  Elrner  C. 
Johnson,  Ernest  R. 
Johnson,  Eskar  L. 
Johnson,  Prank  R. 
Johnson,  George 
Johnson,  George   (Col.) 
Johnson,  Gilford  T. 
Johnson,  Graves 
Johnson,  James  H.   (Col.) 
Johnson,  James  L.  (Col.) 
Johnson,  James  T. 
Johnson,  John   (Cocke  Co.) 
Johnson,  John    (Tipton   Co.) 
Johnson,  John  H. 
Johnson,  Joseph 

Johnson,  Lawrence  W. 
Johnson,  Louis  C.   (Col.) 
Johnson,  Lucian   (Col.) 
Johnson,  Lulie  A. 
Johnson,  McKinley    E. 
Johnson,  Perry  H. 
Johnson,  Raymond  0. 
Johnson,  Robert 
Johnson,  Robert    (Col.) 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


667 


Johnson,  Robert  N.   (Col.) 

Johnson,  Roy  B. 

-Johnson,  Samuel  B. 

Johnson,  Shelby 

Johnson,  Thomas 

Johnson,  Victor  S. 

Johnson,  William  J. 

Johnson,  William  N. 

Johnston,  Charles  B. 

Johnston,  James  E. 

Jones,  Benjamin  L. 

Jones,  Bert  M. 

Jones,  Champ   L. 

Jones,  Charley    (Col.) 

Jones,  Clifton 

Jones,  Edward  L. 

Jones,  Floyd    (Col.) 

Jones,  Frank 

Jones,  George  A.   (Col.) 

Jones,  George  H.   M. 

Jones,  Henry 

Jones,  .Henry  II. 

Jones,  Herbert 

Jones,  Hobart  B. 

Jones,  Humphreys  A.   (Col.) 

Jones,  Jack   (Col.) 

Jones,  James  L. 

Jones,  James  T. 

Jones,  Jesse   (Col.) 

Jones,  Jesse  A.  (Col.) 

Jones,  John    (Col.)    Hamilton  Co. 

Jones,  John  (Col.)  Lake  Co. 

Jones,  John 

Jones,  Joseph   E. 

Jones,  Joseph   T. 

Jones,  Merritt 

Jones,  Oeey 

Jones,  Oscar  N. 

Jones,  Paul   (Col.) 

Jones,  Raymond 

Jones,  Robert    (Col.) 

Jones,  Roe 

Jones,  Samuel  S. 

Jones,  Waller  F.,  Jr. 

Jones,  Walter 

Jones,  Wiley  Porter 

Jones,  William    (Col.) 

Jones,  William  A.   (Weakley  Co.) 

Jones,  William  A.  (Unicoi  Co.) 

Jones,  William  F. 

Jopling,  Lawrence  H. 

Jordan,  Henry  (Col.) 

Jordan,  Major   (Col.) 

Jordan,  Thomas  R. 

Jordan,  Walter  Perry   (Col.) 

Joyner,  Roy  E.   (Col.) 

Judd,  William  G. 

Judkins,  Aubrey  G. 

Justice,  Ira  II. 


Keaton,  Matthew  D. 
Keck,  Carben  A. 
Keck,  James  L. 
Keeling;  Joseph 
Keen,  Joseph 
Keenam,   Homer 
Keener,  William  H. 
Keesee,  Arthur  L. 
Keezel,  William  A. 
Keith,  Leo 
Kell,  Elmer  Harold 
Kelley,  John   J. 
Kelley,  Stephen  L. 
Kellow,  James  A. 
Kelly,  Arl  B. 
Kelly,  John  J. 
Kelly,  Paul  D. 
Kelton,  ('barley  C. 
Kendall,  William  B. 
Kendrick,  William    (Col.) 
Kenned}',  Abe  L. 
Kennedy,  Arthur    (Col.) 
Kennedy,  Floyd  C. 
Kennedy,  Floyd  V. 
Kennedy,  George  W. 
Kennedy,  Joseph   T. 
Kennedy,    1  jester  L. 
Kennerly,  Sam    15. 
Kerrigan,  Frank   A. 
Kestersoii,  Vestus 
Ketchem,  James 
Ketron,  Jerry 
Key,  Fred 
Key,  Sam 
Keys,  John  F. 
Kibble,  Oscar 
Kibert,  Arthur  V. 
Kidd,  Adrian   W. 
Kidd,  George  G. 
Kiersky,  Elias 
Kiestler,  Robert  L. 
Kietbeza,  John  S. 
Kilgore,  George 
Kilgore,  John  I. 
Kilgore,  Leonard 
Killgore,  Felan  W. 
Kilpatrick,  Clarence  T. 
Kilzer,  Grover  C. 
Kimbel,  Ashley 
Kimbel,  Harvey  L. 
Kimbrough,  Charley  C. 
Kimes,  F. 
Kindle,  Clyde  D. 
King,  Daniel  I. 
King,  James   (Col.) 
King,  James  E.   (Col.) 
King,  Joseph  D. 
King,  Martin   Luther 
King,  Oscar  R. 
King,  Verlin   P. 


668 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Kingins,  Toussiant  L. 
Kinington,  Lloyd  W. 
Kinsey,  Elli    (Col.) 
Kinzer,  Patrick 
Kirby,  Alvis  B. 
Kirby,  Fred  S. 
Kirby,  John  E. 
Kirby,  Willis 
Kirk,  Ernest  (Col.) 
Kirklancl,  Joseph  W. 
Kirwin,  Thomas  M. 
Kline,  Albert  R. 
Klope,  Gordon 
Knight,  Stephen 
Knight,  William  J.    (Col.) 
Knowlton,  Walter  H. 
Knott,  Charles  I. 
Knott,  Ottie   (Col.) 
Knox,  W.  N. 
Koger,  Victor  H. 
Koger,  Victor  H. 
Kolwyck,  Oren  C. 
Koonce,  Curtis  H. 
Koonce,  Theo. 
Koontz,  Floyd  T. 
Kosminski,  Robert  R. 
Kuntz,  Joseph  C. 
Kuss,  Xavier  Tilford 
Kyle,  Joseph  W. 
Kyle,  Levere 
Kyle,  Seth  E. 
Kyle,  Warren 

Lambert,  Connie 
Lacey,  Charles  S. 
Lacy,  Charles  A. 
Lake,  Benjamin    (Col.) 
Lamb,  Herbert  E. 
Lamber,  Lofton  G. 
Lamberson,  Sam 
Lambert,  Connie 
Lambert,  Robert  A. 
Lambert,  Walter  G. 
Lance,  L.  Vance 
Landers,  William  L. 
Landis,  Lark   (Col.)   • 
Lane,  Buford 
Lane,  Edd 
Lane,  Edward  W. 
Lane,  Lee 
Lane,  Odell 
Lane,  Solomon  (Col.) 
Lane,  Walter 
Laney,  Joseph  A. 
Lanford,  Ellie 
Langford,  John  Alexander 
Langford,  Stephen  E. 
Langford,  Thomas 
Lanier,  William  H. 
Lanier,  William  I. 


Lankford,  Clayton  J. 
Lankford,  William   Q. 
Lannom,  Claude 
Lannom,  Coy 
Lantrip,  Spencer 
Largent,  Edward 
Lark,  William  G.    (Col.) 
Larree,  Jerry 
La  Rue,  Floyd  S. 
LaSater,  Woodford 
Lasley,  William 
Laster,  Horton 
Latham,  James  A. 
Lato,  Robert 
Laugherty,  Allison  L.  R. 
Lawlah,  William   (Col.) 
Laws,  Orvall 
Lawson,  Bud 
Lawson,  Elsie 
Lawson,  Ira  M. 
Lawson,  Luke 
Lawson,  William  McK. 
Lawson,  William  P. 
Lay,  William  J. 
Layne,  James  H. 
Layne,  Owen  B. 
Leach,  Thurman  J. 
Leach,  William  H. 
Leaman,  George 
Ledbetter,  Homer  P. 
Ledbetter,  James 
Ledbetter,  John  H. 
Ledbetter,  Oliver 
Ledbetter,  Shirley  L. 
Ledbetter,  Walter  R. 
Ledford,  Dewey  A. 
Ledford,  James  L. 
Ledford,  William  M. 
Lee,  Arthur 
Lee,  Bishop  M. 
Lee,  James  S. 
Lee,  Louis  E. 
Lee,  Marvin  H. 
Lee,  William  (Col.) 
Lee,  Wisdom  (Col.) 
Lee,  Worley 
Lefever,  Claude 
Leffew,  Louis  E. 
Legge,  Blonnie  V. 
Lehning,  Henry 
Lemert,  Milo 
Lemmons,  Joseph  C. 
Lemons,  Will  F. 
Lemons,  William  G. 
Leonard,  Robert  Henry 
Leonard,  Hobert  M. 
Leonard,  Robert  M. 
Leonard,  Wilson 
Lester.  Charles  R. 
Lett,  Bernie 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


669 


Levi,  Claude 
Levi,  George  W. 
Lewallen,  Hugh  Taylor 
Lewelling,  Elmer  V. 
Lewis,  Allen 
Lewis,  Bennie  C. 
Lewis,  John   (Col.) 
Lewis,  John  A. 
Lewis,  John  E. 
Lewis,  Joseph  (Col.) 
Lewis,  Joseph  W. 
Lewis,  Lawrence  D. 
Lewis,  Lee 
Lewis,  Lonnie  M. 
Lewis,  McKinley   (Col.) 
Lewis,  Tipton 
Lewis,  William  Benton 
Lewis,  William  H. 
Lifsey,  Thomas  E. 
Light,  Elihue   (Col.) 
Light,  Harry 
Light,  William 
Lindsey,  John  W. 
Lineberger,  Erroll  W. 
Liner,  Lee  L. 
Liner,  Oscar  R. 
Linginfelter,  Ernest    R. 
Linkous,  James  F. 
Lisenby,  James  S. 
Little/ Alexander  (Col.) 
Little,  Le  Roy  V. 
Littleton,  James  L. 
Livingston,  Ralph  L. 
Lockhart,  Edward  H. 
Lockhart,  James  N. 
Loden,  James  Mack 
Logan,  William  C. 
Logue,  Robert  G. 
Loller,  Willie 
Lomax,  Fred  E. 
Lomenick,  Paul 
Long,  Albert 
Long,  Bratcher  H. 
Long,  Claude 
Long.  James  C. 
Long,  Jesse  H. 
Long,  John 
Long,  John  C. 
Looney,  George 
Looney,  John   (Col.) 
Loop.  Estell  William 
Losey,  Fred  R 
Lott,  June   (Col.) 
Louallen,  Walter  N. 
Louvierre,  Jerry 
Love,  Fred  D. 
Love,  Presley  L. 
Love,  Stanley    (Col.) 
Lovelace,  Alcev  M. 

Vol.  1—43 


Loveless,  Patrick 
Lovell,  Effie 
Lowe,  Eugene  A. 
Lows,  Roger  L. 
Lowery,  Homer  M. 
Lowery,  John  W.  (Col.) 
Lowry,   Charles   (Col.) 
Lowry,  Joseph   (Col.) 
Lo.y,   William 
Luibel,  John  E. 
Luna,  George 
Lunsford,  Bedford  B. 
Lusk,  Harvey 
Luther,  Richard  M. 
Luttrell,  Ernest 
Luttrell,  Hugh 
Luttrell,  James  Louis 
Lyell,  Justin  0. 
Lyle,  Fred  T. 
Lynch,  Enoch 
Lynch,  Roy  L. 
Lynn,  Roy  E. 
Lyons,  Milford 

MeAdoo,  Robert  E. 
McAlister,  Sherman 
McAlister,  William  R. 
McAmis,  Clarence 
McBride,  Herchell  C. 
McCain.  Vancv  F. 
McCalahan,  Frank  C. 
McCall,  Frank 
McCallie,  Thomas  Crane 
McCampbell,  Arthur  L. 
McCarter,  Morris  E. 
McCartv,  Samuel  A. 
McCathrion,  John  H.    (Col.) 
McChee,  J. 
McCord,  Alton  L. 
McClain,  George  B. 
McClanahan,  Earl  E. 
McClanahan,  Frank  C. 
McClanahan,  Harvey  H, 
McLarv,  Benjamin  H. 
McClellen,  John  B.   (Col.) 
McClendon,  John  (Col.) 
McClinton,  Arthur  J. 
McClure,  George 
McClure,   I  Leonard  L. 
McCollom,  George  K. 
McConkey.  Thurber 
McCormick,  James  F. 
McCormick,  Joseph   S. 
McCormick,  Lee  T. 
McCourrv,  Lvnn  N. 
McCown,  Charles  G. 
McCracken,  William  H. 
McCuiston,  Leon  C. 
McCullough,  Buford 
McCulloueh,  William  W. 


(370 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


McDade,  John  W. 
MeDaniel,  Doe  II. 
McDaniel,   Pierce 
MeDaniel,  Reubin 
McDonald,  C. 
McElroy,  Wilburn  Rhea 
McFadden,  A.  T. 
McFarland,  Clarence 
McFarland,  Robert  G. 
McFarland,  Robert  Q. 
McFeeture,  Carter  D. 
McFolin,  Waldo  F. 
McGavock,  John    (Col.) 
McGee,  Gilbert  M. 
McGee,  James  L. 
McGeha,  Carl 
McGhee,  Joseph 
McGill,  Fred  R. 
McGowan,  Joseph 
McGurie,  Charles  R. 
McGuire,  Samuel 
Mcllwain,  Robert  A. 
Mclnturff,  Charlie  H. 
Mclntyre,  William 
Mclsaac,  James 
McKay,  William  R, 
McKee,  George  H. 
McKinney,  A.  H. 
McKinney,  Claude 
McKinney,  Edgar  L. 
McKinney,  Lex  P. 
McKinney,  Vardie  R. 
McKinney,  Westy   (Col.) 
McKinnon,  0.  H. 
McKissick,  George  M. 
McKnight,  Ernest  D. 
McLaughlin,  Patrick  J. 
McLelland,  Cleavant    (Col.) 
McLemore,  John  R. 
McLemore,  Robert    (Col.) 
McLemore,  Rufus 
McMacklin,  Henry  J. 
McMahan,  Henry  R. 
McMahan,  James  M. 
McMeen,  Henry  Brown 
McMillan,  David  H. 
McMillan.  Samuel  Ancrum 
McMillan.  William  A. 
McNabb,  John 
McNatt,  Lynn   B. 
McNeas,  Walen 
McNeese,  Walter  E. 
McNelly,  William  C. 
McNett,  Frank  E. 
McPeak,  James  H. 
McQuirk,  Denny 
McRae,  W.  W. 
McWhirter,  Howard 
Mabe,  Abner 
Maddox,  Tommie  Watson 


Maddux,  Ernesl 
Magness,  Thomas  H. 
.Ma  I  lath}',  James 
Mains,  Joseph  R. 
Mall,  Mack 
Malone,  John 
Malone,  John  A. 
Malone,  Samuel  J. 
Malone,   Will   (Col.) 
Maloy,  Robert 
Maness,  Ray  Joseph 
Mauley,  Walter  C. 
Mann,  Howard  T. 
Manna,  Larna   (Col.) 
Manning,  Frank 
Manning,  Jacob 
.Manning,  James  B. 
Manning,  Vance   (Col.) 
Manning,  Walter   (Col.) 
Mannis,  Jesse  R. 
Manson,  W. 
Manus,  Albert  H. 
Manus,  Edgar 
Marchead,  Joseph  H. 
Marcum,  James 
Marine,  Leonard  F. 
Markland,  George  B. 
Marks,  Arthur  (Col.) 
Marks,  William  C. 
Marks,  William  G. 
Marlin,  Marion  H. 
Marlin,  William  M. 
Marney,  Morris   (Col.) 
Marshall,  James 
Martin,  Almond  C.  (Col.) 
Martin,  E.  K. 
Martin,  Jodie  H. 
Martin,  Roy 
Mason,  Francis  Arthur 
Mason,  Hobert  (Col.) 
Mason,  Joseph  M. 
Massengill,  Isaac  M. 
Massengill,  W.  A. 
Massey,  Horace   (Col.) 
Massey,  Luther   (Col.) 
Massey,  Paul  E. 
Masters,  Paul 
Matherly,  Ralph  B. 
Mathis,  Edward  L. 
Mathis,  Henry   (Col.) 
Mathis,  Robert 
Mathis,  William  A. 
Matlock,  James  C. 
Matney,  Earl  P. 
Matney,  Isaac  V. 
Matthews,  Douglas  R. 
Matthews,  Ephram  (Col.) 
Matthews,  James  S. 
Matthews,  John  L. 
Maxwell,  Eastly 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


671 


Maxwell,  Howard  S. 
Maxwell,  Joseph  P.   (Col.) 
Maxwell,  U. 
Mayberry,  Buford 
Mayberry,  Pete   (Col.) 
Mayers,  Christian  P. 
Mayuard,  Thomas  A. 
Maynor,  Arvel 
Mays,  Pinkney    (Col.) 
Meadloek,  Rogers    (Col.) 
Mebley,  J.  W. 
Medley,  Charlie 
Mee,  Mont 
Meeh,  John  C. 
Meek,  William  R. 
Meltabarger,  Hick  R. 
Melton,  Milbern 
Mentloir,  Charles 
Meroney,  Clyde 
Merritt,  Drennan 
Merrow,  Flavious  J. 
Messer,  Leander  H. 
Messer,  William  H. 
Mezinge,  E. 
Michael,  Henry  W. 
Michaels,  James  T. 
Milam,  Carter 
Milani,  Lonnie  W. 
Miller,  Clint  B. 
Miller,  Elmer  H. 
Miller,  George  F. 
Miller,  Harry 
Miller,  James 
Miller,  James  W. 
Miller,  Lacy  E. 
Miller,  Lon  Hayes 
Miller,  Morris  H.  (Col.) 
Miller,  Oliver 
Miller,  Robert  L. 
Miller,  William 
Miller,  W.  L. 
Milligan,  William  H. 
Mills,  Cegie  DeWitt 
Millsaps,  Hollins  A. 
Milton,  Thomas 
Minehie,  William  M. 
Mingle,  Claude  L. 
Miracle,  Harvey 
Mishler,  John   Herbert 
Mitchell,  Ace 
Mitchell,  Gallion   (Col.) 
Mitchell,  George   (Col.) 
Mitchell,  Huey  V. 
-Mitchell,  James  H. 
Mitchell,  John    (Col.) 
Mitchell,  Lloyd  L. 
Mitchell,  Lucius  E. 
Mitchell,  Nile 
Mitchell,  Orville  T. 
Mitchell,  Thomas  A. 


Mitchell,  W.  W. 

Mocker,  Lambert  H. 

Moffitt,  Luther  B. 

Moffitt,  Milburn 

Molsbee,  Samuel  K. 

Monroe,  Joseph  S. 

Montgomery,  Claude  K. 

Montgomery,  William  A. 

Mooneyham,  Floyd  E. 

Moore,  Charles  C. 

Moore,  Clarence    (Col.) 

Moore,  Elijah 

Moore,  Elzy   Van 

Moore,  Emmett  H. 

Moore,  George  A. 

Moore,  George  L. 

Moore,  George  W. 

Moore,  Hagan     ' 

Moore,  Homer 

Moore,  Hugh  T. 

Moore,  Irby 

Moore,  James  C. 

Moore,  John  H. 

Moore,  J.  L.   (Sullivan  Co.) 

Moore,  John  L.   (Cheatham  Co.) 

Moore,  Joseph  L. 

Moore,  Thomas  L. 

Moore,  Wilber   (Col.) 

Moore,  W.  C. 

Moore,  William  P. 

Moore,  William  M. 

Moran,  James  W. 

Morehead,  J.  H. 

Moreland,  Thomas  W. 

Morgan,  Buck 

Morgan,  Clarence  E. 

Morgan,  Ira  E. 

Morgan,  Isaac  W.,  Jr. 

Morgan,  Walter  A. 

Morris,  Cleo 

Morris,  Harry  D. 

Morris,  John  H. 

Morris,  Johnnie  L.  (Col.) 

Morris,  Leonard  W. 

Morris,  Matthew  W. 

Morris,  Mereda  E.  Lee 

Morrow,  Charles  W. 

Morrow,  Emmett  C. 

Morton,  Clyde  C. 

Morton,  Mikie  M. 

Moseley,  Austin   H. 

Moser,  Anan  Lester 

Mosley,  James 

Moss,  Charles  L. 

Moss,  William  P. 

Mostellar,  Walter 

Motlev,  Cassell   (Col.) 

Motley,  Rufus  (Col.) 

Mottern,  Virgil  C. 

Moulden,  Harrison   (Col.) 


672 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Mowl,  Harold  L. 
Mowry,  George  L. 
Mozingo,  Ernest 
Mullierin,  John  R. 
Mulvany,  Ody 
Mungle,  Isaac,  Jr. 
Munns,  Joseph  B. 
Murdock,  Robert  (Col.) 
Murphy,  John  M. 
Murphy,  Paul  (Col.) 
Murphy,  Phinheg 
.Murphy,  Riley  0. 
Murray.  Jos.   (Col.) 
Murray,  Tonnie 
Murrell,  James  (Col.) 
Myers.  David  R. 
Myers,  George 
Myers,  John  F. 
Myers,  Murphy  J. 
Myers,  Sam  E. 
Myers,  William 
Myers,  William  P. 
Mynatt,  Burlie  G. 

Nabors,  Lem  B. 

Naill,  J.  C. 

Nance;  Joseph 

Nanney,  Louis  E. 

Nathan,  James 

Neal,  A. 

Neal,  Herman 

Neal,  Royal    (Col.) 

Neal.  Thomas  J. 

Nearn,  Alford  L. 

Neblett,  Bradford  (Col.) 

Neblett,  John  Buford 

Neely,  John  Kilmer 

Neisler,  Samuel 

Nelson,  James  M. 

Nelson,  Thomas  L. 

Nesbitt,  Athie  H. 

Nesbitt,  Walter  F. 

Nettles,  Dan  A. 

Newberry,  Ernest   (Gibson  Co.) 

Newberry,  Ernest  B.   (Shelby  Co.) 

Newbill,  Cassie 

Newbill,  Robert  L. 

Newman,  Ralph  B. 

Newman,  Walter 

Xewman,  William  R. 

Newport,  Clifford 

Nicely.  Richard 

Nicholas,  James  J. 

Nichols,  Benjamin 

Nichols,  George   (Col.) 

Nichols,  Herbert  C.   (Col.) 

Nichols,  John  H.    (Col.) 

Nichols,  Ralph 

Nichols,  Robert  A. 

Nichols,  Samuel  R. 


Nichols,  William  C. 
Nicholson,  Charles   (Col.) 
Nippers,  Claud  Lord 
Nivens,  Robert  T. 
Nixon,  Rile  Horace 
Nixon,  Thomas   (Col.) 
Nixon,  William 
Nolen,  Edward 
Nolen,  Frank  Hardin 
Nollner,  John  H. 
Norris,  James  B. 
Norris,  James  G. 
Norris,  John 
Norton,  John  A. 
Norton,  John  F. 
Norvell,  Cornelius  W. 
Nuble,  Casa  A. 
Nunley,  Andrew  D. 
Nunley,  Arnett 

Oakley,  Frank  C. 
Ogle,  Arlie  H. 
Ogle,  George  A. 
Ogle,  Samuel  A. 
O'Guin,  Jasper  C. 
Oldham,  Anthony   (Col.) 
Oldham,  Daney  L. 
Oldham,  Hugh  A. 
Oliver,  Norman 
Oliver,  Relmer  V. 
Oliver,  William  E. 
Olney,  Guy  R. 
umohundro,  John  T. 
O'Neal,  Grady   (Col.) 
O'Neal,  Homer  J.,  Jr. 
Ooten,  Sam   (Col.) 
Ormsby,  Thomas  F. 
Orr,  Alfred 
Orr,  Charles  (Col.) 
Orr,  Curtis 
Orr,  Lew 
Orren,  Frank 
Orrick,  Jasper   H. 
Osborne,  William 
Ott,  David 
Ottinger,  Herman 
( hitlaw,  George  D. 
Outlaw,  Grover  B. 
Outlaw,  William   (Col.) 
Overall,  James  Elmo 
Overholser,  Joseph  W. 
Owen,  William  L. 
Owens,  Charlie   (Col.) 
Owens,  David  C. 
Owens,  John  W. 
Owens,  Joseph  C.   (Col.) 
Owrey,  Elijah  M. 
Ozment,  Clifford  R. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


673 


Pace,  Ernest  V. 
Pace,  Robert  H. 
Pack,  Jeff  D. 
Pack,  Philip 

Pack,  William  W.   (Col.) 
Page,  Loice  C. 
Paine,  Isaac   (Col.) 
Palmer,  Roy  0. 
Parham,  Herbert  B. 
Para,  Elmer  F. 
Parham,  John  L. 
Park,  Anson  Jay 
Parker,  Charles 
Parker,  Elias  Homer 
Parker,  Fred  T. 
Parker,  James 
Parker,  James  R. 
Parker,  John  T. 
Parker,  Ray  T. 
Parker,  Rivie 
Parker,  Rom  V. 
Parkev,  William  C. 
Parks^  Budd 
Parks,  Harrison    (Col.) 
Parks,  Joseph 
Parks,  Morris 
Parks,  Robert  S. 
Parks,  Theron 
Parks,  William  (Col.) 
Parks,  William 
Parrott,  Earl  C. 
Parvin,  Ordley 
Pate,  George 
Patrick,  Elihu   (Col.) 
Patterson,  Elam 
Patterson,  Charles  C. 
Patterson,  Joseph  H. 
Patterson,  Malcolm  C. 
Patterson,  Sawyer 
Patterson,  Thomas  Albert 
Patton,  Edward    (Col.) 
Patton,  Edward  T. 
Patton,  Harris 
Patton,  Joseph  W. 
Patton,  Joseph  H. 
Paul,  James 
Payne,  Albert  C. 
Payne,  Charles 
Pavne,  Charles  J. 
Payne,  DeWitt   (Col.) 
Payne,  Herbert  L. 
Payne,  James  (Col.) 
Payne,  James  M. 
Payne,  Paul 
Payne,  William  M. 
Pearson,  Lewis  F. 
Peay,  Herman  G. 
Peck,  Velmer  Pryor 
Peeler.  Howard  E. 
Peeler.  William  Edgar 


Peeler,  William  Edward 
Peevyhouse,  Paul 
Penick,  Hylary  R. 
Penland,  Douglas 
Penn,  Ernest  L. 
Penney,  Clifford  D. 
Peoples,  Frederick  Lee 
Perdue,  John  W. 
Perkins,  Blaine 
Perkins,  W.  F. 
Perry,  Alex  W. 
Perry,  Bailey  H. 
Perry,  Corbitt 
Perry,  Ross  B. 
Perslej-,  James   (Col.) 
Peterson,  Gary  G. 
Petrus,  Richard  H. 
Petty,  John   (Col.) 
Pharis,  George 
Phebus,  William  H. 
Phelps,  Wallace  C. 
Phelps,  Walter  Reese 
Phibbs,  Eugene  R. 
Phillips,  Claude  B. 
Phillips,  Dawn 
Phillips,  Henry  E. 
Phillips,  Hett 
Phillips,  Irving  B. 
Phillips,  Jacob  D. 
Phillips,  James    (Col.) 
Phillips,  John  E. 
Phillips,  Lawrence 
Phillips,  Moses  (Col.) 
Phillips,  Onva  K. 
Phillips,  Ulysses  E. 
Phillips,  William 
Phillips,  WTilliam  T. 
Philpott,  Everett 
Phipps,  Thomas  M. 
Pickey,  Frank  B. 
Pickle,  Charles 
Picklesimer,  Samuel  D. 
Pickney,  Louis  E. 
Pierce,  Thomas 
Pirtle,  Robert  W. 
Pitman,  Daniel 
Pitts,  WTilliam  (Col.) 
Plemons,  Garrett  W. 
Plunk,  Ebenezer  N. 
Poe,  James  H. 
Poff,  James 
Poindexter,  George  A. 
Poindexter,  William  (Col.) 
Pollard,  Jesse 
Polly,  William  A. 
Pons,  Donald 
Poole,  John  E.  M. 
Poorman,  Alfred 
Pope,  Archie 
Popham,  Frank 


674 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Porter,  <  >scar  L. 
Porter,   Wesley 
Poston,  Claude 
Poteet,  John  W. 
Poteet,  Mark  L. 
Potter,  Alburn  K. 
Potter,  Rufus  A. 
Powers,  Charles 
Powers,  Charles  J. 
Powers,  Col  Condie 
Powers.  James  G. 
Powers,  Tahnadge 
Powers,  William  H. 
Presswood,  Ira  E. 
Preston,  James  (Col.) 
Preston,  Thomas 
Prevat,  Andrew   (Col.) 
Prewitt,  John  ,H. 
Price,  J.  Clyde 
Price,  James  H. 
Price,  Quill 
Price,  Thurlow  M. 
Price,  William  (Col.) 
Pritchard,  Fred  M. 
Pritchard,  Sherman   (Col.) 
Pritchett,  Lee 
Propes,  Grover  C. 
Prosser,  Roy 
Pryor,  Cordell 
Pry  or,  I.  Reams 
Puckett,  Alvin  W. 
Puckett,  William  E. 
Pugh,  Monroe  (Col.) 
Pugh,  Horace  C. 
Pnrham,  George  (Col.) 
Purkey,  William 

Quails,  Waco 
Quigley,  Robert  C. 

Ralph,  Thomas  E. 
Ramsey,  Dexter  W. 
Ramsey,  William  F. 
Randall,  Carleton  H. 
Randle,  William  (Col.) 
Randolph,  Bynum 
Randolph,  Gilbert 
Raper.  Horace 
Ratledge,  William 
Ray,  Frank  A. 
Raw  Herman 
Ray,  Jacob  (Col.) 
Ray,  James 
Ray.  Leroy 
Ray,  Mack 
Ray,  William  B. 
Ravburn,  John  J. 
Rayburn,  William  H.   (Col.) 
Raymer,  Claude  C. 
Reagan.  M.  Lee 


Reagan,  Robert 

Record,  Harry  (Col.) 

Reddick,  John  W. 

Reddin,  Cordie  L. 

Reed,  Andrew  Dewey 

Reed,  A.  M. 

Reed,  Floy <  I 

Reed,  Frank 

Reed,  James  Andrew 

Reeder,  Nathan 

Rees,  Bynum 

Reese,  John  V. 

Reese,  Luther 

Reese,  Pleasant  F. 

Reese,  Robert 

Reeves,  Clinton 

Reeves,  Homer 

Reichwein,  William  A. 

Reimer,  Henry 

Reinholds,  Herman 

Reneau,  James  L. 

Reneau,  Jesse 

Renfro,  William  W. 

Renneau,  Sam  W. 

Reynolds,  Andrew 

Reynolds,  Brownlow  (Col.) 

Reynolds,  John 

Reynolds,  Richard 

Rhea,  George  W. 

Rhea,  Henry 

Rice,  Benjamin  H. 

Rice,  Joseph  S. 

Rice,  Paul  L. 

Rich,  Charles  H. 

Richards,  Samuel 

Richardson,  Claude  F. 

Richardson,  Corbitt 

Richardson,  Elbert 

Richardson,  John  T. 

Richardson,  Kinnie  L. 

Richardson,  Quiller 

Richardson,  William  Plumley 

Rieker,  Horace  T. 

Ricketts,  Ernest  F. 

Ricketts,  Thomas  E. 

Rickey,  Frank   B. 

Rider,  Oscar 

Riggins,  Glenn  A. 

Riggins,  Herbert  H. 

Riley,  Benjamin  H. 

Riley,  Earl  H. 

Ring,  Frank  M. 

Ring,  Henry  G. 

Rinks,  Ulysses 

Riter,  Horton  Allen 

Rivers,  Henry   (Col.) 

Rives,  John  S. 

Roach,  Herbert  B. 

Roark,  Clifton 

Robbins,  Isham  D. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEEK  STATE 


675 


Roberts,  Bertice 

Roberts,  Lawrence   (Col.) 

Roberts,  Rermie  F. 

Roberts,  Sam 

Roberts,  William  I. 

Robins,  Victor  F. 

Robinson,  Benjamin 

Robinson,  Bernard 

Robinson,  Charles  I. 

Robinson,  Eugene 

Robinson,  John  H. 

Robinson,  John  S. 

Robinson,  Marion 

Robinson,  Thomas  L. 

Robinson,  Travis 

Robison,  Luther 

Robison,  William  W. 

Robson,  Charles  W. 

Robson,  William   (Col.) 

Rock,  Alfred  P. 

Rockwell,  Kiffin  Yates 

Rodgers,  Arthur 

Rodgers,  Arthur  M. 

Rodgers,  Frank 

Rodgers,  John  M. 

Rodgers,  Lester  T. 

Rodgers,  Sam  Mort 

Rodman,  Oda 

Roe,  Charles  F. 

Rogan,  James  W. 

Rogers,  Andrew  A. 

Rogers,  Austin    (Hawkins  Co.) 

Rogers,  Emmet  R. 

Rogers,  Horace 

Rogers,  Walter 

Rogers,  William 

Rogers,  William  J.   (Col.) 

Rogers,  Yates  K. 

Rohrbach,  Fred  S. 

Rollins,  William  G.  B. 

Rose,  George  W. 

Rose,  John  David 

Rose,  Mack 

Rosenbaum,  John  F. 

Ross,  Dee  (Col.) 

Ross,  Oscar 

Ross,  William 

Rosser,  James  N. 

Rouse,  Lindsay 

Rowland,  Fred  Howard 

Rowlett,  George  B. 

Rowlett,  Hunter  E. 

Roy,  Thomas  0. 

Ruffin,  James  Fentress 

Rush,  Carroll    (Col.) 

Rushing,  Grady  E. 

Russell,  Artress    (Col.) 

Russell,  Bert  E. 

Russell,  Charles  L. 

Russell,  Frank  G. 


Russell,  Frank  R. 
Russell,  James  H. 
Russell,  Pleasant 
Rutledge,  Benjamin  F. 
Ryan,  Patrick 
Ryan,  James 

Saddler,  William  K. 
Sadler,  Haskell 
Sain,  Calvin    (Col.) 
Sain,  Charlie  Frank 
Saks,  Joseph 
Sales,  Lonnie 
Salmon,  Maurice  Rivers 
Salter,  Frank  Pierce,  Jr. 
Sampley,  Ransom  E. 
Samsil,  Bennie 
Sanders,  Earl  C. 
Sanders,  Elvis  H. 
Sanders,  James  M. 
Sanders,  Matthew 
Sanders,  Shelby 
Sanders,  Thomas  R. 
Sands,  Robin 
Sands,  William  A. 
Sanford,  Onie 
Sanford,  Robert 
Sangster,  John  E. 
Sartain,  Rufus  0. 
Saterfield,  Buster   (Col.) 
Satterfield,  James   (Col.) 
Saucemann,  Connie  H. 
Saulter,  Quiller   (Col.) 
Sawyer,  Joseph   (Col.) 
Scaff,  Quintus  A. 
Scannerhorn,  William  A. 
Scard,  Henry  Venson 
Sehruggs,  William  S.   (Col.) 
Schubert,  William 
Scoggins,  James  L. 
Scott,  John  C. 
Scruggs,  Frank  W. 
Seals,  Thomas  L. 
Searcy,  James  L. 
Seaton,  James  E. 
Secrest,  Barney  R. 
Seder,  Thomas  C. 
Seigler,  Lester  T. 
SeUs,  Dillard  C. 
Sells,  Hoy  M. 
Seward,  Roscoe  E. 
Sewell,  James 
Sexton,  Fred 
Sexton,  Mitchel 
Sevmore,  George 
Shackelford,  Albert  L. 
Shardelaw,  Daniel  J. 
Sharp,  Charles  R.   (Col.) 
Sharp,  Frank  M.  Jr. 
Sharp,  John  R. 


676 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Sharp,  John  T. 
Sharp,  Lafayette 
Sharp,  Lee 
Sharp,  Otis 
Sharp,  "William  A. 
Sharpe,  Eugene 
Sharpe,  James  N. 
Shaw,  Aubrey    (Col.) 
Shaw,  Richmond   (Col.) 
Shawl,  Dudley 
Shehane,  Alfred 
Shelby,  Roy  W. 
Shelley,  John  C. 
Shelton,  Everett  L. 
She! ton,  John 
Shephard,  James 
Shepherd,  William  D. 
Sheridan,  George  D. 
Sherman,  Clarence 
Sherrell,  Ambrose  S. 
Sherrill,  Connie  H. 
Sherrill,  Ernest  (Col.) 
Sherrill,  Thomas 
Sherrill,  William 
Shire,  Lawrence 
Shockley,  Grant  (Col.) 
Shockley,  Robert 
Shoemaker,  Samuel  0. 
Shores,  William  L. 
Short,  Liburn  L. 
Short,  William 
Shumate,  William  D. 
Sidney,  George  L. 
Sigler,  Lester  T. 
Siler,  Andy 
Siler,  James 
Sills,  Mitchel  C. 
Silverman,  Angelo 
Silvernail,  Lou  A. 
Simmons,  Charles 
Simmons,  Earl  0. 
Simmons,  Mint    (Col.) 
Simms,  James 
Simms,  Morris 
Simonds,  John  (Col.) 
Simons,  Bennie   (Col.) 
Simpson,  Albert  B. 
Simpson,  John  W. 
Simpson,  Renzj^  R. 
Simpson,  Tommie  0.    (Col.) 
Sims,  Albert  M. 
Sims,  Arthur  D. 
Sims,  Jesse 
Sims,  Lyford 
Sims,  Stone  Prank 
Sims,  William  F. 
Singleton,  Benjamin  H. 
Singleton,  George  W. 
Sircy,  William 


Sisk,  Hubert  C. 

Skaggs,  Andrew  Donnie 

Skeen,  Estle  R. 

Skeeton,  D. 

Skerritt,  John  K. 

Slagle,  Frank 

Slaton,  Roscoe  M. 

Slaven,  Jesse 

Sliger,  Terry 

Small,  Irwin 

Small,  Mack   (Col.) 

Smallwood,  Bruce  S. 

Smart,  John 

Smiddy,  Louis 

Smith,  Alonzo  K. 

Smith,  Andrew   (Col.) 

Smith,  Andrew  J. 

Smith,  Arlander   (Col.) 

Smith,  Charles 

Smith,  Charles  E.    (Washington  Co.) 

Smith,  Charles  E.  (Hamblen  Co.) 

Smith,  Clifford  E. 

Smith,  Curtis  E. 

Smith,  David  R. 

Smith,  Earl 

Smith,  Ellis   (Col.) 

Smith,  Estell  C. 

Smith,  Estes 

Smith,  George   (Col.) 

Smith,  George  W. 

Smith,  Gilbert  W. 

Smith,  Gurney  E. 

Smith,  Harm 

Smith,  Harold  N. 

Smith,  Harry 

Smith,  Harry  E. 

Smith,  Howard  B. 

Smith,  Isham  B. 

Smith,  J.  Bolton 

Smith,  James  B. 

Smith,  James  H.   (Col.) 

Smith,  Johnnie  (Col.) 

Smith,  Jodie  P. 

Smith,  John  H. 

Smith,  John  P. 

Smith,  King  J. 

Smith,  Lacy  Oscar 

Smith,  Lawrence  C. 

Smith,  Luther  Lee  (Col.) 

Smith,  Mack  H. 

Smith,  Martin  (Col.) 

Smith,  Marvin  H. 

Smith,  Moody   (Col.) 

Smith,  Natham   (Col.) 

Smith,  Russell  S. 

Smith,  Sam  B. 

Smith,  Samuel  H. 

Smith,  Simi  (Col.) 

Smith,  Stacy 

Smith,  Thomas  J. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


677 


Smith,  Vester   (Col.) 

Smith,  Willard  G. 

Smith,  William  (Col.)  Rutherford  Co. 

Smith,  William  (Col.)  Robertson  Co. 

Smith,  William  H. 

Snapp,  Peter 

Snelson,  Zeb 

Snider,  Dan  W. 

Snyder,  James  B. 

Snyder,  Robert 

Soard,  Henry  Venson 

Somerville,  William  A. 

Sooley,  James  R. 

Sparks,  Elry 

Sparks,  Loney  E. 

Sparks,  Verdie  B. 

Sparks,  William  E. 

Spear,  Amos 

Spears,  Roger  W. 

Speck,  Thomas  G. 

Spencer,  Boston  (Col.) 

Spencer,  John  C. 

Spencer,  Robert  L. 

Spicer,  Ulyses 

Spire,  William  J.,  Jr. 

Spitzer,  Allen 

Spitzer,  Preston  A. 

Spivy,  Ozro  B. 

Spivy,  Thomas  B. 

Springer,  Ernest    (Col.) 

Springer,  John 

Sprouse,  Jesse 

Spruill,  Martin  Luther 

Stack,  Robert  F. 

Stallings,  Thomas  K. 

Standridge,  Arthur 

Standridge,  John  E. 

Stanfield,  George 

Stanley,  James  H. 

Stanley,  Sherman 

Stansbury,  Charles  E. 

Starke,  Eugene  E. 

Starnes,  Charles  W. 

Starnes,  Olean  F. 

St.  Clair,  George  F. 

Steadman,  Erie 

Steed.  William  E. 

Steel,  Romie 

Steele,  Edward  E. 

Steelman,  James  D. 

Stegall,  Clifford 

Stegall,  Jerry  G. 

Stehlin,  William  P. 

Stennett,  Earl 

Stephens,  Alfred  W. 

Stephens,  John  E. 

Stephens,  Milton  G. 

Stephens,  William  H. 

Stephenson,  L.  W. 

Sterling,  George  S. 


Sterling,   Robert  L. 
Stevens,  Charles  L. 
Stevens,  Robert  M. 
Stevenson,  Charles   (Col.) 
Stewart,  Charles  W.    (Col.) 
Stewart,  George  L. 
Stewart,  Virgil  A. 
Stiner,  Monroe 
Stinnett,  WestLey  I. 
St.  John,  Benjamin  F. 
Stokes,  Frank 
Stone,  Duncan  M. 
Stone,  Taylor  C. 
Stotts,  Joseph  H. 
Stout,  Blan  S. 
Stout,  Fred  A. 
Stout,  Isaiah  (Col.) 
Stover,  Major  M. 
Stratton,  William 
Street,  Edward  N. 
Strong,  Sercey  (Col.) 
Struck,  Albert  L. 
Stuart,  Boyd  E. 
Stuart,  Hugh  A. 
Stuart,  Olin  D. 
Styke,  Edward  Clyde 
Sudduth,  Noonan  C. 
Sullivan,  Homer 
Sullivan,  Wylie 
Sumler,  Alvin  H. 
Summers,  Thomas  R. 
Summers,  William  H. 
Sumner,  John 
Surratt,  Homer  L.  (Col.) 
Surratt,  Oscar 
Sutton,  John  M. 
Sutton,  Raymond  B. 
Sutton,  Thomas 
Swack,  AValter  E. 
Swafford,  George  R. 
Swanger,  William  K. 
Sweet,  John 
Sweet,  Rov  L. 
Swift,  Arthur  (Col.) 
Swift,  Felix   (Col.) 
Swift,  Herman 
Swiney,  Alex 
Svkes,*  Albert   (Col.) 
Sykes,  Troy  R. 

Tacker,  Thomas  J. 
Taliaferro,  Charles 
Tallent,  John  P. 
Talley,  Lawrence  McK 
Talley,  Milton 
Tarleton,  Julius  Berry 
Tate,  James 
Tate,  Johnnie  C. 
Tate,  Robert 
Tate,  Charles  (Col.) 


UTS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Tatuni,  Preston 
Taylor,   Aretus  G. 
Taylor,  Barney  G. 
Taylor,  Edward 
Taylor,  Frederick  T.   (Col.) 
Taylor,  Howard  A. 
Taylor,  James  H. 
Taylor,  John  (Col.) 
Taylor,  John  G.    (Col.) 
Taylor,  John  N. 
Taylor,  Joseph  S. 
Taylor,  Leonidas 
Taylor,  Louis   (Col.) 
Taylor,  Robert 
Taylor,  Roy  (Col.) 
Taylor,  Sam   (Col.) 
Taylor,  Sulvale 
Taylor,  Thompson 
Taylor,  Waman   (Col.) 
Taylor,  William  A. 
Taylor,  William  B. 
Taylor,  William  T.  V. 
Teague,  David 
Teague,  James  W. 
Tearan,  Charles  (Col.) 
Teeter,  Harvey  S. 
Temple,  Jesse  W. 
Temple,  John  J. 
Terry,  Paul 
Terry,  William  Reed 
Thomas,  Aaron    (Col.) 
Thomas,  Fred  L. 
Thomas,  Herman  (Col.) 
Thomas,  John   (Col.) 
Thomas,  Wesley  N.   (Col.) 
Thomason,  James  Jack 
Thompson,  Sergeant 
Thompson,  Eddie   (Col.) 
Thompson,  Ephriam 
Thompson,  Ezra  B. 
Thompson,  George  H. 
Thompson,  Harry  (Col.) 
Thompson,  Henry 
Thompson,  Jesse  J.  (Col.) 
Thompson,  Johnnie  F. 
Thompson,  John  W.,  Jr. 
Thompson,  Levi 
Thompson,  Robert   (Col.) 
Thompson,  Roy  A. 
Thomson,  Raymond 
Thornton,  Albert 
Thornton,  Anderson   (Col.) 
Thornton,  Carl  E. 
Thornton,  Dock 
Thrweat,  Eugene  (Col.) 
Tidwell,  Ellis 
Tidwell,  George  L. 
Tidwell,  Henry  R. 
Tillery,  James  M. 
Tillison,  Jahue 


Tillman  Spencer   (Col.) 
Timothy,  Otis 
Tims,  Horace  A. 
Todd,  Ernest  R. 
Todd,  Grover  C. 
Todd,  Henry  M. 
Todd,  Lee 
Tolls,  A.  Henry 
Toomey,  Edison  L. 
Toon,  Clyde 
Toone,  Walter   (Col.) 
Tox-ian,  James  A. 
Townsend,  Harrison 
Townsley,  John  E. 
Towry,  Willey  St. 
Toy,  David 

Trainum,  Major  Hugh 
Tramel,  Rufus  E. 
Trammell,  Harry  B. 
Tranham,  James  C. 
Traughber,  Adron  L. 
Treadway,  Edward 
Trent,  Leonard  T. 
Trentham,  Richard  Z. 
Trew,  Bryant  S. 
Tribble,  Joseph 
Trice,  William   (Col.) 
Tripp,  George  W. 
Trousdale,  George  H. 
Trudel,  Carl 
Tubbs,  Ira  N. 
Tucker,  Edward  C. 
Tucker,  Harry  C. 
Tucker,  Jesse  (Col.) 
Tucker,  Louis  Jack 
Tucker,  Ross  C. 
Tune,  John  R 
Tunnell,  Coy  C. 
Turbeville,  James  W. 
Turbeville,  Robert  E. 
Turner,  Alexander 
Turner,  Birdie  McKinley 
Turner,  Isaac 
Turner,  Reubin  H. 
Turner,  Sherman  H. 
Turney,  Peter,  Jr. 

Uhles,  John  Herman 
Ulin,  James  V. 
Ulrey,  David  D. 
Tmbarger,  David  T. 
Underwood,  Alvie  R. 
Underwood,  Charles  L. 
Underwood,  Von  C. 
Upchurch,  Herbert 
Upton,  John  E. 
Utley,  William  (Col.) 

Vanatta,  Jasper  W. 
Vance,  Graham 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


679 


Vanderbrook,  Newton 
Vandeventer,  Grant 
Van  Meter,  David  M. 
Van  Pelt,  Emmitt  L.   (Col.) 
Van  Winkle,  Arthur  G. 
Vaughan,  Thomas  M. 
Vaughn,  Doek  T. 
Vaughn,  James  (Col.) 
Vaughn,  Joseph  A. 
Vaughn,  Oscar   (Col.) 
Vaughn,  Samuel   (Col.) 
Vaughn,  Sterling 
Vernon,  Charlie 
Vestal,  Rex  B. 
Vickrey,  Joseph  Clarence 
Vickery,  Earl  W. 
Victory,  Grady   (Col.) 
Visage,  Jacob 
Volner,  Murray  A. 
Voyles,  Tilman  T. 

Waddle,  James  A. 
Wagoner,  Dallas  C. 
Waggoner,  Henry  G. 
Wainwright,  Richard    (Col.) 
AVair,  Lawrence  A. 
Waitman,  George  E. 
Walborn,  John  E. 
Walker,  Charles  Alber 
WTalker,  Claude  T. 
Walker,  Edward  E.  (Col.) 
Walker,  Fagin    (Col.) 
Walker,  Finis 
Walker,  Fred 
Walker,  John 
Walker,  John  H.    (Col.) 
Walker,  Robert  P. 
AValker,  Shannon 
Walker,  Virgil  L. 
Wrall,  John  W. 
Wallace,  Nicholas  E. 
Wallace,  Robert  0. 
Wallace,  Spencer 
WTaller,  Bert 
Waller,  Clifford  0. 
Walsh,  Edward  J. 
Walton,  Jefthro   (Col.) 
Walton,  Lycurgus  M. 
Wampler,  Albert 
WTard,  Ervie  L.   (Col.) 
Ward,  John   B. 
Ward,  John  H.  (Cob) 
Ward,  Joseph  R. 
Ward,  Luther 
Ward,  Raymond 
Ward,  William  McKinley 
Ward,  William  V. 
Warden,  John  T. 
Wardle,  Harry  W. 
Ware,  Zennie  (Col.) 


Warner,  Carlos 
Warr,  Fair  B. 
Warren,  Herman  (Col.) 
Warren,  James  E. 
Warren,  John  W. 
Warren,  Joseph  B. 
Warren,  Joseph  E. 
Warren,  Millard  F. 
Warren,  Robert  B. 
Washburn,  Jeff 
Washington,  Allen   (Col.) 
Washington,  Drew 
Washington,  Frank  (Col.) 
Wasserman,  Dan 
Waterson,  Henry 
Watkins,  Allen  "(Col.) 
Watkins,  Archie 
Watkins,  John  W. 
Watkins,  Paul  V. 
Watkins,  Roy 
Watkins,  Thomas  (Col.) 
Watson,  Frank  E. 
Watson,  George 
Watson,  Reubin  J. 
Watson,  Sim 
Watson,  Willard  C. 
Watwood,  John  W. 
Weakley,  Mack  (Col.) 
Weakley,  Robert 
Webb,  Charles 
Webb,  Frank  G. 
Webb,  Henry  L. 
Webb,  Horace  H. 
Webb,  Robert  P.   (Col.) 
Webb,  Ulva  (Col.) 
Weber,  Carl  L. 
Weber,  John  W. 
Weir.  Benjamin  Z. 
Weissinger,  William  J. 
Weitz,  Edgar  D. 
Welch,  Mark 
Welch,  Thomas  C. 
Wells,  Charles 
Wells,  Charles   (Col.) 
Wells,  Oscar 
Wells,  Walter  B. 
West,  George  E. 
West,  James  M. 
West,  Jodie  Willie 
West,  Raleigh  T. 
West,  Roe 
West,  Thomas  R. 
Wester,  Arthur 
Westmoreland,  Aaron    (Col.) 
Whaley,  Austin  R. 
Wheeler,  Calvin  M. 
Wheeler,  James  M. 
Whetstone,  William  M. 
White,  Alpheus  N. 
White,  James  H. 


680 


TKXXESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


White.  .John   II.    (Col.),  Davidson  Co. 

While.  John  H.   (Col.),  Davidson  Co. 

White,  Melvin  E. 

White.  Sam 

White.  Will 

White.  William  H. 

White.  William  M. 

Whiteaker,  Charles 

Whiteford,  Corlice  (Col.) 

Whitfield.  Floyd  E. 

Whitley,  John  L. 

Whitmore,  James  D. 

Whitson,  Lester  A. 

Whitson.  Uncus  (Col.) 

Whitwell,  Peter  T. 

Whitworth,  John  W. 

Wilbur.  Charles  H.   (Dr.) 

Wilburn,  Anderson  A. 

Wileoxson,  Jesse  C. 

Wiley,  Edd  C. 

Wiley,  Jonas  L. 

Wi'hoite,  George  H. 

Wilhoite,  Thomas  R. 

Wilkes,  Charles  H.   (Col.) 

Wilkes.  David  B. 

Wilkes,  John  R. 

Wilkes,  Robert  (Col.) 

Wilkins,  John  E. 

Wilkins,  Mose  (Col.) 

Wilkinson,  Joseph  W. 

Willhite,  Mack 

Williams,  Abe    (Col.) 

Williams.  Andy  D.    (Col.) 

Williams.  Claude  C. 

Williams,  Claude  M. 

Williams,  Clifton  L.  (Col.) 

Williams,  Daniel  H. 

Williams,  Don  S. 

Williams,  Edgar  0. 

Williams,  Fred  L. 

Williams,  George  H. 

Williams,  Hiram 

Williams,  Horace  F. 

Williams,  Jack 

Williams,  James  (Col.)   Shelby  Co. 

Williams,  James  (Col.)   Shelby  Co. 

Williams,  James  G.  (Col.) 

Williams,  John   (Col.) 

Williams,  Leon  (Col.) 

Williams,  Lonnell 

Williams,  Louis  A. 

Williams.  Lloyd 

Williams,  Luther  S. 

Williams,  Peter 

Williams,  Pleasant  M. 

Williams.  Rothsey  E. 

Williams,  Van 

Williamson,  Lusky  (Col.) 

Williamson,  Samuel   (Col.) 

Williamson.  Savannah  A.  (Col.) 


Willis,  Nelson 
Willoeks.   Hobert  D. 
Willoughby,  Benjamin  F. 
Wilsford,  Robert 
Wilson,  Clarence  (Col.) 
Wilson,  David  H. 
Wilson,  I^avid  L. 
Wilson,  Ernest   (Col.) 
Wilson,  Harry  B. 
Wilson,  Henry  S. 
Wilson,  Hubert  H. 
Wilson,  James  W. 
Wilson,  John  0.   (Col.) 
Wilson,  John  R. 
Wilson,  Joseph 
Wilson,  Obie  Lee 
Wilson,  Orvine 
Wilson,  Ray 
Wilson,  Samuel  C. 
AVilson,  William  A. 
Wilson,  William  M. 
Winchester,  George  (Col.) 
Windham,  Brown  F. 
Winfrey,  Herman  H. 
Wing,  Douglas  E. 
Winkler,  Benton  W. 
Winkler,  Joyce 
Winton,  Fate 
Wiseman,  William  J. 
Wix,  Buford  L. 
Wix,  John  McKinley 
Wofford,  John 
Wohlford,  Sam 
Wolfe,  Elbert 
Womac,  Claude 
Womble,  John  J. 
Womble,  William  H.   (Col.) 
Wood,  Archie  B. 
Wood,  Frank  G. 
Wood,  James  F. 
Wood,  Robert  A. 
Woodall,  Edward  T. 
Woodard,  Selkirk 
Woods,  James  S. 
Woods,  Miles 
Woods,  Tommie  (Col.) 
Woods,  William  N. 
Woodson,  Larry  C.   (Col.) 
Woodward,  John 
Woody,  Elbert  J. 
Woody ard,  Luther  B. 
Workman,  Thomas 
Worley,  Charles  G. 
Wortham,  Ernest  M. 
Wright,  Aubrey  C. 
Wright,  Daniel 
Wright,  James  S. 
Wright,  James  Y. 
Wright,  Meedard 
Wright,  Richard  M. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


681 


Wright,  Robey  Glenn 
Wright,  Roy  B. 
Wright,  W.  H. 
Wright,  William  M. 
Wright,  Will  W. 
Wvatt,  Riehard 
Wvatt,  Walter  H. 
Wylie,  Otis  R. 
Wymer,  Karl  G. 
Wynn,  Albert  H. 
Wynne,  Eugene 
Wynne,  Gordon 
Wyriek,  George  R. 

Taney,  Bertram  B. 
Yarbrough.  Carl   Houston 
Yarbrough,  Clarence  B. 
Yates,  James  M. 


Yaudell,  Edgar  L. 
Yearwood,  John  D. 
Yokley,  Hume  S. 
York,  James  (Col.) 
York,  Jasper 
York,  Toben 
York,  Wiley  A. 
Young,  Edgar  L. 
Young,  Frank   (Col.) 
Young,  George 
Young,  George  J. 
Young,  James  R. 
Young,  Professor  (Col.) 
Young,  Rufus 
Young,  William  E. 
Youngblood,  Roy 
Younger,  Charles  E 
Younger,  Charlie  E. 


CHAPTER  XXX 
FROM  A.  H.  ROBERTS  TO  AUSTIN  PEAY 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  A.  H.  ROBERTS — ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  A.  A. 
TAYLOR — ELECTION  OF  GOVERNOR  AUSTIN  PEAY 

ADMINISTRATION  OF  GOVERNOR  A.  H.  ROBERTS 

Throughout  the  year  of  1918  until  Armistice  Day,  November  11th,  all  Teu- 
nesseans  were  engrossed  in  cooperative  World  war  activities.  Some  were  en- 
gaged in  drives  for  Liberty  Loan  Bonds  and  War  Savings  Stamps,  others  iu 
work  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Red  Cross,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Knights  of  Colum- 
bus, the  Salvation  Army  and  other  organizations.  As  a  result  the  political  cam- 
paigns lacked  much  of  the  zest  and  absorbing  interest  which  usually  characterize 
such  contests  in  the  state.  Nevertheless  the  three  aspirants  for  the  democratic 
gubernatorial  nomination,  Austin  Peay,  of  Montgomery  County,  Judge  A.  H. 
Roberts,  of  Overton  County,  and  Clyde  Shropshire,  of  Davidson  County,  had 
come  out  as  candidates  early  in  the  spring.  Each  candidate  conducted  his  cam- 
paign without  any  joint  debates  and  the  result  of  the  primary  election  on 
August  1st,  was  as  follows:  Albert  H.  Roberts,  64,191;  Austin  Peay,  51,971; 
Clyde  Shropshire,  5,251. 

The  republican  nominee  for  governor  was  Judge  H.  B.  Lindsay,  of  Campbell 
County.  Judge  Lindsay  came  from  one  of  the  best  and  most  influential  families 
of  East  Tennessee  and  had  an  excellent  record,  having  been  a  member  of  the 
Tennessee  Legislature  in  1887,  attorney-general  of  the  Sixteenth  Judicial  Cir- 
cuit, United  States  district  attorney  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Tennessee,  and 
chancellor  for  the  Second  Division  of  Tennessee. 

Judge  Roberts  won  by  the  following  vote :  A.  H.  Roberts,  98,628 ;  H.  B. 
Lindsay,  59,519. 

There  was  also  a  contest  between  Judge  John  K.  Shields,  the  incumbent,  and 
ex-Governor  Tom  C.  Rye,  for  the  democratic  nomination  for  United  States 
senator,  in  which  Judge  Shields  won  by  a  comfortable  margin. 

The  Sixty-first  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  6,  1919,  and  organized 
by  the  election  of  Andrew  L.  Todd,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  Seth  M.  Walker, 
speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

The  first  business  brought  before  the  Legislature  was  the  matter  of  ratifica- 
tion of  the  Eighteenth  Amendment  a  to  the  Federal  Constitution  (the  prohibi- 
tion amendment).  Governor  Roberts  himself,  in  a  special  message  on  the 
second  day  of  the  session,  placed  it  before  the  members  saying : 

"I  confess  a  desire  upon  my  part  to  have  this  important  matter  enjoy  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  public  business  to  receive  your  attention,  and  for 
this  reason  I  make  it  my  first  official  communication  with  your  Honorable 
Body." 

i  This  amendment  was  passed  by  the  United  States  Senate  on  August  1,  1917,  and  by 
the  House  of  Representatives  on  December  17,  1917. 

682 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  683 

The  amendment  in  question  was  ratified  in  this  state  by  Senate  Joint  Reso- 
lution No.  I,2  prepared,  it  is  said,  by  Governor  Rye,  adopted  on  January  13, 
1919. 

Governor  Rye's  second  message,3  and  his  last,  was  transmitted  on  the  same 
day  and  was  devoted  exclusively  to  the  financial  condition  of  the  state.  He 
treated  exhaustively  of  the  fiscal  affairs  of  Tennessee  from  1907  to  the  date  of 
his  message.  So  ably  did  he  discuss  this  subject  that  Governor  Roberts  in  his 
first  message,  transmitted  the  day  after  his  inauguration,  began  as  follows: 
"Since  my  predecessor,  Governor  Rye,  has  gone  exhaustively  into  the  recent 
financial  history  of  Tennessee,  and  has  stated  clearly  and  accurately  the  present 
deplorable  condition  of  state  finances,  it  is  not  deemed  advisable  to  restate  the 
facts  set  forth  so  fully  in  his  message,  to  the  present  session."  A  careful  read- 
ing of  this  document  will  well  repay  students  and  investigators  of  the  financial 
history  of  that  decade. 

Governor  Roberts  was  inaugurated  on  January  15,  1919,  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Four  ex-governors  were  present :  Frazier,  Rye, 
Hooper  and  Buchanan.  The  inaugural  address  was  brief  and  to  the  point  and 
was  along  the  lines  of  financial  and  business  reform. 

He  declared  that  the  unjust  distribution  of  the  tax  burden  was  the  weak 
spot  in  our  state  structure ;  that  the  lack  of  proper  laws,  bad  methods  of  tax 
collection  and  incompetent  officials  were  factors  in  the  unsatisfactory  and  in- 
efficient revenue  system  of  Tennessee ;  that  the  burden  must  be  made  to  bear 
equally  on  all  property  owners  of  the  state.  He  urged  the  Legislature  to  lay 
aside,  for  the  time  being,  minor  and  local  measures  and  to  concentrate  atten- 
tion and  action  on  the  pressing  financial  problems. 

His  plan  of  remedy  was  a  sliding  scale  of  tax  rates  framed  so  that  the  rate 
would  decrease  as  the  assessment  increases,  only  the  sum  necessary  to  meet 
current  expenses  being  positively  fixed.  He  said  this  plan  had  been  tried  in 
other  states  and  had  proved  its  efficiency  every  time. 

For  years  it  had  been  known  that  the  tax  burden  of  the  state  had  been 
unjustly  distributed,  that  many  counties  of  the  state  by  low  assessments  had 
evaded  their  proportionate  share  of  the  common  obligation,  but  the  movement 
to  correct  the  evil  seems  to  have  originated  with  the  Davidson  County  Court 
which,  on  April  3,  1918,  discussed  this  question  and  said  in  substance  that  the 
four  large  counties  of  the  state  nearly  conformed  to  the  state  law  in  assess- 
ments, but  that  the  other  counties  did  not ;  hence  that  these  four  counties  bore 
the  larger  part  of  the  burden  of  taxation.  The  state  comptroller,  upon  being 
appealed  to,  said  he  had  no  authority  to  interfere  in  the  making  of  assessments 
by  the  several  counties,  that  it  Mould  be  officious  for  him  to  do  so,  and  that  the 
attorney  general  of  the  state,  whom  he  consulted,  said  the  same  thing,  that  the 
matter  must  be  handled  by  the  Legislature  which  could  pass  a  law  lodging 
in  some  one  the  power  to  correct  the  errors  of  tax  assessors. 

In  his  message  Governor  Roberts  spoke  in  no  uncertain  tones.  Among  oilier 
things  he  said : 

"Our  taxing  system  is  among  the  weakest  and  worsl  of  any  state  in  the 
Union.  The  inherent  weakness  and  vice  in  the  present  system  are  found  in 
the  utter  lack  of  any  adequate  means  or  method   for  equalizing  taxes  among 


2  Acts  of  1919,  p.  821. 

3  House  Journal,  1919,  pp.  14-39. 


tiS4  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

various  classes  of  property  and  the  different  localities."  He  recommended  the 
passage  of  a  new  inheritance  tax  law,  of  a  law  conferring  upon  the  Railroad 
Commission  the  power  to  tax  express  companies,  the  Pullman  Company,  trans- 
portation companies  of  various  kinds,  such  as  the  Standard  Oil  Co.,  the 
Armour  Packing  Co.,  and  others  and  said:  "I  do  not  believe  it  is  at  all 
necessary  for  this  Legislature  to  create  a  separate  and  independent  tax  com- 
mission." 

The  first  three  acts  passed  constitute  the  notable  tax  legislation  of  this 
session.  They  embody  the  ideas  of  Governor  Roberts  on  the  subject  of  taxa- 
tion as  disclosed  and  recommended  in  his  first  message. 

Chapter  1  4  is  entitled,  "An  Act  to  enlarge,  increase  and  supplement  the 
duties  and  powers  of  the  railroad  commission  of  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  to 
constitute  said  commission  a  state  board  of  equalization ;  to  provide  the  means 
and  agencies  for  the  ascertainment  and  equalization  of  the  value  of  all  forms 
of  property ;  so  that  taxes  thereon  shall  be  equal  and  uniform  throughout  the 
state ;  to  direct  county  courts  and  municipalities  as  to  the  time  of  fixing  tax 
rates. ' ' 

This  act  provided  for  a  chief  tax  statistician  whose  term  of  office  should  be 
six  years ;  that  the  chairman  of  the  railroad  commission  should  be  chairman  of 
the  state  board  of  equalization  and  that  the  chief  tax  statistician  should  be  clerk. 

Chapter  2  5  is  "An  Act  to  provide  rates  of  taxation  upon  property  in  the 
State  of  Tennessee." 

Chapter  8"  is  "An  Act  authorizing  and  directing  the  assessment  for  taxa- 
tion for  state,  county,  and  municipal  purposes  by  the  railroad  commission  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee,  the  properties  of  railroad  companies,  telephone  com- 
panies, telegraph  companies,  sleeping  car  companies,  freight  car  companies,  street 
railroad  companies,  interurban  railroad  companies,  express  companies,  pipe 
line  companies,  power  companies,  gas  companies,  electric  light  companies; 
providing  the  means  and  methods  of  such  assessment  and  for  the  collection  of 
taxes;  to  increase  and  fix  the  salaries  of  the  railroad  commissioners." 

This  act  imposed  on  the  railroad  commission  the  duty  of  assessing  for  state, 
county  and  municipal  purposes  all  corporations  that  had  not  been  previously 
assessed  by  them.  The  assessments  made  by  them  were  equalized  by  the  state 
board  of  equalization,  provided  for  in  Section  10  of  the  act,  composed  of  the 
governor,  the  state  treasurer,  and  the  secretary  of  state. 

REPEAL  OP  THE  BOWERS  LAW 

At  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  Bowers  Law  abolishing  the  death  penalty 
for  murder  in  1915,  there  were  many  who  doubted  the  wisdom  of  this  act.  In 
the  four  years  succeeding  its  passage  many  more  joined  the  dissentients  and  so 
strong  were  they  at  the  beginning  of  the  Sixty-first  Session  that  the  act  was 
repealed  by  Chapter  4,  Acts  of  1919,  page  27. 

EDT'CATIONAL  LEGISLATION 

By  Chapter  ll,7  the  state  board  of  education  was  made  to  consist  of  nine 
members  appointed  by  the  governor,  three  from  each  grand  division  of  the  state, 


•*  Acts  of  1919,  p.  1,  passed  January  22,  1919. 
b  Acts  of  1919,  p.  11,  passed  January  22,  1919. 
i;  Ibid.,  p.  13,  passed  February  7,  1919. 
7  Aets  of  1919,  p.  37. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  685 

with  the  governor  and  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  ex-officio 
members.  But  a  long  step  in  advance  in  the  educational  history  of  Tennessee 
was  made  by  the  enactment  of  the  so-called  "direct  tax  bill."8  In  Section  6 
of  this  act  provision  is  made  "that  a  tax  of  five  (5)  cents  on  each  one  hundred 
dollars  of  taxable  property  is  levied  *  *  *  for  the  purpose  of  improving 
the  elementary  schools  of  this  state,  which  tax  shall  be  in  addition  to  the  state 
tax  for  school  purposes  now  provided  by  law." 

Section  7  of  the  act  provided  that  the  receipts  from  this  tax  should  be  dis- 
tributed principally  as  an  equalizing  fund  so  that  the  counties  most  needing 
assistance  should  receive  it. 

MARRIED   WOMAN'S  EMANCIPATION    LAW 

The  purpose  of  Chapter  126°  called  the  "married  woman's  emancipation 
act"  was  that  married  women  might  possess  the  same  rights  with  regard  to 
property  which  unmarried  women  possess  and  to  extend  to  them  the  statutes  of 
limitation  and  to  exempt  to  them  a  homestead.  Concerning  this  law  Mrs.  Alex. 
Caldwell,  president  of  the  Tennessee  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,  said:  "By 
the  enactment  of  this  law  married  women  became  responsible  human  beings. 
They  could  own  and  enjoy  and  dispose  of  their  property  and  enter  into  con- 
tracts in  reference  thereto  as  though  they  were  not  married.  They  also  acquired 
the  right  to  sue  and  be  sued." 

THE  STATE  MEMORIAL  BUILDING 

After  the  great  World  war  was  ended  and  our  brave  boys  who  had  so  sig- 
nally maintained  the  name  and  fame  of  the  Volunteer  State  in  foreign  lands, 
had  returned,  the  desire  naturally  arose  to  erect  in  honor  of  them  a  memorial 
that  would  be  a  real  reminder  of  the  services  of  those  who  responded  to  the 
call  of  their  country,  who  gave  up  home  and  all  other  interests  to  answer  the 
call.  Many  of  them  had  made  the  supreme  sacrifice ;  more  of  them  had  been 
wounded  and  hundreds  of  them  distinguished  themselves  on  the  battle  field. 

It  was  realized  that  this  memorial  should  be  one  in  which  not  only  the 
soldiers,  their  relatives  and  descendants  but  also  every  citizen,  would  always 
take  pride. 

It  was  insisted  that  within  this  memorial  hall  there  should  he  the  record  of 
every  man  who  responded  to  the  call,  with  special  tablets  and  data  for  the 
Gold  Star  boys,  including  mementoes,  souvenirs,  and  historical  relics,  and  where, 
also,  the  state  could  locate  an  historical  museum  to  be  assembled  under  the 
direction  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission  and  assemble  collections  of 
portraits,  statues,  memorials  and  relics  of  the  distinguished  citizens  of  Tennessee 
who  participated  in  other  wars  or  who  rendered  distinguished  public  service. 

In  regard  to  this  memorial  Governor  Roberts,  in  a  special  message,10  trans- 
mitted on  February  3rd,  said  that  the  people  of  Tennessee  "will  expect  you 
to  erect  a  memorial  in  keeping  with  the  contributions  and  sacrifices  they  have 
made." 

Most  of  the  Tennessee  soldiers  returned  in  the  spring  of   1919,   while   the 


s  Chapter  III,  Acts  of   1919,  p.  285. 

»  Acts  of  1919,  p.  406. 

io  House  Journal,  1919,  p.  270. 


686  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Legislature  was  in  session,  and  were  rapturously  greeted.  In  all  the  large  cities 
of  the  state  parades  took  place.  Patriotism  was  at  its  very  apex.  So  that  it 
was  not  at  all  difficult  to  pass  a  bill  providing  for  a  suitable  memorial.  This 
act 1 l  in  question  provided  for  a  threefold  concert  of  action  of  the  state,  of  the 
City  of  Nashville  and  of  Davidson  County.  Davidson  County  furnished  $400,000, 
the  City  of  Nashville,  $600,000,  and  the  state  $1,000,000.  For  a  site  for  the 
memorial  and  a  capitol  annex  combined,  the  property  was  secured  between  Cedar 
Street,  Seventh  Avenue,  Union  Street  and  Capitol  Boulevard.  For  a  park  the 
property  bounded  by  Capitol  Boulevard,  Cedar  Street,  Sixth  Avenue  and  Union 
Street,  was  bought.  The  work  of  erecting  this  memorial  building  and  arranging 
the  surroundings  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  bill  is  now  (1923)  in 
progress. 

THE  WORKMEN'S   COMPENSATION   ACT 

The  central  purpose  of  compensation  legislation  is  to  make  a  business  carry 
as  part  of  its  operation  the  expense  incident  to  injuries  suffered  by  employes  in 
the  course  of  their  work  and  to  enable  them  to  secure  speedy  settlement  for 
their  injuries  under  prescribed  schedules  without  resorting  to  courts  of  law. 
Wisconsin  was  the  first  state  which  enacted  such  a  law,  in  1911,  and  so  popular 
and  just  did  such  legislation  seem  that,  in  1919,  there  were  thirty-seven  states 
in  this  country  which  had  workmen's  compensation  laws.  The  United  States 
Government  itself,  in  1916,  placed  all  Federal  civil  employes  on  a  compensation 
basis. 

The  workmen's  compensation  bill  12  of  Tennessee  was  carefully  and  thor- 
oughly prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Federation  of  Labor  and  occupies 
no  less  than  thirty-two  pages  of  the  acts,  and  while  not  unnaturally  some  op- 
position to  its  passage  developed,  mainly  by  manufacturing  interests,  it  was 
finally  passed  on  April  12,  1919,  near  the  end  of  the  session. 

STATE    HIGHWAY    COMMISSION 

In  harmony  with  the  progressive  spirit  which  characterized  many  members 
of  this  Legislature  an  act13  was  passed  "establishing  a  highway  department, 
creating  a  state  highway  commission,  providing  for  the  designation  and  adoption 
of  a  state  highway  plan  for  the  state,  creating  a  highway  fund  and  providing 
for  apportioning  the  proceeds  thereof  to  the  respective  counties." 

By  the  proponents  of  this  bill  the  argument  was  made,  in  substance,  that 
agriculture  is  the  foundation  on  which  Tennessee  must  develop  her  growth  and 
prosperity,  and  that  this  prosperity  will  build  up  her  cities,  increase  her  fac- 
tories, employ  her  labor,  and  make  her,  in  every  sense,  a  great  state ;  but  that 
good  roads  are  an  essential  factor  in  bringing  about  agricultural  prosperity; 
that,  of  all  taxes  in  Tennessee  the  tax  paid  to  bad  roads  is  by  far  the  largest 
and  that  every  cent  of  it  is  wrong,  burdensome  and  apprehensive.  The  state- 
ment was  made  that  for  the  year  1918  alone  bad  roads  cost  Tennessee  $20,000,- 
000  on  transportation  of  agricultural  products  alone,  not  counting  timber,  min- 
erals, manufactured  articles  and  other  things. 


ii  Chapter  122,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  357. 
12  Chapter  123,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  369. 
is  Chapter  149,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  546. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  687 

OTHER   IMPORTANT   LAWS   ENACTED   AT   THIS   SESSION 

On  January  30,  1919,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act14  "to  designate  an 
Arbor  and  Flower  Day,  for  the  State  of  Tennessee,  to  encourage  a  closer  study 
of  our  natural  resources  among  the  children  and  people  of  this  state,  and  to 
beautify  and  make  more  attractive  all  public,  school  and  home  grounds,  that 
the  minds  of  all  may  be  impressed  with  the  importance  of  a  greater  knowledge 
of  nature  and  the  conservation  of  her  beautiful  gifts  to  man."  The  first  Fri- 
day in  April  of  each  year  was  designated  as  Arbor,  Bird  and  Flower  Day. 

By  Chapter  16  13  the  second  Sunday  in  May  of  each  year  was  designated 
as  Mother's  Day. 

Chapter  28  1G  declared  the  twelfth  of  February,  of  each  year,  a  legal  holiday 
to  be  known  as  ' '  Lincoln  Day. ' ' 

Chapter  34  17  designated  the  eleventh  clay  of  November,  of  each  year,  a  legal 
holiday  to  be  known  as  "Victory  Day." 

Chapter  46  1S  is  known  as  the  "Inheritance  Tax  Law"  of  Tennessee. 

Chapter  50  19  provided  for  the  seizure  and  destruction  of  intoxicating  liquors 
possessed  in  violation  of  any  law  of  this  state. 

Chapter  58  2"  repealed  Chapter  20  of  the  Acts  of  1915,  which  created  the 
State  Board  of  Control. 

Chapter  76  21  abolished  the  Department  of  History  and  Archives  and  trans- 
ferred its  possessions  and  activities  to  the  state  librarian. 

Chapter  82  22  removed  the  disabilities  of  Judge  Jesse  Edgington  who,  it  will 
be  remembered,  was  impeached  and  convicted  in  1916  and  was  disqualified  from 
holding  office.  A  strong  fight  was  made  against  the  passage  of  this  act,  but  the 
tide  was  turned  in  his  favor  by  the  presentation  of  the  condition  of  health  of 
his  mother. 

Chapter  96  23  provided  for  a  state  police  force,  sometimes  called  the  "state 
ranger  system." 

Chapter  103  24  granted  to  the  United  States,  "all  right,  title  and  interest 
in  and  to  all  lands  of  the  state  lying  within  twenty  miles  of  the  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina  boundary  line,  for  the  creation  of  national  forests  and  the  preser- 
vation and  protection  of  the  navigability  of  navigable  streams." 

Chapter  138  25  authorized  the  people  "to  decide  by  vote  whether  they  will 
call  a  Constitutional  Convention." 

Chapter  139  2G  granted  women  the  right  to  vote  for  electors  of  President 
and  vice  president  of  the  United  States,  and  for  municipal  officers."  This 
measure  was  vehemently  and  persistently  opposed,  but  finally  passed  largely 


i*  Chapter  15,  Acts  of  1919,  p.  43. 

is  Acts  of  1919,  p.  44. 

is  Ibid.,  p.  74. 

i«  Ibid.,  p.  83. 

is  Ibid.,  p.  118. 

i»  Ibid.,  p.  152. 

20  Acts  of  1919,  p.  172. 

21  Ibid.,  p.  200.  It  is  a  peculiar  fact  of  history  that  this  department  was  never  created 
either  by  act  or  resolution  of  the  Legislature.  See  pamphlet  entitled  "Tenn.  Dept.  of 
Library,  Archives  &  History,''  published  by  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission. 

-'2  Acts  of  1919,  p.  209. 
-a  Ibid.,  p.  231. 
=*  Ibid.,  p.  253. 
-'5  Ibid.,  p.  516. 
2«  Ibid.,  p.  519. 


688  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

through  force  of  the  argument  that  it  must  prevail  because  it  is  a  natural  right, 
a  necessary  evolution  of  democracy. 

Chapter  142  L>:  provided  for  a  uniform  series  of  textbooks  for  the  public 
schools  and  created  a  state  textbook  commission  of  six  members  of  whom  the 
state  superintendent  of  public  instruction  should  be  chairman. 

By  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  12, 2S  the  Tennessee  Historical  Committee 
was  created,  "whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  collect,  compile,  index  and  arrange  all 
data  and  information  relating  to  the  part  Tennessee  has  played  in  the  great 
World  war."  This  duty  was  extended  by  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  76,2:i  to 
include  data  and  records  relative  to  all  wars  in  which  Tennessee  has  taken  part 
and  the  history  of  the  state  from  all  points  of  view?. 

On  April  6,  1919,  a  sword  was  presented  to  Admiral  Cleaves,  to  purchase 
which  the  funds  were  raised  by  the  ladies  of  Nashville  under  the  leadership  of 
a  commission  of  which  Mrs.  Edward  Buford  was  chairman,  the  purpose  being 
an  acknowledgment  of  "his  wonderful  achievement  in  conveying  with  the  ships 
of  the  American  Navy,  under  his  command,  hundreds  of  transports  bearing  more 
than  two  million  American  soldiers  to  the  shores  of  France,  without  the  loss  of 
a  single  soldier." 

The  following  lines,  written  at  the  time  by  John  Trotwood  Moore,  well  ex- 
press the  sentiments  of  all  Tennesseans  concerning  Admiral  Cleaves: 

STONEWALL  OF  THE  SEA 

Sampson,  Schley  and  Phillips 
And  blest  the  ties  that  be, 
Cleaves  who  blocked  the  hell-sharks'  path — 
Our  Stonewall  of  the  sea ! 

THE   GUBERNATORIAL   CAMPAIGN   OF   1920 

At  the  beginning  of  Roberts"  administration  it  was  predicted  that  he  would 
have  no  competitor  for  the  democratic  nomination  the  following  year.  Never- 
theless, early  in  the  spring  of  1920,  three  prospective  candidates  appeared  to 
contest  with  Roberts  for  the  coveted  honor.  Of  these  General  L.  D.  Tyson,  who 
had  enhanced  his  already  high  reputation  by  a  splendid  record  in  the  World 
war,  for  some  time  considered  a  persistent  demand  that  he  run.  Finally,  in 
an  article  published  in  the  press  on  April  28,  1920,  he  said : 

"When  the  Democratic  Convention  meets  in  June,  it  will  be  embarrassing  to 
the  party  if  the  state  administration  is  not  endorsed.  *  *  *  I  prefer  to 
sacrifice  my  personal  interest  for  the  welfare  of  the  party  and  will  not  enter 
the  race. ' ' 

On  April  24,  1920,  Governor  Roberts  made  announcement  of  his  candidacy 
for  reelection.  In  his  statement  he  summarized  the  work  of  various  departments 
of  the  state  government,  giving  statistics  comparing  his  administration  with 
prior  administrations  in  the  point  of  results  attained. 

He  declared,  when  signs  of  radicalism  appeared  in  Tennessee,  the  Law  and 
Order  League  was  organized  to  uphold  the  authorities.     He  mentioned  the  bill 


27  Acts  of  1919,  p.  524. 
as  Ibid.,  p.  829. 
29  Ibid.,  p.  881. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  689 

passed  by  the  Legislature  of  1919,  empowering  the  governor  to  make  use  of 
the  state  military  forces  in  quelling  disturbances  and  labor  troubles.  He  told 
of  the  part  the  state  military  forces  played  in  the  strike  at  the  plant  of  the 
Carter  Shoe  Company  in  Nashville  and  during  the  street  railway  troubles  in 
Knoxville. 

He  told  of  the  creation  of  a  State  Tax  Commission  whose  duties  were  im- 
posed on  the  State  Railroad  Commission  and  of  the  saving  to  the  state  that  was 
effected  thereby  and  enumerated  many  other  activities  of  the  state  which  had 
improved  during  his  incumbency  as  governor. 

He  also  endorsed  equal  suffrage. 

Col.  "W.  R.  Crabtree,  of  Chattanooga,  who  had  been  speaker  of  the  Senate 
and  was  well  known  and  popular  throughout  the  state,  remained  in  the  race 
as  Governor  Roberts'  sole  competitor  for  the  democratic  nomination.  The 
Democratic  Convention  of  June  8th  endorsed  Governor  Roberts'  candidacy,  hut 
Colonel  Crabtree  called  the  endorsement  a  "singed  cat"  affair.  This  convention 
declared  for  a  repeal  of  the  Public  Utilities  Act  and  for  an  amendment  of  the 
tax  law,  both  of  which  were  acts  much  cherished  by  Governor  Roberts.  It  also 
condemned  Senator  Shields  for  his  record  on  the  treaty  of  peace  and  League 
of  Nations. 

In  the  primary  election  on  August  5,  1920,  Governor  Roberts  defeated 
Colonel  Crabtree  for  the  democratic  nomination,  and  Alfred  A.  Taylor  defeated 
Jesse  Littleton  for  the  republican  nomination. 

THE  EXTRA  SESSION  OP   1920 

It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1919, 
an  act  was  passed  giving  the  women  of  Tennessee  the  right  to  vote  for  municipal 
officers  and  for  President  and  vice  president  of  the  United  States.  Tennessee 
was  the  first  state  in  the  South  to  pass  such  a  law  and  the  women  of  Tennessee 
who  favored  equal  voting  privileges  for  women  were  much  encouraged.  Early 
in  the  spring  the  rumors  that  for  some  time  had  been  persistent  that  the  governor 
would  call  an  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  became  more  pronounced. 

On  March  18th  the  Democratic  Executive  Committee  decided  that  there 
should  be  two  women  on  the  state  committee  as  delegates  to  the  National  Demo- 
cratic Convention  at  San  Francisco. 

On  the  preceding  day  an  executive  committee  of  republican  women  of  Ten- 
nessee was  formed  to  make  a  drive  in  the  coming  elections. 

And  on  May  4th  and  5th  a  jubilee  of  women  voters  was  held  in  Nashville. 

It  was  strongly  desired  by  the  women  leaders  of  the  state  that  an  extra  ses- 
sion be  called  to  ratify  the  nineteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  giving  to  women  the  elective  franchise.  Furthermore,  they  con- 
tended, a  special  session  was  needed  to  define  the  status  of  women  in  voting, 
that  they  should  have  the  same  qualifications  as  men. 

Mrs.  Guilford  Dudley,  one  of  the  most  prominent  find  able  of  the  equal  fran- 
chise leaders  stated,  on  March  12th:  "We  have  learned  from  Governor  Roberts 
that  the  Constitution  of  Tennessee  bars  the  subject  of  ratifying  the  Federal 
suffrage  amendment.  Therefore,  that  a  called  session  of  the  Legislature  be  re- 
sorted to  in  order  to  meet  the  legal  requirements  in  the  premises." 

Governor  Roberts'  attitude  was  shown  in  the  fact  that  on  August  7,  1920, 


690         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

he  did  summon  the  Legislature  in  extraordinary  session  on  August  9th,  and 
the  first  item  in  his  proclamation  was : 

"To  take  action  upon  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  proposed  by  the  Congress,  giving  women  full  right  of  suffrage,  being 
the  proposed  nineteenth  amendment  to  the  Federal  Constitution." 

The  second  item  was  to  fix  the  legal  status  of  women  and  the  third  to  pre- 
scribe the  qualifications  of  women  for  suffrage. 

There  were  142  items  in  the  first  proclamation,  besides  twenty  others  in  the 
supplemental  proclamation  issued  on  the  next  day. 

FIGHT  FOR  RATIFICATION  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  AMENDMENT 

No  sooner  had  the  members  of  the  Legislature  convened  in  the  extraordinary 
session  than  a  tremendous  conflict  was  staged  on  Article  No.  1.  This  was  brought 
before  them  by  Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  1,  which  was  presented  in  the  Sen- 
ate on  August  10,  1920. 

There  was  no  delay  in  the  action  of  the  Senate  by  which  the  amendment  was 
ratified  on  August  13,  1920,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-five  to  four. 

It  was  well  known,  however,  that  there  would  be  a  keen  conflict  in  the  House. 
The  debates  on  both  sides  were  vigorous,  unrelenting,  sometimes  bitter.  Those 
who  opposed  ratification  pleaded  that  the  state  constitution  stood  in  the  way. 
This  argument  was  denied  by  those  favoring  ratification. 

The  alignment  on  the  question,  however,  was  not  according  to  political  af- 
filiation. As  a  matter  of  fact  both  the  national  democratic  platform  and  the 
Tennessee  democratic  platform  had  planks  favoring  ratification  and  there  were 
both  democrats  and  republicans  on  both  sides.  The  general  ratification  com- 
mittee was  headed  by  Miss  Charl  Williams,  vice  chairman  of  the  National  Demo- 
cratic Committee. 

The  proponents  argued  that  Tennessee  had  a  great  opportunity  to  achieve 
imperishable  distinction  as  thirty-five  states  had  already  ratified  the  amendment 
and  only  one  state  more  was  needed  to  make  up  the  required  two-thirds  of  all 
states;  that  Tennessee  is  a  progressive  and  enlightened  commonwealth  where 
justice  and  chivalry  are  living  forces  and  not  merely  emptjr  words  and  dead 
forms;  that  both  political  parties,  both  of  state  and  nation,  favored  it,  as  did 
both  presidential  candidates,  and  the  governor  of  Tennessee ;  that  the  Volun- 
teer State  must  not  fail  to  put  the  capstone  on  this  monument  to  American 
justice  and  liberty. 

Before  the  vote  was  put  it  was  figured  that  there  was  a  tie  in  the  House.  On 
August  18th,  the  passage  of  the  amendment  was  made  possible  by  the  change  of 
vote  of  Harry  T.  Burn,  of  McMinn  County,  whom  his  mother,  Mrs.  J.  L.  Burn, 
had  written:  "Vote  for  suffrage  and  don't  keep  them  in  doubt."  After  a 
stormy  scene  and  amid  much  excitement  the  result  of  the  vote  was  announced  to 
be  fifty  in  favor  of  amendment  and  forty-six  opposed. 

The  joy  of  suffragists  was  equaled  only  by  the  disappointment  of  their  op- 
ponents, who,  nevertheless,  did  not  concede  defeat.  They  immediately  made 
application  to  Judge  Frank  Langford,  of  Nashville,  for  an  injunction  to  re- 
strain Governor  Roberts,  Secretary  Stevens,  and  Speakers  Todd  and  Walker 
from  certifying  the  ratification  of  the  amendment  to  Bainbridge  Colby,  secre- 
tary of  state  of  the  United  States  and  a  temporary   injunction  was  granted. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  691 

However,  under  a  writ  of  supersedeas  obtained  by  Hon.  Prank  Thompson,  at- 
torney general  of  the  state,  from  Judge  Lansden,  chief  justice  of  the  State 
Supreme  Court,  the  injunction  was  dissolved  and  Governor  Roberts,  on  August 
24th,  sent  the  certification  on  to  Secretary  Colby,  by  whom,  on  August  26,  1920, 
a  proclamation  was  issued  declaring  that  the  woman  suffrage  amendment  was 
"to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

On  the  same  day  Mrs.  George  Fort  Milton,  Tennessee  state  chairman  of  the 
League  of  Women  Voters,  issued  a  request  to  all  the  mayors  of  Tennessee  cities  to 
issue  a  proclamation  declaring  Saturday,  August  28th,  a  day  of  celebration  "by 
ringing  of  bells  and  sounding  of  whistles  in  every  avenue  of  life,  business,  church 
and  school  at  12  o'clock,  noon." 

Some  members  of  the  Legislature,  however,  were  still  unreconeilable  and 
thought  themselves  undefeated.  After  a  motion  to  reconsider  the  action  whereby 
the  suffrage  resolution  had  been  adopted  had  been  made  and  while  it  was  still 
pending,  thirty-eight  members  of  the  House,  who  opposed  ratification,  went,  on 
August  21st,  to  Decatur,  Ala.,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  in  1913  the  Legis- 
lature had  passed  an  act  making  willful  absence  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  a 
quorum,  a  felony. 

Besides  a  large  number  of  acts  of  local  importance,  this  session  also  passed 
the  following  general  laws  in  addition  to  Chapter  No.  1 : 

Chapter  17,  authorizing  additional  pensions  to  Confederate  soldiers ; 

Chapter  18,  fixing  the  powers  of  the  State  Board  of  Equalization ; 

Chapter  12,  to  provide  for  registration  of  voters. 

THE  GUBERNATORIAL  RACE  BETWEEN  GOVERNOR  ROBERTS  AND  COL.  ALFRED  A.  TAYLOR 

The  year  1920  was  a  year  of  political  topsy-turvy.  Throughout  the  country 
the  tide  set  in  strongly  following  the  national  conventions.  In  Tennessee  the 
democratic  candidates  were  adversely  affected  as  was  the  case  in  other  states. 
Besides,  in  Tennessee,  there  were  many  democrats  who  objected  to  Governor  Rob- 
erts on  various  grounds.  Some  complained  that  his  tax  law  was  unjust.  Others 
said  he  had  had  too  much  power  conferred  upon  him.  Others  inveighed 
against  his  highway'  commission.  Still  others  asserted  that  he  had  inadvisedly 
injected  politics  into  penal  and  charitable  institutions  and  into  public  school 
matters.    Moreover,  he  had  a  falling  out  with  union  labor  leaders. 

Governor  Roberts,  however,  denied  that  he  was  hostile  to  labor.  He  as- 
serted, on  the  contrary,  that  he  was  decidedly  a  friend  of  labor  and  of. the 
laboring  man.  At  the  same  time  he  said  that  the  right  to  labor  where  a  man 
wills  and  for  whom  he  wills  was  fundamental,  as  was  also  the  right  to  conduct 
a  business  as  the  owner  desires.30 

Governor  Roberts  in  his  speeches  and  otherwise  strongly  stressed  and  de- 
fended his  tax  measure  and  also  emphasized  his  law  enforcement  record.  He 
said:  "I  am  willing  to  lay  my  political  life  on  the  altar  of  Tennessee:  I  am 
willing  to  abide  by  the  decision  of  the  people  as  to  whether  Tennessee  will  go 
on  record  for  law  and  order  or  be  ruled  by  the  mob." 

In  speaking  of  the  constructive  work  of  his  administration  he  also  called 
especial  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  old  system  of  leasing  the  state  convicts  had 

30  The  labor  dissatisfaction  was  further  augmented  by  the  street  car  strike  which  began 
in  Nashville,  August  23,  1920. 


692  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

been  discontinued  and  thai  the  state  asylums  for  the  insane  had  been  converted 
into  hospitals  instead  of  prisons;  also  that  provision  had  been  made  that  a  part 
of  the  earnings  of  every  prisoner  should  be  used  for  the  support  of  his  family. 

Both  Roberts  and  Taylor  were  late  in  getting  into  the  field.  Their  headquar- 
ters were  established  the  latter  part  of  September,  when  predictions  were  made 
that  Tennessee  would  go  democratic  by  50,000  majority.  But  what  the  candi- 
dates lacked  in  time  they  made  up  in  intensity.  Although  there  was  no  joint 
debate,  the  interest  in  the  campaign  reached  the  highest  pitch. 

Colonel  Taylor  was  a  campaigner  of  great  ability  and  long  experience,  an 
unusually  captivating  speaker  and  he  drew  large  audiences  wherever  he  went. 
His  tours  were  rendered  still  more  attractive  by  an  excellent  quartette  of  his 
sons  who  rendered  popular  songs  and  contributed  no  little  to  the  entertainment 
of  Taylor's  audiences. 

Both  candidates  covered  almost  the  entire  state  in  their  speaking  appoint- 
ments and,  while  some  wise  ones  asserted  that  they  were  not  astonished  at  the 
result,  most  persons  were  absolutely  astounded  when  the  result  of  the  vote  was 
announced  to  be:  A.  A.  Taylor,  229,143;  A.  H.  Roberts,  185,890— the  largest 
vote  ever  recorded  in  Tennessee  in  a  gubernatorial  race. 

This  tremendous  majority  secured  by  the  candidate  of  the  republican  party, 
which  normally  has  been  and  is  the  minority  party  in  Tennessee,  was  caused  by 
four  outstanding  factors:  first,  the  personal  popularity  of  Colonel  Taylor;  sec- 
ond, the  love  which  all  classes  of  citizens  bear  to  the  memory  of  his  brother, 
Robert  L.  Taylor;  third,  the  influence  of  the  national  election  which  carried 
even  Tennessee  into  the  republican  column ;  and  fourth,  the  unpopularity  of 
Governor  Roberts  with  the  elements  which  have  already  been  mentioned. 

The  Legislature,  however,  was  safely  democratic  and  many  predictions 
were  made  that  Taylor  would  experience  difficulty  in  securing  such  legislation 
as  he  might  favor,  and  such  proved  to  be  the  case  in  many  particulars. 

ADMINISTRATION  OP  GOVERNOR  A.  A.  TAYLOR 

The  Sixty-second  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  3,  1921,  and  or- 
ganized by  the  election  of  W.  W.  Bond  as  speaker  of  the  Senate  and  Andrew  L. 
Todd  as  speaker  of  the  House.  On  the  next  day  Governor  Roberts  transmitted 
his  biennial  message31  in  which  he  discussed  the  following  subjects:  law  and 
order,  abscondence  of  legislators,  agriculture,  state  highways,  child  welfare, 
education,  taxation  and  economy.  He  discussed  taxation  with  thoroughness  and 
ability  and  maintained  his  views  with  regard  to  it  which  have  already  been 
stated. 

On  June  10th,  Governor  Roberts  sent  in  a  special  message  to  the  Legislature, 
suggesting  that  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Nathan  Bedford 
Forrest,  on  July  13,  1921,  be  duly  celebrated  and  that  a  suitable  sum  be  ap- 
propriated "to  mark  his  birthplace  and  bear  witness  to  the  love,  admiration 
and  veneration  in  which  Tennessee  holds  him  and  his  memory." 

On  January  15,  1920,  Governor  Taylor  was  inaugurated  in  the  hall  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  with  impressive  and  patriotic  ceremonies.  His  in- 
augural address  was  worthy  of  even  his  exalted  reputation.     It  was  eloquent 


si  House  Journal,  1921,  pp.  13-29. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  693 

in  its  simplicity  and  appropriate  in  its  appeal  for  cooperation.  He  also  alluded 
to  the  influence  in  the  election  of  the  memory  of  the  lamented  Bob  Taylor  in 
the  following  words : 

"As  for  me  I  cherish  no  higher  ambition  than  by  your  sympathetic  coopera- 
tion I  may  become  as  acceptable  as  a  brother  predecessor  whose  face  I  looked  on 
for  the  last  time  in  this  very  hall,  and  whose  spirit  worked  so  effectively  to  aid 
in  securing  my  elevation  to  this  exalted  position." 

Only  three  days  later  Governor  Taylor  transmitted  to  the  Legislature  a 
strong  message  ;i2  which  was  devoted  to  the  question  of  taxation  alone  and  in 
which  he  recommended  the  creation  of  a  state  tax  commission,  bi-partisan,  to 
be  composed  of  one  member  from  each  grand  division  of  the  state. 

Less  than  two  weeks  later,  January  28th,  he  recommended  the  repeal  of  the 
Public  Utilities  Law,  passed  in  1919, 33  and,  in  a  special  message  34  on  March 
7th  he  stated  that  by  the  creation  of  a  central  tax  commission  there  would  be  a 
reduction  of  expenses  to  the  state. 

He  also  sent  in  a  strong  special  message  35  on  education,  on  March  8th,  and 
one  36  concerning  the  bill  then  pending,  to  levy  a  tax  of  one-tenth  of  a  mill  on 
all  taxable  property  for  aid  to  agricultural  fairs. 

IMPORTANT     LEGISLATION    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY     OP     1921 

Although  Governor  Taylor  was  not  successful  in  securing  the  passage  of 
acts  on  some  of  the  subjects  which  he  recommended  to  the  Legislature,  the  fol- 
lowing named  important  general  bills  were  enacted : 

Chapter  No.  44,37  which  provided  $15,000  for  the  purchase  of  Andrew  John- 
son's tailor  shop  at  Greeneville  and  for  the  appropriation  of  $250  per  year  for 
the  care  and  maintenance  of  it. 

Chapter  No.  48, 3S  which  provided  for  the  purchase  of  property  on  the  north, 
east  and  west  sides  of  the  capitol  and  for  the  creation  of  a  commission,  consist- 
ing of  the  governor,  the  chief  justice,  comptroller,  secretary  of  state  and  state 
treasurer  to  acquire  for  the  state,  property  so  situated.  For  this  purpose  $100,- 
000  was  provided  by  authorizing  the  issuance  and  sale  of  bonds  of  the  state  in 
this  sum. 

Chapter  No.  73,3!>  entitled  "An  Act  making  July  13th,  being  the  birthday  of 
Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,  a  legal  holiday." 

Chapter  No.  74,4"  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  collection,  preserva- 
tion and  publication  of  material  relative  to  the  history  of  Tennessee,  including 
the  military  records  of  its  citizens ;  to  define  further  the  powers  and  duties  of 
the  Tennessee  Historical  Committee,  and  to  provide  for  filling  vacancies  therein ; 
to  provide  for  marking  battle  fields  and  other  historic  places  within  the  state 
and  for  a  Historical  Museum;  and  to  appropriate  the  sum  of  $10,000  annually 
for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  Act." 


32  House  Journal,  1921,  p.  142. 

33  Ibid.,  p.  280. 
3*  Ibid.,  p.  384. 

35  Ibid.,  p.  554. 

36  Ibid.,  p.  850. 

37  Acts  of  1921,  p.  63. 

38  Ibid.,  p.  68.     In  pursuance  of  the  provisions  of  this  act  some  of  the  property  lias  been 
secured. 

so  Acts  of  1921,  p.  120. 
*o  Ibid.,  p.  121. 


694  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

After  two  years  of  most  important  work  successfully  performed,  the  Tennes- 
see Historical  Committee  was  abolished  by  the  Reorganization  Bill  in  the  session 
of  1923  and  its  functions  were  transferred  to  the  department  of  education  under 
Commissioner  P.  L.  Earned. 

Chapter  83,4]  provided  for  an  appropriation  of  $5,000  to  assist  in  compiling 
and  publishing  a  history  of  the  Thirtieth  Division  American  Expeditionary 
Forces. 

Chapter  No.  89  42  authorized  counties  to  establish  and  maintain  county  de- 
partments of  health. 

Chapter  98  43  was  entitled  "An  Act  to  define,  regulate  and  license  real  estate 
brokers  and  real  estate  salesmen  ;  to  create  a  State  Real  Estate  Commission,  and 
to  provide  a  penalty  for  a  violation  of  the  provisions  thereof." 

Chapter  No.  104  44  is  known  as  the  "Mother's  Pension  Fund  Act."  It  pro- 
vides for  the  levying  of  a  tax  for  the  purpose  of  making  provision  for  the  par- 
tial support  and  training  of  the  children  of  widows  or  of  wives  of  convicts,  or  of 
unmarried  mothers  or  of  mothers  who  have  been  deserted  by  their  husbands. 

Chapter  No.  107  4r>  conferred  upon  the  State  Railroad  and  Public  Utilities 
Commission  additional  powers  and  duties  including  the  fixing  of  fees  to  be  paid 
by  each  public  utility  company. 

Chapter  No.  113  4n  was  an  act  "to  provide  means  and  agencies  for  the 
equalization  of  property  assessments  for  taxation  in  the  State  of  Tennessee; 
to  create  the  office  of  State  Tax  Commissioner  and  a  State  Board  of  Equaliza- 
tion." It  also  provided  that  "the  present  chief  tax  statistician  shall  become 
the  first  state  tax  commissioner,"  by  virtue  of  which  provision  A.  V.  Louthan 
became  ipso  facto,  the  first  state  tax  commissioner.  This  law  became  one  of  the 
burning  issues  in  the  gubernatorial  campaign  of  1922. 

Chapter  No.  118  47  was  an  act  "for  the  improvement  of  the  system  of  public 
schools  of  Tennessee  by  providing  for  the  apportionment  and  distribution  of  all 
school  funds  of  the  state  already  provided  by  law"  and  especially  "to  provide 
additional  revenue  for  the  elementary  schools  of  the  state." 

Chapter  No.  120  4'8  was  also  an  act  designed  for  the  benefit  of  education 
"by  creating  in  each  county  a  County  Board  of  Education." 

Chapter  No.  129  49  provided  for  "pensions  for  those  colored  men  who  served 
as  servants  and  cooks  to  the  Cenfederate  army  in  the  War  between  the  States, 
1861  to  1865." 

CHARGES    AGAINST   CAPT.   T.    F.   PECK 

Senate  Joint  Resolution  No.  10  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee of  five  "to  investigate  and  report  to  the  Senate  upon  the  charges  filed 
this  day  by  Senator  John  C.  Houk  against  Capt.  T.  F.  Peck,  nominee  by  the 
governor  for  commissioner  of  agriculture  of  Tennessee,  opposing  his  confirma- 
tion by  the  Senate."  Investigation  of  the  charges  was  made  and  Captain  Peck 
was  exonerated  and  was  confirmed  as  commissioner  of  agriculture. 


«  Ibid.,  p.  138. 
"2  Ibid.,  p.  149. 
43  Ibid.,  p.  172. 
**  Ibid.,  p.  205. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  217. 
«  Acts  of  1921,  p.  263. 

47  Ibid.,  p.  291. 

48  Ibid.,  p.  299. 
is  Ibid.,  p.  351. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  695 

THE   CLABO   CASE 

On  April  9,  1921,  the  Legislature  adopted  Senate  resolution  No.  19,  the  first 
paragraph  of  which  recited  the  fact  that  "a  member  of  the  Senate,  E.  N.  Clabo, 
has  been  indicted  in  the  Circuit  Court  of  Davidson  County,  Tenn.,  upon  the 
charge  of  accepting  a  bribe  in  connection  with  the  performance  of  his  duties  as 
a  senator."  The  second  paragraph  stated  that  "numerous  statements  and 
charges  of  corruption  and  improper  influences  in  connection  with  the  legislation 
and  business  of  both  houses  of  the  present  General  Assembly  have  appeared  in 
the  public  press."  The  rumors  of  such  corruption  and  the  direct  charges  against 
Senator  Clabo  demanded  a  thorough  investigation.  For  this  purpose  the  speaker 
of  the  Senate  was  directed  to  appoint  four  members  of  the  Senate  who,  together 
with  himself  as  chairman,  should  make  the  investigation. 

The  Legislature  adjourned  on  April  10th  and  the  Senate  committee  began 
its  work  on  April  18th.  and  after  a  sensational  investigation  reported  to  the 
governor  on  May  15,  1921,  that  Senator  E.  N.  Clabo,  of  Sevier  County,  was 
guilty  of  having  accepted  a  bribe  and  recommended  that  the  evidence  be 
delivered  to  the  criminal  authorities  of  Davidson  County  to  be  used  in  the  trial 
"under  the  indictment  of  Senator  Clabo  for  this  offense  now  pending  in  the 
Criminal  Court  of  Davidson  County."  A  change  of  venue  was  granted  on 
application  of  Clabo's  counsel  and  the  case  was  transferred  to  the  Williamson 
County  Circuit  Court  at  Franklin,  where  it  was  tried  before  Judge  J.  C.  Hobbs, 
in  January,  1922.  The  trial  began  on  January  4th,  and  on  January  11th  Clabo 
was  acquitted. 

The  general  impression  in  regard  to  the  Legislature  of  1921  is  unfavorable. 
It  left  an  unpleasant  taste  in  the  mouth  of  the  public.  It  contained,  it  is  true, 
men  of  ability  and  character  in  each  House,  but  they  were,  in  many  instances, 
swept  aside  by  leaders  less  scrupulous  and  of  more  reckless  tendencies. 

The  governor,  too,  from  time  to  time,  sought  to  check  the  waste  and  ex- 
travagance and  called  the  attention  of  the  members  to  the  need  of  economy, 
but  his  appeals  went  for  naught  and  his  vetoes  were  overridden. 

This  Legislature  is  unique  in  one  respect  in  the  annals  of  Tennessee — that  is, 
in  the  holding  of  an  official  Sunday  session  so  entered  in  its  journal.  Other 
sessions  have  gone  over  into  Sunday,  it  is  true,  but  the  clocks  were  turned  back 
and  the  journals  showed  the  business  transacted  as  of  Saturday. 

In  concluding  this  account  of  the  administration  of  Governor  A.  A.  Taylor 
it  may  be  said  that  he  stood  stanchly  for  the  rights  of  the  laboring  man  and 
that  he  strove  earnestly,  loyally  and  ably  for  betterment  in  taxation,  agriculture 
and  education. 

THE   OUTSTANDING   FEATURE  OF   GOVERNOR   TAYLOR 'S   ADMINISTRATION 

In  commenting  on  what  was  accomplished  by  Governor  Taylor,  his  private 
secretary,  Hon.  A.  L.  Garrison,  writes  as  follows : 

"While  Governor  Taylor's  entire  administration  was  conducted  in  a  states- 
manlike manner,  without  fear,  favor  or  partiality,  equal  justice  being  meted 
out  to  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  black  and  white,  alike;  yet  there  is  one 
outstanding  feature,  which,  had  it  not  been  handled  by  a  master  mind,  would 
have  cost  the  state  and  individuals  an  expenditure  of  several  hundred  thousand 


696  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

dollars,  and  the  sacrifice  of  human  lives  in  all  probability,  and  which  might 
easily  be  overlooked  by  the  masses,  were  it  not  especially  pointed  out. 

"During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1922,  labor  troubles  developed  in  many 
localities,  and  these  disturbances  were  not  confined  to  any  particular  section,  but 
were  prevalent  in  each  grand  division  of  the  state.  Nor  were  they  allied  with 
any  particular  industry,  but  affected  mining,  manufacturing,  and  transportation, 
with  a  tendency  to  paralyze  the  business  activities  of  the  commonwealth.  Distress 
signals  were  heralded  from  Washington,  Claiborne,  Unicoi  and  Knox  counties 
in  the  east  to  Grundy,  Sequatchie.  White  and  Davidson  counties  in  the  middle 
division,  and  thence  to  Madison,  Shelby  and  other  counties  in  the  west. 

"Governor  Taylor  was  importuned,  cajoled,  even  threatened,  to  act  on  behalf 
of  the  state.  Such  actions  would  be  immediately  followed  by  similar  tactics 
from  the  other  side  of  the  controversy.  Through  these  trying  times,  the  gov- 
ernor's broad,  deep  and  resourceful  mentality  worked  out  a  policy  that  saved 
the  needless  expenditure  of  public  funds  and  the  wanton  sacrifice  of  human 
lives.  It  was  made  clear  to  him,  after  listening  to  the  arguments  of  both  sides, 
that  it  was  neither  safe,  sane  nor  wise  to  place  too  much  confidence  in  the  re- 
ports made  by  either  the  operators  or  workmen,  it  being  perfectly  human  for 
interested  persons  to  color  them  in  favor  of  the  side  represented.  Hence  he 
decided  to  procure  reliable  information  for  himself  regarding  the  situation,  and, 
for  this  task,  secured  the  services  of  a  prominent  officer  in  the  World  war,  a  man 
broad  in  intellect,  rich  in  experience,  and  absolutely  dependable. 

"This  man,  unknown  and  unheralded,  visited  the  troubled  localities,  and  as- 
certained the  causes  precedent  to  the  effects,  finding  often  that  the  real  facts 
revealed  the  truth  that  neither  the  employers  nor  employes  were  wholly  to  blame 
for  the  attitudes  they  had  assumed,  and  that  when  brought  together,  they  could 
soon  arrive  at  an  amicable  and  equitable  settlement  of  all  differences. 

"It  was  further  discovered  that  in  some  instances  the  trouble  was  brought 
about  by  parties  not  directly  interested,  but  acting  through  selfish  or  personal 
motives. 

"Hence,  while  his  administration  as  a  whole,  and  in  numerous  particular 
instances,  deserves  the  hearty  commendation  of  the  people,  this  feature  alone 
stands  out  with  vivid  distinctiveness  to  those  who  look  upon  his  efforts  as  chief 
executive,  without  discriminating  criticism." 

THE  GUBERNATORIAL  AND  THE  SENATORIAL  CAMPAIGN  OP  1922 

Hardly  had  the  Sixty-second  General  Assembly  adjourned,  when  plans  be- 
gan to  be  made  furthering  the  aspirations  of  prospective  candidates  for  office 
in  the  election  of  November,  1922.  Naturally,  the  democrats  of  the  state  were 
dissatisfied  with  Governor  Taylor  and  chagrined  with  the  overwhelming  defeat 
of  1920.  The  democratic  party  of  the  state  had  much  at  stake.  In  the  face 
of  an  adverse  majority  of  more  than  forty  thousand  (40,000)  in  the  previous  gu- 
bernatorial election  they  must  rescue  Tennessee  from  the  regime  of  a  governor 
who  was  personally  popular  and  for  whom  many  democrats  had  voted.  More- 
over, besides  a  governor  they  must  elect  a  democrat  for  railroad  commissioner, 
a  democrat  for  United  States  senator  and  a  General  Assembly  safely  democratic. 
Yet  the  democrats,  at  least  the  well-informed  leaders,  began  the  campaign  with 
few,  if  any,  misgivings,  for  they  knew  that  political  history  in  Tennessee,  since 
the  war  between  the  states,  had  shown  that  the  united  democracy  in  this  state 
has  a  decided  majority.     They  knew  that  this  fact  has  held  good  uniformly 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  697 

with  the  exception  of  the  result  in  the  presidential  election  of  1920.  Thai  re- 
sult, too,  was  undoubtedly  strongly  affected  by  the  factional  bitterness  that  had 
arisen  among  the  democrats  in  the  state  incident  to  the  war  made  on  Governor 
Roberts.  According  to  precedent,  therefore,  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
with  internal  indifference  reconciled  and  with  proper  efforts. put  forth  in  behalf 
of  popular  candidates  success  would  ensue  in  the  next  election. 

Gen.  Harvey  H.  Hannah  was  the  first  democrat  mentioned  for  governor, 
and,  strangely  enough,  the  suggestion  was  made  by  a  paper  outside  of  Ten- 
nessee, the  Daily  Press  of  Paragould,  Ark.,  in  July,  1921. 

It  was  known,  of  course,  that  Hon.  Austin  Peay  would  be  a  candidate  for 
the  democratic  nomination  for  governor.  In  December,  1921,  General  Hannah 
challenged  Mr.  Peay  to  a  joint  discussion.  On  December  8,  Mr.  Peay  replied 
in  an  open  letter  of  declination  in  which  he  said : 

"My  candidacy  for  governor  is  solely  directed  to  the  relief  of  the  people 
from  burdensome  taxation  and  to  a  business  administration  in  simplicity  and 
economy  of  all  institutions  and  affairs  of  the  state. 

"These  are  not  matters  for  the  fustian  and  rivalry  of  political  debate.  My 
views  and  plans  for  this  needed  relief  can  best  be  presented  to  the  people  in 
plain  and  uninterrupted  discussion." 

At  this  time  ex-Governor  Benton  MeMillin,  who  had  been  United  States 
minister  to  Peru,  and  later,  minister  to  Guatemala,  was  suggested  by  some  of 
his  friends  as  an  excellent  man  to  serve  the  state  again  as  governor.  He  re- 
turned to  Tennessee  early  in  1922,  and  the  demand  that  he  become  a  candidate 
was  renewed,  and,  although  at  first  he  seemed  disinclined  to  do  so,  the  insist- 
ence became  so  pronounced  that  late  in  the  spring  he  yielded. 

Gen.  L.  D.  Tyson  was  also  urged,  but  finally  declined  definitely. 

On  January  21,  1922,  Senator  L.  E.  Gwinn,  of  Covington,  who  had  achieved 
an  excellent  record  as  a  member  of  the  Sixty-first  General  Assembly,  and  was 
well  liked  throughout  the  state,  announced  his  candidacy  and  his  platform. 
He  was  the  youngest  and  least  known  of  the  four  democratic  candidates  for  the 
gubernatorial  nomination.  He  made  a  clean  race,  and  although  defeated,  won 
a  definite  position  of  honor  and  respect  before  the  people. 

Mr.  Peay's  platform  was  announced  on  March  6,  General  Hannah's  on 
April  8th,  and  Governor  MeMillin 's  on  May  26th. 

Senator  Gwinn  delivered  his  opening  campaign  speech  at  Dyersburg  on  May 
1st;  Senator  Hannah  delivered  his  at  McMinnville  on  May  13th;  Mr.  Peay 
delivered  his  at  Gallatin  on  May  27th,  and  Governor  MeMillin  delivered  his  at 
Murfreesboro  on  June  17th. 

From  this  time  on  the  campaign  progressed  with  constantly  increasing  ve- 
hemence and  interest,  but  with  all,  it  was  remarkably  clean  and  no  charges  of 
eorniplion  with  it,  or  with  the  election  which  ended  it  were  ever  made. 

Austin  Peay  was  victorious  by  the  following  vote:  Austin  Peay,  63,940; 
Benton  MeMillin,  59,922;  Harvey  H.  Hannah,  24,062;  L.  E.  Gwinn,  15,137. 

THE    SENATORIAL   RACE 

Early  in  1922  many  prominent  men  were  suggested  as  candidates  for  United 
States  senator  to  succeed  Senator  K.  D.  McKellar.  Among  them  were  Senator 
McKellar,  himself,  Thetus  W.  Sims,  Noah  Cooper,  G.  T.  Pitzhugh,  ex-Governor 
M.  R.  Patterson,  and  Dr.  Gus  W.  Dyer.  Of  these  McKellar,  Pitzhugh,  Cooper, 
and  Sims  made  the  race. 


698  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

By  midspring  both  McKellar  and  Fitzhugh  had  their  campaigns  well  under 
way,  although  the  latter  made  his  formal  opening  speech  at  Jackson  as  late  as 
May  20,  and  the  former  made  formal  announcement  of  his  candidacy  on  June 
2nd. 

Fitzhugh,  ignoring  the  other  candidates,  invited  McKellar  to  join  him  in 
joint  debate,  which  invitation  Mr.  McKellar  emphatically  declined. 

Cooper  issued  a  broadcast  challenge  which  no  one  accepted. 

While  there  was  some  bickering  and  acrimony  among  the  adherents  of  Mc- 
Kellar and  Fitzhugh,  yet  speaking  generally  little  criticism  can  be  made  upon 
the  conduct  of  the  campaign.  In  it  McKellar  was  materially  assisted  by  the 
endorsement  of  the  state  federation  of  labor. 

In  this  contest  the  vote  in  the  primary  election  in  August  was  as  follows: 
K.  D.  McKellar,  102,692 ;  G.  T.  Fitzhugh,  47,627 ;  Noah  Cooper,  9,480 ;  Thetus 
W.  Sims,  619. 

In  this  primary  election  Hon.  Porter  Dunlap  was  nominated  for  state  rail- 
road and  public  utilities  commissioner  from  West  Tennessee  to  succeed  Col. 
B.  A.  Enloe,  who,  on  June  2nd  had  announced  that  he  would  not  be  a  candidate 
for  reelection,  on  account  of  ill  health.  Mr.  Dunlap 's  candidacy  was  most 
popular,  both  because  he  had  been  acceptably  tried  as  state  treasurer  from  1915 
to  1919,  and  also  because  of  his  splendid  character,  high  sense  of  honor,  lofty 
patriotism  and  fidelity  to  his  party.    He  received  a  vote  of  90,719. 

During  these  campaigns  serious  charges  were  made  against  W.  J.  Hale,  the 
president  of  the  State  A.  &  I.  Normal  for  negroes,  which  charges  entered  into 
the  gubernatorial  campaign  to  a  considerable  extent.  In  February,  Prof.  Hale 
was  charged  with  extortion  at  the  expense  of  the  trainees  of  the  school,  and  the 
State  Board  of  Education  and  the  Veterans  Bureau  took  issue  with  each  other 
over  the  matter.  General  Hannah  espoused  the  contention  of  the  Veterans 
Bureau  and  was  very  caustic  in  his  criticism  of  the  State  Board  of  Education 
which  had  exonerated  Hale  in  resolutions  adopted  on  February  10th.  Hannah 
said  they  had  whitewashed  Hale.  Prof.  Hale  resigned  and  the  trainees,  voca- 
tional students  to  the  number  of  212,  were  sent  to  other  schools. 

MUSCLE  SHOALS 

During  this  period  extraordinary  interest  was  taken  in  Tennessee  in  Henry 
Ford's  effort  to  secure  and  develop  the  Government's  plant  at  Muscle  Shoals. 
Although  located  in  Alabama,  Muscle  Shoals  means  much  to  Tennessee  and  all 
Tennesseans  were  and  are  in  favor  of  Ford's  bid.  Great  pressure  was  brought 
to  bear  on  Congress,  on  the  President  and  on  Secretary  Weeks,  all  to  no  avail. 
Even  Governor  Taylor  headed  one  of  the  delegations  which  went  to  Washington 
in  behalf  of  Ford's  offer  to  the  Government.  Concerning  this  offer  Ford  himself 
said:  "We  didn't  make  the  Government  a  selfish  proposition;  it  was  an  in- 
dustrial philanthropy  which  we  offered,  an  offer  based  on  a  desire  for  great 
public  service." 

THE  PEAY-TAYLOR  RACE 

From  the  very  first  it  was  a  certainty  that  Governor  Taylor  could  have  the 
republican  nomination  for  governor  to  succeed  himself  if  he  wished  it.  Indeed, 
no  other  name  was  suggested  for  this  honor.     Early  in  the  year  it  was  rumored 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  699 

that  he  had  an  ambition  to  become  United  States  senator.  But  lie  soon  put 
that  rumor  to  rest  by  declaring  that  if  he  should  run  for  any  office  it  would  be 
for  that  of  governor. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  State  Republican  Executive  Committee  on  January  2.">, 
1922,  Taylor's  administration  was  strongly  indorsed.  A  paragraph  in  one  of 
their  resolutions  read  as  follows:  "Governor  Taylor's  stand  for  reorganization 
of  the  state  government  by  the  abolition  of  useless  offices  and  the  consolidation 
of  departments  for  economy  and  efficiency  in  administration  has  the  endorsement 
and  approval  of  the  people,  and  if  put  into  effect  would  lessen  the  burden  of 
taxation." 

On  the  point  of  "consolidation  of  departments"  both  candidates  were  of  one 
mind,  but  in  many  other  respects  they  differed  materially.  There  was  no  joint 
debate.  Each  aspirant  conducted  his  campaign  according  to  his  own  ideas, 
paying  but  little  attention  to  the  other.  Governor  Taylor's  family  quartette  and 
"Old  Limber"  figured  pleasantly  and  his  speeches  drew  great  crowds. 

Austin  Peay  also  drew  great  crowds.  He  did  not  possess  the  prestige  of 
Governor  Taylor  as  an  orator  nor  his  long  experience  in  politics,  but  his  deep 
earnestness,  his  patriotism,  his  belief  in  his  solution  of  pending  problems  of 
state  and  his  unselfish  desire  for  service  in  embodying  his  convictions  in  Ten- 
nessee's fundamental  law  for  the  good  of  all  the  people  made  a  favorable  im- 
pression wherever  he  went.  The  tide  began  to  set  in  his  direction,  stronger  and 
yet  stronger  as  election  day  approached  until  on  the  eve  of  that  clay  his  election 
was  assured.     The  only  question  was  as  to  the  size  of  his  majority. 

In  this  campaign  the  democrats  were  also  helped  by  the  fights  among  the 
republicans  for  the  loaves  and  fishes  of  federal  patronage  and  office. 

The  official  returns  of  the  election  of  November  7,  1922,  were  as  follows : 
Austin  Peay,  democrat,  141,002 ;  A.  A.  Taylor,  republican,  102,586. 

GOVERNOR  PEAY'S  ADMINISTRATION 

The  Sixty-third  General  Assembly  convened  on  January  1,  1923,  and  or- 
ganized by  the  election  of  Eugene  J.  Bryan,  speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  Frank 
S.  Hall,  speaker  of  the  House.  Most  of  the  members  of  this  Legislature  had  been 
elected  upon  the  platform  on  which  Governor  Peay  had  stood  and  were  in 
hearty  accord  with  the  principles  and  proposed  legislation  which  he  advocated. 
Hence,  besides  the  organization  of  the  two  houses,  and  the  introduction  of  a 
few  bills,  virtually  nothing  was  done  by  the  Legislature  until  after  the  inaugu- 
ration of  the  new  governor,  which  event  took  place  at  the  Ryman  Auditorium 
in  Nashville  on  January  16,  1923. 

In  view  of  the  new  plans  which  it  was  understood  would  be  put  into  effect 
by  the  new  governor  relative  to  the  administration  of  the  state's  affairs,  this 
inauguration  was  deemed  to  be  an  occasion  of  more  than  usual  historic  im- 
portance. For  this  reason  and  also  because  of  Governor  Peay's  personal  popu- 
larity the  auditorium  was  crowded.  The  ceremonies  were  attended  by  the 
retiring  governor,  A.  A.  Taylor,  and  ex-governors,  Frazier,  McMillin,  Patterson 
and  Rye,  by  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  in  joint  session  presided  over  by 
Speaker  Bryan  of  the  Senate  and  by  hundreds  of  distinguished  men  and  women 
from  all  parts  of  the  state.  Both  the  speech  of  the  retiring  governor  and  that 
of  the  incoming  governor  were  very  happy.     In  the  speech  of  the  latter  was  the 


TOO         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

following  paragraph  which  was  a  propitious  augury  of  the  character  of  the  ad- 
ministration which  was  about  to  begin. 

"I  am  determined  to  be  the  governor  of  the  people,  without  distinction  of 
class  and  to  administer  the  trust  with  justice  and  courtesy  to  all.  Let  us 
forsake  the  bitterness  of  the  past ;  the  future  beckons  us  with  inviting  arms. 
Its  course  is  laid  and  its  goal  is  bedecked  with  inviting  trophies.  My  prayer 
is  to  Providence  for  strength  and  vision  to  keep  my  faith  and  to  win  the  race." 

THE  REORGANIZATION  BILE 

The  new  governor  lost  no  time  in  setting  in  motion  the  legislative  ma- 
chinery for  the  redemption  of  the  pledges  which  he  and  the  democratic  mem- 
bers of  the  General  Assembly  had  made  to  the  people.  Most  of  those  pledges 
were  redeemed  by  the  passage  of  the  Reorganization  Bill,  which  was  not 
only  the  main,  outstanding  piece  of  legislation  of  that  session,  but  was  veri- 
tably revolutionary  in  the  changes  and  reforms  which  it  effected.  In  the 
preparation  of  that  tremendous  bill  Governor  Peay  had  the  valuable  as- 
sistance of  Mr.  A.  E.  Buck,  of  the  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research,  of  New 
York  City,  a  man  of  great  ability  and  long  experience  in  matters  of  this 
nature. 

The  title  of  this  bill  was  "An  Act  to  reorganize  the  administration  of 
the  state  in  order  to  secure  better  service  and  thorough  coordination  and  con- 
solidation, to  promote  economy  and  efficiency  in  the  work  of  the  government, 
creating  and  establishing  certain  departments  and  offices  and  prescribing 
their  powers  and  duties ;  abolishing  certain  offices,  boards,  commissions  and 
other  agencies  and  repealing  conflicting  acts  and  parts  of  acts." 

By  this  act  the  sixty-four  departments,  bureaus,  commissions,  boards  and 
other  separate  offices  of  the  state  were  combined  into  eight  great  departments, 
as  follows : 

1 — The  department  of  finance  and  taxation. 

2 — The  department  of  agriculture. 

3 — The  department  of  highways  and  public  works. 

4 — The  department  of  education. 

5 — The  department  of  institutions. 

6 — The  department  of  public  health. 

7 — The  department  of  insurance  and  banking. 

8 — The  department  of  labor. 

Immediately  certain  state  officers  who,  through  the  operation  of  this  law, 
were  automatically  removed  before  the  expiration  of  the  terms  for  which 
They  had  been  appointed  by  the  previous  governor,  applied  to  the  courts  for 
an  injunction  to  restrain  their  successors,  who  were  appointed  by  Governor 
Peay  from  occupying  their  offices,  and  a  temporary  injunction  was  granted. 
This  injunction  was  dissolved  by  Chancellor  John  Aust,  of  Davidson  County, 
whose  opinion  was  affirmed,  on  appeal,  by  the  state  supreme  court. 

At  the  time  of  this  writing  it  is  too  early  in  the  present  administration  for 
proper  historic  perspective  of  current  state  events,  but  the  consensus  of  opin- 
ion throughout  the  state  with  the  exception  of  some  malevolent  critics  of  Gov- 
ernor Peay  is  that  he  is  sincerely  endeavoring  to  work  out  a  better  system 
of  administration  of  the  state's  affairs  and  that  the  reorganization  and  con- 
solidation effected  will,  in  the  course  of  time,  result  in  great  good  to  the  state, 
in  the  saving  of  expenses  and  the  gaining  of  greater  efficiency. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  701 

Concerning  what  has  already  been  accomplished  by  his  administration, 
Governor  Peay,  in  a  speech  which  he  delivered  before  the  Nashville  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  on  May  4,  1923,  spoke  as  follows: 

"I  am  not  here  to  talk  politics  nor  to  make  a  speech.  It  is  well  known 
that  I  am  not  a  speech  maker.  For  three  and  one-half  months  I  have  been 
on  the  job.  It  has  been  a  grueling  task.  No  man  can  appreciate  the  ordeal 
of  a  governor  who  has  not  tried  it.  Steadfastly  I  have  pursued  my  duty 
without  looking  to  the  right  or  the  left.  Often  I  have  wondered  if  it  was  not 
a  fatuous  and  mistaken  undertaking.  If  there  is  appreciation  you  seldom 
hear  it,  but  always  the  barking  of  the  small  and  the  mean  rings  in  the  ears. 

PUBLIC   TO  BE   TRUSTED 

"In  the  largest  and  broadest  way  I  have  earnestly  met  the  responsibility 
which  a  great  people  confided  to  my  care.  The  public  can  be  trusted  and  its 
judgment  is  seldom  wrong.  Its  sentiment  may  occasionally  be  hot  and  strong 
and  sometimes  it  may  be  wrong  but  truth  in  time  is  unerring  and  will  pre- 
vail. You  represent  the  intelligent,  patriotic  thought  of  the  state.  At  your 
urgent  invitation  I  am  here  to  briefly  report.  The  people  put  me  in  charge 
of  their  business.  Political  parties  and  public  men  deserve  rebuke  and  censure 
unless  they  suit  their  actions  to  their  words.  Neither  candor  nor  honesty  is 
possible  in  another  course.  Take  the  record  and  examine  it.  Whatever  of 
blame  is  mine;  whatever  of  credit  I  accord  to  the  Legislature:  Let  me  say  that 
the  Sixty-third  General  Assembly  was  the  best  within  memory.  It  was  com- 
posed of  high  minded,  worthy  and  patriotic  men.  They  set  themselves  with 
zeal  to  remedy  deplorable  conditions.  They  failed  in  some  things  on  which 
our  judgments  differed  but  on  the  whole  it  set  the  record  in  this  state.  With 
few  exceptions,  I  predict  that  its  membership  will  be  returned  by  the  people. 

PLEDGES    ARE    RECEIVED 

"We  came  into  power  on  these  pledges: 

"First,  Reorganization  of  the  administrative  system  looking  to  economy 
and  efficiency.  How  was  the  pledge  redeemed?  By  the  passage  of  what  is 
known  as  the  Reorganization  Bill  which  was  promptly  contested  by  deposed 
officials  in  the  courts  and  sustained.  Every  citizen  interested  in  his  govern- 
ment should  read  this  bill.  It  is  the  best  piece  of  legislation  which  has  gone 
on  our  statute  books  in  many  years.  The  system  which  this  law  supplanted 
was  cumbersome  and  archaic.  The  government  was  administered  through 
sixty  odd  bureaus,  boards  and  commissions.  It  functioned  without  any  cen- 
tralized direction  and  control.  The  duplication  and  overlapping  of  adminis- 
tration and  expense  were  ruinous  in  cost  and  destructive  of  efficiency. 

"No  private  business  would  have  tolerated  the  old  system  for  a  day.  The 
governor  is  now  the  responsible  head  of  the  state  government.  He  is  in  con- 
stant touch  with  the  agencies  and  affairs  of  the  state.  The  talk  of  power  and 
politics  is  nonsense.  He  needs  the  power  and  should  have  it  to  execute  the 
will  and  orders  of  the  people  who  elect  him  to  be  the  governor  of  the  state. 
Politics  flourished  under  the  old  system  to  better  advantage.  There  were  more 
appointments  and  greater  latitude  to  hide  political  expense. 

"If  the  present  system  was  administered  for  politics  instead  of  efficiency 
it  would  be  immediately  seen.  For  that  matter  politics  adhere  in  all  gov- 
ernment which  is  popular  in  character.  The  responsibility  is  with  the  people. 
If  they  elect  politicians  they  can  expect  politics.  This  law  is  progressive  and 
is  functioning  with  fine  results  and  it  is  the  best  legislation  enacted  in  any 
southern  state  in  many  years.  I  selected  eight  outstanding  men  to  administer 
it  and  they  are  doing  it  to  the  credit  and  honor  of  our  state. 

"I  am  glad  in  this  connection  to  quote  from  a  letter  received  this  morning 
from  the  Municipal  Research  Bureau's  expert  who  advised  and  assisted  during 
the  legislative  session,  without  a  penny's  cost  to  the  state,  the  following  com- 
parison between  the  expenditures  of  the  last  and  the  next   bionnium  to  settle 

V«l.  1—4  5 


702  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

all  questions  as  to  whether  we  have  economized  in  state  expenditures  and  he 
files  the  items  to  show  the  accuracy  of  his  figures: 

"  'A  reduction  of  $1,547,217.11  has  been  made  in  the  operating  costs  of 
the  state  government  for  the  next  biennial  period.  Of  this  amount,  $147,515.89 
is  the  result  of  economies  on  the  part  of  the  1923  Legislature,  and  $177,746.04 
is  an  estimated  reduction  in  the  cost  of  operating  the  state  judicial  system. 
When  these  two  items  have  been  deducted  from  the  total  reduction  there 
remains  $1,221,955.18,  which  amount  is  a  reduction  in  the  administrative  or 
departmental  cost  of  the  state  government.  This  latter  amount  is  the  result 
of  Governor  Peay's  program  of  administrative  reorganization  and  economy,  and 
it  enabled  the  Legislature  to  reduce  the  state  tax  from  36  cents  to  30  cents  on 
the  hundred  dollars.  Further  reductions  in  the  cost  of  the  government  should 
result  during  the  next  two  years  from  the  application  of  the  business  methods 
instituted  by  the  reorganization  plan. ' 

TAX    DEPARTMENT    CLEANED    UP 

"We  promised  to  reorganize  the  state  tax  department,  and  it  has  been  done. 
The  people  demanded  a  change.  The  former  administration  was  a  failure 
from  beginning  to  end.  It  established  a  tax  machine  which  was  a  combina- 
tion of  ignorance  and  autocracy.  You  have  only  to  read  the  newspaper  which 
fathered  the  old  tax  machine  to  understand  how  well  that  pledge  to  the 
people  has  been  kept. 

"The  highway  department  has  been  thoroughly  reorganized.  No  reforma- 
tion in  Tennessee  was  ever  so  needed.  The  special  auditor  who  is  investigating 
that  department  said  to  me  a  few  days  ago  that  if  this  administration  accom- 
plished no  more  for  the  people,  that  it  had  saved  millions  of  dollars  to  them 
in  the  reorganization  of  this  department.  I  am  proud  of  the  man  who  heads 
this  department.  He  is  a  great  engineer  with  an  immense  store  of  common 
sense  and  his  honesty  is  outstanding  and  intense.  Give  to  Creveling  the  time 
and  money  and  he  will  give  you  a  highway  system  which  will  be  his  monument 
for  all  time.     He  is  Tennessee's  big  asset  today. 

"You  have  heard  them  talk  about  the  back-tax  machine  for  years.  Where 
is  it  now?  Scrapped  forever.  We  have  wiped  it  out  root  and  branch.  The 
people  said  do  it,  and  I  made  the  race  for  governor  to  do  it,  and  it  has  been 
done.  It  did  not  dominate  this  Legislature.  It  is  no  more  than  an  evil 
memory. 

LAND    TAX    REDUCED 

"We  repealed  the  8  per  cent  law  and  the  sliding  scale.  It  was  promised 
arid  it  was  done.  A  reduction  of  a  million  dollars  in  the  land  tax  was  prom- 
ised. They  said  it  could  not  be  done  and  was  a  mere  canard  to  deceive  the 
people.  All  will  see  when  their  next  taxes  are  paid.  We  reduced  the  tax 
rate  from  36  to  30  cents,  and  we  are  preparing  for  a  cut  in  land  assessments 
of  20  per  cent  on  the  whole.  The  reduction  in  property  tax  will  be  more  than 
a  million  dollars. 

"We  promised  the  people  there  would  be  no  bond  issues  without  a  popular 
vote.  The  Legislature  adhered  to  this  rule  with  scrupulous  fidelity.  I  watched 
this  policy  with  great  interest.  Nobody  can  doubt  its  wisdom.  It  will  stop 
waste  and  extravagance.  The  practice  of  piling  debts  on  cities  and  counties 
and  going  to  the  Legislature  for  bonds  to  pay  them  had  become  intolerable. 
The  people  will  derive  a  great  advantage  from  that  policy. 

"We  promised  less  legislation.  The  people  were  tired  of  laws  and  more 
laws.  The  last  Legislature  made  a  good  record  in  this  respect.  It  only  enacted 
122  general  statutes  and  several  of  those  were  repealing  acts. 

COST    OP    LEGISLATION     LESS 

"The  last  Legislature  cost  some  $70,000  less  than  its  predecessor.  It  was  a 
clean,  wholesome,  working  body.    You  will  find  in  the  next  acts  much  thought- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  703 

ful  and  helpful  legislation.  I  urged  in  the  campaign  a  restoration  of  the  right 
of  contract  over  utilities  to  cities  and  I  did  my  utmost  to  restore  home  rule 
to  the  people. 

"While  I  failed,  such  was  not  my  fault.  I  did  my  best  and  if  the  people 
can  reverse  the  attitude  of  their  own  representatives  on  this  matter  I  am 
ready  to  assemble  the  Legislature  in  extra  session.  Some  business  men  took 
exception  to  the  excise  tax.  When  they  investigate  they  will  be  satisfied.  It 
is  sound  and  scientific  in  principle.  It  will  prevail  in  all  states  in  a  few  years. 
Something  had  to  be  done  to  restore  our  balance.  We  were  running  behind 
annually  about  a  million  dollars.  Our  farmers  were  being  taxed  to  the  limit. 
They  were  entitled  to  relief.    They  had  to  have  it. 

"Ours  is  an  agricultural  state.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  have  had  the  farmer 
in  my  mind  in  all  that  has  been  done.  He  must  prosper  or  our  country  will 
despair.  He  feeds  and  clothes  us.  All  classes  of  human  industry  now  appre- 
ciate the  necessity  of  fostering  agriculture.  Big  brained  men  of  business,  I 
appeal  to  you  to  join  hands  with  the  farmer  in  making  Tennessee  a  happy  and 
prosperous  people,  making  a  reality  of  the  seal  and  motto  of  our  state  which 
link  commerce  and  agriculture  in  an  indissoluble  partnership." 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
HISTORIC  SPOTS  AND  PLACES 

EAST   TENNESSEE MIDDLE   TENNESSEE WEST   TENNESSEE 

EAST   TENNESSEE 

The  eastern  grand  division  of  the  state  is  the  cradle  of  Tennessee  history. 
In  a  sense,  indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  be  the  cradle  of  the  history  of  the  entire 
Southwest,  for,  from  this  section  ambitious  and  adventurous  men  and  women 
have  gone  into  every  state  in  the  regions  south  and  west  of  Tennessee,  beginning 
with  the  very  earliest  days  of  their  history,  and  have  been  large  and  sometimes 
predominant,  factors  in  their  establishment  and  development. 

Middle  Tennessee  was  settled  and  built  up  almost  entirely  by  the  hardy 
pioneers  from  East  Tennessee;  and  West  Tennessee,  in  turn,  was  developed  by 
the  people  from  Middle  Tennessee  and  East  Tennessee. 

The  people  of  East  Tennessee  themselves  came  principally  from  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina.  The  very  first  communities  in  this  section  were  established 
by  Virginians  who  thought,  at  the  time  of  their  coming,  that  they  were  still 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  Old  Dominion.  The  earliest  of  these  communities 
was  The  Watauga  Settlement,  started  by  William  Been  in  1769  or  1770.  The 
second  was  The  Carter's  Valley  Settlement,  established  by  Parker  and  Carter 
in  1771.  The  third  was  The  Nollichucky  Settlement,  crystalized  around  the 
store  of  Jacob  Brown  which  was  opened  for  trade  with  the  Indians  in  1772. 

From  these  three  communities  developed  the  strong,  hardy,  virile  and  am- 
bitious people  of  East  Tennessee.  They  were  a  resolute,  fearless  and  strong- 
minded  people,  impatient  of  restraint,  courageous  in  danger,  uncomplaining 
in  the  endurance  of  hardships  which  they  incurred  in  the  expectation  of  bet- 
tering their  fortunes.     They  were  mostly  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

Although  they  safeguarded  their  settlements  by  a  ten-year  lease  from  the 
Indians,  and  afterwards  bought  the  land  for  a  price  which  the  Indians  thought 
extravagant,  they  found  that  the  savages  did  not  at  all  respect  contracts  and 
treaties,  that  they  had  no  honesty  and  knew  little  of  moral  law  or  duty.  Some 
of  the  whites,  too,  were  not  impeccable  and  were  "land-greedy."  The  inevitable 
result  was  clashes  between  whites  and  Indians.  Hence,  the  whites  resorted  to 
the  establishment  of  forts  or  stations,  each  with  a  garrison  to  protect  the  set- 
tlers from  the  assaults  and  thefts  of  the  Indians.  These  stations,  too,  many  of 
them  located  near  the  Indian  frontier,  became,  in  turn,  the  nuclei  of  settlements. 

In  regard  to  these  stations,  Ramsey  says,  page  370 : 

"During  the  formation  and  defense  of  all  these  stations,  a  volume  would 
not  contain  the  instances  of  Indian  outrage  and  aggression  perpetrated  against 
the  property  and  lives  of  the  inhabitants,  nor  the  heroic  and  soldierly  conduct 
of  the  brave  frontiermen,  in  protecting  themselves,  repelling  invasion,  pur- 
suing and  chastising  the   savages,   inflicting  a  just   retaliation  with   vengeful 

704 


f«f  i  mm 
Of  fhe 

nmmii  of  i!  i  mots 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  707 

severity  upon  the  cruel  Cherokees,  in  their  distant  villages  and  the  seclusions 
of  the  mountains.  Boys  became  men — women  turned  soldiers — assisting  in 
defense  of  the  family  and  the  home.  Vigilance  and  heroism,  and  fearlessness 
and  energy,  characterized  the  entire  population.  Could  a  diagram  be  drawn, 
accurately  designating  every  spot  signalized  by  an  Indian  massacre,  surprise 
or  depredation,  or  courageous  attack,  defense,  pursuit  or  victory  by  the  whites, 
or  station,  or  fort,  or  battle  field,  or  personal  encounter,  the  whole  of  that  sec- 
tion of  country  would  be  studded  over  by  delineations  of  such  incidents.  Every 
spring,  every  ford,  every  path,  every  farm,  every  trail,  every  house,  nearly,  in 
its  first  settlement,  was  once  the  scene  of  danger,  exposure,  attack,  exploit, 
achievement,  death." 

THE  FIRST    CAPITOL  OP  TENNESSEE 

In  December,  1789,  the  State  of  North  Carolina  passed  an  act  intrusting 
their  senators  in  Congress  to  make  a  deed  to  the  United  States  covering  that 
part  of  North  Carolina  which  is  now  Tennessee,  provided  the  United  States 
should  accept  the  cession  with  the  conditions  stipulated  in  the  act.  On  April 
2,  1790,  Congress  accepted  the  cession  and  what  is  now  Tennessee  became  the 
Territory  of  the  United  States  South  of  the  River  Ohio.  On  June  8,  1790, 
President  Washington  commissioned  "William  Blount  governor  of  this  territory. 
Governor  Blount  speedily  organized  the  counties  in  the  territory  and  estab- 
lished the  government  both  of  the  counties  and  of  the  territory. 

In  1792  Governor  Blount  located  the  capitol  in  Knoxville,  which  had  been 
founded  in  1791  by  Gen.  James  White,  Knoxville  was  named  for  General 
Henry  Knox,  secretary  of  war  in  Washington's  cabinet.  At  the  time  it  was 
selected  as  the  capital  of  the  territory,  however,  the  place  was  known  as  White's 
Fort.  The  capitol  was  located  on  Second  Street,  now  Hill  Avenue,  about  one 
hundred  yards  from  Market  Street,  now  Gay  Street.  In  1794,  when  the 
Territorial  Legislature  met  for  the  first  time,  its  sessions  were  held  in  this 
building.  In  it  John  Sevier  was  sworn  in  as  governor  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee on  March  28,  1796,  although  it  was  not  admitted  into  the  Union  until 
June  1,  1796. 

In  that  venerable  two-story  long  building  all  the  sessions  of  the  state  Legis- 
lature were  held  from  1796  until  1813  except  in  1807  when  the  Seventh  Gen- 
eral Assembly  met  at  Kingston  but  adjourned  to  Knoxville  after  two  days. 
Prom  1813  to  1817  the  capital  was  in  Nashville.  The  session  of  1817  was  held 
in  the  old  capitol  building  in  Knoxville.  This  was  the  last  session  held  in  Knox- 
ville. 

FIRST  PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCHYARD  IN   KNOXVILLE 

In  Ramsey's  Annals,  page  374,  is  the  statement: 

"Tradition  says  that  the  lot  on  which  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  now 
stands,  was  the  place  first  cleared  by  them"  (James  White  and  James  Conner, 
the  first  settlers  in  Knoxville). 

At  any  rate  the  spot  is  hallowed  by  time  and  by  the  interment  therein  of 
many  persons  famous  in  the  history  of  Tennessee.  Among  them  are  Gen. 
James  White,  William  Blount,  Hugh  Lawson  White,  William  McClcllan,  Rev. 
Thomas  Nelson,  Abner  Baker,  Rev.  Stephen  Foster  and  Col.  John  Williams, 
besides  many  others  of  more  or  less  enduring  fame. 


708  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

On  the  headstone  over  the  grave  of  General  White  is  the  tribute:  "An 
Active  and  Industrious  Member  of  this  Church."  He  gave  the  land  for  the 
church  and  gained  a  fortune  from  his  real  estate  holdings  in  Knoxville.  In 
1791  he  laid  off  the  site  of  the  future  city  and  first  built  a  stout  fort  called 
White's  Fort.  He  was  father  of  Hugh  Lawson  White,  judge,  United  States 
senator  and  candidate  for  President  of  the  United  States  against  Martin 
Van  Buren  in  1836. 

William  Blount  was  the  efficient  and  patriotic  governor  of  the  Territory 
of  Tennessee  South  of  the  River  Ohio,  had  been  previously  a  member  of  the 
United  States  constitutional  convention  and  was  the  first  United  States  senator 
from  Tennessee.  By  his  side  is  his  wife,  Mary  Grainger  Blount,  in  honor  of 
whom  the  County  of  Grainger  and  the  City  of  Maryville  were  named. 

Rev.  Thomas  Nelson  was  a  teacher  for  children  in  the  early  days  of  Knox- 
ville and  was  so  beloved  that  the  women  of  that  city,  a  few  years  after  his 
death,  contributed  money  to  erect  a  tombstone  to  his  memory  with  an  in- 
scription paying  due  tribute  to  his  worth  as  a  teacher. 

Rev.  Stephen  Foster  was  one  of  the  first  teachers  in  East  Tennessee  Col- 
lege, originally  Blount  College,  now  the  University  of  Tennessee.  He  was 
considered  an  authority  on  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

Col.  John  Williams  was  one  of  the  great  men  in  the  early  history  of  Ten- 
nessee. He  was  a  large  contributing  factor  in  winning  the  battle  of  Horseshoe 
Bend  and  gallantly  came  to  the  help  of  Jackson,  then  at  Fort  Strother,  by  pro- 
curing from  the  secretary  of  war  a  change  of  instructions  which  made  his 
regiment  available  to  Jackson.  Yet  in  the  mutations  of  politics  it  was  deemed 
necessary  in  1823,  by  the  faction  in  opposition  to  Williams  who  was  then 
United  States  senator,  that  he  be  defeated  for  reelection.  So  strong  was  he, 
however,  that  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  only  man  in  the  state  who  could  de- 
feat him;  and  it  was  with  great  reluctance  that  Jackson  permitted  the  use  of 
his  name  and  was  elected  United  States  senator  at  that  time.  He  was  born 
in  Surry  County,  North  Carolina,  January  29,  1778,  and  died  near  Knoxville, 
August  10,  1837. 

THE  HOME  OP  WILLIAM   BEEN  AND  BEEN'S  STATION 

The  date  of  William  Been's  advent  into  Tennessee  is  a  matter  of  dispute 
among  historians.  The  date  generally  given  is  1769.  Garrett  and  Good- 
pasture, however,  say,  on  page  49,  "In  1769  or  1770,  William  Been,  originally 
from  Pittsylvania  County,  Virginia,  penetrated  as  far  south  as  the  Watauga, 
and  erected  a  log  cabin  at  the  mouth  of  Been's  Creek,  where  his  son  Russell, 
the  first  native  white  Tennessean,  was  soon  afterwards  born."  In  a  footnote 
they  say:  "William  Been  signed  his  name  as  given  in  the  text.  His  son 
Russell     *     *     *     signed  his  name  Russell  Bean." 

The  early  settlers  who  came  from  Virginia  thought  they  were  still  in 
Virginia.     Of  those  settlers  Ramsey  says,  page  94: 

"Of  those  who  ventured  farther  into  the  wilderness  with  their  families, 
was  Capt.  William  Bean.  He  came  from  Pittsylvania  County,  Va.,  and  set- 
tled early  in  1769  on  Boone's  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Watauga,  in  advance  of 
Carter  and  others,  who  soon  after  settled  upon  that  stream.  *  *  *  Capt. 
Bean  had  hunted  with  Boone,  knew  his  camp,  and  selected  this  as  the  place  of 
his  settlement  on  account  of  its  abundant  game.     His  cabin  was  not  far  from 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  709 

Watauga.     He  was  an  intrepid  man,  and  will  be  mentioned  hereafter.     Bean's 
Station  was  afterwards  settled  by  him." 

Some  writers  of  historical  articles  assert  that  Bean's  cabin  was  the  first 
structure  built  by  white  men  in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth.  As  far  back  as  1682  LaSalle,  when  making  his 
famous  voyage  of  discovery  down  the  Mississippi  River  (according  to  Mar- 
tin's North  Carolina,  Vol.  I,  p.  176),  built  a  cabin  and  a  fort  which  he  called 
Prudhomme,  made  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  and  established  a  trading  post. 
Judge  J.  P.  Young,  of  Memphis,  who  obtained  his  information  from  French 
sources,  says  no  trading  post  was  established.  However,  the  Frenchman, 
Charleville,  did  establish  a  trading  post  in  1710,  on  the  Cumberland  River 
where  Nashville  now  stands. 

Again,  in  1756,  Fort  Loudon  was  built  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the 
Little  Tennessee  River,  nearly  150  miles  in  advance  of  any  white  settlement. 

Also  in  1770,  Jas.  Robertson  visited  the  country  on  the  Holston  and 
found  there  Honeycut  living  in  a  hut.  How  long  Honeycut  was  there,  whether 
he  preceded  or  followed  Been,  neither  history  nor  tradition  tells  us. 

In  any  event  these  historic  facts  do  not  derogate  one  iota  from  the  just 
fame  which  attaches  to  the  name  of  "William  Been  who  was  the  forefront  of  the 
advance  guard  of  civilization  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains.  As  Heiskell 
says  in  his  Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,  Vol.  I,  p.  20 : 

"When  "William  Bean  planted  his  cabin  in  1769  on  Boone's  Creek  near  its 
junction  with  the  "Watauga  River,  he  never  dreamed  that  his  humble  habita- 
tion was  to  become  a  land-mark  in  the  future  State  of  Tennessee  that  would 
never  fade  from  the  record  of  the  State,  nor  that  he  as  the  actual  first 
settler  of  the  State  would  be  as  immortal  as  the  State  itself.  The  cabin 
was  planted  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  and  today,  Tennessee  with  a 
population  of  two  and  a  quarter  millions,  teaches  its  school-children  the  story 
of  William  Bean  and  his  cabin,  and  gives  him  that  lofty  place  in  its  annals 
that  is  ever  accorded  to  first  settlers  of  cities  and  states." 

BLOUNT   COUNTY 

Blount  County  was  formed  in  1795  from  Knox  County  and  named  for 
Governor  "Wm.  Blount.  Its  county  seat,  Maryville,  was  named  for  Mary 
Grainger  Blount,  wife  of  Governor  "Wm.  Blount.  The  settlement  of  this  county 
began  in  1785  and  the  early  settlers  were  much  harassed  by  the  Indians.  Nine 
places  in  this  county  have  been  deemed  worthy  of  being  commemorated  by 
historical  markers.     These  places  are  as  follows : 

1.  McGaughey's  Fort.  Although  McGaughey's  Fort  was  in  Sevier  County 
(established  in  1794),  it  was  on  the  line  of  the  old  Indian  "War  Trail  which 
extended  through  Blount  County,  and  was  a  great  protection  to  the  early  set- 
tlers in  this  county,  especially  to  those  along  Boyd's  Creek  Valley,  whence 
they  crossed  the  ridge  dividing  that  stream  from  Ellejoy. 

The  country  around  this  fort  was  the  scene  of  many  encounters  with  the 
Indians,  among  the  most  romantic  of  which  was  the  narrow  escape  of  "W.  H. 
Cunningham  and  the  family  of  Andrew  Creswell  which  took  place  in  1793. 

McGaughey's  Fort  was  established  prior  to  1785,  being,  of  course,  contem- 
poraneous with  the  advent  of  the  early  settlers  and  was  located  where  the 
Village  of  Seymour  now  stands.     See  Ramsey's  Annals,  pp.  578  and  590. 


710         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

2.  McTeer's  Fort.  Hon.  Will  A.  McTeer  gives  the  following  account  con- 
cerning McTeer's  Fort: 

"McTeer's  Fort  was  situated  on  Ellejoy  Creek.  This  is  a  place  where 
numerous  springs  of  cold  water  come  bubbling  up  along  the  stream  and  for 
some  distance  on  the  sides.  There  was  a  flat  bottom  along  down  the  stream  for 
some  distance,  and  shaded  with  forest  trees,  the  indications  are,  which  are  be- 
yond doubt  true,  that  it  was  a  great  stopping  place  with  the  Indians  before 
the  advent  of  the  whites,  because  a  more  beautiful  camping  ground  than  it 
was  then,  would  be  hard  to  find  anywhere.  It  was  claimed  by  the  old  people 
that  Robert  McTeer  was  the  first  white  man  to  spend  a  night  in  that  locality, 
and  he  procured  a  grant  from  North  Carolina  for  a  large  tract  of  land  in- 
cluding these  camping  grounds. 

"About  1790,  under  the  entanglement  regarding  the  treaties  and  the  trouble 
between  the  people  of  the  western  territory  and  the  old  state,  this  grant  was 
found  to  be  defective,  and  he  procured  a  grant  after  this  from  Tennessee.  The 
fort  was  built  on  a  little  rise  where  it  commanded  a  good  view  of  approaches, 
and,  connected  with  it,  Robert  McTeer  erected  the  first  mill  built  in  that 
locality. 

"The  whites  were  troubled  a  great  deal  with  the  Indians  by  stealing, 
raiding  and  annoying.  From  this  fort  Cunningham  went  out  to  fields  east 
of  this  place,  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  who  dragged  him  into  a  cane  brake, 
and  there  mutilated  and  scalped  him,  leaving  him  for  dead.  The  whites  sal- 
lied out,  met  the  Indians,  fired  on  them,  killed  one  while  another  was  traced 
a  considerable  distance  by  the  blood.  And  from  this  fort  the  Campbell  family 
started  intending  to  go  to  either  McCroskey's  or  McGaughey's,  and  in  near 
two  miles  from  the  fort  were  waylaid  and  massacred,  their  bodies  being  found 
lying  dead,  and  were  all  buried  in  the  same  grave.  This  grave  is  near  Eusebia 
Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  spot  has  been  conveyed  to  Eusebia  Cemetery. 
A  fund  was  raised  about  ten  years  ago,  and  a  monument  erected  on  this 
grave. 

"From  the  place  of  this  fort  there  was  a  branch  of  the  Indian  War  Trail, 
crossing  Chilhowee  mountain  at  what  is  known  as  Millstone  Gap,  and  leading 
on  to  the  Indian  town  in  Tuckaleechee.  After  the  whites  came  into  the  ter- 
ritory, that  was  a  place  of  considerable  importance,  at  which  Colonel  Christian 
with  his  command,  and  afterwards  General  Sevier  on  one  of  his  excursions, 
stopped  over  and  camped.  It  is  now  a  considerable  burgh  and  center  for  a 
prosperous  country  community." 

Ramsey  says,  page  369,  that  McTeer's  station  "soon  became  the  nucleus 
of  an  excellent  neighborhood  of  intelligent,  worthy  and  patriotic  citizens, 
emigrants  principally  from  the  valley  of  Virginia,  who  brought  with,  and 
diffused  around  them,  republicanism,  religion,  intelligence  and  thrift.  They 
were,  for  several  years,  annoyed  and  harassed  by  Cherokee  incursions.  The 
proximity  of  their  settlement  to  the  fastnesses  of  the  adjoining  mountains, 
made  it  necessary,  constantly,  to  guard  their  frontier.  While  one  worked  in 
the  field,  another  acted  as  a  scout  or  a  sentinel.  They  were  often  driven  into 
stations,  and  twice  had  to  leave  their  farms  and  cabins,  and  fall  back,  for  a 
short  time,  upon  the  older  settlements.  But  gaining,  year  after  year,  addi- 
tional strength  by  new  emigrations,  they  gradually  extended  the  settlements 
down  the  valley  of  Elijah  and  Naill's  Creek.  Henry's,  McTeer's,  McCullock's, 
Gillespie's,  Craig's,  Kelly's,  Houston's,  Black's,  Hunter's,  Bartlett's,  Kirk's, 
Ish's,  and  others,  were,  soon  after,  the  nuclei  of  settlements." 

3.  Gamble's  Fort  was  in  a  beautiful  and  strong  situation  at  the  bend  of 
Little  River  below  the  river  gap  in  Chilhowee  Mountain.  This  was  estab- 
lished probably  as  early  as  1785.  In  1792  it  was  a  strong  station  having  a 
lieutenant,  William  Reagan,  and  thirteen  men,  and  was  kept  strong  because  it 
was  situated  near  the  great  war  trail  and  also  on  the  line  between  the  war 
trail  and  the  Tuckaleechee  town. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  711 

From  the  very  first  there  was  much  trouble  with  the  Indians  (Cherokees)  in 
the  way  of  incursions  and  stealing,  with  occasional  attacks  on  the  settlers  when 
they  ventured  out.  In  1793  the  situation  was  acute.  At  this  time  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  under  President  Washington,  was  endeavoring  to 
effect  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  and  the  Territorial  government  and  the  settlers 
were  forbidden  to  make  invasions  of  the  Indian  territory  howsoever  strong  the 
provocation  to  do  so  might  be.  The  policy  of  the  government  was  not  to  allow 
the  passions  of  the  Indians  to  be  inflamed. 

The  Indians  quickly  realized  the  situation  and  took  advantage  of  it.  On 
January  22,  1793,  they  killed  and  scalped  John  Pates  on  Crooked  Creek.  On 
January  29,  they  stole  three  of  William  Davidson's  horses  from  Gamble's  Sta- 
tion, and  on  February  26,  they  stole  ten  horses  from  Cozby's  Creek.  These  ag- 
gressions caused  the  spontaneous  assemblage  of  the  militia  at  Gamble's  Station. 
They  were  keen  to  march  to  the  Indian  towns  and  to  inflict  severe  retaliation 
upon  the  savages.  So  incensed,  indeed,  were  the  people  of  this  settlement  and 
vicinity  that  Governor  Blount  sent  Colonel  Kelly  to  them  in  an  effort  to  pacify 
them.  He  also  issued  a  proclamation  requiring  the  citizens  to  refrain  from  in- 
vading the  Indian  territory.  Blount  finally  went  in  person  to  Gamble's  Station 
to  make  a  personal  appeal  to  the  settlers  in  the  effort  to  preserve  peace ;  and,  in 
this,  he  was  aided  by  Col.  Jas.  White,  the  founder  of  Knoxville.  To  the  same 
end  he  also  ordered  a  company  of  cavalry  to  range  from  the  Holston  River  to  the 
Little  River.    Quiet  was  finally  restored. 

4.  Craig's  Fort  was  situated  where  Maryville,  the  county  seat  of  Blount 
County,  now  stands.  It  was  located  on  a  bluff  above  a  large  flowing  spring,  where 
the  Sevierville  road  (now  Main  street)  crosses  Pistol  Creek.  It  was  a  beautiful 
and  strong  position.  This  station  was  a  leading  stronghold,  and  many  casualties 
occurred  there  and  near  it.    It  was  built  in  1785. 

In  April,  1793,  a  party  of  500  Indians  attacked  the  place.  As  the  approach 
of  them  was  learned  in  time,  the  women  and  children  were  sent  out  along  the 
creek  where  there  was  a  thick  undergrowth  of  privet  and  shrubbery  about  two 
miles  northwest  of  the  fort  and  there  they  remained  concealed  until  the  fight  was 
over.  There  was  no  casualty  among  the  whites  and  the  Indians  carried  away 
their  dead  and  buried  them  to  keep  the  white  men  *from  seeing  them.  At  this 
time  there  were  280  men,  women  and  children  at  this  station,  who  lived  in  much 
discomfort  in  the  inadequate  and  congested  quarters. 

5.  Burnt  Station,  or  Gillespie's  Fort,  named  for  William  Gillespie,  was  sit- 
uated on  Little  River  near  Rockford.  It  was  probably  built  about  1785.  At 
that  time  the  boundaries  of  Brown's  settlement  extended  on  the  west  down  the 
Nollichucky  River,  below  the  mouth  of  Big  Limestone  Creek,  and  as  that  neigh- 
borhood was  the  weakest  and  the  first  exposed,  a  fort  was  built  at  Gillespie 's  and 
a  garrison  was  stationed  in  it. 

In  1776,  the  Cherokees,  under  old  Abraham  of  Chilhowee,  invaded  the  set- 
tlements hoping  to  surprise  and  annihilate  Gillespie's  Station.  But,  being  ap- 
prised of  the  pending  attack,  the  little  garrison  prudently  abandoned  the  fort 
and  withdrew  to  Watauga. 

On  October  15,  1788,  a  party  of  Cherokees  and  Creeks  numbering  two  hun- 
dred or  three  hundred,  commanded  by  John  Watts,  attacked  Gillespie's  Sta- 
tion and  twenty-eight  persons  were  killed  and  several  were  carried  away  as 
prisoners.  In  a  letter  left  signed  by  the  Indian  chiefs  and  addressed  to  Mr. 
John  Sevier,  and  Joseph  Martin,  and  to  you,  the  Inhabitants  of  the  New  State 


712  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  first  sentence  is:  "We  would  wish  to  inform  you  of  the  accident  that 
happened  at  Gillespie's  Fort,  concerning  the  women  and  children  that  were 
killed  in  the  battle."  The  Indians  burned  the  fort  which  was  afterwards, 
on  this  account,  called  Burnt  Station. 

6.  Ish's  Fort  was  established  in  the  early  days  of  the  settlement,  about 
1785,  where  Louisville  now  stands.  It  was  one  of  the  most  important  stations 
in  the  county,  having,  in  1792,  a  garrison  of  eight  men  in  charge  of  Sergeant 
Matthew   Karr. 

Many  encounters  with  the  Indians  took  place  here  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  fort  and  many  white  people  were  killed  and  wounded.  In  1793  the  In- 
dians surprised  a  man  named  Ish  in  a  clearing,  shot  and  killed  him.  He  was 
buried  where  he  fell  and  that  interment  was  the  beginning  of  burial  grounds 
which  are  still  used  for  that  purpose. 

General  Sevier  was  at  Ish's  Fort,  expecting  to  intercept  a  large  body  of 
Indians,  who,  according  to  report,  were  on  their  way  to  attack  White's  Fort. 
The  Indians,  however,  traveled  a  route  farther  north  and,  learning  of  General 
Sevier's  whereabouts,  became  alarmed,  massacred  the  Cavet  family  and  re- 
turned without  attacking  Knoxville.  The  firing  at  Cavet 's  could  be  distinctly 
heard  at  Ish's  where  preparations  were  made  for  an  immediate  pursuit,  and 
an  invasion  of  the  Indian  country.  Captain  Harrison  with  his  company  of 
light  horse  set  out  for  the  trail  of  the  Indians  who,  it  was  ascertained,  had 
abandoned  their  attack  on  Knoxville. 

The  daring  inroad  of  almost  the  entire  available  force  of  Cherokees  and 
Creeks,  under  John  Watts,  went  far  to  convince  the  authorities  of  the  Terri- 
tory and  President  Washington  that  it  was  no  longer  safe  or  wise  to  continue 
the  past  policy  of  limiting  the  action  of  the  country  to  defensive  warfare 
only  against  the  Indians.  Accordingly,  starting  from  Ish's  Station,  Sevier 
struck  a  sudden  and  destructive  blow  at  the  very  heart  of  the  Indian  nation 
at  Etowah  (now  Rome,  Ga.).  This  was  the  last  military  service  rendered  by 
Sevier  and  the  only  one  for  which  he  ever  received  compensation  from  the 
government. 

7.  Hunter's  Fort  was  located  on  Nine  Mile  Creek  about  1788  at  a  place 
since  known  as  Baker's  Creek,  ten  miles  southwest  of  Maryville.  Following 
upon  the  massacre  of  the  Kirk  family,  on  Little  River,  in  1788,  the  militia  under 
command  of  Colonel  Sevier,  assembled  at  Hunter's  Fort  to  the  number  of 
several  hundred.  Thence  they  followed  the  Indians  to  their  towns  and  se- 
verely punished  them. 

8.  Houston's  Station  was  one  of  the  forts  on  the  advanced  frontier  and  one 
of  the  most  important  in  the  county.  It  was  located  probably  before  1785, 
on  Nine  Mile  Creek,  about  six  miles  south  of  Maryville. 

In  1785  Houston's  Station  was  occupied  by  the  families  of  Col.  James 
Houston,  McConnell,  McEwen,  Sloane  and  Henry.  Colonel  Houston,  the  com- 
mander, was  a  man  of  great  courage  and  determined  will  and  of  marked 
intelligence.  He  was  of  the  same  stock  as  Gen.  Sam  Houston.  At  this  fort 
one  of  the  most  desperate  battles  with  the  Indians  was  fought  in  1785.  Ramsey 
in  his  Annals,  pages  370-371,  gives  the  following  account  of  it: 

"It  was  attacked  by  a  party  of  Indians,  one  hundred  in  number.  They 
had,  the  day  before,  pursued  the  survivors  of  the  Citico  massacre,  in  the 
direction  of  Knoxville,  many  of  whom  they  had  killed.  Elated  with  their 
preceding  successes,  they  determined,  on  their  return,  to  take  and  murder  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  713 

feeble  garrison  at  Houston's.  A  vigorous  assault  was  made  upon  it.  Hugh 
Barry,  in  looking  over  the  bastion,  incautiously  exposed  his  head  to  the  aim 
of  an  Indian  rifle.  He  fell,  within  the  station,  fatally  wounded,  having  re- 
ceived a  bullet  in  his  forehead.  The  Indians  were  emboldened  by  this  success, 
and  prolonged  the  conflict  more  than  half  an  hour.  The  garrison  had  some 
of  the  best  riflemen  in  the  country  within  it,  and,  observing  the  number  and 
activity  of  the  assailants,  they  loaded  and  discharged  their  guns  with  all  pos- 
sible rapidity.  The  women  assisted  them  as  far  as  they  were  able.  One  of 
them,  Mrs.  McEwen,  mother  of  R.  H.  McEwen,  Esq.,  of  Nashville,  and  since 
the  wife  of  the  Senior  S.  Doak,  D.  D.,  displayed  great  equanimity  and  heroism. 
She  inquired  for  the  bullet  moulds,  and  was  engaged,  busily,  in  melting  the 
lead  and  running  bullets  for  different  guns.  A  bullet  from  without,  passing 
through  the  interstice  between  two  logs  of  the  station,  struck  the  wall  over  near 
her,  and  rebounding,  rolled  upon  the  floor.  Snatching  it  up,  and  melting  and 
moulding  it  quickly,  she  carried  it  to  her  husband  and  said:  'Here  is  a  ball 
run  out  of  the  Indian 's  lead ;  send  it  back  to  them  as  quick  as  possible.  It  is 
their  own ;  let  them  have  it  in  welcome. '  ' ' 

In  1784  the  State  of  Franklin  had  been  formed  and  John  Sevier,  who  had 
been  chosen  governor  in  1786,  adopted  the  policy  of  penetrating  into  the 
enemy's  country  in  order  thereby  to  cause  the  immediate  return  of  the  maraud- 
ing Indians  and  also  to  punish  them.  Houston's  Station  was  made  the  ren- 
dezvous for  his  troops.  The  expedition  was  eminently  successful  and,  as  a 
result,  few  attacks  were  made  on  the  whites  for  some  time. 

9.  Site  of  the  home  of  the  Kirk  family.  The  Kirk  family  lived  on  Little 
River,  not  far  from  Houston's  Fort.  The  horrible  murder  of  this  family  by 
the  Indians  is  told  in  detail  by  Haywood,  page  181,  and  following,  and  has 
been  condensed  by  Ramsey,  pages  410  and  411  as  follows : 

"In  the  month  of  May,  1788,  Kirk  lived  with  his  family  on  the  southwest 
side  of  Little  River,  twelve  miles  South  of  Knoxville ;  whilst  he  was  absent 
from  home,  an  Indian  by  the  name  of  Slim  Tom,  known  to  the  family,  came  to 
them  and  requested  to  be  supplied  with  provisions,  which  they  gave  him,  and 
he  withdrew;  having  seen  who  were  there,  and  the  situation  they  were  in  with 
regard  to  defense,  he  soon  after  returned  from  the  woods  with  a  party  of 
Indians,  and  fell  upon  the  family — massacred  the  whole  of  them,  eleven  m 
number,  and  left  them  dead  in  the  yard.  Not  long  afterwards,  Kirk  coming 
home,  saw  his  dead  family  lying  on  the  ground;  he  gave  the  alarm  to  the 
neighborhood,  and  the  militia  assembled  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Sevier, 
to  the  number  of  several  hundred;  they  met  at  Hunter's  Station,  on  Nine  Mile 
Creek,  which  runs  into  Holston  on  the  South  side;  thence  they  marched  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Sevier  to  the  Hiwassee  River,  and  early  in  the  morn- 
ing came  upon  a  town  which  had  been  burned  in  1779. ' ' 

The  account  goes  on  in  considerable  detail  relating  the  movements  of  this 
expedition  which  resulted  in  the  killing  of  some  Indians  and  the  capture  of 
others,  who,  though  prisoners,  were  killed,  in  Sevier's  absence,  by  young  Kirk, 
the  son  of  the  Kirk  whose  family  had  been  massacred. 

MIDDLE    TENNESSEE 

Important  circumstances  have  conjoined  to  render  Nashville  of  interest  and 
importance  historically.  Its  history,  too,  is  tinged,  as  is  much  of  Tennessee's 
history,  with  romantic  episodes  which  render  the  study  of  it  replete  with 
fascination. 

The  real  history  of  Nashville  begins  with  the  year  1780,  when  James  Rob- 
ertson  and  John  Donelson,    representing   Richard    Henderson   who   bought    in 


714  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

1775  the  Transylvania  region,  including  much  of  Kentucky  and  of  Middle 
Tennessee  as  far  south  as  the  Cumberland  River,  established  at  the  Great 
French  Lick,  a  settlement  which,  at  first  (May,  1780),  was  called  Nashbor- 
ough  and,  in  1784,  by  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina,  was 
called  Nashville.  It  was  named  for  General  Francis  Nash,  of  North  Carolina, 
who,  in  1777,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Germantown. 

The  government  of  the  new  settlement  was  embodied  in  Articles  of  Agree- 
men,  called  the  Cumberland  Compact,  written  by  Richard  Henderson  and 
signed  by  the  heads  of  all  the  families,  of  whom  only  one  had  to  make  his 
mark.  This  government,  like  the  one  at  Watauga,  and  the  one  at  the  Ken- 
tucky settlements,  was  a  free,  independent  government  before  the  United  States 
was  formed.     It  was  called  the  Government  of  the  Notables. 

DEVELOPMENT    OP    A    REMARKABLE    PEOPLE 

Beset  by  the  perils  of  a  wilderness,  including  savage  beasts  and  still  more 
savage  red  men,  the  people,  men,  women  and  children,  developed  traits  of 
sturdy  character  which  not  only  worked  out  for  them  their  own  salvation  but 
have  left  their  impress  on  succeeding  generations  even  to  the  present  time. 
Naturally  historical  occurrences  have  developed  and  leaders  arisen  whose 
homes  and  the  scenes  of  whose  exploits  are  to  be  found  in  the  midst  of  our 
activities  of  today.  Some  of  these  historic  spots,  in  the  kaleidoscopic  changes 
of  events,  have  been  lost  sight  of,  or  are  known,  sometimes  very  intangibly,  by 
tradition  alone.  It  is  one  of  the  objects  of  the  Nashville  Automobile  Club  by 
the  aid  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission  and  of  many  other  historical 
and  patriotic  and  public-spirited  organizations,  who  have  united  for  the  pur- 
pose, to  see  that  all  the  important  historical  spots  and  places  in  Tennessee  are 
properly  commemorated  by  suitable  markers.  In  this  departure  the  start  has 
been  made  at  Nashville.  It  is  desired  that  the  brief  inscriptions  on  the  markers 
be  supplemented  by  a  somewhat  more  extended  account  of  why  the  various 
spots  and  places  marked  are  so  distinguished.  In  the  following  record,  these 
descriptions  are  not  arranged  chronologically,  but  are  grouped  according  to 
locality,  for  convenience  of  the  sightseers. 

Davidson  County 

andrew   jackson's  law7   office 

About  1795  Andrew  Jackson  had  his  law  office  at  311  Union  Street,  Nash- 
ville. On  the  building  at  that  number  the  Tennessee  Historical  Commission 
purposed  to  place  a  marker  with  the  following  wording : 

"In  this  building  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  had  his  law  office.  He  held  more 
offices  of  trust  and  honor  than  were  ever  held  by  any  other  citizen  of  the 
republic. 

Public  Prosecutor   (Attorney  General),  U.  S.,  1790 

Member  First  Constitutional  Convention  of  Tenn.,  1796 

First  Representative  from  Tenn.  in  the  National  Congress,     1796 
Twice  elected  U.  S.  Senator  from  Tenn.,  1797  and  1823 

Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity,  1798 

General  Tennessee  Militia,  1802 


NASHVILLE  INN,  BUILT  IN  1783;  BURNED  IN  1856 


!Kt  IIBBAKY 
Of  [HE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  UMIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  717 

Conqueror  of  the   Creeks,  1813-1814 

Major  General  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  1814 

Won  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  January  8,  1815 

Governor  of  Florida,  1821 

Twice  Elected  President  of  the  United  States,         1828  and  1832 

"He  resigned  more  offices  than  were  ever  held  by  any  other  citizen  of  the 
republic. 

"The  only  President  except  Washington  who  appointed,  during  his  admin- 
istration, the  entire  Supreme  Court  Bench  of  the  United  States. 

"The  only  President  who  paid  all  the  national  debt. 

"BY  THE  ETERNAL" 

HEADQUARTERS    OP    GENERAL    THOMAS 

The  present  home  of  the  Hermitage  Club,  at  211  Sixth  Avenue,  North,  was 
the  headquarters  of  General  Thomas,  Federal  commander  at  the  Battle  of 
Nashville,  December  15th  and  16th,  1864.  Immediately  after  the  Battle  of 
Franklin,  which  took  place  on  the  30th  of  November,  1864,  General  Hood,  in 
command  of  the  Confederate  forces,  pushed  on  and  closely  invested  Nashville. 
General  Thomas  was  not  yet  quite  ready  for  battle  and  freezing  weather  im- 
peded his  movements.  Hence,  he  delayed  in  giving  battle  and  his  delay  ex- 
asperated the  Federal  military  authorities  who  had  no  adequate  conception 
of  the  situation  and  who  urged  upon  Thomas  immediate  action.  When  day 
after  day  passed  without  battle,  the  Federal  war  department  threatened  to 
relieve  General  Thomas  of  his  command.  In  fact,  General  Grant  sent  General 
Logan  to  supersede  Thomas  and  Logan  was  en  route  to  Nashville  when  he  re- 
ceived word  that  the  Battle  of  Nashville  had  been  fought  and  that  Thomas  had 
been  victorious. 

From  this  place  it  is  said  that  General  Grant  issued  his  first  orders  after 
he  had  been  appointed  commander-in-chief  of  the  Union  forces. 

POLK  PLACE 

The  marker  placed  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Union  Street  and  Seventh 
Avenue  serves  to  indicate  the  residence  of  two  of  the  most  eminent  figures 
in  Tennessee  history,  Felix  Grundy  and  James  K.  Polk. 

Felix  Grundy  was  born  in  Berkeley  County,  Va.,  September  11,  1777. 
He  moved  to  Pennsylvania  and  thence  to  Kentucky  where  he  studied  law  and 
became  chief  justice  of  Kentucky  in  1807.  This  position  he  resigned  in  the 
same  year  and  went  to  Nashville  where  he  lived  until  his  death,  December  19, 
1840.  During  his  career  in  Tennessee  he  became  one  of  the  most  noted  law- 
yers and  statesmen  of  a  period  of  great  men.  In  1829  he  became  United  States 
senator  and  again  in  1832.  In  1838  he  became  attorney-general  of  the  United 
States.    This  lot  was  owned  by  Grundy  from  1816  to  1840. 

This  property  was  bought  by  James  K.  Polk  in  1846,  but  was  occupied  by 
him  as  a  home  for  only  two  months  immediately  before  his  death  in  1849.  He 
was  first  buried  in  the  Old  City  Cemetery  while  the  Polk  Tomb,  of  which 
William  Strickland  was  the  architect,  was  being  built  upon  the  front  of  this 
lot.     To  this  he  was  removed.     This  tomb  remained  in  the  vard  of  the  resi- 


718  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

dence  until  1893,  when  it  was  removed  to  the  grounds  of  the  eapitol,  following 
impressive  ceremonies.  There  repose  the  remains  of  both  President  Polk  and 
Mrs.  Polk  with  suitable  inscriptions  on  the  four  sides  of  the  tomb. 

THE    STATION    ON    THE    BLUFF 

The  voyage  of  John  Donelson  and  his  party  down  the  Tennessee  River,  and 
up  the  Cumberland,  is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  in  history,  surpassing  the  quest 
of  Jason  for  the  Golden  Fleece.  In  its  political  and  historical  consequences,  it 
was  one  of  the  eventful  occasions  in  the  life  of  this  nation,  being  of  equal 
importance  to  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  or  the  landing  at  Plymouth  Rock. 

After  Robertson  and  his  party  crossed  the  Cumberland  River  on  the  ice  in 
December,  1779,  they  decided  to  locate  the  settlement  on  the  bluff  between 
First  and  Second  avenues,  North,  formerly  known  as  Front  and  Market  streets 
respectively,  and  just  north  of  the  foot  of  Church  Street,  formerly  called  Spring 
Street,  because  of  the  existence  on  the  bluff  of  a  fine  spring,  which  also  was 
a  reason  for  locating  on  that  spot.  At  first  they  had  only  small  tents  of  skin 
which  they  protected  somewhat  by  the  branches  of  the  abundant  cedar  trees 
which  they  fastened  in  the  ground.  In  a  few  weeks,  however,  they  had  built 
a  rough  log  cabin ;  then  two  more.  These  cabins  were  built  in  a  line,  with  the 
doors  opened  towards  the  river  and  the  back  of  each  faced  Second  Avenue. 
There  were  no  openings  in  the  back.  Around  the  houses  enclosing  about  a 
half  acre  was  a  stockade  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelogram  of  which  the  long 
sides  were  parallel  with  the  river.  A  two-storied  blockhouse  and  a  strong  gate 
were  built  where  Second  Avenue  now  crosses  Church  Street.  A  path  was 
soon  worn  from  the  station  to  the  lick  to  which  the  pioneers  went  every  day 
for  game  for  food. 

The  first  marriage  at  the  station  was  in  the  summer  of  1780  between  Miss 
Susan  Drake  and  Capt.  James  Leiper  who  was  killed  in  the  Battle  of  the  Bluffs. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  BLUFFS 

The  early  settlers  of  Nashville  had  many  encounters  with  the  Indians. 
The  most  noted  of  these  conflicts,  the  one  which,  for  a  time,  threatened  the 
very  existence  of  the  infant  community,  was  the  Battle  of  the  Bluffs.  This 
battle  took  place  on  April  2,  1781.  Some  Indians  concealed  themselves  on  the 
height  where  is  now  the  Independent  Life  Building,  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue 
and  Church  Street,  while  the  main  force  was  located  along  "Wilson's  Spring 
Branch,  south  of  Broadway  and  between  what  are  now  Second  Avenue,  South, 
and  Fourth  Avenue,  South.  A  few  of  the  Indians  along  the  branch  appeared 
in  sight  and  seemed  to  dare  the  white  men  to  come  out  of  the  fort.  A  party 
of  twenty-one  white  men  on  horseback  attacked  these  Indians ;  and  then  the 
Indians  who  were  hidden  on  the  height  dashed  down  and  cut  off  the  retreat 
to  the  stockade.  Meanwhile,  the  horsemen  had  dismounted  and  were  fighting 
on  foot.  The  firing  and  the  shouting  frightened  the  horses  which  ran  away 
toward  the  French  Lick.  The  horses  were  followed  by  the  Indians  who  had 
come  in  the  rear  of  the  whites ;  and  simultaneously  Mrs.  James  Robertson 
turned  loose  the  dogs  which  had  been  barking  frantically.  True  to  their  train- 
ing the  dogs  attacked  the  Indians  and  by  this  diversion  enabled  the  white  men 
to  gain  safety  behind  the  defenses.  Of  the  party  of  twenty-one  who  sallied 
forth  five  were  killed  and  five  wounded,  but  the  station  was  saved. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  719 

THE   HOME   OF   WILLIAM    WALKER 

At  the  northeast  corner  of  Fourth  Avenue,  North,  and  Commerce  Street 
was  the  home  of  William  Walker,  the  "Grey-Eyed  Man  of  Destiny,"  born  May 
8,  1824.  In  his  day  there  was  no  Commerce  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue  was 
known  as  Cherry  Street.  His  home  was  an  unimpressive  two-storied  brick 
house,  torn  down,  with  the  exception  of  one  room,  only  a  few  years  ago. 

Of  the  many  famous  men  who  have  lived  in  Nashville,  not  one,  it  is  be- 
lieved, had  so  bizarre  and  spectacular  a  career  as  did  William  Walker.  He 
was  a  student,  a  doctor,  a  traveler  in  Europe,  a  newspaper  man,  a  lawyer,  a 
colonist,  a  military  man,  president  at  different  times  of  two  different  republics, 
a  statesman  and  a  filibuster,  and  yet  he  died  at  the  age  of  36.  It  is  said  he 
was  cold,  unapproachable  and  lacking  in  magnetism ;  yet  he  had  in  high  de- 
gree the  power  of  commanding  the  unrewarded  devotion  of  men. 

His  father,  James  Walker,  was  a  Scotchman,  at  first  a  merchant,  then 
president  of  the  Commercial  Insurance  Company.  His  mother's  name  was 
Norvell,  probably  Scotch,   also. 

He  was  graduated  from  the  University  of  Nashville  in  1838  and  from 
the  Medical  College  of  the  University  of  Philadelphia  in  1843.  After  traveling 
in  Eui'ope,  he  became  an  editor  in  New  Orleans;  then  went  to  California  where 
he  fitted  out  a  colonizing  expedition  to  Sonora,  Mexico.  It  was  not  successful. 
He  next  prepared  his  famous  movement  into  Nicaragua.  Long  before  his 
arrival  among  them,  the  Nicaraguans  had  a  superstition  that  their  country 
would  be  freed  from  oppression  by  a  grey-eyed  man.  In  Nicaragua  he  be- 
came in  succession  commander-in-chief  of  the  army,  and,  on  July  12,  1856, 
president  of  the  Republic  of  Nicaragua.  The  four  other  Central  American 
states,  however,  antagonized  him  and,  with  the  assistance  of  Captain  Davis  of 
the  United  States  navy,  compelled  his  surrender  and  withdrawal. 

Walker  made  four  other  expeditions,  on  the  last  of  which,  directed  at 
Nicaragua  through  Honduras,  he  found  himself  with  a  small  force  confronted 
with  the  Hondurans  on  land  and  a  British  warship  on  the  water.  He  sur- 
rendered to  the  British ;  was  delivered  to  the  Hondurans  and  executed  by  them 
on  September  12,  1860. 

It  has  has  been  said  of  Walker  that  he  was  "as  calm  as  Lee,  as  earnest 
as  Stonewall  Jackson,  as  tenacious  as  Grant,"  and  no  braver  man  ever  took 
more  desperate  chances. 

HOME    OP    JOHN    BELL 

John  Bell  was  born  near  Nashville  on  February  15,  1797,  and  for  many 
years  made  his  home  at  what  is  now  413  Broadway.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  Congress  from  1827  to  1841,  having  been  elected 
for  the  first  term  over  Felix  Grundy.  He  was  speaker  of  the  House  1834-1836, 
having  defeated  James  K.  Polk  for  that  position  by  one  vote.  Tn  the  two 
succeeding  congresses  he  was  defeated  for  speaker  by  Polk.  In  1841  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Harrison  secretary  of  war  but  resigned  in  a  few- 
months.  From  1847  to  1859  he  was  a  member  of  the  United  States  Senate  and 
was  a  distinguished  figure  in  that  body  of  which  Henry  Clay,  Lewis  Cass,  Sal- 
mon P.  Chase,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  John  J.  Crittenden,  William  Pitt  Fessen- 
den,  Charles  Sumner,  Judah  P.  Benjamin,  Jefferson  Davis  and  Andrew  Johnson 


720  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

were  members.  In  1800  lie  was  nominated  at  Baltimore  for  President  of  the 
United  States  on  the  "Constitutional  Union"  ticket  with  Edward  Everett, 
of  Massachusetts,  for  vice  president. 

Of  John  Bell,  Phelan  says:  "He  possessed  an  intellect  of  extraordinary 
vigor,  broad  in  its  scope  and  catholic  in  its  sympathy."  And  again,  in  con- 
nection with  Jackson 's  support  of  Grundy  against  Bell :  ' '  Jackson  had  of- 
fended the  ablest  mind  which  Tennessee  has  ever  produced,  after  his  own  and 
Andrew  Johnson's." 

Concerning  Bell's  career  in  the  United  States  Senate,  Phelan  says:  "Here 
was  the  proper  arena  for  the  display  of  his  talents.  Here  his  eminent  abilities, 
his  melodious  rhetoric,  the  philosophic  bent  of  his  virile  mind,  the  serene  dig- 
nity of  his  bearing,  and  the  perspicuous  quality  of  his  logic  shone  with  un- 
clouded brightness. ' ' 

THE    HUME-FOGG    HIGH    SCHOOL 

On  the  northeast  corner  of  Broadway  and  Eighth  Avenue  was  located  the 
first  high  school  of  Nashville.  It  was  opened  to  pupils  in  February,  1855. 
The  name  of  that  school  is  the  Hume-Fogg  High  School,  so  named  in  honor 
of  two  men  whose  names  are  imperishably  connected  with  the  history  and  with 
the  educational  interests  of  Nashville  and  of  Tennessee,  viz. :  Alfred  Hume  and 
Francis  Brinley  Fogg. 

Anson  Nelson,  recording  secretary  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society, 
for  many  years  beginning  with  1856,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  es- 
tablishment of  this  school  in  Guild's  "Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  page  489: 

"In  1850-51  a  few  citizens  agitated  the  question  of  establishing  a  system  of 
genteel  and  elevated  free  schools,  which  finally  aroused  the  board  of  aldermen, 
who,  in  the  spring  of  1852,  selected  Alfred  Hume,  long  an  eminent  private 
teacher  in  Nashville,  to  visit  various  cities  in  which  public  schools  were  in 
operation,  to  see  how  they  worked.  He  did  so,  and  made  a  report  to  the 
aldermen  and  the  public  on  the  26th  of  August.  The  city  then  bought  the  lot 
on  the  corner  of  Spruce  and  Broad  streets,  to  erect  a  building.  The  corner- 
stone was  laid  on  the  19th  of  May,  1853,  Dr.  W.  K.  Bowling  being  the  orator 
of  the  day.  The  house  then  and  now  known  as  the  Hume  Building,  was  com- 
pleted in  1854,  and  formally  opened  for  pupils  on  the  26th  of  February,  1855." 

Francis  B.  Fogg  was  born  in  Connecticut  in  1795  and  arrived  in  Nashville 
in  1818  where  he  studied  law  under  Felix  Grundy.  He  became  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  bar  of  Tennessee  and  was  prominent  in  the  promotion  of  educa- 
tion, and  contributed  whatever  he  could  to  make  society  better  and  happier. 
The  following  paragraph  from  Chew's  "History  of  Nashville,"  page  444, 
shows  his  connection  with  the  Hume-Fogg  School : 

"After  the  war,  upon  reopening  the  schools  in  1865,  the  Hume  Building  was 
found  insufficient  to  accommodate  the  pupils  of  that  district;  and  consequently 
a  wooden  building  was  purchased  which  had  been  built  by  the  United  States 
authorities  on  South  Vine  Street,  and  had  been  used  for  a  mess  hall  during  the 
war.  This  building  was  removed  to  the  Hume  lot  and  fitted  up  for  a  school- 
house,  and  used  several  years;  and  finally  in  its  stead  the  new  brick  building 
which  now  adorns  that  location  was  erected,  and  was  first  occupied  in  January. 
1875.  It  is  called  the  'Fogg  School,'  in  honor  of  Francis  B.  Fogg,  who  was 
the  first  president  of  the  board  of  education." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  721 

THE  OLD   CAPITOL.   BUILDING 

On  Broadway,  occupying  a  part  of  the  site  now  covered  by  the  Hume-Fogg 
High  School,  was  the  old  Capitol  Building  of  Tennessee  where  the  sessions  of 
the  state  Legislature  were  held  in  1813-1817.  Old  pictures  represent  it  as  a 
small,  plain,  unpretentious  building  sitting  back  from  the  street  with  a  walk 
leading  to  the  steps  of  the  front  door  and  a  little  ell  jutting  from  its  eastern 
side. 

Prior  to  1812  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  had  been  held  in  the  old  Capitol 
Building  in  Knoxville  with  the  exception  of  two  days  in  1807  when  it  con- 
vened at  Kingston.  The  second  session  of  the  Ninth  General  Assembly  was 
held  at  Nashville,  September  7,  1812.  In  1817  the  session  was  held  at  Knox- 
ville. From  1819  to  1825  Murfreesboro  was  the  state  capital.  Since  October 
16,  1826,  all  the  sessions  of  the  Legislature  have  been  held  in  Nashville,  which 
by  Act  of  the  General  Assembly  in  1843  was  declared  to  be  permanent  capital. 

THE    SOUTH    FIELD 

Originally  the  South  Field  was  a  part  of  the  tract  of  240  acres  given  to 
Davidson  Academy  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  in  1785,  for  the  support  of 
that  institution.  It  was  often  spoken  of  as  the  Common  and  was  unoccupied 
land  immediately  south  of  the  present  site  of  the  Custom  House  in  Nashville. 
It  was  there  that  the  soldiers  encamped  and  drilled.  It  was  there  that  La- 
Fayette  and  Jackson  reviewed  the  military  organizations  when  the  former  vis- 
ited Nashville  in  1825.  LaFayette  arrived  on  May  4th  and  was  the  guest  of 
General  Jackson  at  the  Hermitage.  Governor  Carroll  had  issued  a  proclama- 
tion inviting  the  militia  organizations  of  the  state  to  assemble  at  Nashville 
to  assist  in  paying  a  fitting  tribute  of  respect  to  the  gallant  visitor.  In  ' '  Old 
Times  in  Tennessee,"  Judge  Jo  C.  Guild  says:  "About  four  thousand  men, 
armed  and  equipped,  and  commanded  by  proper  officers,  responded  to  the 
invitation  of  the  governor,  and  encamped  in  South  Nashville,  which  was  then 
a  broad  common.  General  Jackson  and  Governor  Carroll  visited  our  camps 
frequently,  and  renewed  their  acquaintance  with  companions  in  the  Indian 
wars  and  that  of  1812." 

DAVIDSON    ACADEMY 

No.  700  Second  Avenue,  South,  marks  the  block  which  was  the  site  of  the 
University  of  Nashville  established  in  1825,  previously,  beginning  in  1806, 
Cumberland  College,  and  originally  Davidson  Academy.  On  December  29, 
1785,  the  General  Assembly  of  North  Carolina  passed  "an  act  for  the  promo- 
tion of  learning  in  the  County  of  Davidson."  James  Robertson  and  Rev. 
Thomas  B.  Craighead  were  mainly  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  the 
act.  This  act  provided  for  the  donation  to  the  academy  of  240  acres  of  land. 
This  land  was  located  just  south  of  the  land  laid  off  for  the  Town  of  Nash- 
borough  the  year  previous.  It  extended  south  from  Broadway  and  from  the 
river  to  the  west  line  of  Tenth  Avenue,  west  of  the  Terminal  Station.  It  in- 
cluded the  "South  Field,"  which  was  that  part  of  the  tract  south  of  the  Cus- 
tom House.  The  academy  was  supported  by  the  rents  from  its  land,  from  the 
revenue  derived  by  conducting  a  ferry  just  above  the  wharf  at  the  foot  of 


722  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Broadway,  and  the  payment  of  tuition,  at  first  four  pounds,  then  five  pounds, 
payable  in  eorn  or  other  valuable  products.  In  1803  the  college  land  was  laid 
off  in  streets,  and  lots  of  one  acre  each  were  sold.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Town  of  South  Nashville.  During  the  presidency  of  Philip  Lindsley,  the 
University  of  Nashville  became  the  most  noted  educational  institution  for 
higher  learning  in  the  entire  Southwest.  It  is  said  that  at  one  time  no  less 
than  thirty-seven  of  its  graduates  were  members  of  Congress. 

In  1875  the  Peabody  Normal  College  was  established  as  the  literary  depart- 
ment of  the  university  and  the  institution  was  then  known  as  the  University 
of  Nashville  and  Peabody  Normal  College.  It  is  now  known  as  the  George 
Peabody  College  for  Teachers  and  is  located  on  the  Hillsboro  Pike.  The  old 
grounds  in  South  Nashville  were  sold  to  Vanderbilt  University  for  its  medical 
department, 

EDWARD   EMERSON   BARNARD 

A  marker  has  been  placed  at  the  home  of  Edward  Emerson  Barnard,  the 
famous  astronomer,  1919  Patterson  Street.  Nashville.  Barnard  was  born  in 
Nashville,  December  16,  1857,  and  while  yet  a  lad,  evinced  a  keen  interest  in 
astronomy  and  made  astronomical  observations  with  a  telescope  of  his  own 
make.  In  1881  he  discovered  his  first  comet.  In  succeeding  years  he  discovered 
so  many  comets  that  he  became  admittedly  the  foremost  as  a  comet  observer 
among  living  astronomers.  In  1883  he  was  awarded  a  fellowship  in  Vander- 
bilt University  and  was  thus  enabled  to  devote  all  his  time  to  his  favorite  sci- 
ence. While  at  Vanderbilt  he  won  seven  times  the  Warner  prize  of  $200 
offered  for  the  discovery  of  each  new  comet.  He  has  discovered  no  less  than 
sixteen  comets,  many  nebulae  and  double  stars.  In  1888  he  was  offered  and 
accepted  a  position  in  Lick  Observatory  and  there  made  many  astonishing  dis- 
coveries which  aroused  great  attention  in  the  scientific  world.  He  was  the  first 
to  photograph  the  Milky  Way.  His  other  wonderful  achievements,  great  and 
valuable  as  they  were,  have  been  overshadowed  by  his  discovery  of  the  fifth 
moon  of  Jupiter,  which  discovery  he  made  at  Mt.  Hamilton,  on  the  night  of 
September  9,  1892.  His  telegram  of  September  11,  1892,  to  R.  P.  Calvert,  an- 
nouncing his  great  discovery,  is  in  the  archives  of  the  Tennessee  Historical 
Society.  In  recognition  of  the  value  of  this  discovery,  hitherto  unsuspected 
by  astronomers,  he  was  awarded  the  Lalande  gold  medal  of  the  French  Academy 
of  Science,  1892,  and  the  Arago  gold  medal  of  the  same  institution  in  1893. 
He  has  also  been  awarded  the  Janssen  prize  of  the  French  Astronomical  So- 
ciety, the  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  of  Great  Britain,  and 
the  Bruce  gold  medal  of  the  Astronomical  Society  of  the  Pacific. 

In  1895,  Barnard  again  excited  the  surprise  of  the  scientific  world  by  his 
discoveries  regarding  the  dimensions  of  the  asteroids. 

His  remarkable  achievements  have  placed  him  on  the  very  pinnacle  of  con- 
temporary astronomical  accomplishment  and  his  name  will  be  inscribed  with 
those  of  the  greatest  astronomers  of  all  time. 

NATCHEZ    TRACE    ROAD 

On  October  24,  1801,  a  treaty  was  made  by  the  United  States  with  the 
Chickasaw  Indians,  and,  a  few  weeks  later,  one  with  the  Choetaws,  providing 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  723 

for  opening  a  wagon  road  from  Nashville  to  Natchez.  These  treaties  were 
effected  by  General  Wilkinson  who  placed  Capt.  Robt.  Butler  and  Lieut.  E. 
Pendleton  Gaines  in  charge  of  the  work,  with  ten  companies  of  soldiers  and 
several  Indian  guides.  The  work  was  completed  in  several  months.  It  ran, 
for  the  most  part,  with  the  Chickasaw  trail. 

The  road  was  officially  called  the  Columbian  Highway.  It  began  at  Duck 
River  ridge  in  Williamson  County.  It  ran  through  Maury  County  to  Gordon's 
Ferry  in  the  edge  of  Hickman  County,  through  the  center  of  Lewis  County, 
through  Northwest  Lawrence  County  and  East  Wayne  County.  It  crossed  the 
Tennessee  River  at  Colbert's  Ferry. 

In  the  summer  of  1802  the  road  was  completed  from  the  north  end  into 
Nashville,  and  ended  at  Centennial  Park  near  Cockrill's  Spring. 

A  marker  for  this  road  has  been  placed  in  Centennial  Park  and  another 
at  a  point  on  the  Hillsboro  Road  where  the  Natchez  Trace  crosses  it. 

THE    GRAVE    OP    CHARLES    DICKINSON 

At  3729  Harding  Road  has  been  placed  a  marker  indicating  that  the  grave 
of  Charles  Dickinson  is  300  yards  south  of  the  location  of  the  marker.  Dick- 
inson was  mortally  wounded  in  a  duel  with  Andrew  Jackson,  which  was  fought 
near  Adairville,  Ky.,  on  May  30,  1806. 

BELLE    MEADE 

The  place  on  which  Belle  Meade  stands  has  been  historic  ground  ever  since 
Joseph  Dunham  built  there  his  fort  in  1783,  as  a  defense  against  the  attacks 
of  the  Indians.  Joseph  Dunham  came  to  the  Cumberland  settlement  from  the 
Watauga  where  he  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Watauga  agreement. 

It  was  John  Harding,  however,  who  laid  the  foundation  for  the  future 
greatness  of  Belle  Meade  and  gave  his  name  to  the  beautiful  Harding  Pike. 
John  Harding  came  to  Tennessee  from  Virginia  in  1779  and  established  Belle 
Meade  in  1803.  His  son,  William  G.  Harding,  brought  Belle  Meade  into  its 
world-wide  reputation  as  a  nursery  of  superior  horse  flesh;  and,  in  his  declin- 
ing years,  his  son-in-law,  Gen.  William  H.  Jackson,  a  gallant  Confederate 
officer,  carried  on  the  work  of  his  distinguished  predecessor. 

Belle  Meade  was  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  famous  thoroughbred  breeding 
establishments  in  America.  General  Harding  always  spoke  of  his  horses  as 
"The  Royal  Family."  Among  them  were  Priam,  sire  of  Crucifix,  winner  of 
the  purses  of  1,000  guineas  and  2,000  guineas,  Bonnie  Scotland,  Great  Tom, 
Sovereign,  John  Morgan;  the  mares  Gamma  and  Mariposa;  Iroquois,  the  only 
American  horse  that  ever  won  the  English  Derby;  Luke  Blackburn,  Proctor 
Knott,  the  Commoner,  and  Enquirer,  whose  greatness  has  been  fittingly  com- 
memorated by  a  monument  erected  at  Belle  Meade  by  the  Cincinnati  Enquirer. 

In  Belle  Meade  many  celebrated  personages  have  been  entertained,  among 
them  Grover  Cleveland  and  his  bride;  Theodore  Roosevelt,  who  founded  there 
the  Boone-Crockett  Hunting  Club;  President  Benjamin  Harrison  and  many 
others.  At  one  time  Judge  J.  M.  Dickinson,  secretary  of  war  in  the  cabinet 
of  President  Taft,  was  the  owner  of  Belle  Meade. 


724  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

THE   NASHVILLE   FEMALE  ACADEMY 

Early  in  L816  twenty-five  of  the  most  prominent  men  of  Nashville  associated 
themselves  together  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  great  institution  for  the 
education  of  girls  and  young  women.  In  the  charter  of  incorporation,  issued 
by  the  Legislature  on  October  3,  1817,  the  institution  was  called  the  Nashville 
Female  Academy.  This  was  one  of  the  first  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the  entire 
United  States.  Only  a  few  years  previously  three  schools  of  the  kind  had  been 
established  in  New  England ;  and,  in  Tennessee  alone,  three  had  been  in- 
corporated, the  oldest  of  which  was  Pisk's  Female  Academy,  at  Hilham,  Over- 
ton County,  incorporated  in  1806. 

During  its  existence  of  more  than  half  a  century  probably  no  school  of  the 
kind  ever  wielded  so  much  influence  in  the  United  States ;  certainly  none  in 
the  South.  The  first  principal  was  Dr.  Daniel  Berry,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  and, 
under  him,  the  school  was  opened  in  1817. 

The  buildings  of  the  academy  were  located  on  the  north  side  of  Church 
Street,  just  east  of  what  is  now  Tenth  Avenue.  They  had  a  front  of  180  feet 
on  Church  Street  and  extended  back  280  feet  and  most  of  them  were  two 
stories  in  height.  "They  were  so  constructed  as  to  give  sunlight  access  to 
every  room  and  were  so  connected  by  porticoes  as  to  afford  easy  communi- 
cation without  exposure  in  inclement  weather."  The  grounds  comprised  one 
entire  square  of  five  acres.  In  1862  the  school  was  suspended  because  the 
premises  were  occupied  by  Federal  soldiers.  When  the  operation  of  the  acad- 
emy was  resumed  in  1865  buildings  on  Broadway,  near  Ninth  Avenue,  were 
rented  under  the  name  of  Lanier  Female  Academy.  Soon  after,  however, 
under  the  management  of  Rev.  D.  C.  Elliott,  the  school  was  relocated  in  the 
old  academy  buildings  and  so  continued  until  1878  when  the  property  was 
sold  to  W.  M.  Duncan. 

FRENCH    LICK   AND   FORT 

For  many  years  prior  to  the  advent  of  James  Robertson  and  John  Donelson 
and  their  parties  in  1780  the  Great  French  Lick  had  been  known  to  white  men 
Although  known  to  the  Indians  for  many  ages,  this  lick  was  first  visited  by 
white  men  in  1710  when  some  Frenchmen  came  up  the  Cumberland  River 
from  the  Ohio  and  discovered  it.  In  1714  it  was  visited  by  Charles  Charleville, 
then  a  boy  about  fifteen  years  old.  Near  the  spring  they  found  a  mound  and 
on  it  the  logs  of  a  rude  fort  left  by  the  Shawnees,  after  whom  they  called  the 
river  the  Shauvanon.  The  Indians  generally  called  it  the  Warioto  or  Wasioto. 
The  name  Cumberland  was  given  it  by  Doctor  Walker  in  honor  of  the  Duke 
of  Cumberland. 

The  Lick  or  Spring  was  located  in  Sulphur  Spring  Bottom  or  Sulphur 
Dell,  north  of  the  State  Capitol  and  a  little  southwest  of  the  Howe  Ice  Factory 
and  directly  south  of  the  baseball  park. 

In  the  early  days  the  water  of  this  spring  was  salt  impregnated  with  sul- 
phur and  from  the  spring  ran  a  branch  to  the  Cumberland  River.  This  branch 
now  runs  through  a  large  pipe  laid  underground. 

Round  about  the  spring  the  ground  was  beaten  hard  by  the  hoofs  of  buffalo, 
deer,  elk,  bear  and  other  wild  animals,  and  to  it  converged  paths  made  by 
these  animals,  extending  to  every 'point  of  the  compass. 


NASHVILLE  FEMALE  ACADEMY 
Established  in  1816;  closed  in  1877 


BELLE  MEADE,  NASHVILLH 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  727 

In  the  mound  near  it  were  found  the  graves  of  a  prehistoric  race  that  long 
antedated  the  Indians.  Since  that  time  many  other  graves  and  relics  of  those 
people  have  been  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Nashville,  and  in  other  parts  of 
Tennessee. 

FREELAND   STATION 

On  the  site  of  Warioto  Mills,  1400  Eighth  Avenue,  North,  was  Freeland 
Station,  one  of  the  first  forts  in  the  settlement  of  Nashville.  Here  on  January 
11,  1781,  was  born  Felix  Robertson,  the  first  white  child  born  in  Nashville. 
James  Robertson,  then  a  colonel,  had  just  returned  from  Kentucky  with  a  supply 
of  ammunition  and  news  of  the  outside  world,  including  an  account  of  the 
great  victory  of  King's  Mountain.  Hence,  many  visitors  were  on  hand  on  the 
15th  to  congratulate  Robertson,  hear  him  talk  and  secure  powder  and  bullets. 
At  midnight  Robertson  discovered  an  Indian's  arm  reaching  through  the  gate 
and  pushing  the  gate  aside.  A  crowd  of  Indians  noiselessly  followed ;  but 
Robertson  gave  the  alarm  and  the  Indians,  in  a  fierce  fight,  were  held  at  bay. 
They  were  finally  driven  off  in  the  direction  of  Fisk  University  with  the  help 
of  pioneers  from  the  Bluffs  who  had  heard  the  firing.  At  daylight  they  were 
followed  by  Captain  Rains  and  his  "gunners"  out  the  main  buffalo  path  towards 
the  west.     The  Indians  numbered  about  fifty  and  the  white  men  eleven. 

HOME  AND  PORT   OP  JAMES  ROBERTSON 

On  a  road  running  north  from  the  Charlotte  Pike  beginning*  about  three 
hundred  yards  west  of  the  bridge  over  Richland  Creek,  was  the  home  and 
fort  of  James  Robertson.  This  was  built  in  1797. and  was  well  situated  on  rising 
ground  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  pike,  then  a  rude  road  or  trail.  He 
was  unquestionably  the  Father  of  Middle  Tennessee.  Of  him  Ramsey  says  in  his 
"Annals  of  Tennessee,"  page  665:  "Besides  the  civil  and  political  positions 
which  General  Robertson  occupied,  as  already  mentioned,  in  the  Watauga  As- 
sociation, in  the  Legislature  and  Convention  of  North  Carolina,  the  Territory, 
and  the  State  of  Tennessee,  he  was  deputy  superintendent  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  Chickasaw  and  Choctaw  tribes;  and  was  several  times 
appointed  to  treat  with  the  southern  Indians,  for  a  relinquishment  of  their 
claims  to  land  in  the  Southwest.  Previous  to  and  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
General  Robertson  was  the  United  States  agent  to  the  Chickasaw  nation.  A 
detail  of  his  acts  in  behalf  of  his  country,  and  an  enumeration  of  his  sufferings, 
by  personal  exposure,  in  the  wilderness,  in  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  besieged 
fort  and  the  assaulted  station,  in  losses  of  relatives  and  of  private  property, 
would  fill  a  volume.  He  was  faithful  to  his  God,  his  country,  and  his  fellow 
men.  The  memory  of  no  one  is  held  in  greater  esteem  and  veneration,  than 
that  of  James  Robertson." 

MANSKER 's   STATION 

A  few  days  after  James  Robertson  and  his  companions  had  located  the 
Great  Lick,  Gasper  Mansker  and  his  small  party  joined  them  in  a  camp  "con- 
venient to  the  Lick."  Mansker  had  organized  and  led  the  "Long  Hunters" 
through  the  Cumberland  Country  in  1770.     He  had  probably  discovered  Man- 


728  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sker's  Lick  at  this  time.  His  station,  however,  was  not  permanently  established 
until  1780,  when  John  Donelson  and  his  family  lived  there  with  him,  after 
abandoning  Donelson 's  Station  at  Clover  Bottom.  They  also  lived  there  in 
1785,  when  Colonel  Donelson  was  assassinated  while  returning  from  Kentucky. 
Mansker's  Station  was  located  at  Mansker's  Lick,  a  fine  sulphur  spring  on 
Long  Hollow  Pike  near  Goodlettsville,  which  was  formerly  called  Mansker's 
Post  Office.  A  trace  led  from  Nashborough  to  Mansker's  Lick.  On  April  1,  1780, 
an  order  was  issued  that  a  road  be  made  between  the  two  places,  and  the  road 
was  laid  off  along  the  trace  but  was  not  cleared  until  the  next  year.  Robert 
Cartwright,  who  had  held  numerous  important  civil  offices  under  the  colonial 
government  in  Virginia  and  who  was  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  was  appointed 
by  the  county  court  to  oversee  this  work.  It  is  now,  for  the  most  part,  the 
Gallatin  Pike. 

SPRING  HILL  MEETING  HOUSE 

When  James  Robertson  secured  the  passage  of  the  act  establishing  David- 
son, he  also  secured  the  services  of  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  a  Presbyterian 
preacher  and  a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  1775.  Mr.  Craighead  was  made  the 
president  of  Davidson  Academy  and  decided  to  live  at  Haysborough,  a  station 
about  five  miles  from  the  Bluff  on  the  trace  to  Mansker's  Station.  There  he 
built  his  home  and  a  church  called  the  Spring  Hill  Meeting  House.  The  Spring 
Hill  Cemetery  is  still  there.  There  Davidson  Academy  was  opened  in  the 
fall  of  1786  and  was  taught  by  Craighead  for  fifteen  years.  In  1798  it  was 
decided  to  change  the  location  of  the  school  and  it  was  finally  thought  best  to 
place  it  on  its  own  land  "on  the  hill  immediately  above  Nashville  and  near  to 
the  road  leading  to  Buchanan's  Mill."  That  hill,  called  for  many  years  "Col- 
lege Hill,"  was  between  Second  and  Third  avenues,  South,  and  Franklin  and 
Peabody  streets.  The  change  was  made  in  1801.  Davidson  Academy  was  then 
enlarged  and  became  Cumberland  College  in  1806,  and  the  University  of  Nash- 
ville in  1825. 

HOME  OP  JESSE  BENTON 

Jesse  Benton,  brother  of  Col.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  lived  for  many  years  in 
Nashville  and  resided  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  Dr.  L.  G.  Noel,  about  two 
miles  out  on  the  Granny  White  Pike.  Due  to  a  misunderstanding  between 
Andrew  Jackson  and  Thomas  Benton,  growing  out,  in  part,  of  the  fact  that 
Jackson  was  second  to  William  Carroll  in  his  duel  with  Jesse  Benton,  an  estrange- 
ment occurred  between  Jackson  and  Colonel  Benton  who  had  theretofore  been 
warm  friends.  This  feeling  of  enmity  was  accentuated  by  the  reports  of  busy 
tale  bearers,  who  finally  told  Colonel  Benton  that  Jackson  had  said  that  he 
would  horsewhip  Benton  on  sight. 

On  September  4,  1813,  they  met  at  the  old  City  Hotel  and  Jackson  was 
seriously  wounded  by  Jesse  Benton.  Afterwards  Jackson  and  Colonel  Benton 
became  stronger  friends  than  ever  and  Benton  ardently  and  continuously  and 
ably  defended  Jackson  in  the  United  States  Senate;  and  finally,  after  several 
years  of  strenuous  effort,  succeeded  in  having  the  Senate's  resolution  of  censure 
of  Jackson  expunged.  On  his  deathbed  Jackson  said,  "Tell  Colonel  Benton  that 
I  was  grateful  to  him  even  to  my  dying  day." 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  729 

LEALAND 

On  the  Granny  White  Pike,  hut  a  short  distance  north  of  the  site  of  Granny 
White's  Tavern,  is  the  famous  historic  home  of  the  Leas.  This  home  was  estab- 
lished by  Judge  John  M.  Lea,  who  married  the  daughter  of  John  Overton,  the 
intimate  life-long  friend  of  Andrew  Jackson,  the  most  noted  judge  of  his 
day  and  the  principal  founder  of  the  City  of  Memphis. 

Judge  Lea  was  a  scholarly  and  successful  lawyer,  judge,  mayor  of  Nash- 
ville, president  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society  and  noted  philanthropist. 
For  many  years  it  was  the  hospitable  abiding  place  of  many  celebrated  men. 
During  the  Battle  of  Nashville,  December  15  and  16,  1864,  it  was  the  head- 
quarters of  General  Hood. 

The  larger  part  of  Lealand,  and  that  upon  which  the  residence  is  located, 
is  a  portion  of  the  original  estate  of  John  Overton,  and  has  been  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  family  for  more  than  a  century. 

Thomas  H.  Benton,  at  one  time,  lived  on  an  eminence  in  the  rear  of  the 
present  dwelling  house  and  read  law  with  Judge  Overton.  He  knew  Granny 
White  well  and  immortalized  her  in  several  of  his  speeches  in  the  United 
States  Senate.  The  old  lady  was  very  thrifty,  and  on  one  occasion  he  com- 
pared the  general  government  to  her,  holding  tightly  to  what  she  had  and 
always  grasping  for  more. 

GRANNY  WHITE  TAVERN 

Granny  White  came  into  Tennessee  from  North  Carolina  in  1808  and,  after 
spending  a  few  years  in  East  Tennessee  where  the  excellence  of  her  cakes  gained 
for  her  a  widespread  reputation  and  enough  money  to  move  still  farther  west, 
she  came  to  the  Cumberland  Settlement  and,  about  1812,  established  her  tav- 
ern at  the  point  on  the  road  where  it  crossed  the  Knobs.  It  was  the  most 
noted  inn  between  New  Orleans  and  Louisville,  and  was  famous  for  cleanli- 
ness and  good  cooking.  Although  the  Natchez  Trace  did  not  go  nearer  than 
five  miles  of  Franklin  another  road  from  the  Trace  went  to  that  town  and 
the  route  between  the  two  places  past  Granny  White's  Inn  was  popular  in 
the  early  days.  On  January  25,  1850,  the  Granny  White  Turnpike  Company 
was  incorporated  and  a  good  pike  was  built  from  Nashville  to  the  Williamson 
County  line.     It  was  completed  in  1855. 

HOME    OF    JUDGE    JOHN    HAYWOOD 

The  date  of  the  birth  of  Judge  John  Haywood  is  a  matter  of  historical 
dispute.  It  was  probably  in  1753,  although  the  Southwestern  Law  Journal 
and  Reporter  for  June,  1844,  which  contains  a  well  written  sketch  of  Hay- 
wood's life,  gives  it  as  March  16,  1762.  For  his  education  both  in  general 
studies  and  in  the  law  he  was  indebted  mostly  to  his  native  strength  of  mind 
and  assiduous  application.  Such  were  his  ability  and  tireless  industry  that 
by  the  year  1794  he  was  elevated  to  the  bench  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law 
and  Equity  of  North  Carolina,  having  already  been  attorney-general  of  that 
state.  In  1807  he  came  to  Tennessee  and  located  his  home  on  the  Nolens- 
ville  Pike,  about  seven  miles  from  Nashville,  where  he  lived  until  his  death  in 
1826.    He  was  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Tennessee  from  1816  to  1826. 


730  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Although  extremely  busy  necessarily  as  a  brilliant  lawyer  and  a  profound 
juris!,  he  nevertheless  found  time  to  write  some  remarkable  books,  among  them 
"Civil  and  Political  History  of  Tennessee,"  "Natural  and  Aboriginal  History 
of  Tennessee,"  and  "The  Christian  Advocate."  He  is  justly  considered  the 
"Father  of  Tennessee  History.'" 

One  of  his  contemporaries  said  of  him :  ' '  Judge  Haywood  was  a  fine  genius 
and  a  most  powerful  and  unrivaled  advocate.  In  tact  and  eloquence — such  elo- 
quence as  reaches  the  heart  and  convinces  the  judgment — he  had  no  equal  in 
Tennessee.  He  was  often  employed  with  and  against  the  late  Felix  Grundy  in 
the  most  critical  cases,  and  it  would  not  be  saying  too  much,  perhaps,  to  say 
that  as  an  orator  he  was  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  distinguished  advocate. 
Both  had  been  on  the  supreme  bench  of  their  respective  states,  and  both  came 
to  Tennessee  preceded  by  the  most  brilliant  reputation.  Both  were  men  of 
great  learning  and  attainments,  but  in  all  the  learning  which  pertained  to  his 
profession  Judge  Haywood  stood  far  in  advance  of  his  great  rival." 

BUCHANAN  STATION,  PIONEER  PORT  BUILT  IN   178C 

On  September  30,  1792,  Buchanan  Station  was  attacked  about  midnight  by 
a  band  of  Creeks  and  Lower  Cherokees  numbering  supposedly  three  hundred  or 
more.  They  were  first  discovered  by  an  outpost  who  gave  the  alarm  and  the 
fifteen  gunmen  in  the  fort  repulsed  them  with  considerable  loss. 

During  the  assault  Mrs.  Buchanan  and  other  women  played  the  part  of  sol- 
diers, firing  repeatedly  and  molding  bullets.  The  calmness  of  Mrs.  Buchanan 
has  "pointed  morals  and  adorned  tales"  ever  since  that  exciting  occasion. 

The  Indian  chief,  Chiachattalla,  who  led  the  attack,  was  killed. 

A  marker  has  been  placed  on  the  site  of  the  fort  where  the  Nashville,  Chat- 
tanooga &  St.  Louis  Railway  and  Elm  Hill  Pike  crosses  Mill  Creek. 

CLOVER  BOTTOM  RACE  TRACK 

Near  the  bridge  on  the  Lebanon  Pike  where  it  crosses  Stone's  River  and 
extended  on  both  sides  of  the  pike  was  Clover  Bottom  Race  Track  owned  by 
Andrew  Jackson,  who  stood  at  the  head  of  patrons  of  the  turf  for  twenty  years. 
Of  him  the  Spirit  of  the  Times  said:  "No  man  could  have  been  more  perfectly 
enraptured  with  the  manliest  of  sports,  or  with  the  high-mettled  racer  than  the 
Hero  of  the  Hermitage." 

He  owned  some  of  the  finest  horses  of  his  day.  Among  them  were  Truxton, 
Pacolet,  Greyhound,  Doublehead,  the  Opossum  filly  and  Indian  Queen.  On 
this  track  took  place  the  famous  races  between  Truxton  and  Capt.  Joseph  Er- 
win's  Plowboy,  in  the  fall  of  1805  and  on  April  3,  1806. 


In  his  "Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  Volume  1,  pages  309  and  311,  Parton 
says  that  Aaron  Burr  visited  Andrew  Jackson  on  May  29,  1805,  and  on  August 
6,  1805.  Putnam,  in  his  "History  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  page  579,  says  that 
Burr  visited  Tennessee  twice  in  1806 ;  that  the  last  time  he  arrived  at  Nashville 
was  on  December  20,  1806,  after  he  had  been  arrested  and  discharged  in  Ken- 
tucky.   His  departure  was  announced  as  follows: 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  731 

' '  December  27th :  Colonel  Burr  embarked  from  this  place  for  New  Orleans 
on  Monday  last,  with  two  large  flat-boats  which  did  not  appear  to  be  loaded." 

These  boats  were  built  on  Stone's  River,  at  Clover  Bottom,  near  the  bi-idge, 
under  the  direction  of  Andrew  Jackson  who  had  made  with  Burr  a  contract 
which  was  filed  in  court  at  Natchez,  Miss. 

JOHN  DONELSON'S  FARM,  CLOVER  BOTTOM  RACE  TRACK  AND  BURR  S  LANDING 

Where  the  Lebanon  Turnpike  crosses  Stone's  River  the  student  of  history 
finds  much  to  interest  him.  Here  John  Donelson  located  his  farm,  within  one 
week  after  his  party  reached  the  Bluff  on  April  24,  1780.  Here  he  put  in  a  crop 
of  corn  and  a  half  acre  of  cotton — the  first  cotton  produced  in  Middle  Tennessee. 
Here  he  built  a  fort  on  May  1,  1780;  and  here,  while,  late  in  November,  1780, 
Capt.  Abel  Gower's  party,  who  had  come  in  two  boats  for  the  purpose,  were 
gathering  Donelson 's  crop  of  corn  and  cotton,  all  but  three  of  the  party,  one 
white  man  and  two  negroes,  were  massacred  by  the  Indians  who  had  lain  in 
ambush  near  the  small  island  below  the  bridge.  The  white  man  and  one  of  the 
negroes  escaped  to  Bluff  Station.  "The  other  negro  or  mulatto,"  says  Putnam, 
"was  a  free  man,  known  as  Jack  Civil.  He  surrendered  to  the  Indians,  went 
with  them  to  the  Chickamauga  towns,  near  Lookout  Mountain,  and  then  with  the 
pirates  and  outlaws  who  settled  the  place  on  the  Tennessee  River,  which  later 
acquired  notoriety  as  Nicka-Jack,  or  Nigger-Jack,  unquestionably  so  named  after 
this  mulatto. ' ' 

CONFEDERATE  SOLDIERS'   HOME 

In  1856  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act  authorizing  the  purchase 
from  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  of  500  acres  of  the  Hermitage  farm  for  which  the 
sum  of  $48,000  was  paid.  In  1889  the  Legislature  passed  the  Confederate  Sol- 
diers' Home  Bill  whereby  appropriation  was  made  for  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ings now  used  for  the  Soldiers'  Home  and  assigning  to  the  home  the  possession 
of  all  the  Hermitage  farm  except  the  Hermitage  mansion  and  twenty-five  acres 
surrounding  it. 

The  shadows  are  growing  long  in  the  lives  of  these  heroes  whose  declining 
days  are  made  comfortable  by  this  noble  philanthropy. 

TULIP  GROVE 

In  1832  Andrew  Jackson  employed  the  architect,  Joseph  Reiff,  who  was  also 
the  architect  for  the  Hermitage,  to  draw  plans  for  a  residence  for  A.  J.  Donel- 
son. The  house  was  located  on  the  Lebanon  Pike,  adjoining  the  Hermitage 
Church,  and  only  a  short  distance  from  the  Hermitage.  At  that  time  A.  J. 
Donelson  was  private  secretary  to  President  Jackson.  A.  J.  Donelson,  named 
for  Andrew  Jackson,  was  the  son  of  Samuel  Donelson,  but,  when  a  very  small 
boy,  was  brought  to  the  Hermitage  and  was  reared  and  educated  by  General 
Jackson.  He  was  educated  at  the  University  of  Nashville  and  at  the  United 
States  Military  Academy.  He  held  with  distinction  many  positions  of  high 
honor,  among  them  minister  to  Prussia,  and  was  nominated,  in  1856,  candidate 
for  vice  president  of  the  United  States,  on  the  Native  American  ticket,  with  Mil- 
lard Fillmore  for  President. 


732  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

He  was  held  in  great  affection  by  Andrew  Jackson  who,  upon  his  death, 
willed  to  him  the  sword  presented  to  him  by  the  State  of  Tennessee,  with  this  in- 
junction :  "Th;it  he  fail  not  to  use  it  when  necessary  in  support  and  protection 
of  our  glorious  union,  and  for  the  protection  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  our 
beloved  country,  should  they  be  assailed  by  foreign  enemies  or  domestic  traitors." 

THE  HERMITAGE 

In  the  year  1804,  Andrew  Jackson  was  liying  in  his  comfortable  two-story 
brick  house  at  Hunter's  Hill,  about  three  miles  from  the  spot  where  the  Her- 
mitage was  created.  Because  of  a  financial  obligation,  Jackson  sacrificed  this 
splendid  property  and,  in  the  same  year,  built  the  first  Hermitage  which  was  a 
two-story  log  house  having  one  large  room  below  and  two  rooms  above.  He 
also  built  some  other  log  structures  near  it  and  lived  there  in  comfort,  if  not 
in  luxury.  He  was  living  in  this  log  house  when  he  entertained  Aaron  Burr  in 
1805.  This  was  his  home  when  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans  was  fought,  January 
8,  1815.  It  continued  to  be  his  home  until  1819,  when  he  built  a  brick  house 
on  the  present  site,  the  brick  having  been  manufactured  on  the  place.  This 
house  was  burned  in  1834,  when  he  was  serving  his  second  term  as  President 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  rebuilt  in  1835. 

Jackson  died  at  the  Hermitage,  June  8,  1845.  He  willed  the  entire  estate 
to  his  adopted  son,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr. 

In  1856,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  sold  500  acres  of  the  farm  to  the  State  of 
Tennessee  for  $48,000  and  moved  to  Mississippi. 

When  the  Civil  war  came  on,  acting  on  the  invitation  of  Governor  Isham  G. 
Harris,  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  returned  to  the  Hermitage  and  became  the  cus- 
todian of  it.  He  died  there  in  1865,  but  his  wife,  Mrs.  Sarah  Yorke  Jackson, 
continued  to  live  there  until  her  death  in  1887. 

In  1889,  the  Ladies'  Hermitage  Association  was  organized  and  has  had  charge 
of  the  Hermitage  since  that  time. 

THE   HERMITAGE  CHURCH 

While  the  Hermitage  is,  next  to  Mount  Vernon,  of  the  greatest  historical  im- 
portance to  all  America,  the  Hermitage  Church  is  by  no  means  lacking  in  in- 
trinsic interest.  General  Jackson  gave  the  ground  and  built  the  church  in  1823, 
out  of  the  great  love  he  bore  to  Mrs.  Jackson,  who  was  a  most  pious  Presby- 
terian. After  the  church  was  built,  Mrs.  Jackson  urged  the  general  to  join  it, 
but  he  declined  for  the  time  being  as  he  said  that  his  enemies  would  charge 
that  he  did  so  for  political  effect.  He  promised  to  join  as  soon  as  he  was  "out 
of  politics."    He  did  join  in  1843. 

In  1913,  the  Tennessee  Legislature  gave  two  or  three  acres  surrounding  the 
church  to  its  trustees  and  a  manse  was  built  for  the  pastor. 

In  the  summer  of  1923  the  centennial  of  its  establishment  was  fittingly 
observed. 

MARKERS   ON   THE   BATTLEFIELD   OF  NASHVILLE 

When  Hood  invested  Nashville  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Franklin, 
which  took  place  on  November  30,  1864,  he  found  the  Federal  forces  under 


THE  HERMITAGE,  NASHVILLE 


HERMITAGE  CHURCH,  NASHVILLE 


J  HE  UBRARlf 

OF  THE 

UMIVEBSITY  Of  (U.WOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  735 

Thomas  well  protected  by  a  line  of  fortifications  extending-  from  one  bend  of  the 
Cumberland  River  to  another,  completely  enclosing  the  City  of  Nashville.  Until 
recent  years  both  the  Federal  lines  and  the  Confederate  lines  could  be  followed 
with  ease  and  certainty  from  end  to  end.  Now  trenches  and  salients  are  discerni- 
ble at  only  a  few  points. 

A  map  of  the  battlefield  of  Nashville  was  drawn  a  few  years  ago  by  Wilbur 
F.  Foster,  major  engineer  corps,  Confederate  States  of  America.  Major  Foster 
took  part  in  the  battle,  being  attached  to  Stewart's  Corps  and  has  located  the 
most  important  points  in  both  the  Confederate  and  Federal  lines.  These  points 
and  others  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  battle  of  Nashville  were  designated 
by  markers  erected  in  1912  by  the  Nashville  Industrial  Bureau  and  the  Nashville 
Battlefield  Association  working  in  cooperation. 

In  "The  Battle  of  Nashville,"  pages  36-41,  written  by  W.  E.  Beard  in  1913, 
are  the  following  descriptions  of  these  markers: 

MARKER   NO.    1 

The  location  of  a  Federal  salient  and  main  battery  in  the  outer  defenses  on 
December  15,  1864.  The  marker  is  located  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  between  the 
Belmont  Boulevard  and  the  Hillsboro  Turnpike.  This  salient  was  the  pivot 
on  which  the  Federal  right  was  swung  against  the  troops  of  Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart, 
holding  the  Hillsboro  Road.  Reached  by  the  Belmont  Heights  ear  line,  and  a 
walk  np  the  hill  by  way  of  Linden  Avenue. 

MARKER    NO.    2 

The  Federal  works  of  the  outer  defenses  crossed  the  Hillsboro  Turnpike  at 
this  point.  Remains  of  the  works  may  still  be  seen  on  the  west  side  of  the  road. 
The  marker  is  located  just  south  of  the  limits  of  St.  Bernard's  Academy.  This 
part  of  the  Federal  line  was  held  by  the  Fourth  Corps,  then  commanded  by  Gen. 
Thomas  J.  Wood,  a  Kentuckian,  who  was  made  a  major  general  for  distinguished 
services  at  Nashville.  The  marker  is  at  the  terminus  (1913)  of  the  Broadway 
and  Hillsboro  car  line. 

MARKER   X(  >.   3 

Marker  No.  3  fixes  the  location  of  Redoubt  No.  1,  the  salient  angle  of  the 
Confederate  left.  It  is  located  on  Noel's  hill,' about  two  hundred  yards  east  of 
the  Hillsboro  Turnpike.  It  is  accessible  by  way  of  the  Broadway  and  Hillsboro 
car  line  and  a  walk  from  the  terminus,  or  by  tramping  over  the  field  from  Marker 
No.  5. 

MARKER  NO.  4 

The  location  of  a  battery  in  the  Confederate  line  defended  by  the  troops 
of  General  Loring.  The  marker  is  located  on  the  private  property  of  O.  \<\ 
Noel,  in  front  of  a  residence  facing  an  old  boulevard  of  other  days,  an  exten- 
sion of  the  present  Belmont  Boulevard,  and  is  accessible  by  walking  from  the 
terminus  of  the  Belmont  Heights  car  line. 


736  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

MARKER  NO.  5 

The  site  of  the  old  Montgomery  House,  the  ruins  of  which  were  a  landmark 
on  the  Confederate  advance  line  when  the  battle  began.  According  to  newspa- 
per accounts  of  the  battle  the  Montgomery  house  was  burned  about  1862.  The 
Confederate  advance  was  here  heavily  attacked  by  Beatty's  division  of  the 
Fourth  Army  Corps  about  1  P.  M.,  December  15,  and  the  hill  taken.  The  marker 
stands  at  the  top  of  the  hill  and  is  reached  by  the  Belmont  Heights  car  line  and 
a  walk  up  Cedar  Lane. 

MARKER  NO.  6 

This  was  the  location  of  the  Confederate  advance  line  on  Granny  White 
Turnpike  prior  to  the  battle.  The  marker  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  lane  north  of 
Tennessee  Central  Railroad.  Accessible  by  walk  from  the  Belmont  Heights  car 
line  or  the  Glendale  Park  car  line. 

MARKER  NO.  7 

The  Confederate  works  cross  the  Granny  White  Turnpike  at  this  point  and 
vestiges  of  them  running,  at  a  sharp  angle  with  the  road,  are  still  visible.  Marker 
No.  7  is  located  a  few  paces  south  of  the  E.  T.  Noel  home.  Reached  by  the 
Glendale  car  line  and  a  walk  west  from  Clifton  Station  through  Clifton  Avenue 
to  the  Granny  White  Turnpike. 

MARKER  NO.  8 

A  Redoubt  in  Gen.  Stephen  D.  Lee's  line  standing  in  a  meadow  just  north 
of  James  E.  Caldwell's  residence.  The  mounds  of  earth  west  of  the  Franklin 
Turnpike  are  easily  visible  from  that  highway.  The  marker  is  reached  by  the 
Nashville  Interurban  car  line. 

MARKER  NO.   9 

The  point  where  the  Confederate  line  (Lee's)  crossed  the  Franklin  Turn- 
pike on  December  15th.  Marker  No.  8  is  visible  from  No.  9,  directly  to  the 
southwest.     Reached  by  the  Nashville  Interurban  car  line. 

MARKER  NO.   10 

Fort  Negley,  the  main  point  in  the  fortifications  of  Nashville,  thrown  up  in 
the  fall  of  1862,  under  the  direction  of  Maj.-Gen.  James  S.  Negley,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, with  the  aid  of  his  chief  engineer  (later  brigadier-general),  James  St. 
Clair  Morton.  During  the  Civil  war,  Fort  Negley  was  a  large  complex  work, 
having  within  it  two  casements,  protected  with  railroad  iron,  and  bomb  proof. 
The  guns  of  Fort  Negley  and  its  neighbor,  Fort  Casino,  opened  the  battle  of 
Nashville  at  daybreak  December  15,  1864.  Reached  by  the  Glendale  car  line 
and  a  walk  east  on  Bass  Street  to  the  boulevard. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  737 

MARKER  NO.   11 

Fort  Casino,  the  present  site  of  the  city  reservoir.  This  fort  was  erected  at 
the  same  time  as  Fort  Negley,  and  the  marker  stands  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Glendale  car  line  at  the  reservoir  grounds  gate.  The  city  reservoir,  costing 
$345,525.21,  was  completed  August  24,  1889,  its  capacity  being  50,000,000  gal- 
lons. On  the  night  of  November  4,  1912,  the  wall  of  the  east  basin  gave  way 
at  midnight,  releasing  25,000,000  gallons  of  water  which  rushed  like  a  moun- 
tain torrent  down  the  hillside,  doing  $45,000  damage  to  property.  Not  a  life 
was  lost,  however. 

MARKER  NO.   12 

Fort  Morton,  located  on  a  hill  northwest  of  Fort  Casino  and  named  in  honor 
of  James  St.  Clair  Morton,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  a  West  Pointer.  In  1860 
Morton  was  selected  to  explore  the  Chiriqui  country  in  Central  America  and 
test  the  practicability  of  a  railroad  route  across  the  isthmus.  In  building  the 
defenses  of  Nashville,  Morton  swooped  down  upon  barber  shops,  kitchens  and 
even  churches,  according  to  a  history  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  gathering 
in  negro  laborers  to  shovel  the  earth.  The  works  he  built  made  Nashville,  dur- 
ing the  war,  one  of  the  most  strongly  fortified  cities  in  the  country.  Morton 
also  built  the  defenses  of  Murfreesboro.  The  marker  is  at  the  head  of  Central 
Avenue,  two  blocks  west  from  Fall  School,  which  is  on  the  Glendale  car  line. 

MARKER  NO.  13 

The  site  of  Fort  Houston,  the  marker  being  located  on  the  lawn  bordering 
the  former  residence  of  Maj.  E.  C.  Lewis,  119  Sixteenth  Avenue,  South.  To 
make  way  for  this  fort  the  handsome  home  of  Russell  Houston,  a  strong  Unionist, 
had  to  be  destroyed — hence  its  name.  The  marker  is  reached  by  Belmont  cars, 
the  stop  being  Division  Street  and  Sixteenth  Avenue. 

MARKER  NO.  14 

The  site  of  a  lunette,  or  a  small  open  work,  occupied  by  the  remnants  of 
Granbury's  Confederate  brigade,  300  strong,  when  Steedman  made  his  attack 
on  the  Confederate  right,  December  15th.  Located  in  the  rear  of  the  present 
James  S.  Robinson  home.  It  is  reached  by  the  Nolensville  car  line,  and  a  walk 
east  on  the  lane  from  Woody  Crest  Station. 

MARKER  NO.  15 

The  point  where  Cheatham's  line,  the  Confederate  right  on  the  first  day  of 
the  battle,  crossed  the  Nolensville  Turnpike.  Reached  by  the  Nolensville  car 
line,  the  stop  being  about  one  hundred  yards  south  of  Melrose  Avenue,  the  street 
leading  to  the  crest  of  Rain's  Hill  (Marker  No.  18). 

MARKER  NO.   16 

An  angle  in  Cheatham's  line  on  the  first  day  of  the  battle.  It  stands  on 
what  is  now  Peachtree  Street,  a  short  distance  east  of  the  Nolensville  car  line 
and  verv  near  Marker  No.  15. 


738  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

MARKER  NO.   17 

One  block  away  from  No.  16,  and  almost  due  north,  Cheatham's  line  is 
further  marked  by  No.  17  (located  on  Valeria  Street).  Remains  of  the  Con- 
federate works,  much  sunken,  can  be  easily  seen.  Reached  by  the  Nolensville 
car  line. 

MARKER   NO.    18 

Rains'  Hill,  a  commanding  eminence  in  the  Confederate  line  on  December 
15th.  It  overlooks  the  Nolensville  Turnpike,  is  a  couple  of  hundred  yards  west 
of  the  road  and  three  and  a  half  miles  from  the  city.  Reached  by  the  Nolens- 
ville car  line  and  a  walk  west  on  Melrose  Avenue  and  thence  on  Cline  Avenue. 

MARKER  NO.    19 

A  famous  place  in  the  suburbs  of  Nashville  is  Melrose,  the  old  home  of  Aaron 
A'.  Brown,  governor  of  Tennessee,  1845  to  1847,  and  postmaster-general  in 
Buchanan's  cabinet.  On  the  morning  of  December  15th  the  Confederate  works 
ran  about  two  hundred  yards  south  of  the  historic  residence.  Melrose  con- 
tinues to  be  one  of  the  show  places  about  Nashville,  and  is  now  the  property  of 
W.  S.  Bransford.  It  is  reached  by  the  Nashville  Interurban  car  line,  the  stop 
being  at  the  Tennessee  Central  crossing,  and  a  walk  east  through  what  is  known 
as  Berry's  lane.     The  marker  is  located  within  the  Melrose  grounds. 

MARKER  NO.  20 

Fort  Gillem,  a  Federal  work  in  the  interior  defenses  in  1864,  named  for  Gen. 
Alvin  C.  Gillem,  who  was  a  native  of  Jackson  ( Jounty,  Tenn.,  and  a  "West  Pointer. 
For  a  period  in  1863  he  was  provost  marshal  of  Nashville,  and  from  June,  1863, 
to  August,  1864,  was  charged  with  guarding  the  Nashville  &  Northwestern  Rail- 
road, now  a  division  of  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway,  lead- 
ing to  Memphis.  General  Gillem 's  son  and  namesake  entered  the  Spanish- 
American  war  as  a  captain  in  the  First  Tennessee  Regiment,  United  States 
Volunteers,  which  saw  service  in  the  Philippines,  where  he  rose  to  the  rank 
of  major.  Later  he  entered  the  United  States  Army.  Jubilee  Hall  of  Fisk  Uni- 
versity, one  of  the  country's  notable  negro  schools,  now  occupies  the  site  of 
Fort  Gillem.  The  hall  was  built  from  the  proceeds  of  tours  made  by  the  Jubilee 
Singers  of  the  university  over  the  world,  singing  old  plantation  melodies.  They 
were  heard  and  remembered  by  many  of  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe.  Reached 
by  the  Jefferson  Street  car  line,  the  marker  being  adjacent  to  the  handsome  hall. 

Williamson  County 

hillsboro  turnpike 

This  turnpike  is  almost  on  the  same  line  as  was  the  original  Natchez  Road, 
constructed  from  Nashville  to  Natchez  in  1801-1802.  The  line  of  the  Natchez 
Trace  in  Williamson  County  was  mostly  in  the  hilly  ground  west  of  the  turn- 
pike.    At  the  Village  of  Forest  Home,  two  miles  south  of  the  bridge  over  Big 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  739 

Harpeth  River,  and  near  the  junction  with  the  Del  Rio  Pike  from  Franklin,  a 
large  inscribed  stone  has  been  erected  indicating  that  the  Natchez  Trace  was 
a  few  hundred  feet  immediately  west  from  that  point. 

Continuing  south  to  the  Village  of  Hillsboro,  or  Leiper's  Fork,  one  may  see 
on  his  right  a  residence  built  on  the  foundations  of  the  home  of  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  whose  parents  owned  several  thousand  acres  of  land  in  that  section. 
At  the  age  of  thirty-one  years  Benton  emigrated  to  Missouri,  from  which  state 
he  served  thirty  years  in  the  United  States  Senate. 

About  two  and  one-half  miles  further  south  is  Cunningham's  bridge,  where 
the  Natchez  Trace  ascended  the  Highland  Rim;  this  bridge  is  over  Garrison 
Fork,  so  named  because  there  was  a  garrison  of  United  States  soldiers  there 
over  a  century  ago.  The  pike  ends  at  this  bridge,  but  the  dirt  road  continues 
through  the  hills  and  crosses  Duck  River  Ridge  at  about  5  miles;  Duck  River 
Ridge  was  the  boundary  between  the  Cherokees  and  Chickasaws  from  1783  to 
1805. 

The  Hillsboro  Pike  is  a  free  road  to  within  about  a  Cjuarter  of  a  mile  of 
Hillsboro ;  thence  to  the  Cunningham  bridge  it  belongs  to  the  South  Harpeth 
Turnpike  Company,  and  has  on  it  one  toll  gate. 

THE   FRANKLIN   TURNPIKE    AND   THE   FRANKLIN    AND    SPRINGHILL   TURNPIKE 

These  pikes,  the  one  a  continuation  of  the  other,  constitute  the  direct  road 
from  Nashville  to  Columbia  through  Williamson  County.  It  is  expected  that 
they  will  become  a  part  of  the  Jackson  Highway  and  be  free  roads  wTithin  a 
short  time.  The  Franklin  and  Springhill  Pike  is  the  line  of  the  original  Mil- 
itary Road  or  Jackson  Highway. 

Four  miles  north  of  Franklin  is  a  gap  in  the  hills  through  which  the 
Franklin  Turnpike  runs;  this  is  Holly  Tree  Gap,  so  known  since  a  date  pre- 
vious to  the  year  1800.  in  olden  times  this  was  considered  a  dangerous  place 
as  a  number  of  robberies  and  murders  took  place  there;  it  is  also  the  gap  that 
General  Forrest  urged  General  Hood  to  seize  and  thus  cut  off  Schofield's  army 
instead  of  attacking  it  in  front  of  Franklin. 

Three  miles  further  north  this  pike  is  joined  by  an  extension  of  the  Granny 
White  Turnpike. 

Upon  the  approach  to  Franklin  several  wartime  forts  may  be  still  seen  a 
short  distance  to  the  east ;  the  largest  of  these  overlooks  Big  Harpeth  River, 
and  is  800  or  900  feet  long,  was  heavily  armed ;  was  built  in  1862,  and  for  a 
long  time  was  the  Federal  advance  fortress,  commanded  by  Gen.  Gordon 
Granger,  with  a  force  of  8,500  men  and  24  pieces  of  artillery. 

The  Village  of  Brentwood  is  the  northern  and  Franklin  is  the  southern 
terminus  of  this  pike.  Franklin  being  the  northern  and  Springhill  the  south- 
ern terminus  of  the  Franklin  and  Springhill   Turnpike. 

Franklin  is  the  county  seat  of  Williamson  County;  it  was  created  in 
October,  1779;  its  population  as  given  by  the  census  of  1920  is  3,123;  it  has. 
however,  close-in  suburbs,  which  really  make  its  population  approximately 
four  thousand;  it  has  three  banks  with  $300,000  capital;  it  owns  the  water- 
works system,  a  gravity  system,  which  cost  about  $110,000;  it  has  a  first-class 
fire  department,  50,000  feet  of  granitoid  sidewalks,  and  has  recently  spent 
$60,000  on  street  improvements.     It  has  a  modern  public  and  high  school,  the 


740         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

buildings  and  Furniture  of  which  are  valued  at  $75,000,  with  800  pupils.  The 
town  assessment  is  $2,700,000,  and  the  tax  rate  is  75  cents  on  the  $100. 

It  is  chiefly  known  to  history  because  of  the  great  battle  which  was  fought 
there  on  November  30,  1864.  The  main  lines  of  the  Federal  breastworks  ex- 
tend from  the  south  side  of  the  town  to  the  northeast  side,  touching  Big 
Harpeth  River  at  both  of  its  bends,  and  are  within  the  present  town  limits. 
The  lines  are  not  now  visible  except  as  to  the  forts  north  of  the  town.  In  the 
battle,  the  Confederates  were  commanded  by  General  ITood,  and  suffered  6,000 
casualties;  the  Federals  were  commanded  by  General  Schofield  and  suffered 
2,500  casualties.  The  Confederates  had  five  generals  killed,  namely,  Cleburne, 
Cranbury,  Strahl,  Adams,  Gist;  and  Carter  was  mortally  wounded. 

On  the  right  of  Columbia  Avenue — which  with  Main  Street  is  the  link  be- 
tween the  two  turnpikes  through  the  town — is  an  old  brick  residence,  the 
famous  Carter  House ;  this  is  60  feet  north  of  the  Federal  inner  entrenchments 
and  is  264  feet  from  the  main  entrenchments.  One  hundred  yards  west  of  the 
pike  and  in  the  main  line  is  where  the  noted  Locust  Thicket  stood ;  while  100 
feet  further  out  and  240  feet  east  of  the  pike  is  the  site  of  the  Cotton  Gin, 
where  the  fighting  was  most  severe. 

The  battle  lines,  spots  where  noted  officers  were  killed,  etc.,  will  be  marked 
by  Mr.  W.  W.  Courtney,  who  participated  in  the  battle. 

Two  miles  south  of  Franklin  are  the  Winstead  hills,  on  one  of  which  was 
General  Hood's  headquarters  during  the  battle. 

Just  south  of  the  Winstead  hills  is  a  brick  two-story  house,  the  Harrison 
house.  Here  there  was  a  fight  in  September,  1864,  the  Confederates  being 
commanded  by  Gen.  Joe  Wheeler,  who  afterwards  became  a  major  general  in 
the  United  States  Army,  and  commanded  the  cavalry  in  Cuba  during  the  war 
with  Spain.  The  Confederate  General  Kelly  was  killed,  and  the  Federal 
Col.  James  Brownlow,  a  son  of  Governor  Brownlow,  wounded. 

Nine  miles  south  of  Franklin,  and  a  few  hundred  yards  west  of  the  Franklin 
&  Springhill  Pike,  is  the  Village  of  Thompson  Station.  A  very  severe  battle 
was  fought  here  in  1863,  Generals  Van  Dorn  and  Forrest  commanding  the 
Confederate  forces  and  Colonel  Coburn  the  Federal.  The  Federals  sustained 
1,500  casualties,  and  the  Confederates  350;  General  Shaffer,  who  during  the 
war  with  Spain  commanded  the  army  in  Cuba,  being  among  the  captured 
Federals. 

The  residence  of  John  H.  Eaton,  who  was  a  senator  from  Tennessee,  and 
was  secretary  of  war  under  President  Andrew  Jackson,  still  stands  in  Fraiiklin ; 
a  large  old  brick  on  Main  Cross  Street  or  Third  Avenue,  alongside  the  Nash- 
ville Interurban  Railway. 

The  two  largest  additions  to  Franklin  were  both  made  in  1819,  one  by  Felix 
Grundy,  called  Hincheyville,  the  other  by  John  Bell,  called  Belltown.  Both 
of  these  gentlemen  became  national  characters  and  both  practiced  law  in 
Franklin. 

THE   CARTER'S    CREEK    TURNPIKE 

This  is  a  public  road;  it  runs  straight  out  Main  Street  from  Franklin  and 
joins  the  Columbia  free  road  at  Dark's  Mill,  about  twenty  miles  south  of 
Franklin  and  about  eight  miles  north  from   Columbia. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  741 

THE    WILSON    PIKE 

This  is  a  toll  road,  and  runs  from  Brentwood  on  the  north  to  the  Village 
of  Arrington  on  the  south. 

Brentwood  was  the  scene  of  a  small  encounter  between  General  Forrest  and 
the  Federals,  when,  in  1863,  he  captm^ed  a  large  wagon  train  and  900  men, 
with  the  loss  of  but  two  wounded. 

This  pike  runs  through  territory  which  still  shows  evidences  of  large  Indian 
cities  or  villages ;  probabh'  more  Indian  pottery  and  relics  have  been  discovered 
along  this  pike  than  in  any  other  section  of  Middle  Tennessee. 

It  bisects  the  Fifteenth  Civil  District,  which  has  the  distinction  of  having  had 
every  male  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-five  to  volunteer  during  the 
Mexican  war.  Lots  were  drawn  to  ascertain  who  should  remain  at  home  to  take 
care  of  the  women  and  old  men. 

THE  NOLENSVILLE  PIKE 

This  is  a  toll  road,  and  extends  from  the  Davidson  County  line  on  south 
to  the  Marshall  County  line,  passing  through  the  villages  of  Nolensville,  Triune, 
College  Grove,  Kirkman. 

In  1861,  during  the  Civil  war,  the  Confederate  cavalry  and  a  few  com- 
panies of  infantry  occupied  the  Village  of  Nolensville,  while  the  main  body 
under  General   Cleburne  was  camped  near  College  Grove. 

The  first  fighting  on  the  wings  of  the  armies  preceding  the  Battle  of  Mur- 
freesboro  took  place  at  Triune,  which  was  headquarters  of  Gen.  Gordon 
Granger,  after  he  had  left  Franklin  and  was  concentrating  with  the  main 
Federal  Army  moving  towards  Murfreesboro.  The  high  hill  near  Triune  was 
strongly  fortified,  and  was  once  attacked  by  Forrest  with  artillery;  this  hill 
for  a  long  time  was  used  as  a  signal  station  between  Franklin  and  Murfreesboro. 

THE  LEWISBURG  TURNPIKE 

This  is  now  a  free  road.  It  passes  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  the  Con- 
federate Cemetery,  where  are  buried  1,492  Confederate  soldiers  who  were  killed 
at  the  Battle  of  Franklin.  A  macadam  roadway  leads  from  the  turnpike  to 
the  cemetery;  the  cemetery  is  about  one  mile  south  of  Franklin.  All  of  the 
graves  are  marked  with  granite  head  stones,  there  being  a  large  monument  for 
each  state  giving  the  number  of  dead  by  states.  The  ground  was  given  by  the 
late  Col.  John  McGavock,  and  the  State  of  Tennessee  now  contributes  >|<200 
annually  to  its  upkeep. 

Maury  County 

first  log  court  house  op  maury  county 

Maury  County  was  named  in  honor  of  Maj.  Abram  Maury,  of  "Williamson 
County,  out  of  which  Maury  County  was  carved  by  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
passed  November  16,  1807.  Originally  Maury  County  included  parts  or  the 
whole  of  Lewis,  Lawrence,  Giles,  Marshall  and  Bedford  counties.     It  was  de- 


742  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

clared  in  the  ad  to  be  a  part  of  the  Mero  District  which  embraced  all  of  Ten- 
nessee at  that  time  west  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains. 

Following'  the  organization  of  the  county,  courts  were  established  and,  at 
first,  were  held  in  private  houses.  The  first  house  so  used  was  that  of  Col.  Joseph 
Brown,  where  the  session  of  1808  was  held  on  December  21st,  at  Columbia.  The 
building  used  was  a  small  log  structure  which  stood  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Square  near  East  Market  Street.  The  commissioners  of  Columbia  were  re- 
quired by  the  Act  of  1807  to  contract  for  the  building  of  a  court,  prison  and 
stocks.  The  first  building  was  built  of  brick,  within  the  Square  and  was  com- 
pleted in  1810.  While  the  new  court  house  was  in  process  of  erection,  court 
met  in  1  lie  market  house. 

THE  GENERAL  GREENE  TRACT 

In  recognition  of  his  patriotism  and  services  in  the  Revolutionary  war  the 
State  of  North  Carolina  gave  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene  25,000  acres  to  be  located 
in  the  unappropriated  western  lands  belonging  to  that  state.  In  1782  Absalom 
Tatum,  Isaac  Shelby,  Anthony  Shelby  and  Anthony  Bledsoe  were  appointed 
commissioners  to  lay  off  these  lands  for  General  Greene  given  "as  a  mark  of 
the  high  sense  this  state  entertains  of  the  extraordinary  services  of  that  brave 
and  gallant  officer. ' ' 

They  were  also  appointed  to  lay  off  lands  for  the  satisfaction  of  services 
rendered  by  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  regular  army  (called  the  Continental 
Line)  who  had  been  paid  in  depreciated  scrip,  which,  under  the  act,  was  to 
be  exchanged  for  the  lands;  and  also,  to  examine  the  claims  to  preemption  rights 
by  settlers  on  the  Cumberland,  prior  to  June,  1780. 

As  there  was  fear  of  attack  by  the  Indians  they  were  allowed  a  guard  or 
military  escort  of  not  more  than  one  hundred,  who  were  also  to  be  paid  in  lands 
for  their  services.  In  1783,  the  commissioners  performed  the  duties  assigned 
them  and  located  the  25,000  acres  of  land  donated  to  General  Greene  in  Maury 
County,  being  among  the  best,  if  not  indeed  the  very  best,  lands  in  the  entire 
state.  Ramsey  says,  page  491:  "The  present  had  been  richly  deserved,  and, 
on  the  part  of  the  state,  was  munificent.  It  embraced  some  of  the  best  lands  on 
Duck  River — perhaps  the  best  in  Tennessee." 

COL.    JOSEPH   BROWN 

Of  all  the  romantic  stories  of  life  in  the  early  days  of  Tennessee  history, 
few,  if  any,  are  infused  with  more  interest  than  that  of  Joseph  Brown.  After 
the  Revolutionary  war,  his  father,  Col.  James  Brown,  who  had  been  an  officer 
of  the  Continental  Line  from  North  Carolina,  together  with  his  wife  and  nine 
children  and  some  others,  started  from  the  Holston,  in  May,  1788,  by  water  for 
the  Cumberland  settlement,  the  voyage  successfully  made  by  John  Donelson  in 
1779-1780. 

Near  Nickajack  Cave  the  Indians  attacked  the  boat  and  the  father,  two  sons 
and  three  sons-in-law  were  killed.  Joseph  Brown  and  two  sisters  were  held  in 
captivity  for  nearly  a  year  at  Nickajack.  Ramsey,  pages  508-517,  gives  a  de 
tailed  account  of  his  residence  among  the  Cherokees,  of  his  release  by  Sevier 
and  that  of  his  mother  and  sister  who  had  been  marched  away  a  distance  of 
200  miles. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  743 

At  the  time  of  his  capture  an  old  squaw  made  the  prophecy  that,  unless  the 
boy  were  killed,  he  would  some  day  lead  an  army  against  the  Cherokees.  Six 
years  later,  when  twenty-three  years  old,  he  served  as  a  guide  for  Major  Ore's 
expedition  which  destroyed  the  Indian  towns  of  Nickajack  and  Running  Water, 
which  were  near  the  present  site  of  Chattanooga.     See  Putnam,  pages  304-308. 

Ramsey,  page  614,  quoting  "Willie  Blount's  papers"  as  authority,  says  that 
Andrew  Jackson  took  part  in  this  expedition  as  a  private  under  Major  Ore  and 
rendered  valuable  service.  Col.  Joseph  Brown,  however,  in  a  letter  to  A.  W. 
Putnam,  dated  March  30,  1858,  and  published  in  the  American  Historical  Mag- 
azine for  July,  1900,  says  : 

"Relative  to  your  inquiry  Genl.  A.  Jackson  was  not  on  the  Nicojack  cam- 
paign ;  but  if  my  memory  serves  me  he  at  that  time  had  something  to  do  in 
the  contractor's  business,  for  his  brother-in-law  Mr.  Samuel  Donnelson  came 
to  our  camp  a  day  or  two  before  we  started,  and  Mr.  Reed  of  Sumner  County 
was  there  and  neither  of  them  had  ever  been  beat  in  a  foot  race,  and  Donnel- 
son observed  that  he  was  in  bad  fix  to  run  for  he  had  been  gathering  beeves 
the  day  before :  but  still  he  was  willing  to  run  to  gratify  the  company ;  and  did 
run  and  was  beat  five  or  six  feet ;  but  Sandy  Donnelson  did  go  and  was  wounded 
at  Nicojack  a  younger  brother.  So  I  know  that  Jackson  and  the  Donnelsons 
done  all  they  could  for  the  protection  of  the  country,  altho'  I  presume  Dr. 
Ramsey  had  been  roughly  informed  on  that  subject." 

st.  john's  episcopal  church 

In  Trotwood's  Monthly  for  December,  1905,  appeared  the  first  instalment  of 
"Historic  Highways  of  the  South."  This  instalment  is  entitled  "St.  John's 
Church,  Ashwood,  Tenn. "  The  following  initial  paragraphs  of  the  article  are 
illuminating : 

"In  'The  Banner  of  the  Cross,'  a  Philadelphia  paper,  a  writer,  whose  name 
is  unknown,  wrote,  in  1842,  the  first  description  of  the  now  famous  chapel,  St. 
John's  Church,  on  the  pike  leading  from  Columbia,  Tenn.,  to  Mount  Pleasant. 

"In  this  country,  upon  the  road  leading  from  Columbia  to  Mount  Pleasant, 
and  about  six  miles  from  the  former  place,  in  a  grove  of  majestic  and  towering 
oaks,  may  be  seen  a  neat  brick  church  of  simple  Gothic  architecture;  its  interior 
plain  and  appropriate  and  capable  of  seating  500  persons. 

"It  has  just  been  completed  and  as  the  result  of  the  joint  liberality  of  Bishop 
Polk  and  three  of  his  brothers,  who,  with  a  spirit  worthy  of  commendation  and 
imitation,  have  devoted  a  portion  of  the  wealth  with  which  God  has  blessed  them 
to  his  service. 

"Without  aid  from  abroad,  these  gentlemen  have,  erected  and  paid  for  this 
edifice  and  presented  it,  together  with  a  plot  of  about  six  acres  of  land,  to  the 
diocese.  The  lot  has  been  selected  from  an  eligible  portion  of  the  Bishop's 
plantation,  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  whose  mansion  the  church  stands." 

The  church  was  erected  in  1841.  Here,  Leonidas  Polk  did  his  first  preaching, 
and  by  his  activity  and  ability  arose  to  the  rank  of  bishop.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  war,  because  of  his  education  at  West  Point  he  was  commissioned  a  gen- 
eral in  the  Confederate  Army,  and  when  he  was  killed  by  a  cannon  ball  on  Pine 
Mountain,  Ga.,  he  was  a  lieutenant-general. 

The  cemetery  of  St.  John's  Church  is  consecrated  and  historic  "round.  Eere 
rests  the  Pit.  Rev.  Bishop  Otey.  But  its  most  sacred  fame  was  received  during 
the  War  between  the  States.    Mr.  Moore  savs  in  the  article  referred  to:   "When 


714  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Hood's  army  invaded  Tennessee  after  the  tight  around  Atlanta,  in  November, 
1864,  the  route  of  the  army  lay  along  this  pike  in  the  march  to  Nashville.  The 
army  had  been  marching  over  the  poor  lands  of  the  barrens,  the  hills  of  Georgia 
and  the  barrens  of  the  Highland  Rim,  and  when  it  entered  Middle  Tennessee, 
in  the  garden  spot  of  which  sat  this  little  church,  Gen.  Patrick  R.  Cleburne, 
who  had  won  great  fame  as  a  dashing  fighter,  raised  his  hat  at  the  restful  beauty 
and  quietness  of  St.  John's  and  remarked:  'If  1  am  killed  in  the  coming  battle, 
I  would  like  to  be  buried  yonder.'  In  a  few  days  occurred  the  bloody  battle 
of  Franklin,  in  which  not  only  Cleburne,  but  Generals  Gist,  Strahl,  Granbury 
and  Adams — five  of  the  greatest  field  officers  of  Hood's  army,  were  killed,  and  all 
were  buried  in  the  beautiful  cemetery  at  St.  John's.  Years  afterwards,  one  by 
one.  their  remains  were  exhumed  and  carried,  with  fitting  honors,  to  their  former 
homes,  where  monuments  had  been  erected  to  their  memories." 

PRESIDENT   POLK'S   BOYHOOD   HOME 

James  Knox  Polk,  eleventh  President  of  the  United  States,  was  born  in 
Mecklenburg  County,  North  Carolina,  November  2,  1795.  In  1806,  his  father, 
Samuel  Polk,  came  to  Tennessee  and  settled  in  Maury  County.  His  grand- 
father, Ezekiel  Polk,  and  other  relatives,  located,  at  about  the  same  time,  in 
the  same  neighborhood.  Ashwood  cemetery  is  the  Polk  family  burying  ground. 
Here  are  buried  all  the  Polk  family  who  died  in  the  vicinity,  and  here,  also. 
were  buried  the  bodies  of  Generals  Cleburne,  Granbury,  Gist  and  Stahl,  who 
were  killed  at  the  Battle  of  Franklin,  November  30,  1864,  and  that  of  General 
Carter,  who  died  of  a  wound  received  in  the  same  battle. 

Ezekiel  Polk  was  a  man  of  note  in  North  Carolina,  before  he  came  to 
Tennessee.  In  Maury  County  he  was  a  wealthy  land  owner  and  noted  for  his 
charitable  deeds.  His  son,  Samuel  Polk,  was  a  farmer  and  a  surveyor.  In  his 
boyhood  James  Knox  Polk  worked  upon  his  father's  farm,  but.  being  of  weak 
physique,  he  was  made  a  clerk  in  a  store  and  continued  at  this  occupation  until 
he  began  attending  Murfreesboro  Academy.  So  marked  was  his  ability  and 
so  assiduous  his  application  that,  in  a  little  more  than  two  years,  he  was  pre- 
pared to  enter  the  sophomore  class  of  the  University  of  North  Carolina.  His 
record  as  a  student  was  superb  and  he  graduated  in  1818  with  first  honors. 
It  is  said  that  while  in  college  he  never  missed  a  single  recitation  nor  neglected 
a  duty.  In  his  long  career  in  Congress  he  was  never  absent  from  the  House  a 
single  day.    He  was  the  first  college  graduate  to  become  governor  of  Tennessee. 

In  1819  he  entered  the  law  office  of  Felix  Grundy,  became  acquainted  with 
Andrew  Jackson,  whose  political  protege  and  ardent  admirer  he  was.  In  1820 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1822  he  became  chief  clerk  of  the  State  Senate. 
In  1823  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  House  of  Representatives.  In 
1825  he  became  a  member  of  Congress  and  was  fully  launched  on  his  remark- 
able political  career. 

With  the  exception  of  a  little  more  than  the  last  two  months  of  his  life, 
which  were  spent  in  the  house  in  Nashville  which  he  had  purchased  from  the 
estate  of  Felix  Grundy,  he  lived  in  Columbia  throughout  his  boyhood  and  up 
to  the  time  he  left  for  Washington  to  begin  his  term  as  President  of  the  United 
States.  In  Columbia,  in  a  little  frame  building,  was  his  law  office,  but  it  was 
little  used  by  him  for  the  practice  of  his  profession;  for,  from  1825  when  he 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  745 

was  first  elected  to  Congress  he  was  continuously  in  office  except  during  the 
four  years  of  the  governorship  of  James  C.  Jones,  1841-1845. 

Polk  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  Congress  from  1825 
to  1839.  In  1835  and  again  in  1837  he  was  elected  speaker  of  the  House,  de- 
feating John  Bell,  also  of  Tennessee,  each  time.  In  1839  he  was  elected  gov- 
ernor of  Tennessee.  In  1841  and  in  1843  he  was  defeated  for  the  governorship 
by  James  C.  Jones. 

Polk's  elevation  to  the  Presidency  was  not  so  fortuitous  as  many  have 
supposed;  and  his  administration  was  able  and  clean.  When  the  true  history 
of  this  remarkable  man  is  written  and  his  true  deserts  are  fairly  set  forth,  he 
will  be  considered  one  of  our  very  strongest  presidents.  Even  Schouler,  the 
historian,  by  no  means  too  partial  to  Polk,  says  of  him:  "The  crown  jewels 
which  Polk's  strong  policy  bequeathed  to  his  country,  were  of  priceless  worth 
- — Oregon,  and  all  that  splendid  spoliation  of  Mexico,  whose  chief  of  hidden 
treasures  was  California."  *  *  *  "The  strong  traits  of  Polk's  administra- 
tion have  already  been  outlined.  It  was  unquestionably  an  administration  of 
strong  achievements ;  and  all  doubts  may  be  dismissed  concerning  the  efficiency 
of  the  man  who  was  at  the  head  of  it.  Bancroft 's  testimony  as  a  cabinet  officer 
is  confirmed  by  that  of  Buchanan,  who,  spontaneously  and  in  private,  held 
Polk  up  in  later  years  as  a  model  President  in  various  respects;  as  one  who 
maintained  influence  among  his  counsellors  by  his  great  reticence,  his  disposi- 
tion to  keep  himself  uncommitted  on  important  points  of  policy  until  the  time 
should  arrive,  and  his  determination  not  to  have  the  chieftains  of  embittered 
factions  with  rival  ambitions  about  him,  but  to  keep  all  working  steadily  for 
the  glory  and  success  of  his  administration.  He  ascribed  Polk's  success  in 
public  measures,  more  than  anything  else,  to  his  regard  for  the  vital  principle 
of  official  unity  in  action.  And  this  premier  has  recalled  another  trait  in 
Polk's  management  of  affairs  which  he,  of  all  advisers,  was  the  proper  one  to 
discern — all  important  questions  with  foreign  nations  were  drawn  to  himself 
as  far  as  possible,  so  that  they  should  be  settled  at  our  capital  and  under  his 
immediate  supervision." 

PERSONAL  ENCOUNTER  BETWEEN   GENERAL   FORREST   AND   LIEUT.   A.   W.   GOULD 

In  the  engagement  on  Sand  Mountain,  on  April  29,  1863,  between  Forrest 
and  Streight,  General  Forrest  was  not  satisfied  with  the  manner  in  which  the 
artillery  was  handled,  in  consequence  of  which  two  pieces  had  been  captured 
from  the  Confederates.  He  severely  blamed  Lieut.  A.  W.  Gould,  the  officer  in 
command,  and,  without  pressing  charges  against  him,  had  him  transferred  to 
another  battery.  Gould  resented  this  action  as  an  unjust  reflection  on  his 
courage  and  while  Forrest  was  in  Columbia  in  May,  1863,  in  a  moment  of 
rashness,  determined  to  seek  satisfaction  from  Forrest.  He,  consequently,  se- 
cured an  interview  with  Forrest,  and  withdrew  with  him  to  the  hall  of  the 
house  occupied  as  an  office  by  the  quartermaster. 

As  Forrest  and  Gould  walked  side  by  side,  Forrest  had  in  his  hand  a  pocket 
knife  which  he  had  been  idly  twirling.  The  lieutenant,  in  an  excited  manner, 
insisted  upon  being  reinstated.  But  Forrest  refused  to  discuss  the  matter, 
saying  that  his  decision  was  final.     At   that   moment  the   lieutenant   drew   a 


746  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

pistol.  Dr.  John  A.  Wyeth,  in  his  "Life  of  General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,', 
page  -'24,  gives  the  following  account: 

"Although  Forrest  was  watchful  and  exceedingly  quick,  before  he  could 
grasp  the  weapon  which  was  being  drawn  and  pointed  toward  him,  it  was 
discharged  when  the  muzzle  was  nearly  in  contact  with  his  body."  [t  inflicted 
a  dreadful  wound  from  which  Forrest  himself  expected  to  die. 

Wyeth  continues:  "With  his  left  hand  (Forrest  was  left-handed)  he 
grasped  the  right  hand  of  his  assailant,  in  which  the  pistol  was  held,  and  thus 
prevented  a  second  shot.  Deliberately  with  the  right  hand  he  carried  the  pen- 
knife to  his  mouth,  and  holding  the  handle  between  his  fingers,  with  his  teeth 
he  opened  the  largest  blade  and  quickly  thrust  it  into  the  abdomen  of  his 
assailant."  The  lieutenant  dropped  his  pistol  and  ran  and  Forrest  sought  a 
physician,  who  told  him  his  wound  was  probably  mortal.  At  this,  Forrest  seized 
a  pistol  and  rushed  into  the  street,  but  desisted  in  these  efforts  when  assured 
that  the  latter  was  already  dying. 

Two  days  later  when  the  young  officer  was  sinking  rapidly,  he  asked  that 
General  Forrest  come  to  him,  if  possible.  Forrest  acceded  to  the  request  and 
was  carried  to  the  lieutenant's  room.  Gould  took  Forrest's  hand  in  both  of  his 
and  said,  "General,  1  shall  not  be  here  long,  and  I  was  not  willing  to  go  away 
without  seeing  you  in  person  and  saying  to  you  how  thankful  I  am  that  I  am 
the  one  who  is  to  die  and  that  you  are  spared  to  the  country.  What  1  did. 
I  did  in  a  moment  of  rashness,  and  I  want  your  forgiveness." 

It  is  said  that   Forrest  forgave  him  freely  and  "wept  like  a  child." 

GEN.    FELIX    ZOLLICOFPER 

Felix  Kirk  Zollicoffer  was  born  in  Maury  County,  Term.,  on  May  19,  1812. 
His  grandfather,  George  Zollicoffer,  was  a  Swiss.  After  receiving  an  academic 
education  he  entered  upon  printing  and  newspaper  work  and  became  one  of 
the  most  eminent  editors  of  his  day.  After  having  been  connected  with  enter- 
prises in  Knoxville,  Tenn.,  and  Huntsville,  Ala.,  he  became  editor  and  pub- 
lisher of  the  Columbia  Observer  at  Columbia.  In  1835  and  in  1837  he  was 
elected  state  printer.  In  1840  he  supported  James  C.  Jones  for  governor 
against  James  K.  Polk.  In  1841  he  became  associate  editor  of  the  Nashville 
Banner.  While  editor  of  the  Banner  he  fought  a  street  duel  with  Jno.  L. 
Marlin,  editor  of  The  Union,  over  a  controversy  concerning  President  Fillmore. 
This  duel  occurred  on  August  20,  1852,  on  Cherry  Street  (now  Fourth  Avenue), 
at  the  post  office,  which  was  then  between  the  present  location  of  the  transfer 
station  and  Cedar  Street.  Both  ^-ere  seriously  wounded.  From  1843  to  1849 
he  was  state  comptroller,  which  position  he  resigned  to  become  state  senator. 
In  1850  he  built  the  suspension  bridge  at  Nashville.  In  1853  he  was  elected  to 
Congress  and  served  for  six  years  thereafter.  In  July,  1861,  he  entered  the 
Confederate  Army  as  a  brigadier-general.  When  the  Federal  troops  were  en- 
deavoring to  enter  East  Tennessee  through  Cumberland  Gap,  General  Zollicoffer 
was  sent  to  oppose  them  and  in  the  battle  of  Fishing  Creek  was  killed  on 
January  19,  1862. 

While  living  in  Nashville,  General  Zollicoffer 's  home  was  in  the  building  on 
Sixth  Avenue,  North  (then  High  Street),  now  occupied  by  the  State  Depart- 
ment of  Geology  and  the  State  Mining  Department. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  747 

DAVIS    FORD 

In  November,  1864,  Hood's  army  invaded  Tennessee.  Hood's  objective  was 
Nashville  which  be  hoped  to  capture  and  then  press  on  to  the  Obio.  Before  him 
was  General  Sebofield,  retreating  to  join  General  Thomas  at  Nashville,  and 
Hood's  great  desire  was  to  capture  or  crush  Sebofield  before  the  union  with 
Thomas  could  be  effected. 

On  November  20,  1864,  Hood  crossed  the  Tennessee  River  at  Florence,  Ala. 
In  bis  book,  "Advance  and  Retreat,"  Hood  says:  "I  bad  hoped  by  a  rapid 
march  to  get  in  the  rear  of  Sebofield 's  forces,  then  at  Pulaski,  before  they  were 
able  to  reach  Duck  River.  But  *  *  *  the  Federals  at  Pulaski  became 
alarmed  and  by  forced  marches  day  and  night,  reached  Columbia,  upon  Duck 
River,  just  in  time  to  prevent  our  troops  from  cutting  them  off.  *  *  *  The 
two  armies  lay  opposite  each  other  during  the  27th.  The  Federals  having  en- 
trenched, I  determined  not  to  attack  them  in  their  breastworks  if  1  could  pos- 
sibly avoid  it,  but  to  permit  them  to  cross  undisturbed  to  the  north  bank  of 
Duck  River  that  night,  as  I  supposed  they  would  do;  to  hasten  preparations,  and 
endeavor  to  place  the  main  body  of  the  Confederate  army  at  Spring  Hill,  twelve 
miles  directly  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  about  midway  upon  the  only  pike 
leading  to  Franklin ;  to  attack  as  the  enemy  retreated  and  put  to  rout  and  cap- 
ture, if  possible,  their  army  which  was  the  sole  obstacle  between  our  forces  and 
Nashville — in  truth,  the  only  barriers  to  the  success  of  the  campaign." 

Fortune  seemed  to  favor  Hood  in  the  matter  of  crossing  Duck  River.  There 
were  several  fords  by  which  he  might  have  crossed,  but  the  Federals  had  dis- 
covered them  also  and  bad  stationed  troops  to  defend  them  with  the  exception 
of  one,  the  old  Davis  Ford,  formerly  of  importance  when  the  turnpike  from 
Nashville  to  Columbia  was  opened  and  used  in  the  '30s.  But  in  the  '50s  it  was 
supplanted  by  other  roads  and  the  Davis  Ford  had  been  abandoned  and  for- 
gotten. At  this  ford  Hood  crossed  November  29,  1864,  and  much  to  the  sur- 
prise and  consternation  of  the  Federals,  was  unopposed  and  was  soon  almost  in 
the  rear  of  the  enemy. 

DEATH    OF   (JEW    EARL    VAX    DORN 

Earl  Van  Dorn  was  born  near  Port  Gibson,  Miss.,  September  17,  1820.  He 
graduated  at  West  Point  in  1842  and  served  in  Texas  in  1845-1846,  in  Mexico 
in  1847  and  in  the  Seminole  war  in  1849-1850.  When  the  War  between  the 
States  broke  out,  he  entered  the  Confederate  service  and  rose  rapidly  from 
colonel  to  brigadier  and  major  general.  On  May  8,  1863,  he  was  fatally  shot 
by  a  Doctor  Peters,  over  a  private  grievance,  in  the  brick  building  which  is  now 
a  part  of  the  Branham  and  Hughes  School,  at  Spring  Hill,  Tenn.  The  untimely 
end  of  this  courageous,  active  and  skillful  officer  was  considered  a  severe  loss 
to  the  Confederate  cause. 

RESIDENCE    OF    MA.T.    N.    F.    CIIEAIRS 

In  this  house  on  the  morning  of  November  30,  1864,  Generals  Cleburne, 
Strahl,  Gist,  Granbury  and  Adams  ate  their  breakfast.  All  of  them  were  killed 
in  the  Battle  of  Franklin  which  began  in  the  afternoon  of  that   day  and  eon- 


748  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

tinned  until  long  after  dark.  The  importance  of  these  five  general  officers  and 
of  General  Carter,  who  was  mortally  wounded,  can  be  understood  by  an  in- 
spection of  the  personnel  of  the  general  officers  of  Hood's  army. 

duty's  stern  demand 

Dr.  W.  W.  Gist  in  an  article  entitled,  "The  Battle  of  Franklin,"  published 
in  the  October,  1920,  number  of  the  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  gives  the 
following  illustration  of  duty 's  stern  demand :  Sam  Jones  used  to  give  an 
illustration  like  this  in  one  of  his  stirring  sermons  to  show  the  stern  demand  of 
duty.  When  our  line  was  first  broken  and  the  Confederate  flag  could  be  seen 
inside  our  works,  Hood  was  naturally  led  to  think  that  the  advantage  gained 
was  greater  than  it  was.  He  summoned  an  aid  to  him  and  said:  "My  com- 
pliments to  General  Cleburne  and  tell  him  to  take  those  works  at  all  hazards." 

The  aid  dashed  into  the  smoke  of  battle  and  soon  returned  and  said,  "Gen- 
eral Cleburne  is  dead,  sir." 

"My  compliments  to  General  Adams  and  tell  him  to  take  those  works  at  all 
hazards. ' ' 

Again  the  aid  returned  with  the  message,  "General  Adams  is  dead,  sir." 

"My  compliments  to  General  Gist  and  tell  him  to  take  those  works  at  all 
hazards." 

A  third  time  the  aid  came  back  and  said,  ' '  General  Gist  is  dead,  sir. ' ' 

"My  compliments  to  General  Strahl  and  tell  him  to  take  those  works  at  all 
hazards. ' ' 

The  aid  returned  in  a  short  time  to  announce  that  General  Strahl  was 
wounded. 

ZION  PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

The  original  settlers  in  the  Zion  Church  neighborhood  came  from  South 
Carolina.  They  were  led  by  John  Dickey  who  brought  with  him  about  twenty 
families.  Some  of  them  arrived  in  1807  and  others  in  1808.  They  bought 
5,000  of  the  25,000  acres  given  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene  by  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  and  paid  at  the  rate  of  three  dollars  per  acre.  This  was  considered 
a  good  price  in  those  days  as  the  price  of  the  lands  assigned  to  the  colleges 
and  academies  of  the  state  was  fixed  at  two  dollars  per  acre,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  settlers  occupying  the  lands,  who  were  required  to  pay  only  one  dollar 
per  acre. 

The  first  thing  done  by  these  colonists  was  the  erection  of  a  church.  A  spot 
was  selected  which  was  thought  to  be  approximately  the  center  of  their  tract 
and  on  it  a  rude  log  church  was  built  in  1807,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  first  church  erected  in  Maury  County. 

Samuel  Frierson  and  William  Frierson  were  the  first  preachers  in  this 
church ;  but,  before  long  came  Rev.  James  N.  Stephenson,  who  had  been  pastor 
of  the  church  in  the  Williamsburg  District  of  South  Carolina,  from  which  many 
of  them  had  come. 

In  1814  or  1815  the  log  structure  was  replaced  by  a  brick  church,  which, 
in  turn,  was  succeeded  by  another  edifice  in  1831. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  749 

Giles  County 

the  ku  klux  klan 

In  May,  1866,  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  was  organized  in  Pulaski,  Giles  County, 
Tenn.  When  the  war  ended,  those  young  men  of  this  city,  who  had  escaped 
death  in  the  ranks  of  the  Confederacy,  returned  home  to  a  period  of  enforced 
inactivity,  whose  tediousness  they  proceeded  to  relieve  by  the  establishment  of 
an  organization  for  amusement.  A  few  of  them  met  in  the  office  of  a  prom- 
inent attorney  and  one  of  them  said:  "Boys,  let  us  get  up  a  club  or  society 
of  some  description."  The  suggestion  was  discussed  with  enthusiasm  and  the 
following  evening  was  appointed  for  another  meeting  with  a  larger  attendance. 

The  origin  of  the  name  is  the  Greek  word  Kuklos,  a  band  or  circle.  This 
was  corrupted  to  Ku  Klux,  and  Klan  was  naturally  added  for  alliteration. 
Each  member  was  required  to  provide  himself  with  an  outfit  consisting  of  a 
white  mask  for  the  face,  with  orifices  for  the  eyes  and  nose ;  a  tall,  fantastic 
card-board  hat,  so  constructed  as  to  increase  the  wearer's  apparent  height;  a 
gown  or  robe  of  sufficient  length  to  cover  the  entire  persons  and  a  small  whistle 
with  which  by  means  of  a  code  of  signals  agreed  upon,  they  held  communica- 
tions with  one  another. 

The  first  home  of  the  Klan  was  in  the  ell  of  a  handsome  brick  residence 
regarded  by  the  negroes  as  haunted  which  stood  on  the  brow  of  a  ridge  running 
along  the  western  outskirts  of  the  town.  The  ell  was  of  wood,  consisted  of 
three  rooms,  from  one  of  which  a  stairway  led  to  a  large  cellar  beneath.  No 
other  house  stood  near.  In  December,  1865,  the  brick  portion  of  the  house 
was  demolished  by  a  cyclone,  but  the  ell  remained.  Around  the  ruins  were 
the  limbless  trunks  of  trees  which  had  once  been  a  beautiful  grove.  Standing 
like  sentinels,  they  presented,  especially  at  night,  a  gruesome  and  spectral 
scene.  The  place  was,  however,  most  suitable  for  a  "den"  and  the  Klan  ap- 
propriated it. 

In  May,  1867,  notwithstanding  the  hostility  of  the  state  and  Federal 
authorities,  a  secret  convention  was  held  in  the  Maxwell  House,  Nashville,  and 
a  written  constitution,  called  "the  prescript,"  was  adopted  and  the  Ku  Klux 
Klan  became  avowedly  a  partisan  organization. 

In  March,  1869,  when  it  was  thought  that  its  important  work  was  done  and 
that  there  was  no  further  need  of  its  services,  the  Grand  Wizard  issued  his 
edict  terminating  its  existence. 

BIRTHPLACE  OP  GOVERNORS  JOHN   C.   BROWN,  NEILL   S.   BROWN 

Governor  John  C.  Brown  was  born  January  6,  1827,  at  the  home  of  his 
father,  Duncan  Brown,  about  fifteen  miles  southeast  of  Pulaski,  Tenn.  The 
Duncan  Brown  farm  was  located  on  the  old  state  road  in  the  Bethany  neigh- 
borhood. This  stage  road  begins  at  Tarpley  's  Shop,  branching  from  the  Ellston 
Pike,  which  it  nearly  parallels.  On  a  hill  to  the  left  of  the  road  traveling  from 
Pulaski  stood  the  house,  destroyed  by  a  storm  a  few  years  ago,  in  which  Governor 
John  C.  Brown  was  born. 

Governor  Neill  S.  Brown  was  a  brother  of  Governor  John  C.  Brown  and  was 
born  on  April  18,  1810,  in  a  house  about  one-half  mile  nearer  Pulaski. 


750  TENNESSEE.  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Duncan  Brown,  father  of  both  these  governors,  emigrated  from  North  Caro- 
lina in  1809. 

Will  Brown  began  his  education  at  the  age  of  seven,  earning  the  money  to 
pay  for  his  schooling.  "When  a  young  man  he  taught  school  for  money  to  con- 
tinue his  studies.  For  two  sessions  he  attended  the  .Maury  County  Manual  Labor 
Academy.  In  1833  he  began  the  study  of  law;  the  next  year  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  and  began  practice  at  Pulaski.  In  1835  he  removed  to  Texas  but  soon 
returned  and  distinguished  himself  in  the  war  with  the  Seminole  Indians.  In 
1837  he  became  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature  and  was  strongly  launched 
in  politics.  He  was  a  whig,  a  supporter  of  Hugh  Dawson  White  against  Jackson 
and  a  Presidential  elector  on  the  Clay  ticket  in  1844.  In  1847  he  became  gov- 
ernor of  Tennessee  at  the  age  of  thirty-seven,  the  youngest  governor  of  this  state 
up  to  that  time.  In  1850  he  was  appointed  V.  S.  Minister  to  Russia.  \n  1870 
he  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  convention,  over  which  his  brother  pre- 
sided.    He  died  in  1886. 

John  C.  Brown  was  educated  at  -Jackson  College.  Columbia,  from  which  he 
graduated  in  1846.  In  1848  he  began  the  practice  of  law  with  his  brother,  then 
governor  of  the  state.  He  was  a  whig  and  made  an  ardent  and  brilliant  cam- 
paign of  the  state  in  behalf  of  the  Bell  and  Everett  ticket  in  1859.  He  opposed 
secession,  bnt  went  with  the  state  into  the  Confederacy.  He  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  Third  Tennessee  Infantry,  was  soon  elected  captain  and  later  colonel  and 
brigadier  general  and  major  general.  He  was  wounded  three  times.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Legislature  in  1869  and  became  the  moving  spirit  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention  of  1870  of  which  he  was  chairman.  He  was  governor  of 
Tennessee  from  1871  to  1875.     He  died  in  188!). 

FORT   LILLY 

A  high  hill  just  north  of  Pulaski  was  fortified  during  the  Civil  war,  and  since 
that  time  has  been  known  locally  as  Fort  Hill.  It  was  called  Fort  Lilly  by  the 
Federals  at  the  time  the  fort  was  built,  in  honor  of  Colonel  Lilly  who  was  in 
command  of  the  work  and  the  fortification.  The  Pulaski  Water  Company  now 
owns  the  hill,  and  the  reservoir  is  located  where  the  old  fort  stood.  Remains  of 
the  fort,  however,  are  plainly  visible  in  earthworks  around  the  top  of  the  hill. 

HEADQUARTERS  OP  GEN.   G.   M.   DODGE 

In  the  fall  of  1863  a  Federal  army  of  about  sixteen  thousand  men  was  sta- 
tioned at  Pulaski,  under  the  command  of  Gen.  G.  M.  Dodge.  This  was  the 
Sixteenth  Army  Corps  which  had  been  moved  from  Corinth.  The  special  duty 
was  assigned  him  of  keeping  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad  open  between  Nashville  and 
Decatur.  He  was  much  disturbed  by  the  efficiency  of  the  Confederate  scouts 
and  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  their  operations.  To  this  end  he  ordered  the 
Seventh  Kansas  Cavalry  (the  noted  "Kansas  Jayhawkers")  to  make  a  complete 
patrol  of  the  region.  It  was  soldiers  of  this  command  who,  in  scouring  the 
country,  captured  Sam  Davis  with  important  documents  on  his  person. 

SAM    DAVIS 

Mr.  S.  A.  Cunningham,  editor  of  the  Confederate  Veteran,  prepared  and 
read  before  the  Tennessee  Historical   Society  a  comprehensive  paper  on  Sam 


SAM    DAVIS  MONUMENT  ON  CAPITOL  GROUNDS,  NASHVILLE 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF  IHE 

UHtVgRSITY  RF  MIIK5IS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  753 

Davis,  which  paper  was  published  in  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for 
July,  1899.  A  large  part  of  the  information  about  this  southern  hero,  which 
herewith  follows,  was  derived  from  this  source. 

Samuel  Davis  was  born  October  6,  1844,  near  Smyrna,  Tenn.  His  parents 
came  from  Virginia.  Upon  a  tablet  of  a  beautiful  marble  monument  erected 
by  his  father  in  the  garden  of  his  home  are  the  words:  "He  laid  down  his  life 
for  his  country.  He  suffered  death  on  the  gibbet  rather  than  betray  his  friends 
and  his  country. ' ' 

Sam  Davis"  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  First  Infantry  of  Tennessee  and 
made  so  good  a  record  that,  in  1863,  he  was  selected  as  a  member  of  a  company 
of  scouts  under  the  leadership  of  Capt.  H.  B.  Shaw,  whose  command  was  or- 
ganized under  the  personal  direction  of  Gen.  B.  F.  Cheatham.  Captain  Shaw, 
disguised  as  an  herb  doctor  and  traveling  under  the  name  of  Coleman,  was 
captured,  and  on  November  19,  1863,  Davis  and  others  were  captured.  Joshua 
Brown,  who  was  in  jail  with  Davis  says : 

"After  we  had  been  in  Tennessee  about  ten  days,  we  watched  the  Sixteenth 
Army  Corps,  commanded  by  General  Dodge,  move  up  from  Corinth  to  Pu- 
laski. We  agreed  that  we  would  leave  for  the  South  on  Friday  the  19th  of 
November,  1863.  A  number  of  our  scouts  had  been  captured  and  several  killed. 
We  were  to  start  that  night,  every  man  for  himself;  each  of  us  had  his  own 
information.  I  had  counted  almost  every  regiment,  and  all  the  artillery  in 
the  sixteenth  Corps,  and  had  found  out  that  they  were  moving  on  Chattanooga. 
Late  in  the  afternoon  we  started  and  ran  into  the  Seventh  Kansas  Cavalry, 
known  as  the  'Kansas  Jayhawkers,'  and  when  we  learned  who  had  captured 
us  we  thought  our  time  had  come.  We  were  taken  to  Pulaski,  about  fifteen 
miles  away,  and  put  into  jail.  Davis  was  one  of  the  number.  I  talked  with 
him  over  our  prospects  of  imprisonment  and  escape,  which  were  very  gloomy. 
Davis  said  they  had  searched  him  that  day  and  found  some  important  papers 
upon  him,  and  that  he  had  been  taken  to  General  Dodge's  headquarters. 
They  had  also  found  in  his  saddle-seat  maps  and  descriptions  of  the  fortifica- 
tions at  Nashville  and  other  points,  and  an  exact  report  of  the  Federal  Army 
in  Tennessee." 

They  also  found  his  pass  signed  "By  order  of  General  Bragg,  E.  Coleman. 
Captain  Commanding  Scouts,"  and  a  letter  written  by  E.  Coleman  to  Col. 
A.  McKinstry,  provost  marshal,  Army  of  Tennessee,  Chattanooga,  giving  valu- 
able information  about  the  Federal  forces. 

General  Dodge  gave  the  following  account  of  his  interview  with  Davis: 

"I  took  him  in  my  private  office,  and  I  told  him  that  it  was  a  very  serious 
charge  brought  against  him ;  that  he  was  a  spy,  and  from  what  I  found  upon 
his  person  he  had  accurate  information  in  regard  to  my  army,  and  I  must 
know  where  he  obtained  it.  I  told  him  that  he  was  a  young  man,  and  did 
not  seem  to  realize  the  danger  he  was  in.  Up  to  that  time  he  had  said  nothing, 
but  then  he  replied  in  the  most  respectful  and  dignified  manner:  'General 
Dodge,  I  know  the  danger  of  my  situation,  and  I  am  willing  to  take  the  con- 
sequences. ' 

"I  asked  him  then  to  give  me  the  name  of  the  person  from  whom  he  got 
the  information;  that  I  knew  it  must  be  some  one  near  my  headquarters,  or 
who  had  the  confidence  of  the  officers  of  my  staff,  and  repeated  that  I  must 
know  the  source  from  which  it  came.  I  insisted  that  he  should  tell  me,  but  he 
firmly  declined  to  do  so.  I  told  him  that  I  would  have  to  call  a  court-martial 
and  have  him  tried  for  his  life  and,  from  the  proofs  we  had.  they  would  be 
compelled  to  condemn  him;  that  there  was  no  chance  for  him  unless  he  gave 
the  source  of  his  information.  He  replied:  'I  know  that  1  will  have  to  die,  but 
I  will  not  tell  where  I  got  the  information,  and  there  is  no  power  on  earth 


754  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

thai  can  make  me  tell.  You  are  doing  your  duty  as  a  soldier,  and  I  am  doing 
mine.  If  I  have  to  die,  I  do  so  feeling  that  I  am  doing  my  duty  to  God  and 
my  country.'  " 

General  Dodge  immediately  called  the  court-martial  which  sentenced  him  to 
die  by  hanging  on  November  27,  1868. 

After  Davis  reached  the  gallows.  General  Dodge  still  had  hopes  that  he 
mighl  reveal  the  name  of  the  "traitor  in  his  camp,"  when  death  was  staring 
him  in  the  face,  and  sent  Captain  Chickasaw  to  say  to  him:  "It  is  not  too  late 
yet."     But  then,  even  in  his  last  extremity  Davis  turned  and  said: 

"II'  1  had  a  thousand  lives,  1  would  lose  them  all  here  and  now  before  I 
would  betray  my  friends  or  the  confidence  of  my  informer." 

This  noble  sentiment,  nobly  expressed  is  inscribed  upon  the  beautiful  monu- 
ment by  Zolnay  erected  to  his  memory  on  the  grounds  of  the  Capitol  at  Nash- 
ville. 

HALF    WAY    HOUSE 

The  Half  Way  House  was  a  stand  and  inn  in  stage  coach  days.  The  place 
was  on  the  main  line  of  travel  between  Nashville  and  Huntsville.  As  its  name 
implies  it  was  about  half-way  between  these  two  cities.  Here  the  horses  were 
always  changed  and  travelers  stopped  at  the  inn  for  dinner.  The  place  is  on 
the  Bee-Line  Highway,  just  west  of  Lynnville,  the  home  of  C.  H.  Witt,  and  his 
venerable  mother  who  lives  there  with  him. 

FIRST  COURTHOUSE  OF  GILES  COUNTY 

On  the  fourteenth  of  November,  1809,  Giles  County  was  established  by  act 
of  the  Legislature  and  so  named  in  honor  of  Governor  Win.  B.  Giles,  of  Vir- 
ginia. The  act  which  established  the  county  also  established  a  Circuit  Court 
to  be  held  the  second  .Monday  in  June  and  December,  and  a  Court  of  Pleas  and 
Quarter  Sessions,  to  be  held  on  the  third  Monday  in  February,  May,  August 
and  November,  and  provided  that  the  first  courts  should  be  held  at  the  house 
of  Lewis  Kirk,  who  lived  in  a  log  cabin  on  the  bank  of  Richland  Creek,  about 
two  hundred  yards  above  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  station.  The 
first  County  Court  was  held  on  the  third  Monday  in  February,  1810,  when  the 
magistrates  were  sworn  in  and  county  officers  elected  or  appointed. 

Thomas  H.  Benton,  later  the  famous  United  States  senator  from  Missouri, 
called  "Old  Bullion,"  was  attorney  for  the  plaintiffs  in  the  first  two  cases  on 
the  civil  docket  in  the  Circuit  Court. 

GOVERNOR   AARON   V.   BROWN 

Pulaski  has  furnished  three  governors  of  Tennessee,  all  by  the  name  of 
Brown.  Neill  S.  Brown,  governor,  1847-1849,  and  John  C.  Brown,  governor, 
1871-1875,  were  brothers.  They  were  not  related  to  Aaron  V.  Brown,  governor, 
1845-1847,  who  was  born  in  Virginia,  August  15,  1795.  He  was  graduated  at 
Chapel  Hill,  N.  C,  in  1814,  and  was  valedictorian  of  his  class.  His  father 
moved  to  Tennessee  in  the  same  year  and  Aaron  V.  Brown  entered  upon  the 
study  of  the  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  Trimble,  at  Nashville.     He  later  moved 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  755 

to  Giles  County  and  was  a  partner  of  James  K.  Polk  until  1825.  He  and  Polk 
were  devoted  friends  up  to  the  time  of  Polk's  death  in  1849. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  1821-1825,  and  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, 1831.  He  was  a  member  of  Congress,  1839-1845,  and  retired  in 
the  latter  named  year  to  become  candidate  for  governor.  His  opponent  was 
Ephraim  H.  Poster,  a  whig,  and  one  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  state.  The 
contest  was  exciting  and  close  but  Brown  won.  Two  years  later  he  was  defeated 
by  Neill  S.  Brown. 

During  his  incumbency  the  war  with  Mexico  broke  out  and  Governor  Brown 
called  for  volunteers  to  make  up  Tennessee's  quota  of  2,800.  Thirty  thousand 
responded,  but  only  four  regiments  were  accepted. 

The  School  for  the  Blind,  at  Nashville,  and  the  School  for  the  Beat"  and 
Dumb,  at  Knoxville,  were  incorporated  during  his  administration.  In  1847 
the  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia  Railroad,  now  a  part  of  the  Southern  Railway 
System,  was  chartered. 

Governor  Aaron  V.  Brown  was  postmaster-general  in  the  cabinet  of  Presi- 
dent Buchanan.     He  died  March  8,  1859. 

THE    CONGRESSIONAL    LINE 

The  establishment  of  the  so-called  Congressional  Line  was  made  by  act  of 
Congress  approved  April  18,  1806.  It  was  the  settlement  of  a  controversy  over 
the  right  to  dispose  of  public  lands. 

When  North  Carolina  deeded  to  the  United  States,  in  1790,  the  lands  which 
then  became  the  territory  south  of  the  River  Ohio,  and,  in  1796,  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  she  reserved  the  right  to  have  validated  the  land  warrants  she  had 
issued  and  the  right  to  issue  further  land  warrants  in  liquidation  of  obligations 
to  her  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

AVhen  Tennessee  came  into  the  Union  in  1796,  it  was  supposed  that,  after 
satisfying  the  North  Carolina  reservation,  there  would  be  ample  lands  vacant 
and  unappropriated.  But  such  proved  not  to  be  the  fact.  North  Carolina  had 
issued  warrants  for  more  than  eight  million  acres  and  many  of  the  claims  over- 
lapped. 

The  matter  of  controversy  between  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina  was  ac- 
centuated when  the  United  States,  in  1799,  claimed  the  right  to  dispose  of  all 
the  vacant  and  unappropriated  lands  in  the  state.  Tennessee  then  asked  the 
general  government  to  relinquish  its  claim. 

Meanwhile,  North  Carolina  industriously  continued  to  issue  land  warrants 
to  lands  in  Tennessee.  Tennessee  then  denied  the  right  of  North  Carolina  to 
issue  land  warrants  in  this  state  on  the  ground  of  expiration  of  the  time  within 
which  claimants  were  required  to  make  surveys  and  procure  grants,  and  in 
1801  passed  an  act  to  forbid  North  Carolina  surveying  and  granting  lands  in 
this  state. 

In  1803,  the  Legislature  appointed  John  Overton  an  agent  of  Tennessee  for 
the  purpose  of  negotiating  a  friendly  agreement  between  the  two  states  which 
had  by  that  time  become  inconvenient  and  sometimes  distressing.  The  resull 
of  his  efforts  was  a  mutual  agreement  that  Tennessee  should  perfect  titles  to 
lands  reserved  to  North  Carolina,  subject  to  the  assenl  ul'  Congress. 

Congress  assented  to  the  agreement  and  passed  an  act,  approved  April    18, 


756  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

1806,  which  made  several  provisions  regarding  the  disposition  of  lands  in  Ten- 
nessee and  settled  the  triangular  controversy. 

By  this  compact  Tennessee  ceded  to  the  United  States  the  sole  disposition 
of  the  lands  south  and  west  of  a  line  beginning  at  the  place  where  the  main 
branch  of  Elk  River  crosses  the  southern  boundary  of  the  state ;  thence  run- 
ning due  north  until  it  reaches  the  main  branch  of  Duck  River;  thence  down 
Duck  River  to  the  military  line ;  thence  west,  with  the  military  line,  to  the  Ten- 
nessee River;  thence  down  the  Tennessee  River  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
state.     This  line  was  called  the  Congressional  Line. 

By  this  compact  Tennessee  acquired  all  the  lands  north  and  east  of  the 
Congressional  Line  subject  to  satisfaction  of  the  North  Carolina  claims,  and 
to  the  appropriation  of  lands  designated  for  educational  purposes. 

A  marker  has  been  placed  at  Pulaski,  which  is  on  the  Congressional  Line, 
to  commemorate  an  act  fraught  with  such  importance  not  only  to  the  people  of 
that  day,  but  also  to  succeeding  generations. 

OLD   INDIAN   RESERVATION   LINE 

For  many  years  Gen.  James  Robertson  had  desired  to  secure  the  relinquish- 
ment of  the  Chickasaw  claim  to  Middle  Tennessee.  In  May,  1805,  he  met  Silas 
Dinsmore,  Indian  agent,  who  had  been  instructed  to  associate  himself  with 
General  Robertson  in  a  conference  for  a  treaty  with  the  Indians.  The  confer- 
ence continued  from  day  to  day  until,  on  July  23,  1805,  the  Chickasaws  gave 
these  two  United  States  commissioners  a  quitclaim  and  entire  relinquishment 
of  their  title  to  all  lands  from  a  point  on  the  Ohio  River  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Tennessee,  up  the  Tennessee  to  the  mouth  of  Duck  River,  up  Duck  River  on  the 
left  bank  to  the  Columbian  Highway  (more  commonly  known  as  the  Natchez 
Trace),  thence  along  this  road  to  the  dividing  ridge  between  Duck  River  and 
Buffalo  River,  thence  eastwardly  along  this  dividing  ridge  to  the  great  ridge 
between  the  Buffalo  and  the  Tennessee  rivers,  near  the  source  of  Buffalo ;  thence 
in  a  direct  line  to  the  Tennessee  River,  near  the  "Chickasaw  Old  Fields,"  the 
eastern  point  of  the  claim  of  the  Chickasaws  on  the  Tennessee  River;  thence 
northwardly  to  the  ridge  separating  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  from  those  of  the 
Cumberland,  including  the  waters  which  run  into  Elk  River;  thence  along  the 
great  ridge  to  the  beginning,  reserving  one  mile  square  on  the  Tennessee  at  the 
mouth  of  Duck  River  for  O-Ko-Ye  (or  Tis-shu-mas-tubbe),  one  of  the  Chickasaw 
chiefs. 

The  United  States  paid  for  this  grant  $20,000,  mostly  in  goods  which  had 

been  brought  to  the  treaty  ground  by  Mr.  Dinsmore ;  also  $1,000  each  to  Col- 

•  bert  and  O-Ko-ye,  and  an  annuity  of  $100  to  Chin-nubbe,  the  king  of  the  nation. 

The  Indian  Reservation  Line  established  by  this  treaty  ran  through  a  por- 
tion of  Giles  County  and  is  commemorated  by  a  marker  placed  on  the  line 
about  three  miles  northwest  of  Prospect  Station. 

LATITUDE   HILL 

After  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  North  Carolina  decided  to  pay  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  her  "continental  line"  with  lands  in  her  domain  west  of  the 
Alleghany  Mountains.  In  1782  she  passed  an  act  appointing  Absalom  Tatum, 
Isaac  Shelby  and  Anthony  Bledsoe  commissioners  to  lav  off  these  lands  and  also 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  737 

the  25,000  acres  of  land  given  to  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene.  The  governor  was 
authorized  to  appoint  a  guard  of  not  more  than  100  officers  and  men  to  accom- 
pany them,  for  protection  against  the  attacks  of  the  Indians,  especially  the 
Creeks  and  Cherokees. 

Early  in  1783  the  commissioners  with  their  guard  and  with  many  of  the 
Cumberland  settlers  traveled  south,  crossed  Duck  River  near  the  mouth  of  Flat 
Creek  and  crossed  Robertson's  Fork,  so  named  by  Elijah  Robertson,  and  Rich- 
land, so  named  by  James  Robertson,  and  down  Bradshaw  to  within  one  and 
one-half  miles  of  the  mouth  where  a  hard  rain  raised  Elk  River  so  that  it  could 
not  be  forded.  They  then  went  down  the  river  to  the  point  where  the  Mc- 
Cutchen  Trace  crossed  it  and,  on  a  high  bluff  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
took  their  astronomical  observations  to  ascertain  the  thirty-fifth  degree  of  north 
latitude  which  was,  and  is,  the  southern  boundary  of  Tennessee.  The  observa- 
tions were  taken  by  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  who  calculated  that  the  party  was  about 
three  miles  from  the  boundary.  As  the  river  could  not  be  forded,  they  intended 
to  make  a  canoe  and  send  some  of  the  party  across  and  on  to  the  boundary ;  but 
finding  signs  of  Indians,  they  concluded  to  desist  from  the  attempt.  They 
marked  a  number  of  trees  on  the  hill  with  the  names  of  those  present  and  the 
date  and  turned  back.  Since  that  time  the  place  has  been  called  ''Latitude 
Hill." 

So  far  as  is  known  the  people  in  this  party  were  the  first  white  men  who 
explored  the  region  later  known  as  Giles  County. 

PISGAH   CAMP   GROUND 

In  the  earty  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  a  wave  of  religious  enthusiasm 
swept  over  Tennessee.  Giles  County  was  quickly  and  strongly  affected.  Camp 
meetings  were  held  in  various  places  in  Tennessee  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
came  from  a  distance.  Entire  families  thus  attended  religious  meetings,  camp- 
ing in  the  vicinity  sometimes  for  weeks. 

Regarding  the  Pisgah  Camp  Ground,  Hon.  W.  B.  Romine  says:  "In  1811 
a  camp  meeting  was  held  in  the  valley  near  Pisgah,  Giles  County.  Next  year 
the  camp  ground  was  located  on  the  little  plateau  on  top  of  Pisgah  Hill  and 
camp  meetings  were  held  there  regularly  till  the  Civil  war.  That  was  one  of 
the  most  famous  camp  grounds  in  all  this  part  of  the  country.  There  were 
more  than  a  hundred  cabins,  or  camps,  and  great  crowds  of  people  gathered 
there  from  miles  around.  Bishop  Robert  Paine,  one  of  the  great  men  of  the 
early  Methodist  Church,  made  a  public  profession  of  religion  in  a  camp  meet- 
ing at  this  camp  ground." 

BISHOP  ROBERT  PAINE 

Robert  Paine,  bishop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  born  in  Per- 
son County,  N.  C,  November  12,  1799.  He  attended  school  near  Leesburg,  N.  C, 
and  later  studied  at  the  school  of  Dr.  D.  C.  "Weir,  and  Professor  Alexander  near 
Lynnville,  Tenn.  He  joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  October  9,  1817, 
and  was  ordained  deacon  and  elder  in  1821.  He  then  became  successively  a  mis- 
sionary preacher,  presiding  elder  of  the  Nashville  district  and  president  of  La 
Grange  College,  Ala.,  1830-1846. 


758  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

At  tlic  Louisville  conference  of  1844  he  was  a  leader  in  the  movement  for 
a  division  of  the  church,  North  and  South. 

He  was  the  presiding  officer  at  the  first  general  conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  held  at  Petersburg,  Va.,  in  1846,  and  al  that  time 
was  elected  bishop. 

Dicing  the  embarrassments  incident  to  the  Civil  war,  he  contributed  ably 
to  the  support  of  the  church.  The  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  the  University  of  Nashville,  and  that  of  D.  D.  by  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity. He  was  the  author  of  "Life  and  Times  of  Bishop  McKendree,"  pub- 
lished in  1859.     He  died  at  Aberdeen,  Miss.,  October  18,  1882. 

MOUNT   MORIAH   CHURCH 

Concerning  this  church  Mr.  Romine  says: 

"A  protracted  meeting  was  held  at  the  home  of  one  of  the  neighbors.  At 
the  close  of  the  meeting  it  was  agreed  that  a  church  would  be  organized.  As 
the  meeting  had  been  a  union,  neighborhood  meeting,  it  was  agreed  that  the 
new  congregation  should  decide  for  themselves  what  church  the  new  organiza- 
tion would  affiliate  with.  When  the  time  came  to  decide,  the  congregation 
named  the  church  Mount  Moriah,  and  voted  to  join  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terian church,  which  had  just  been  organized  by  certain  members  of  Cumberland 
Presbytery  refusing  to  abide  by  the  order  of  the  Synod  dissolving  Cumber- 
land Presbytery.  Thus  Mount  Moriah  became  the  first  church  organized  as 
a  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church.  All  the  churches  of  Cumberland  Presby- 
tery had  been  organized  as  Presbyterian  churches." 

bledsoe's  port 

In  1771  Isaac  Bledsoe  discovered  the  lick  which  was  given  his  name,  located 
at  what  is  now  known  as  Castalian  Springs,  in  Sumner  County,  Tenn.  In  the 
fall  of  that  year  lie  and  other  hunters  explored  the  Lower  Cumberland  while 
hunting  for  game,  formed  a  station  camp  on  Station  Camp  Creek,  north  of 
Pilot  Knob,  also  in  Sumner  County,  included  later  in  Fairview,  once  called  "the 
finest  country  home  in  Tennessee,"  when  owned  by  Isaac  Franklin. 

Other  hunters  at  the  same  time  discovered  Drake's  Pond,  Drake's  Lick  and 
Mansker's  Lick,  and  the  party  remained  in  this  section  hunting  and  exploring 
until  August,  1772. 

The  fame  of  this  beautiful  and  productive  section  spread  and,  in  1776, 
"allured  by  the  flattering  accounts  they  had  received  of  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  and  of  the  abundance  of  game  which  the  country  afforded,"  Thomas  Sharp 
Spencer  and  others  decided  to  visit  it.  They  made  a  small  clearing  and  built 
a  few  cabins  about  a  half  mile  west  of  Bledsoe's  Lick.  In  1878  they  planted 
some  corn,  the  first  corn  planted  by  men  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  Middle 
Tennessee  and  probably  the  first  planted  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains. 
Most  of  the  party  returned  to  the  settlements  after  planting  the  corn.  Spencer 
and  Holliday  remained  until  1779. 

Col.  J.  G.  Sisco,  in  "Historic  Sumner  County,"  page  15,  says:  "The  cur- 
tain of  history  rises  on  Sumner  County  in  the  year  1779,  when  a  settlement  of 
a  dozen  families  was  formed  near  Bledsoe's  Lick." 

Most  historians  give  the  year  1778  as  the  date  of  this  settlement.  For  ex- 
ample, Ramsey,  page  193,  says:    "A  settlement  of  less  than  a  dozen  families  was 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  759 

formed,  1778,  near  Bledsoe's  Lick,  isolated  in  the  heart  of  the  Chickasaw  na- 
tion, with  no  other  protection  than  their  own  courage,  and  a  small  stockade 
inclosure. " 

Colonel  Sisco  continues:  "The  winter  of  1779-80  brought  many  new  set- 
tlers. The  tide  had  set  in,  and  it  continued  to  flow,  despite  the  many  dangers 
and  hardships  which  the  people  had  to  encounter.  The  first  settlers  came  chiefly 
from  the  Watauga,  North  Carolina  and  from  Virginia,  though  a  few  came  from 
Pennsylvania  and  South  Carolina.  Many  of  these  hardy  men  were  fresh  from 
the  battle  fields  of  the  Revolution,  and  brought  with  them  the  rifles  and  the 
muskets  with  which  they  had  helped  to  win  independence  for  their  country. 
Better  than  rifles  and  muskets,  they  brought  with  them  strong  and  vigorous 
minds,  strong  and  healthy  bodies,  a  love  of  freedom,  undaunted  courage  and  a 
determination  to  conquer  dangers  and  difficulties  and  build  new  homes  for  their 
descendants  or  die  in  the  wilderness.  And  many  did  die  in  the  struggle.  But 
their  efforts  were  successful,  and  we  owe  it  to  their  memories  to  mark  their 
last  resting  places,  to  keep  their  graves  forever  green  and  to  keep  in  mind  their 
heroic  deeds  and  unselfish  sacrifices." 

Breckinridge's  charge  at  the  battle  of  stone's  river   (murfreesboro) 

The  battle  of  Stone's  River,  or  Murfreesboro,  which  was  fought  December 
31,  1862,  to  January  2,  1863,  was  one  of  the  most  stubbornly  contested  conflicts 
of  the  war,  and  one  of  the  bloodiest,  too,  in  proportion  to  the  numbers  engaged. 
Learning  that  Bragg  had  been  weakened  by  the  detaching  of  almost  one-fourth 
of  his  army  for  service  in  Mississippi,  General  Rosecrans  marched  out  from 
Nashville  to  attack  him.  A  preliminary  conflict  took  place  on  the  afternoon  of 
December  30th,  but  night  soon  interposed  and  put  an  end  to  it. 

At  daylight  of  the  thirty-first  both  armies  were  fiercely  engaged  and  so  con- 
tinued  with  varying  fortunes  for  three  days.  On  Hie  morning  of  January  2d, 
General  Bragg,  thinking  (according  to  the  statement  of  Col.  David  Urquhart,  a 
member  of  his  staff)  that  the  quiet  prevailing  among  the  Federal  forces  por- 
tended a  retreat,  determined  to  dislodge  the  force  opposite  his  right  wing  and 
save  orders  to  that  end. 

Colonel  Urquhart  ("Battles  and  Leaders  of  the  Civil  War,"  p.  607),  con- 
tinues: "*  *  *  our  best  troops  were  carefully  selected.  Hanson's,  Pres- 
ton's, Gibson's,  and  Hunt's  brigades,  with  Cobb's  and  Wright's  batteries  were 
placed  under  Major-General  Breckinridge.  A  gun  fired  by  one  of  our  batteries 
at  4  o'clock  was  the  signal  for  the  attack.  After  a  fierce  fight  we  carried  the 
hill.  The  orders  were  to  take  its  crest,  and  there  remain  intrenched.  Gen- 
eral Breckinridge  endeavored  to  execute  this  order,  but  the  commanders  of  the 
brigades  engaged  could  not  restrain  the  ardor  of  their  men,  who  pushed  on 
beyond  support.  The  Federal  batteries  that  had  been  massed  on  the  oilier  side 
of  the  stream  now  opened  on  them  and  drove  the  Confederates  back  with  ter- 
rible slaughter,  fully  2,000  of  our  men  being  killed  and  wounded  in  this  attack. 
At  10  o'clock  P.  M.  the  news  of  this  disastrous  charge,  led  by  the  elite  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  east  a  gloom  over  all." 

Col.  G.  C.  Kniffin  (Federal),  of  General  Crittenden's  staff,  says  in  "Battles 
and  Leaders,"  pp.  630,  631,  thai  "Breckinridge,  against  his  earnest  protest,  was 
directed  to  concentrate  his  division  and  assault."  After  giving  the  details  of 
the  brave  and,  at  first,  successful  charge.  Colonel  Kniffin  says: 


760  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

"In  all,  fifty-eight  pieces  of  artillery  played  upon  the  enemy.  Not  less 
than  one  hundred  shots  per  minute  were  fired.  As  the  mass  of  men  swarmed 
down  the  slope  they  were  mowed  down  by  the  score.  *  *  *  Hanson  was 
mortally  wounded,  and  his  brigade  lost  over  400  men ;  the  loss  in  the  division 
was  1,410." 

shy's  hill 

On  the  second  day  of  the  battle  of  Nashville,  December  15  and  16,  1864, 
Shy's  Hill  was  held  by  Gen.  W.  B.  Bate,  afterwards  governor  of  Tennessee, 
1883-1887,  and  United  States  senator,  1887,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  March  9, 
1905. 

It  was  at  Shy's  Hill  that  occurred  the  break  in  the  Confederate  line  which 
meant  the  loss  of  the  battle,  and  the  downfall  of  the  Confederacy.  No  better 
account  of  this  important  historical  event  has  been  written  than  that  of  W.  E. 
Beard,  page  28  of  his  booklet  entitled  "The  Battle  of  Nashville."  It  is  as 
follows : 

"The  break  came  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  on  Shy's  Hill  overlooking  the 
Granny  White  Pike.  It  was  at  a  point  in  the  Confederate  works  whei'e  the  line 
turned  from  facing  the  city  to  the  extreme  left.  It  was  subjected  to  a  heavy- 
cross-fire  from  the  artillery  of  McArthur's  and  Couch's  divisions  which  tore 
the  works  to  pieces,  even  the  stone  wall  on  the  Overton  Lea  place  across  the 
Granny  White  Pike  being  demolished.  Screened  by  the  fire  of  Couch 's  guns 
McMillen's  brigade  of  McArthur's  division  formed  in  a  hollow  in  front  of  Shy's 
Hill  to  attack  General  Bate's  weakened  line.  General  Thomas  himself  wit- 
nessed the  preparation  of  the  various  commands  to  charge  on  the  Confederate 
left  in  unison. 

"McMillen's  men,  the  114th  Illinois,  93d  Indiana,  10th  Minnesota,  the  72d 
Ohio,  and  the  95th  Ohio,  rushed  forward,  and  on  a  single  signal  Cox's  divi- 
sion started  on  a  run  for  Field's  position  and  the  Federal  cavalry  assailed  the 
knobs  in  the  rear  anew.  Bate's  line  on  Shy's  hill,  shot  to  pieces  by  cannon 
balls,  gave  way.  Col.  William  Shy  of  the  20th  Tennessee  died  fighting  to  the 
last  on  the  hill  which  has  since  borne  his  name.  Thomas  Benton  Smith,  'the 
Boy  General,'  one  of  Bate's  brigadiers,  was  captured  and  afterwards,  it  has 
been  charged,  slashed  over  the  head  with  a  sabre,  the  wound  permanently  im- 
pairing his  mind.  H.  R.  Jackson,  another  brigadier  in  Bate's  line,  was  cap- 
tured." 

BAKERDON 

Near  Port  Royal,  in  Montgomery  County,  is  Bakerdon,  the  home  of  Willie 
Blount,  governor  of  Tennessee,  1809-1815.  He  was  a  half  brother  of  William 
Blount,  governor  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  South  of  the  River 
Ohio. 

Willie  Blount  was  born  probably  in  1768  (the  date  is  somewhat  in  dispute). 
Little  is  known  of  his  early  life,  but  he  came  to  Tennessee  in  1791  and  became 
private  secretary  of  Governor  William  Blount.  He  held  this  position  until 
1796  when  Tennessee  became  a  state.  When  the  state  was  organized,  he  was 
elected  by  the  Legislature  one  of  the  Superior  judges. 

He  was  an  ardent  supporter  of  General  Jackson  during  the  Creek  war,  1813- 
1814,  and,  under  legislative  sanction,  raised  by  his  own  efforts  $370,000  to  sup- 
port Jackson's  army  in  the  field,  for  doing  which  he  was  thanked  by  President 
Madison,  three  secretaries  of  war  and  by  the  General  Assembly  of  Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  761 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1834,  and  died  Sep- 
tember 19,  1835.  The  Legislature  voted  to  erect  a  monument  to  his  honor  at 
Clarksville,  Tenn.,  where  he  is  buried. 

PORT  BLOUNT 

For  the  protection  of  travelers  between  East  Tennessee  and  Nashville  and 
of  the  Cumberland  settlers  a  fort  was  erected  near  Gainesboro  and  named  Port 
Blount,  after  Governor  William  Blount.  The  date  of  the  erection  is  uncertain, 
but  it  was  certainly  prior  to  1797 ;  for  John  Sevier,  in  his  diary,  under  date  of 
Thursday,  May  4,  1797,  when  he  was  on  a  trip  to  the  Cumberland  country  says : 
"Thur.  4  Rained  in  the  morng.  Brak,  at  Anderson's,  pd.  Expenses  4/6.  Crossed 
Fort  Blount  to  the  Cumberland  river  pd.  1/6.  Lodged  at  Peter  Turneys.  rained 
much  in  the  night." 

It  is  probable  that  Fort  Blount  was  constructed  within  a  few  years  after 
1788,  because,  according  to  an  article  on  "The  Old  Road,"  by  Col.  W.  E.  Mc- 
Elwee,  published  in  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  October,  1903,  page 
348,  "*  *  *  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  September  (1788)  a  company  of  soldiers 
had  escorted  the  first  body  of  emigrants  from  Clinch  River  to  the  Cumberland 
settlement,  among  whom  were  the  family  of  General  Davidson,  the  family  of 
Judge  John  McNairy  and  others."  Previously  immigrants  had  come  by  way 
of  Cumberland  Gap  and  Kentucky. 

And  the  fort  would  have  hardly  have  been  constructed  or,  at  least  named 
Fort  Blount,  before  1790,  because  it  was  in  that  year  that  President  Washing- 
ton appointed  William  Blount  governor  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States, 
South  of  the  River  Ohio. 

On  page  353  of  the  same  article,  Colonel  McElwee  says: 

"The  road  began  at  the  fort  near  Southwest  Point,  at  the  big  spring,  since 
known  as  the  Clark  Spring,  where  a  ferry  had  been  established  by  Norris 
Clark.  The  road  passed  through  the  valley  of  Post  Oak  Springs  and  ascended 
the  mountain  at  what  has  since  been  known  as  Kimbrough's  Gap.  Near  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Crossville  it  intersected  with  the  old  North  Carolina  road,  which  it 
practically  followed  to  a  fork,  where  one  road  led  to  Fort  Blount  and  the 
other  to  Cumberland  River.  Walton  took  the  road  leading  to  the  river,  where 
he  established  a  ferry,  known  as  'Walton's  ferry.'  The  road  then  kept  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Cumberland  to  near  Nashville,  where  he  established  another 
ferry." 

Judge  A.  V.  Goodpasture  says:  "Afterwards  the  name  of  Fort  Blount  was 
changed  to  Williamsburg,  and  it  was  made  the  county  site  of  Jackson  County. 
Still  later  the  county  site  was  removed  to  Gainsboro." 

Michaux  in  his  "Travels  to  the  Westward  of  Alleghany  Mountains,"  pub- 
lished in  1802,  on  page  263,  says: 

•"We  arrived  on  the  19th  at  Fort  Blount,  built  on  (he  river  Cumberland, 
seventy  miles  from  Nashville."  On  page  257  Michaux  says:  "Fort  Blount  was 
constructed  about  eighteen  years  ago,  to  protect  the  emigrants,  who  came  to 
settle  at  that  time  in  Cumberland,  against  the  savages,  who  made  incessant  war 
upon  them,  to  remove  them,  but  a  peace  having  been  concluded,  and  the 
population  being  greatly  augmented,  they  are  incapacitated  from  doing  them 
any  further  injury,  and  the  fort  has  been  destroyed.  At  present  there  is  a 
good  plantation  on  the  spot,  which  belongs  to  Capt,  Sampson  Williams,  with 
whom  Mr.  Fiske  usually  resides." 


762  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

West  Tennessee 

memphis  and  vicinity 

The  material  for  the  wording  of  the  markers  placed  in  and  near  Memphis 
has  been  furnished  largely  by  Judge  J.  P.  Young,  of  Memphis,  chairman  of 
the  Shelby  County  Historical  Committee.  The  information  concerning  the 
history  of  the  places  marked  embodied  in  this  pecord  has  been  supplied  prin- 
cipally by  Judge  Young  and  the  excellent  history  of  Memphis  by  J.  M.  Keating. 
Separate  mention  is  made  of  other  authorities  consulted. 

CIIISCA    MOUND 

Chisca  Mound  is  a  large  Indian  mound  erected  by  a  colony  of  the  Quapaw 
tribe  of  the  great  Akansea  branch  or  genus  of  the  North  American  Indians, 
on  the  Fourth  or  Lower  Chickasaw  Bluff,  where  the  City  of  Memphis  now  stands. 
This  mound  is  25  feet  high  with  base  dimensions  155  by  180  feet.  It  stands 
near  the  Mississippi  River  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city.  DeSoto  ap- 
proached the  river  from  the  east  side  of  this  mound  on  May  8,  1841;  but  it  is 
said  that  he  did  not  see  the  "Father  of  Waters''  there.  He  was  confronted  by 
Chisca,  the  chief  or  cacique  of  the  settlement  who,  with  4,000  warriors,  kept 
him  at  bay  for  several  days.  Being  unable  to  overcome  this  formidable  army 
of  savages  with  his  small  force  reduced  by  conflicts  with  the  Natchez  Indians, 
he  negotiated  an  armistice  with  Chisca  and  moved  a  short  distance  northeast  to 
obtain  a  supply  of  maize  or  Indian  corn. 

THE    POINT   OF    CROSSING 

Both  the  point  from  which  DeSoto  first  saw  the  Mississippi  River  and  the 
poinl  from  which  he  made  his  crossing  are  matters  of  dispute  among  historians. 
Andrew  Elliott  "s  journal  says  DeSoto  reached  the  Mississippi  River  in  latitude 
thirty-four  degrees  ten  minutes.  Belknap  says  within  the  thirty-fourth  parallel. 
McCullough  says  twenty  or  thirty  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas  River. 
Martin's  "Louisiana*'  says  a  little  below  the  lowest  (fourth)  Chickasaw  Bluff. 
Mettal's  "Travels  in  Arkansas"  says  at  the  lowest  Chickasaw  Bluff.  Justin 
Winsor  in  the  "Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America''  says  that  "there  is 
a  very  general  agreement  on  the  lowest  Chickasaw  Bluff." 

Bancroft  says : 

"The  Spaniards  were  guided  by  natives  to  one  of  the  several  crossing-places. 
probably  at  the  lowest  Chickasaw  Bluff,  not  far  from  the  35th  parallel  of  latitude. 
The  arrival  of  the  strangers  awakened  curiosity  and  fear.  A  multitude  of 
people  from  the  other  side  of  the  river,  painted  and  gaily  decorated  with  great 
plumes  of  white  feathers,  the  warriors  standing  in  rows  with  bows  and  ar- 
rows in  their  hands,  the  chieftains  sitting  under  awnings  as  magnificent  as 
the  artless  manufacturers  of  the  natives  could  weave,  came  rowing  down  the 
stream  in  a  fleet  of  two  hundred  canoes,  seeming  to  the  admiring  Spaniards 
like  a  fairy  army  of  galleys.'  They  brought  gifts  of  fish,  and  loaves  made  of 
the  fruit  of  the  persimmon.  The  boats  of  the  natives  were  too  weak  to  trans- 
port horses;  almost  a  month  expired  before  barges,  large  enough  to  hold  three 
horsemen  each,  were  constructed  for  crossing  the  river.  At  length,  at  the 
end  of  May,  the  Spaniards  embarked  upon  the  Mississippi,  and  were  borne 
to  the  western  bank." 


OLD   HELL  TAVERN,  MEMPHIS 


RAWLINGS  INDIAN  TRADING  POST, 
MEMPHIS 


CHISOA    MOUND,  AN  OLD  INDTAN  MOUND  IN  DE  SOTO  PARK,  MEMPHIS 


M  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  H1IH018 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  765 

Of  this  crossing  Judge  Young  says: 

' '  On  May  21st,  DeSoto  went  to  see  the  great  river.  This  was  near  the  mouth 
of  Wolf  River  and  approximately  ahout  the  site  of  the  present  Shelby  County 
jail,  the  most  historic  spot  about  Memphis.  Here  the  first  white  men  saw 
and  crossed  the  Mississippi  River,  which  DeSoto  did  on  June  18th,  1541,  after 
building  four  barges  or  piraguas,  with  which  to  carry  his  little  army  over,  a 
feat  accomplished  in  six  hours." 

SITE  OP  THE  FIRST  FRENCH   FORT,   FORT   PRUDHOMME 

In  1673  the  French  began  their  explorations  along  the  Mississippi  River. 
In  1682,  LaSalle  made  his  famous  voyage  down  the  Mississippi,  claimed  for 
France  the  country  through  which  it  ran  and  named  it  Louisiana  after  King 
Louis  XIV.  At  the  mouth  of  Wolf  River  at  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs  he  built  a 
fort  which  he  named  Prudhomme.  The  first  building  in  Tennessee  erected  by 
white  men  was  built  at  that  time  on  that  spot  by  the  French.* 

At  the  eastern  end  of  the  Harrahan  Bridge  were  afterwards  built  Fort  As- 
sumption and  Fort  Pickering.  Fort  Ferdinand  de  Barancas  and  Fort  Adams 
were  built  near  the  mouth  of  Wolf  River,  where  Fort  Prudhomme  had  been. 
Judge  Young  has  furnished  the  historical  facts  regarding  the  last  named  four 
forts. 

FORT  ASSUMPTION  AND   FORT  PICKERING 

In  August,  1739,  Jean  Baptiste  Le  Moyne  de  Bienville,  at  that  time  the 
French  Governor  of  Louisiana,  in  prosecuting  a  war  against  the  Chickasaw 
Indians,  sent  a  large  force  to  the  lower  Chickasaw  Bluff  under  Buisonniere  and 
De  Longueil,  who,  on  the  feast  of  the  Ascension,  in  the  middle  of  August,  1739, 
built  a  large  fort  adjoining  the  eastern  abutment  of  the  great  Harrahan  bridge 
across  the  Mississippi  River.  This  fort  was  garrisoned  by  1,200  French  soldiers 
and  2,400  Indian  allies  and  occupied  by  Bienville  until  March,  1740.  It  stood 
a  short  distance  above  the  Chisca  Mound  and  extended  north  to  the  Harrahan 
bridge  or  a  little  farther.  At  that  time  the  French  claimed  the  entire  Mississippi 
Valley,  under  its  seizure  by  LaSalle  April  9,  1682,  and,  up  to  that  time  no 
English  settlement  had  been  made  in  what  is  now  Tennessee.  The  upper  end  of 
Fort  Assumption  north  and  adjoining  the  Harrahan  bridge  was  afterwards  also 
the  site  of  Fort  Pickering,  built  by  Capt.  Zebulon  M.  Pike,  in  1801. 

THE  POINT  AT  WHICH  GOVERNOR  GAYOSO  SEIZED  THE  EAST  BANK  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI 
RIVER — FORT  FERDINAND  DE  BARANCAS 

The  same  point  at  which  DeSoto  first  saw  and  crossed  the  river,  at  the  lower 
Chickasaw  Bluff,  was  selected  by  Governor  Don  Mannual  Gayoso  de  Lemos, 
Spanish  governor  of  Louisiana,  as  a  site  for  a  fort  on  territory  of  the  United 
States,  after  an  alleged  purchase  from  Wolf's  Friend,  a  Chickasaw  chief.  There 
he  built  Fort  Ferdinand  de  Barancas  and  raised  the  flag  of  Spain,  May  31,  1795, 
thus  claiming  for  Spain  the  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  is  well 
known  now  that  this  fort  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Shelby  County  jail, 
on  city  lots  numbers  420-421-422  and  423.  Tt  is  also  given  sometimes  as  Kort 
San  Ferdinand  (or  Ferdinando)  de  Barancas. 


*  The  location  of  Fort  Prudhomme  is  not  certain. 

Vol.  1—49 


766  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

COMING  OF  THE  AMERICANS — FORT  ADAMS 

On  May  20th,  1797,  Gen.  James  Wilkinson  sent  Capt.  Isaac  Guion  with  a 
detachment  of  the  Third  United  States  Infantry  to  descend  the  river  from  Fort 
Washington  (Cincinnati)  and  take  possession  of  the  lower  Chickasaw  Bluff  and 
Fort  Ferdinand.  Captain  Guion  arrived  at  the  bluff  on  July  20,  1797,  and 
found  that  the  Spanish  commander  of  Fort  Ferdinand,  Captain  Beauchamp,  had 
just  dismantled  the  fort  and  had  withdrawn  across  the  river.  He  immediately 
built  another  fort  on  the  same  site  and  named  it  Fort  Adams  for  President  John 
Adams.  He  then  raised  the  American  flag,  the  first  United  States  national 
colors  ever  unfurled  aggressively  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

THE  OLD   BELL   TAVERN 

Judge  Young  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Old  Bell  Tavern : 

"One  of  the  oldest  landmarks  in  Memphis,  contemporary  with  the  laying 
out  of  the  town,  or  perhaps  a  little  older,  was  the  Old  Bell  Tavern  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Chickasaw,  now  Front  Street,  and  Toncray's  Alley,  a  little 
south  of  the  County  jail  and  of  the  site  of  the  two  forts,  Ferdinand  de  Barancas 
and  Adams.  There  has  been  some  controversy  about  when  this  old  building 
was  first  erected,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  here  when  Mr.  Lawrence  prepared 
his  map  of  the  town  about  to  be  founded  by  John  Overton,  Andrew  Jackson 
and  James  Winchester  in  1819.  It  was  then  the  only  place  where  visitors 
could  be  entertained  except  under  tents,  and  the  statements  of  the  earliest 
settlers,  who  survived  to  the  forties  and  fifties  concurred  in  saying  that  the 
town  was  laid  off  in  this  .primitive  building.  It  was  constructed  by  setting 
four  large  cedar  posts  in  the  ground  for  corners,  placing  stringers  between 
and  nailing  the  weather  boarding  to  these,  the  planks  being  obtained  from  the 
sides  and  tops  of  demolished  '  flat -boats, '  as  the  covered  flats  or  batteaux  plying 
the  river  were  then  called.  All  concurred  in  saying  that  it  was  the  oldest 
surviving  heuse  in  Memphis." 

Keating  in  his  "History  of  Memphis,"  page  189,  says: 

"The  winter  of  1831-2  was  very  severe,  and  the  poor  suffered  so  much  for 
want  of  fuel  that  the  famous  Bell  Tavern,  which  had  long  been  conspicuously 
identified  with  the  growth  of  the  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  was  almost  stripped,  and 
so  much  damaged  that  it  was  never  again  used  by  the  travelling  public.  'They, 
poor  sufferers,  burned  first  the  fences,  after  which  the  different  additions  and 
out-houses,'  and  finally  part  of  the  weather-boarding.  It  was  built  in  1823 
and  was  the  second  tavern,  the  first  having  been  built  on  Auction  street  by 
'Squire  McMahon  in  1821.  Colonel  Samuel  R.  Brown  was  the  first  proprietor 
of  the  Bell  Tavern,  which  was  so  named  from  the  bell  suspended  in  its  small 
cupola,  and  which  called  its  guests  to  their  daily  meals." 

THE  ISAAC   RAWLINGS  INDIAN   TRADING   POST 

Concerning  this  famous  establishment,  Judge  Young  says:  "One  of  the 
oldest  landmarks  in  Memphis  was  the  trading  post  of  Isaac  Rawlings.  Mr. 
Rawlings  came  to  the  Chickasaw  Bluff  as  a  settler,  with  the  troops  of  General 
Andrew  Jackson  during  the  New  Orleans  campaign  and  settled  on  Bayou 
Gayoso,  at  what  was  then  called  Anderson's  Bridge,  at  the  intersection  of  the 
two  Indian  trails,  now  known  as  Alabama  and  Jackson  streets.  About  1820 
he  opened  Commerce  Street,  and  erected  this  primitive  structure  between  Main 
and  Second  streets  as  laid  off  in  the  new  town,  which  was  notable  when  it  was 


TABLET  ON  HOUSE  OCCUPIED  BY  PKESIDENT  JEFFEKSON  DAVIS 


BESIDENCE  OF  CONFEDEEATE  PRESIDENT  JEFFERSON  DAVIS,  MEMPHIS 


(HE  IIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UHIV&RSITK  Of  UUHQIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  769 

destroyed  by  fire  a  few  years  ago,  as  the  oldest  surviving  commercial  building 
in  the  city.  His  traffic  was  principally  with  the  Chickasaw  Indians  as  there 
were  then  no  other  accessible  white  settlements  in  "West  Tennessee. 

Heiskell,  in  his  "Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  History,"  page  133, 
says :  "  '  Old  Ike '  Rawlings,  one  of  the  strongest  and  most  virile  characters  in  the 
history  of  the  state.  There  were  three  business  houses  in  Memphis  at  that  early 
date,  Winchester  and  Carr,  Henderson  and  Fern,  and  Isaac  Rawlings,  and  the 
rivalry  was  intense  between  Isaac  Rawlings,  'Old  Ike,'  and  Winchester  and 
Carr,  Winchester  being  Marcus  B.  Winchester,  the  first  mayor  of  Memphis,  one 
time  postmaster  and  president  of  the  first  bank  organized  in  the  city." 

Phelan  in  his  "History  of  Tennessee,"  page  326,  says  of  Isaac  Rawlings: 

"This  singular  and  almost  grotesque  figure  made  one  of  the  best  mayors 
who  ever  presided  over  Memphis  from  M.  B.  Winchester  to  D.  P.  Hadden.  He 
was  long  known  as  the  model  mayor.  Rawlings  was  vain,  stubborn,  self- 
willed,  and  imperious,  impatient  of  contradiction  and  conservative  to  a  fault. 
But  he  was  also  honest,  clearminded,  law-abiding,  determined  to  be  obeyed, 
and  economical.  He  took  the  duties  of  his  position  in  earnest,  and  rigorously 
enforced  the  law,  preserved  order,  looked  after  the  disbursement  of  the  public 
funds  with  scrupulous  care,  and  was  remarkably  energetic." 

THE   RESIDENCE   OP   GENERAL   N.   B.    FORREST 

Lieut.-Gen.  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,  called  the  "wizard  of  the  saddle," 
because  of  his  wonderful  military  exploits,  resided  for  several  years  before  the 
War  between  the  States  at  No.  85  Adams  Street  (old  numbers).  The  present 
street  number  is  189  Adams. 

General  Forrest  was  born  in  Marshall  County,  Tenn.,  July  13,  1821.  In 
1843  he  joined  his  uncle  in  business  in  Hernando,  Miss.,  where  he  remained 
until  1857,  when  he  removed  to  Memphis  where  he  engaged  in  real  estate  and 
slave  business.  Wyeth,  in  his  "Life  of  General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest," 
page  22,  says  of  this  period  of  Forrest's  career: 

"Nathan  Bedford  Forrest  had  not  resided  long  in  Memphis  before  he  had 
made  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  citizens  of  the  new  community  in  which 
he  had  east  his  lot.  He  was,  without  opposition,  nominated  and  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  this  thriving  and  rapidly  growing  city,  was 
reelected  several  times  to  the  office,  and  finally  resigned  just  before  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  war,  in  order  to  attend  more  closely  to  the  cultivation  of 
cotton.  Within  the  last  ten  years  of  his  business  career  he  had  at  various 
times  invested  in  purchases  of  valuable  uncleared  cotton  lands  along  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  and  among  these  were  two  extensive  plantations  in  Coahoma 
County,  in  Mississippi.  In  1859  he  closed  out  his  real  estate  and  slave  business 
in  Memphis  and  devoted  his  time  entirely  to  looking  after  the  interests  of 
his  plantations.  On  a  scale  of  such  magnitude  did  he  now  engage  in  this 
enterprise,  and  with  such  success,  that  from  his  various  properties  in  1861 
there  was  yielded  to  him  one  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  or  approximately  $30,- 
000,  as  an  annual  income. 

"The  Mayor  of  Memphis  said  of  Forrest:  'While  he  was  an  official  of  the 
city  he  never  offered  a  resolution  in  the  board  on  any  subject,  no  matter  how 
unpopular  it  might  be  at  first,  that  he  did  not  stick  to  it  and  work  at  it  until 
he  carried  it  triumphantly  through.'  " 

THE    HOME   OF   PRESIDENT   JEFFERSON   DAVIS 

After  being  released  on  May  15,  1867,  from  Fortress  Monroe,  on  bail  signed 
by  Horace   Greeley   and   others,   Mr.   Davis,   by    his   two  years'    imprisonment, 


770  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

broken  in  health  and  also  in  fortune,  visited  New  Orleans,  his  former  home  near 
Vicksburg,  England  and  France  and,  on  his  return  in  1869,  took  up  his  residence 
in  Memphis,  where  he  established  a  home  at  No.  129,  now  251,  East  Court 
Avenue,  where  he  lived  until  1874.  He  settled  down  to  work  as  the  president 
of  a  life  insurance  company,  but  the  panic  of  1873  caused  the  business  to  fail. 
After  entering  into  several  other  commercial  enterprises  in  New  Orleans,  he 
took  up  his  residence  at  Beauvoir,  Miss.,  in  1878,  and  lived  there  until  his  death 
in  1889. 

THE  RESIDENCE  OP  GENERAL  C.    C.   WASHBURN 

One  of  the  famous  exploits  of  Gen.  N.  B.  Forrest,  was  the  capture  of  the 
City  of  Memphis,  then  heavily  garrisoned  by  Federal  troops,  on  August  21, 
1864,  by  a  surprise  attack  with  about  1,500  cavalry.  Memphis  was  the  home  of 
many  of  Forrest 's  command ;  and  hence  the  enthusiasm  for  that  attempt  was 
very  great.  Forrest's  main  object  was  to  secure  the  withdrawal  of  Federal 
Gen.  A.  J.  Smith  from  Northern  Mississippi  on  the  ground  that  Memphis  was 
in  serious  danger  of  capture  by  the  Confederates.  Another  object  was  the 
capture  of  the  Federal  commander  at  Memphis,  Gen.  C.  C.  Washburne,  whose 
residence,  as  Forrest  knew,  was  at  206  Union  Street.  By  this  bold  attempt 
Forrest  was  entirely  successful  in  stopping  Smith's  invasion  of  Mississippi  and, 
while  he  did  not  capture  General  Washburne,  he  did  capture  other  Federal 
officers  and  soldiers. 

Forrest's  troopers,  pushing  through  the  Federal  encampments  south  of  the 
city,  rode  to  General  Washburne 's  residence  without  halting.  The  general  was 
caught  literally  napping,  but  when  the  shouting  troopers  ran  up  the  front  and 
the  rear  steps,  he  escaped  from  a  basement  window  in  his  night  clothes,  leaving 
his  wife,  uniform,  hat,  boots,  saber  and  private  papers  in  the  hands  of  the 
daring  assailants.  Regarding  this  occurrence,  Gen.  S.  A.  Hurlbut,  who  had 
recently  been  succeeded  by  General  Washburne,  remarked :  ' '  They  superseded 
me  with  General  Washburne,  because  I  could  not  keep  Forrest  out  of  West 
Tennessee,  but  Washburne  cannot  keep  him  out  of  his  bedroom." 

After  Forrest  with  his  prisoners  withdrew  from  Memphis  and  reached  Her- 
nando, he  reported  as  follows: 

"I  attacked  Memphis  at  four  o'clock  this  morning,  driving  the  enemy  to 
his  fortifications.  We  killed  and  captured  four  hundred,  taking  their  entire 
camp,  with  about  three  hundred  horses  and  mules.  Washburne  and  staff  es- 
caped in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning,  Washburne  leaving  his  clothes 
behind." 

THE  IRVING   BLOCK   FEDERAL   PRISON 

The  Irving  Block,  opposite  the  east  side  of  Court  Square,  was  used  as  a 
Federal  prison  in  the  Civil  war,  both  for  military  and  for  civil  prisoners.  It 
was  crowded,  badly  ventilated  and  not  adapted  for  prison  purposes.  Many 
dark  crimes  and  abuses  of  the  laws  of  war  were  committed  in  this  building  in 
which,  not  only  prisoners  of  war,  but  also  many  noted  men  and  women  of 
Memphis  were  confined.  These  abuses  became  so  infamous  that  the  prison  was 
abolished  early  in  1865  by  President  Lincoln  through  a  commission  sent  by  him 
to  Memphis  to  make  investigation. 


OLD  FEDERAL  PRISON  TABLET,  STANDING  IN  COURT 
SQUARE,  MEMPHIS,  OPPOSITE  BUILDINGS  THAT  WERE 
USED   AS    PRISONS. 


iHF  LIBRARY 

Of  JHE 

UHIVERSITY  OF  HUMS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  773 

RAISING  OP  THE  UNION  FLAG  ON  THE  CAPTURE  OP  MEMPHIS  IN  THE  CIVIL  WAR 

When  Memphis  was  captured  on  June  6,  1862,  the  United  States  Post  Office 
and  Customs  House  was  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Jefferson  and  Third  streets 
and  is  now  known  as  the  Woman 's  Building.  According  to  the  account  given  by 
Judge  Young,  Medical  Cadet  Charles  R.  Ellet,  son  of  Colonel  Ellet,  commander 
of  the  Federal  ram  fleet,  which  had  defeated  the  Confederate  vessels,  was  put 
ashore  from  the  ram  Monarch  with  a  flag  of  truce  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
Memphis.  The  young  man,  however,  first  went  alone  to  the  Post  Office  Building 
and  raised  the  Union  flag  over  the  top  of  the  building,  the  first  Federal  flag 
raised  in  that  city  during  the  Civil  war.  While  on  the  roof,  he  was  fired  on  by 
George  W.  L.  Crook,  of  Memphis,  but  did  not  seem  alarmed  at  the  attack. 
In  Keating 's  "History  of  Memphis,"  page  512,  is  the  following  account: 

"The  city  of  Memphis  being  thus  by  the  fate  of  war  uncovered  to  the 
enemy,  was  taken  possession  of  by  Commander  Davis,  who  landed  a  party  of 
sailors  from  the  flagship  'Benton,'  under  command  of  a  naval  officer  who 
marched  them  to  the  post  office  on  the  corner  of  Third  and  Jefferson  streets 
where  the  national  flag  was  hoisted.  A  great  crowd,  composed  mainly  of  those 
who  in  the  morning  had  witnessed  the  naval  engagement  from  the  bluff,  accom- 
panied the  sailors  who  stood  the  chaffing,  and  ran  the  gauntlet  of  threats  with 
steadiness  and  in  silence.  There  was  no  attempt  at  assault  made,  but  as  the 
flag  was  being  hoisted  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Crook,  an  insurance  agent, 
who  was  afterwards  killed  in  the  Confederate  service,  fired  a  pistol  shot  at 
the  little  group  standing  on  the  roof  of  the  high  building,  but  it  did  not  reach 
its  intended  destination.  The  ball  struck  the  top  of  the  house  and  fell  harm- 
less." 

THE  HOUSE  IN  WHICH  GENERAL  FORREST  DIED 

At  the  close  of  the  war  Forrest  endeavored  to  rehabilitate  his  sunken  fortune 
by  diligent  work  on  his  plantation  and  by  building  a  railroad  from  Selma  to 
the  Mississippi  River.  This  latter  enterprise,  however,  was  a  failure  on  account 
of  the  panic  of  1873. 

His  health  became  seriously  impaired  several  years  before  his  death.  On  page 
622  of  Wyeth's  "Life  of  General  Nathan  Bedford  Forrest,"  General  John  T. 
Morgan,  who  had  been  acting  for  some  years  as  Forrest 's  legal  advisor,  says  that, 
on  one  occasion,  General  Forrest  spoke  to  him  as  follows : 

"General,  I  am  broken  in  health  and  in  spirit,  and  have  not  long  to  live. 
My  life  has  been  a  battle  from  the  start.  It  was  a  fight  to  achieve  a  livelihood 
for  those  dependent  upon  me  in  my  younger  days,  and  an  independence  for 
myself  when  I  grew  up  to  manhood,  as  well  as  in  the  terrible  turmoil  of  the 
Civil  war.  I  have  seen  too  much  of  violence,  and  I  want  to  close  my  days  at 
peace  with  all  the  world,  as  I  am  now  at  peace  with  my  Maker." 

On  October  29,  1877,  General  Forrest  died  at  the  residence  of  Col.  Jesse  A. 
Forrest  on  Union  Street,  Memphis. 

His  death  created  a  profound  impression  throughout  the  country  and  evoked 
expressions  of  sympathy,  admiration  and  respect.  Among  the  many  tributes 
paid  to  his  memory  none,  perhaps,  surpasses  in  beauty  of  thought  that  expressed 
by  Lord  Wolseley,  at  that  time  commander-in-chief  of  the  British  army : 

"Forrest  had  fought  like  a  knight-errant  for  the  cause  he  believed  to  be 
that  of  justice  and  right.     No  man  who  drew   the  sword  for  his  country  in 


774  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

that  fratricidal  struggle  deserves  better  of  her ;  and  as  long  as  the  chivalrous 
deeds  of  her  sons  find  poets  to  describe  them  and  fair  women  to  sing  of  them, 
the  name  of  this  gallant  general  will  be  remembered  with  affection  and  sincere 
admiration.    A  man  with  such  a  record  needs  no  ancestry." 

KEY   CORNER 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  historic  spots  in  West  Tennessee  is  known 
as  "Key  Corner."  Concerning  this  point  Col.  R.  Z.  Taylor  of  Trenton,  Tenn., 
in  a  letter  to  Hon.  Hallum  Goodloe,  dated  July  28,  1921,  says: 

"  'Key  Corner'  is  the  initial  point  from  which  Henry  Rutherford  made 
many  surveys,  connecting  them  back  by  their  calls  to  Key  Corner.  Said  sur- 
veys covered  a  considerable  part  of  Lauderdale,  Crockett  and  Haywood  counties. 

"  'Key  Corner'  was  the  southwest  corner  of  a  survey  of  5,000  acres  in  the 
name  of  Martin  Armstrong,  Jr.,  the  N.  W.  corner  of  a  3,000  acre  survey  for 
Griffith  Rutherford  and  the  N.  E.  corner  of  a  5,000  acre  survey  for  Benj. 
Smith.  These  surveys  are  signed  by  Henry  Rutherford  and  dated  Sept.  1st 
and  2nd,  1785. 

"The  beginning  corner,  which  constituted  the  'Key'  was  described  as  fol- 
lows: 'On  the  Forked  Deer  River,  beginning  at  a  large  leaning  sycamore 
marked  H.  R.,  and  black  gum,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  near  the  mouth 
of  a  small  branch,  and  at  foot  of  the  first  bluff  from  the  mouth  of  said  river; 
said  Smith,  Griffith  Rutherford's  and  Martin  Armstrong's  corners.'  ' 

Henry  Rutherford,  son  of  Gen.  Griffith  Rutherford,  after  whom  Rutherford 
County,  Tenn.,  was  named,  was  born  in  Rowan  County,  N.  C,  on  August  17, 
1762,  became  a  surveyor  and  came  to  Nashville  in  1785.  With  his  party  he 
descended  the  Cumberland,  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  to  a  small  stream 
emptying  into  it  which  the  Indians  called  Okeena,  but  which  the  surveying 
party  named  Forked  Deer.  In  the  American  Historical  Magazine  for  July,  1900, 
is  an  article  on  Henry  Rutherford,  written  by  Hon.  P.  T.  Glass.  On  page  227 
of  that  number  he  says : 

"It  is  claimed  that  the  name  given  this  stream  (Forked  Deer  River)  orig- 
inated in  this  way:  That  some  member  of  the  party  killed,  near  their  camp 
on  its  banks,  a  large  buck  with  horns  of  a  peculiar  shape,  and  it  was  decided 
to  call  the  river  Forked  Deer,  and  it  was  so  referred  to  in  Rutherford 's  surveys. 
Here  the  beginning  point,  known  as  the  'Key  Corner,'  was  marked  on  a  lean- 
ing sycamore  standing  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  on  which  he  cut  the 
letters  H.  R.,  and  a  large  key,  to  indicate  it  as  the  key  to  all  his  Forked  Deer 
surveys.  This  was  the  beginning  corner  of  four  of  his  locations ;  the  first  of 
3,000  acres  in  the  name  of  Griffith  Rutherford,  his  father;  the  second  of  5,000 
acres  for  Benjamin  Smith ;  the  third  for  Benjamin  Smith,  of  5,000  acres ;  and 
the  fourth  for  Martin  Armstrong,  of  5,000  acres." 

During  his  first  visit  to  West  Tennessee  he  located  more  than  365,000  acres 
of  land,  of  which  13,500  acres  were  for  himself.  He  located  6,000  for  his  father 
and  5,000  for  his  brother  John.  He  also  located  in  the  same  region  numerous 
tracts  for  the  Blounts,  John  Carter,  Henry  Clark,  John  Estes,  E.  Harris, 
W.  Hughlett,  George  Doherty  and  others. 

West  Tennessee  was  opened  for  settlement  by  a  treaty  with  the  Chickasaws, 
October  19,  1818.  In  1819  Rutherford  settled  there  about  three  miles  east  of 
Key  Corner  and,  after  a  long  and  useful  career,  died  there  on  May  20,  1847. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
EDUCATION  IN  TENNESSEE 

THE  MELUNGEONS — TENNESSEE  DIVISION,  UNITED  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 
— TENNESSEE  WOMAN 's   CHRISTIAN   TEMPERANCE  UNION 

EDUCATION  IN  TENNESSEE 

The  cause  of  education  in  this  state  has  been  from  the  beginning  dear  to 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  The  development  of  educational  interests,  and  par- 
ticularly of  public  education  has  been  slow  and,  at  times,  beset  with  opposition 
which  was  temporarily  insuperable.  It  is  a  mistaken  idea  that  the  early  settlers 
of  Tennessee  were  illiterate.  The  education  of  most  of  them  was  not  extensive, 
but  there  were  few  who  were  not  fairly  grounded  in  the  education  of  the  times. 
Of  the  one  hundred  and  ten  who  signed  the  Watauga  petition  in  1776  only 
two  signatures  were  made  by  mark ;  and  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  who 
signed  the  Cumberland  Compact  only  one  signed  by  mark.  They  wrote  with 
quill  pens,  yet  in  the  archives  of  the  state  are  numerous  papers  and  documents 
left  by  the  pioneers  in  which  the  chirography  is  entitled  to  be  called  calligraphy 
so  beautifully  formed  is  every  letter. 

Indeed,  the  people  of  North  Carolina,  from  which  most  of  them  came  into 
East  Tennessee,  did  themselves  believe  in  education  as  was  shown  by  their 
legislature  in  behalf  of  popular  and  higher  education.  The  influence  of  the 
University  of  North  Carolina,  established  in  1789,  upon  Tennessee  in  the  early 
days  was  very  great.  At  this  institution  were  educated  President  James  K.  Polk, 
Judge  A.  0.  P.  Nicholson  and  many  others. 

When,  therefore,  Dr.  Samuel  Doak  came  to  Tennessee  in  1778  or  1780,  the 
exact  date  not  being  determined,  he  found  the  people  receptive  to  education 
and  religion  which  in  the  early  days  went  hand  in  hand.  In  the  first  settlement 
of  Tennessee  the  dominant  element  was  Presbyterianism.  The  four  prominent 
educators  of  pioneer  times  in  Tennessee,  Samuel  Doak,  Hezekiah  Balch,  Samuel 
Carrick  and  Thomas  B.  Craighead,  were  all  Presbyterian  ministers  and  all  of 
Scotch-Irish  descent. 

Doak  established  the  first  school  in  Tennessee  which  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  first  school  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.1  He  called  it  Martin  Academy 
after  the  governor  of  North  Carolina  and  started  it  in  3780  in  a  plain  building 
erected  on  his  farm  near  Jonesboro.  It  was  chartered  in  1783  by  the  State  of 
North  Carolina.  It  was  again  chartered  in  1785  by  the  State  of  Franklin,  and 
in  1795,  it  was  incorporated  by  the  Southwest  Territory  as  Washington  College, 
at  Salem,  Washington  County. 


1  Jno.  Allison's  address  before  the  Tennessee  Press  Association  on  "East  Tennessee  a 
Hundred  Years  Ago,"  p.  8.  Phelan,  in  his  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  233,  quotes  Monette 
as  saying  that  Doak's  Academy  was  "the  first  literary  institution  established  in  the  Great 
Mississippi  Valley." 

775 


776  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

In  1785  Davidson  Academy  was  established  by  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
North  Carolina  called  "an  act  for  the  promotion  of  learning  in  Davidson 
County."  At  the  first  meeting  of  the  trustees  in  1786,  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Craig- 
head was  elected  president.  In  1803  it  was  rechartered  as  Davidson  College; 
in  1806,  as  Cumberland  College;  and  in  1825,  as  the  University  of  Nashville. 

On  September  3,  1794,2  the  ninth  day  of  the  first  regular  session  of  the  First 
Territorial  Assembly,  a  charter  was  granted  to  Greeneville  College,  whose  first 
president  was  Rev.  Hezekiah  Balch,  and  whose  name  is  now  Greeneville  and 
Tusculum  College. 

On  September  6,  1794,3  a  bill  for  the  establishment  of 

College  in  the  vicinity  of  Knoxville  was  passed  on  first  reading  and,  on 
September  10,  1794,  as  "a  bill  to  establish  Blount  College,"  was  passed  on 
third  reading.  In  this  act  Rev.  Samuel  Carrick  was  named  as  its  president. 
In  1807  the  name  of  Blount  College  was  changed  to  East  Tennessee  College. 
In  1840  its  name  was  again  changed  to  East  Tennessee  University.4  In  1879, 
it  was  changed  to  the  University  5  of  Tennessee.6 

THE   COMPACT   OP    1806 

When  the  reader  of  history  learns  that  the  State  of  Franklin  made  no 
expression  in  favor  of  education  in  its  constitution,  and  it  is  believed  rejected 
such  a  provision  proposed  by  Samuel  Doak  and,  furthermore,  when  he  learns 
that  the  first  constitution  of  the  state  is  likewise  silent  upon  the  subject  of 
education,  he  is  amazed,  and  can  not  understand  this  apparent  indifference. 
The  mystery,  however,  is  solved  when  the  explanation  is  made  that  both  of  these 
constitutions  were  based  upon  the  constitution  and  laws  of  North  Carolina 
with  only  necessary  changes  and  both  inherited  the  parent  state's  policy  of 
non-interference  in  matters  of  education.  The  interest  of  the  people  in  edu- 
cation, nevertheless,  was  keen  and  militant.7 

Little,  however,  of  a  statutory  nature  was  done  for  the  furtherance  of  edu- 
cation in  Tennessee  until  April  18,  1806,  when  Congress  passed  an  act  which 
was  the  result  of  a  tripartite  agreement  between  the  United  States,  Tennessee 
and  North  Carolina,  whereby  the  Federal  government  extended  to  Tennessee 
the  same  bounty  in  the  way  of  public  lands  for  educational  purposes  as  had 
been  granted  to  Ohio  and  at  the  same  time  endeavored  to  settle  a  long  standing 
dispute  over  the  right  of  issuing  grants  to  vast  tracts  of  unappropriated  lands 
in  Tennessee.  Unfortunately,  the  munificence  of  the  general  government  was 
not  handled  to  the  best  advantage. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  schools  of  Tennessee  were  private  enterprises  sus- 
tained by  fees  for  tuition.  Now,  the  state  sought  to  assist  schools  through  the 
revenue  derived  from  the  sales  of  public  lands.  The  history  of  education  in 
Tennessee,  therefore,  becomes  at  this  point  commingled  with  the  history  of  land 


2  Journal  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
South  of  the  Eiver  Ohio,  p.   11. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  18. 

4  Acts  of  1839  to  1840,  p.  180. 
s  Acts  of  1879,  p.  88. 

•>  The  State  University  was  placed  on  a  strong  foundation  in  1869  when  it  received 
$396,000  from  the  sale  of  land  received  by  Tennessee  from  the  National  Government.  It 
was  further  strengthened  in  1887  when  Congress  made  an  annual  appropriation  of  $15,000 
for  an  Agricultural  Experiment  Station.  This,  by  Act  of  1890,  was  increased  $1,000  a  year 
until  it  reached  $25,000  per  year.  For  an  excellent  account  of  the  history  of  this  institu- 
tion, see  Sanford's  "Blount  College  and  the  University  of  Tennessee." 

"  Ramsey 's  ' '  Annals  of  Tennessee, ' '  p.   727. 


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1 ;  *4$ 

MAIN  BUILDING  AT  VANDEEBILT  UNIVERSITY 


fHF  LIBRARY 

OF  IHE 

UNIVERSITY  or  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  779 

legislation,  as  Phelan  says:  "The  history  of  the  common  schools  is,  in  the  main, 
the  history  of  the  public  lands  in  Tennessee,  and  the  history  of  the  public  lands 
in  this  state  is  the  history  of  confusion. ' ' 8 

As  more  than  three  hundred  acts  of  the  Legislature  have  been  passed  in 
regard  to  the  relation  of  the  state  school  lands  to  the  public  lands,  and  as  this 
history  has  already  gone  rather  thoroughly  9  into  a  discussion  of  the  most  im- 
portant of  these  acts,  only  sufficient  sketching  will  be  given  to  this  compact  and 
its  consequences  as  is  necessary  to  preserve  the  continuity  of  the  narration. 

This  compact  required  Tennessee  to  set  apart  100,000  acres  of  land  for  two 
colleges,  one  in  East  Tennessee  and  the  other  in  West  Tennessee,  and  100,000 
acres  for  establishing  one  academy  in  each  county  and  made  other  provisions 
which  will  be  told  of  subsequently.  The  East  Tennessee  college  selected  was 
Blount  College,  now  the  University  of  Tennessee,  and  the  West  Tennessee  college 
was  Cumberland  College,  previously  Davidson  Academy,  and  later,  1825,  the 
University  of  Nashville.10 

By  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  on  September  13,  1806,  twenty-seven 
academies  were  incorporated,  one  for  each  county  then  in  existence,  all  of  which 
were  recipients  of  so  much  of  the  Academy  Fund  as  could  be  made  available. 
These  academies  were  not  sufficient  for  the  educational  needs  of  the  state  and 
were  supplemented  by  seminaries  and  private  schools.  Their  funds,  too,  were 
insufficient  and  had  to  be  supplemented  by  private  subscriptions. 

The  act  required  that  the  academy  and  college  lands  were  not  to  be  sold  for 
less  than  two  dollars  per  acre  unless  they  were  already  occupied,  in  which  case 
the  occupants  were  permitted  to  perfect  their  rights  at  one  dollar  per  acre.  The 
settlers  generally  gave  notes  which  they  failed  to  meet  and  for  years  there 
was  a  bitter  fight  between  the  colleges  and  academies  and  the  settlers. 

Another  provision  of  this  Act  was  that  640  acres  were  to  be  set  aside  for 
the  support  of  common  schools  in  every  thirty-six  square  miles  wherever  pos- 
sible. According  to  the  estimate  this  reservation  should  have  yielded  about 
450,000  acres,  but  in  1823  a  memorial  of  the  Legislature  showed  that  only  22,705 
acres  had  been  realized.  Hence,  the  funds  derived  for  public  schools  were  small 
and,  it  is  said,  there  was  at  times  much  irregularity  in  the  methods  of  making 
the  sales  and  in  handling  the  proceeds. 

THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  POPULAR  EDUCATION   IN   TENNESSEE 

Although  the  constitution  of  1796  made  no  provision  for  education,  the 
successive  governors  constantly  called  attention  to  the  civic  necessity  of 
education.  The  Legislature,  occasionally  heeding  these  reminders,  passed 
various  acts  looking  to  the  promotion  of  higher  education.  The  first  tax  for 
educational  purposes  was  levied  under  an  act  passed  in  1815  "to  provide  for 
the  education  of  orphans  of  those  persons  who  had  died  in  the  service  of  their 
country."  The  act  provided  "that  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  County  Court 
in  the  state  at  each  and  every  court  after  the  first  day  of  January,  1816,  to 
lay  such  a  tax  upon  all  taxable  property  as  shall  be  sufficient  to  educate  the 


s  "History  of   Tennessee,"  p.   233. 

9  See  pp.  313-318. 

io  In  1851  it  established  a  medical  college  which  is  now  located  in  Memphis,  as  a  part 
of  the  University  of  Tennessee  Medical  Department.  The  war  caused  its  literary  depart- 
ment and  its  military  school,  established  before  the  war,  to  be  closed.  In  1875  the  Pea- 
body  Normal  College  was  established  as  its  literary  department.  It  is  now  the  George 
Peabody  College  for  Teachers.  Montgomery  Bell  Academy,  once  a  part  of  the  University 
of  Nashville,  is  a  flourishing  preparatory  school. 


780  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

poor  orphans  who  have  no  property  to  support  and  educate  them  and  whose 
fathers  were  killed  or  have  died  in  the  serviee  of  their  country  in  the  late  war." 
The  use  of  the  expression  "poor  orphans"  was  most  unfortunate  for  the  good 
cause. 

Perhaps  the  germ  of  the  public  school  system,  as  differentiated  from  the 
academy  system,  was  developed  by  an  act  passed  in  1817  which  was  intended 
to  prevent  the  public  school  fund  from  going  to  the  support  of  the  academies. 
This  germ  began  to  develop  in  1821,  when  the  counties  of  Warren  and  Frank- 
lin were  directed  by  the  Legislature  1J  to  have  school  commissioners  appointed 
by  their  county  courts  to  rent  or  lease  school  lands  for  the  benefit  of  schools  on 
such  lands.  In  1822,  other  counties  were  granted  the  benefits  of  the  provisions 
of  this  act.  In  1823,  was  passed  the  first  general  school  act.12  Besides  other 
provisions,  it  required  that  a  board  of  five  commissioners  be  elected  by  the 
County  Court  in  each  county  which  commissioners  were  authorized  to  employ 
teachers  and  to  educate  the  poor  gratuitously.  One  unfortunate  result,  which, 
of  course,  was  not  intended,  was  the  development  of  what  was  called  "the 
pauper  system,"  which  prevailed  in  Tennessee  for  many  years.  This  system 
was  accentuated  by  the  fact  that  in  many  cities  the  private  schools  were  very 
efficient,  and  public  sentiment  was  so  in  favor  of  them  that  self  respecting 
parents  felt  it  their  duty  to  make  every  sacrifice  to  keep  their  children  out  of 
the  public  schools.  In  1825,  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  elaborated  but  the 
principal  efforts  of  the  Legislature  were  made  in  a  memorial  to  Congress  that 
the  state  might  provide  for  its  public  schools  out  of  the  lands  south  and  west 
of  the  Congressional  Reservation  Line.13  In  1827,  a  general  state  school  sys- 
tem was  elaborated.14  This  act  made  as  a  part  of  the  common  school  fund  all 
sources  of  income  previously  appropriated  to  it,  and  all  the  capital  and  interest 
of  the  new  state  bank  except  one-half  of  the  principal  already  received,  and  the 
proceeds  from  the  sale  of  the  lands  of  the  Hiwassee  District.  In  1829  an  act15 
was  passed  requiring  that  the  County  Court  should  lay  out  school  districts  and 
estimate  their  population.  The  public  school  system  really  dates  from  this 
time.  Acts  were  also  passed  in  1831,  1833  and  1834,  which  added  somewhat 
to  the  size  of  the  public  school  fund. 

THE   INFLUENCE    ON   EDUCATION    OP   THE   CONSTITUTION   OP    1834 

"The  great  work  of  the  constitutional  convention  of  1834  was  the  adoption 
of  an  article  describing  the  common  school  fund,  declaring  it  a  perpetual  fund, 
and  directing  the  Legislature  to  take  definite  steps  to  secure  it  by  the  appoint- 
ing of  a  Board  of  Commissioners."16 

This  article  is  Article  XI,  Section  10,  and  its  importance  suggests  a  read- 
ing of  it  and  Section  11  in  the  Constitution  of  1834,  which  will  be  found  in 
the  Appendix. 

By  this  constitution  the  permanent  school  fund  was  tied  up  as  firmly  and 
fully  as  could  be  done  by  fundamental  law. 


ii  Chapter  LXVTI,  Acts  of  1821,  p.  75. 
12  Chapter  LXIX,  Acts  of  1823. 
is  Chapter  LXXVI,  Acts  of  1825. 
i*  Chapter  LXTV,  Acts  of  1827. 
is  Chapter  LIV,  Acts  of  1829,  p.  87. 

i«  A.    P.   Whitaker's    "Tennessee    Public    Schools,    1834-1860,"    in    Tennessee    Historical 
Magazine,  Vol.  2,  p.  5. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  781 

On  February  19,  1836,  a  bill 17  was  passed  providing  for  a  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  and  for  a  board  of  commissioners  for  the  common  schools 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  new  constitution. 

This  board  consisted  of  the  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  the 
state  treasurer  and  the  state  comptroller.  Soon  after  the  passage  of  this  bill, 
the  General  Assembly  elected  as  the  first  state  superintendent  of  public  in- 
struction, Col.  Robt.  H.  MeEwen,  a  man  of  good  ability,  extensive  influence  and 
a  progressive  spirit.  His  administration  was  still  further  facilitated  by  the  pas- 
sage, on  January  24,  1838,  of  an  act 18  entitled  ' '  an  act  to  establish  a  system 
of  common  schools  in  Tennessee." 

Meanwhile,  the  entire  state  school  fund  had  been  invested  in  the  capital 
stock  of  the  Bank  of  Tennessee,  and  thereafter  was  inextricably  connected  with 
it.  When  this  arrangement  was  made,  it  was  provided  that  the  bank  should 
pay  to  the  board  of  commissioners  $100,000  a  year  as  interest  on  this  fund. 

The  first  report  of  Superintendent  MeEwen  for  the  year  1838  to  1839,  gives 
a  view  of  the  educational  conditions  of  the  state.  It  showed  that  a  satisfactory 
situation  had  not  yet  been  reached  in  the  educational  affairs  of  the  state ;  that, 
in  the  language  of  the  report  made  in  1837  by  the  legislative  committee,  of 
which  Washington  Barrow  was  chairman,  "the  subject  of  education  has  never 
yet  received  in  Tennessee  that  attention  which  it  so  richly  merits." 

In  consequence  of  rumors  that  Superintendent  MeEwen  had  mismanaged 
the  school  fund  of  the  state,  an  investigation  was  made  by  the  Legislature,  as 
the  result  of  which  it  was  charged  that  there  was  due  the  state  from  him  a 
balance  of  $121,169.05,  either  misappropriated  or  not  properly  accounted  for. 
He  was  allowed,  however,  to  complete  his  term  in  office  when  Robt.  P.  Currin 
was  elected  his  successor.  Finally,  the  litigation  against  MeEwen  was  com- 
promised, MeEwen  being  required  to  pay  $10,797.86.  In  his  report,19  dated 
October  8,  1839,  MeEwen  made  a  strong  defense  of  his  use  of  the  school  fund 
in  which  he  said,  no  doubt  truly,  that  he  had  "experienced  much  difficulty,  not 
only  from  the  confused  and  scattered  condition  of  that  fund,  but  from  the 
pecuniary  embarrassments  of  the  country."  In  1844,  the  office  of  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  was  abolished  by  the  Legislature  and  the 
duties  of  that  officer  devolved  upon  the  state  treasurer  without  additional  com- 
pensation. This  was  done  on  the  recommendation  of  Governor  James  C.  Jones 
that  it  be  abolished  "if  the  duties  of  this  office  are  to  extend  no  further  than 
the  mere  collection  of  the  fund  and  a  biennial  report." 

The  harm  done  to  the  cause  of  education  by  this  message  of  Governor  Jones 
was  very  great  and  evidently  he  saw  the  evil  situation  for  in  his  message  to  the 
Legislature,  dated  October  10,  1845,  he  said:  "The  fearful  want  of  education 
among  our  citizens  is  no  longer  to  be  disguised.  *  *  *  Tlie  greatest  ob- 
stacle to  be  overcome  and  perhaps  the  only  formidable  difficulty  in  the  way  of 
success  is  the  want  of  a  sufficient  fund."  And  this  "want"  was  real  enough, 
for  the  average  annual  income  of  the  school  fund  for  the  years  1839-1847,  us 
shown  by  the  report  of  the  comptroller  for  1847,  was  only  $117,500. 

On  April  19,  1847,  a  common  school  convention  was  held  at  Knoxville  and 
a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  was  adopted  recommending  the  appointment  of 
a  board  of  education  for  each  county  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  examine  ap- 


"  Chapter  XXIII,  Acts  of  1835-1836. 
is  Chapter  CXLVIII,  Acts  of  1837-1838. 
19  Appendix  to  House  Journal  of  1840. 


782  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

plicants  and  to  grant  licenses  to  teachers ;  the  publication  of  a  monthly  state 
educational  journal ;  the  appointment  of  a  superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, and  the  taxation  of  property  for  the  support  of  schools.20  The  memorial 
spoke  also  of  the  illiteracy  of  the  state  as  shown  by  the  census  of  1840.  And 
the  census  of  1850  showed  that  educational  conditions  were  worse  than  they 
had  been  ten  years  before. 

During  the  decade,  1850  to  1860,  four  acts  were  passed  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  public  school  system.  The  first  of  these,  passed  in  1852,  authorized 
the  district  school  commissioners  to  employ  female  teachers  on  the  same  terms 
that  were  made  with  male  teachers.21 

On  February  28,  1854,  a  very  important  act  was  passed  entitled  "an  act  to 
establish  a  system  of  common  schools  in  Tennessee. "  22  By  a  provision  of  this 
act  taxation  for  the  support  of  the  common  schools  was  for  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  state  put  into  effect.  The  step  had  been  strongly  urged  by  Andrew 
Johnson  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  1853.  In  it  he  said :  "At  the  pres- 
ent period  and  for  a  long  time  past,  our  common  schools  have  been  doing  lit- 
tle or  no  good,  but  on  the  contrary  have,  in  many  instances  and  in  many  parts 
of  the  country,  been  rather  in  the  way  than  otherwise,  preventing  the  people 
from  getting  up  and  having  schools  at  their  own  responsibility  and  expense. 
*  *  *  If  we  are  sincere  in  what  we  profess  for  the  cause  of  education,  we 
should,  without  hesitation,  provide  means  to  accomplish  it.  There  is  one  way, 
if  no  other,  that  the  children  of  the  state  can  be  educated,  which  is  obvious 
to  all,  and  that  is,  to  levy  and  collect  a  tax  from  the  people  of  the  whole  state, 
or  to  authorize  the  County  courts  separately  to  do  so  in  their  respective  coun- 
ties, in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed  by  them  most  acceptable  to  the  people, 
sufficient  in  amount,  when  added  to  our  present  school  fund,  to  give  life  and 
energy  to  our  dying  or  dead,  system  of  common  school  education."23 

The  Legislature  in  the  act  adopted  both  of  the  methods  suggested  by  the 
governor. 

On  February  16,  1856,  an  act  24  was  passed  to  secure  better  instruction  by 
introducing  some  uniformity  into  the  method  of  examining  and  licensing 
teachers. 

On  February  28,  1856,  an  act  25  was  passed  repealing  Section  10  of  Chapter 
47,  Acts  of  1841-1842,  requiring  at  least  twenty  pupils  to  entitle  a  school  to 
receive  a  share  of  the  school  fund  and  reducing  the  minimum  number  to  twelve. 

The  four  referred  to  which  were  passed  during  the  decade  of  1850  to  1860, 
while  salutary,  lacked  much  of  statutory  requirement  to  meet  the  situation 
and  the  War  between  the  States  put  a  quietus  upon  all  efforts  in  this  direction. 

ASPECTS   OP   EDUCATION   IMMEDIATELY   AFTER    THE   WAR 

No  sooner  had  the  war  ended  than  those  who  had  the  interests  of  educa- 
tion at  heart  began  to  make  plans  for  the  establishment  of  a  worth-while  system. 
Even  as  early  as  July,  1865,  while  yet  the  state  was  in  the  throes  of  recon- 
struction, the  Tennessee  State  Teachers  Association  was  organized  with  Rev. 
Thomas  W.  Humes,  president  of  the  East  Tennessee  University,  as  president, 


20  Goodspeed 's  "History  of  Tennessee,"  p.  428. 

21  Chapter  CXXXIII,  Acts  of  1851-1852,  p.   188. 

22  Chapter  LXXI,  Acts  of  1853-1854,  p.  140. 

23  House  Journal,  1853-1854,  pp.  455-457. 

24  Chapter  105,  Acts  of  1855-1856,  p.  117. 

25  Chapter  114,  Acts  of  1855-1856,  p.  117. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  783 

and  passed  resolutions  favoring  free  public  schools.  In  October,  1865,  a  bill 
was  introduced  in  the  Legislature  for  the  "Reorganization,  Supervision,  and 
Maintenance  of  Free  Common  Schools."  It  did  not  pass,  however,  until  March 
5,  1867.  This  law  26  in  the  circumstances  was  remarkably  able  and  wise.  It 
was  based  on  the  old  law  with  the  following  additional  provisions:  State  and 
county  superintendents;  the  levy  of  increased  state  school  tax;  authority  for 
school  districts  to  levy  a  tax  for  school  purposes  (this  provision  was  later  de- 
clared by  the  courts  to  be  unconstitutional)  ;  extending  the  benefit  of  public 
education  to  both  white  and  black  children,  to  be  taught  in  separate  schools. 

The  law  of  1867  paved  the  way  for  the  law  of  1873,  from  which  the  present 
system  dates. 

In  August,  1867,  Gen.  John  H.  Eaton,  Jr.,  was  elected  state  superintendent 
of  public  instruction  and  experienced  many  difficulties.  Concerning  them  he 
said,  in  1869 : 

"The  provisions  of  the  former  school  code  related  only  to  schools  for  whites 
and  made  the  treasurer  of  the  state  also  superintendent  of  public  instruction. 

"There  had  been  no  superintendent  of  the  state  schools  under  the  new  law 
— 1867 ;  therefore,  I  turned  to  the  state  treasurer  for  reports  but  found  none, 
neither  any  records  save  a  bundle  of  old  letters.  Seeking  information  of  leading 
men  prominent  in  state  affairs  in  the  past,  I  failed  to  find  any  one  who  could  tell 
me  in  detail  how  the  former  system  operated  in  its  various  provisions  from 
district  commissioner  to  state  treasurer.  It  was  apparent  that  there  had  been 
no  report  exacted  from  each  official  to  the  state  of  the  discharge  of  his  re- 
sponsibilities. The  scholastic  population  was  reported  to  the  state  and  the 
state  fund  for  distribution  was  apportioned  and  paid  out  to  the  trustees  of 
the  county.  The  state  did  not  know  and  could  not  tell  whether  a  dollar  was 
expended  as  the  law  required,  whether  it  was  used  for  public  or  private  pur- 
poses, or  a  child  taught  or  not.  The  provisions  of  the  code  appear  to  have 
been  a  dead  letter  in  all  respects  during  the  war,  after  the  reorganization  of 
the  state  government  till  the  passage  of  the  new  law.  Under  the  statutes  noth- 
ing was  done  save  some  collections  of  portions  of  the  school  tax  for  the  entire 
year  previous  to  my  appointment  in  October,  1867.  Seeking  information  as 
I  could,  I  met  exceedingly  diverse  expressions  of  opinion.  The  revenue  officers 
of  the  state  assured  me  that  they  had  no  money  in  the  treasury ;  that  there 
having  been  no  schools  in  operation  to  call  for  the  money  it  has  been,  in  the 
state's  distress,  used  like  other  revenue  to  liquidate  the  indebtedness  of  the 
state." 

From  the  foregoing  statements  the  inference  might  be  made  that  there  had 
been  little  real  interest  in  education  in  the  state.  Such  a  conclusion,  however, 
would  be  radically  erroneous.  The  thirty  years  covered  by  the  period  imme- 
diately prior  to  the  war  were  the  most  brilliant  in  the  history  of  Tennessee.  We 
have  already  noted  what  a  galaxy  of  remarkable  public  men  this  state  possessed 
in  those  years.  The  people  of  Tennessee  were  highly  intelligent.  Tennessee 
itself  was  one  of  the  most  important  states  in  the  Union,  being  fifth  in  popula- 
tion in  the  United  States.  As  an  evidence  of  the  excellence  of  its  educational 
work,  it  need  only  be  stated  that  from  the  University  of  Nashville  alone  twenty- 
eight  graduates  became  members  of  Congress. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  proportion  to  population,  Tennessee  had  very  many 
and  very  excellent  institutions  of  learning  but  they  were  outside  the  public 
schools. 

On  July  8,  1870,  was  passed  an  act27  entitled  "An  Act  to  Reorganize  and 


26  Chapter  XXVJJ,  Acts  of  1866-7,  p.  33. 

27  Chapter  LXIY,  Acts  of  1870,  p.  99. 


784  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Regulate  Common  Schools."  This  law  took  the  place  of  the  law  of  1867  and 
was  vastly  inferior  to  it.  Concerning  it,  Hon.  John  M.  Fleming,  when  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction,  in  1875,  said  in  his  report: 

"The  school  law  of  1867  was  supplanted  by  that  of  1870,  which  virtually 
remitted  the  whole  subject  of  popular  education  to  the  several  counties  with- 
out imposing  any  obligation  on  them  to  take  action  in  the  premises.  All  state 
taxes  levied  upon  property  for  school  purposes  were  repealed  and  a  tax  re- 
tained upon  polls  of  only  50  cents.  The  law  of  1870  was  not  inspired  by 
hostility  to  the  public  schools  but  was  manifestly  believed  to  be  the  best  that 
the  temper  of  the  public  mind  and  the  disordered  financial  condition  of  the 
state  would  then  admit." 

Immediately  upon  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1870,  patriotic  citizens  began 
to  suggest  wTays  of  offsetting  the  great  misfortune  and  handicap  which  had 
thereby  been  placed  on  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Naturally  the  teachers  took  the 
lead  in  this  movement.  In  December,  1870,  the  State  Teachers'  Association  held 
a  meeting  at  which  Dr.  Barnas  Sears,  former  president  of  Brown  University, 
and  at  that  time  agent  of  the  George  Peabody  Fund,  who  was  present  by  invi- 
tation, agreed  to  pay  the  salary  of  an  officer  to  canvass  the  state  in  advocacy 
of  an  efficient  state  public  school  system.  Dr.  Wm.  Morrow,  state  treasurer 
and  ex-officio  state  superintendent  of  public  instruction,  agreed  to  appoint  as 
his  assistant  for  this  purpose  any  person  selected  by  the  State  Teachers'  As- 
sociation. Col.  J.  B.  Killebrew  was  unanimously  chosen  and  entered  upon 
the  work  with  great  vigor  and  keen  intelligence.  His  report  to  the  Legislature 
was  ordered  printed,  was  widely  circulated  and  produced  a  tremendous  effect 
for  good  to  the  cause.  It  did  much  to  pave  the  way  for  the  enactment  of  the 
law  of  1873,  on  which  our  present  school  system  is  based. 

THE   SCHOOL   LAW   OF    1873 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  school  law,  passed  on  March  6,  1873, 2S 
was  an  epoch-making  law.  It  is  entitled  "An  Act  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
Uniform  System  of  Public  Schools."  It  was  drafted  and  recommended  by  a 
committee  of  the  State  Teachers'  Association  of  which  S.  Y.  Caldwell  was  chair- 
man. It  provides  for  county  and  state  superintendents  of  public  instruction 
and  combines  state,  county  and  district  systems.  It  provides  for  city  superin- 
tendents wherever  necessary  and  that  separate  schools  be  organized  and  con- 
ducted for  colored  children. 

In  Section  34,  it  was  provided  "that  the  permanent  school  fund  of  the  state 
shall  be  the  $1,500,000  ascertained  and  declared  by  Section  946  of  the  Code, 
and  recognized  by  the  constitution  of  the  state  to  be  the  permanent  school  fund. 
To  this  shall  be  added  the  interest  which  has  accrued  on  the  same  and  not  been 
paid  by  the  state,  amounting,  on  the  first  of  January,  1873,  to  $1,012,500.  For 
this  $2,512,500  a  certificate  of  indebtedness  shall  be  issued,  signed  by  the  gov- 
ernor under  the  Great  Seal  of  the  State  and  deposited  with  the  comptroller  of 
the  treasury  and  which  on  its  face  shall  show  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  issued; 
and  shall  provide  for  the  payment  of  the  interest  thereon,  at  the  rate  of  6  per 
centum,  payable  semi-annually,  on  the  first  day  of  July  and  the  first  day  of 
January  of  each  year  commencing  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1873."- 

When  the  shortcomings  and  defects  of  previous  school  laws  and  the  business 


28  Chapter  XXV,  Acts  of  1873,  p.  39. 


SOCIAL  RELIGIOUS  BUILDING  OF  GEORGE  PEABODY  COLLEGE  FOR  TEACHERS 


jHf  t IBftAKY 

Of  THE 
UMlVfcMTY  OF  Illinois 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  787 

and  social  conditions  of  1873  are  considered,  it  is  surprising  how  excellent  this 
law  is.  Best  of  all,  perhaps,  it  was  basic.  It  furnished  a  sane,  thoughtful  and 
stable  foundation  which  could  be  built  upon  safely  in  subsequent  years.  It 
gave  at  once  a  tremendous  impetus  to  the  cause  of  education  and  teachers  were 
in  great  demand.  On  March  23,  1875,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  entitled 
"An  Act  to  provide  for  the  establishment,  and  to  prescribe  rules  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  a  normal  school,  or  schools  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  in  connection 
with  the  public  school  sj-stem  thereof. ' '  20 

It  provided  no  money  for  such  a  school,  but  authorized  the  State  Board  of 
Education  to  receive  contributions  for  such  a  purpose.  The  grounds  and  build- 
ings of  the  University  of  Nashville  were  offered  and  $12,000  a  year  was  fur- 
nished by  the  Peabody  trustees.  On  December  1,  1875,  the  Peabody  Normal 
College  was  opened  with  Dr.  Eben  S.  Stearns  as  its  president. 

In  Governor  Porter's  second  administration  an  effort  was  made  to  abolish 
the  office  of  county  superintendent  of  schools.  A  bill  to  this  effect  was  passed 
but  was  nullified  by  a  pocket  veto.  No  other  serious  effort  has  ever  been  made 
against  the  system  established  in  1873.  The  teachers'  institutes,  which  were 
also  established  at  this  time,  have  been  a  wonderful  stimulant  to  good  results 
in  teaching. 

Prom  this  time  on,  each  governor  has  made  recommendations  in  favor  of 
education.  Each  legislature  has  contributed  to  its  upbuilding  and  the  state  tax 
has  constantly  been  increased  until  one-third  of  the  total  revenues  of  the  state 
are  devoted  to  her  educational  interests. 

FURTHER   EDUCATIONAL   DEVELOPMENTS 

By  the  year  1880,  such  progress  had  been  made  in  the  sentiment  in  favor  of 
public  schools  that  only  ten  counties  in  the  state  failed  to  levy  a  property  tax 
for  schools.  In  the  first  report  of  Superintendent  Thos.  H.  Paine,  dated  June 
30,  1883,  he  says:  "In  the  general  prosperity  which  a  bountiful  Providence 
has  vouchsafed  to  the  people  of  Tennessee  during  the  last  year,  the  cause  of 
education  has  fully  shared.  Personal  visitation  and  observation  together  with 
the  evidence  furnished  by  the  reports  of  county  superintendents  have  satisfied 
me  that  the  interest  in  favor  of  our  system  as  fixed  by  the  Act  of  1873,  and  Acts 
amendatory  thereof,  is  steadily  increasing  and  assuming  a  more  intelligent  and 
well  defined  form  of  action.  Active  opposition  to  the  system  has  almost  ceased, 
and  universal  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  state  should  maintain  'a  uniform 
system  of  public  schools'  is  nearly  assured.  The  growth  of  population  con- 
tinually requires  additional  educational  facilities ;  but  our  increasing  wealth 
at  the  same  time  supplies  the  means  for  meeting  the  new  demands  so  that  our 
school  interests  are  steadily  keeping  pace  with  the  general  progress  of  the 
state." 

On  March  21,  1891,  a  decided  step  forward  was  taken  in  the  passage  of  an 
act,30  establishing  secondary  schools  as  well  as  primary  schools.  This  law  was 
enacted  in  accordance  with  the  recommendation  of  Governor  Buchanan  who 
expressed  the  wish  to  expand  the  curriculum  but  not  to  impair  "the  efficiency 

29  Chapter  XC,  Acts  of  1875,  p.  126.  The  following  is  the  personnel  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education  appointed  to  carry  this  law  into  execution:  E.  H.  Ewing,  of  Rutherford; 
S.  Watson,  Dr.  J.  B.  Lindsley  and  L.  G.  Tarbox,  of  Davidson;  R.  W.  Mitchell,  of  Shelby; 
and  J.  J.  Reese,  of  Knox  County. 

so  Chapter  132,  Acts  of  1891,  p.  295. 


788  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  elementary  instruction,  which  is,  and  always  must  be,  the  foundation  of  every 
good  school  system." 

By  this  time  almost  every  incorporated  town  in  the  state  had  established  a 
well  organized  system  of  city  schools  through  the  election  of  a  board  of  educa- 
tion and  the  levy  of  a  corporate  tax  for  school  purposes. 

The  curriculum  was  still  further  extended  by  the  passage,  on  April  22,  1899, 
of  "An  Act  to  empower  County  courts  to  provide  for  establishing  county  high 
schools;  to  levy  taxes  and  make  appropriation  for  their  support;  to  appoint 
county  boards  of  education  for  managing  them."  31  Under  this  act  county  high 
schools  have  been  established  in  most  of  the  counties  in  the  state  and  these  coun- 
ties have  a  complete  course  of  study. 

On  April  4th,  of  this  same  year,  another  very  important  act,32  was  passed, 
entitled  "To  create  a  state  textbook  commission,  and  to  procure  for  use  in  the 
public  free  schools  in  this  state  a  uniform  series  of  textbooks;  to  define  the 
duties  and  powers  of  said  commission,  and  other  officers ;  to  make  an  appropria- 
tion for  the  carrying  into  effect  this  act  and  to  provide  punishment  and  penalty 
for  the  violation  of  the  same." 

This  law  has  now  been  in  effect  for  twenty-four  years  and  has  demonstrated 
the  foresight  and  wisdom  of  those  who  urged  its  passage. 

Since  this  time  legislation  in  favor  of  the  public  schools  has  been  largely 
along  the  lines  of  increased  appropriations  which  has  enabled  a  lengthening  of 
the  school  term  and  has  caused  better  teachers  to  enter  and  remain  in  the  serv- 
ice. For  example,  in  1909,  the  Legislature  set  aside  25  per  cent  of  the  gross 
revenue  of  the  state  for  school  purposes,  and,  in  1911,  increased  this  appropria- 
tion to  33!/3  per  cent.  In  1917,  a  tax  of  5  cents  on  the  $100  worth  of  property 
was  levied  by  the  Legislature  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  the  State 
University  and,  while,  in  1919,  the  Legislature  reduced  this  levy  to  2  cents  under 
the  operation  of  the  Sliding  Scale  Act,  the  Legislature  of  1921  increased  it 
again  to  5  cents.  And  again  in  1919,  the  Legislature  levied  a  special  tax  of  5 
cents  on  the  $100  worth  of  property  for  the  elementary  schools  of  the  state, 
and  in  1921,  increased  it  to  8  cents. 

In  1911  the  Legislature  passed  a  compulsory  school  law,  requiring  that  all 
children  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen  years  attend  school  at  least 
four  months  in  each  year.  This  law  has  largely  increased  the  attendance  of  our 
schools.  County  boards  of  education  also  were  authorized  to  transport  pupils 
to  and  from  school  in  cases  where  the  distance  from  their  homes  to  the  school 
was  too  great  for  them  to  walk. 

IMPORTANT   EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 

Among  the  very  large  number  of  private  institutions  for  higher  learning  in 
the  state,  the  following  named  deserve  special  mention : 
Vanderbilt  University,  located  at  Nashville. 
University  of  the  South,  located  at  Sewanee. 
Cumberland  University,  located  at  Lebanon. 
Southwestern  Presbyterian  University,  located  at  Clarksville. 
Union  University,  located  at  Jackson. 
University  of  Chattanooga,  located  at  Chattanooga. 


si  Chapter  279,  Acts  of  1899,  p.  671. 
32  Chapter  205,  Acts  of  1899,  p.  423. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  789 

George  Peabody  College  for  Teachers,  located  at  Nashville. 

Carson  and  Newman  College,  located  at  Jefferson. 

Christian  Brothers  College,  located  at  Memphis. 

Ward-Belmont  College,  located  at  Nashville. 

Washington  College,  located  at  Salem. 

Greeneville  and  Tusculum  College,  located  at  Tusculum. 

Lincoln  University,  located  at  Harrogate. 

Maryville  College,  located  at  Maryville. 

Hiwassee  College,  located  in  Monroe  County. 

Bethel  College,  located  at  McKenzie. 

Milligan  College,  located  at  Milligan. 

David  Lipscomb  College,  located  at  Nashville. 

Trevecea  College,  located  at  Nashville. 

King  College,  located  at  Bristol. 

Middle  Tennessee  College,  located  at  Murfreesboro. 

Soule  College,  located  at  Murfreesboro. 

Martin  College,  located  at  Pulaski. 

Sullins  College,  located  at  Bristol. 

Winchester  Normal  College,  located  at  Winchester. 

Burritt  College,  located  at  Spencer. 

Howard  College,  located  at  Gallatin. 

For  the  higher  education  of  negroes : 
Fisk  University,  located  at  Nashville. 
Walden  University,  located  at  Nashville. 
Roger  Williams  University,  located  at  Nashville. 
Meharry  Medical  College,  located  at  Nashville. 
Knoxville  College,  located  at  Knoxville. 

The  educational  institutions  of  the  state  are  the  following: 

The  State  University,  located  at  Knoxville,  provides  general  academic  in- 
struction of  a  high  order,  requiring  for  entrance  to  its  Bachelor's  course  fifteen 
units  and  for  graduation  therefrom  the  usual  four  years  of  college  work.  It  main- 
tains medical  and  dental  departments  at  Memphis.  The  law  and  engineering 
departments  are  at  Knoxville.  Here  also  is  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
College,  an  integral  part  of  the  State  University.  The  college  farm  is  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  city.  The  state  has  recently  voted  the  university  a  large 
appropriation  for  building  purposes  and  handsome  structures  have  been  erected 
on  the  college  campus  at  Knoxville  and  also  at  the  Agricultural  Experiment 
Station  near  by.  The  maintenance  funds  of  the  university  have  also  been  largely 
increased  in  recent  years. 

The  East  Tennessee  Normal  School  is  located  at  Johnson  City.  The  city 
gave  $75,000  to  secure  its  location  there.  Washington  County  contributed  the 
same  amount,  and  one  of  Johnson  City's  public-spirited  citizens  donated  a  site 
estimated  at  $75,000. 

The  Middle  Tennessee  Normal  School  is  located  at  Murfreesboro.  Here  also 
generous  donations  on  the  part  of  the  city  and  county  were  made,  amounting 
to  $180,000.  A  splendid  campus  of  100  acres  was  secured  and  a  plant  exten- 
sive and  admirably  equipped  has  been  provided. 

The  West   Tennessee  Normal   School   is   located    near    .Memphis,   in   Shelby 


790  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

County.  That  city  and  county  made  appropriations  aggregating-  more  than 
four  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  secure  the  school. 

The  Tennessee  Polytechnic  Institute  is  located  at  Cookeville,  where  adequate 
grounds  and  buildings  were  provided  by  local  and  state  funds. 

The  Agricultural  and  Industrial  Normal  School  for  negroes  is  located  at 
Nashville,  the  Davidson  County  Court  having  made  a  generous  appropriation  of 
$80,000  for  its  establishment  there. 

All  of  these  schools  are  under  the  control  of  the  State  Board  of  Education, 
and  the  state  has  made  reasonable  provision  for  their  maintenance. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1919  authorized  the  issuance  of  $600,000  of  bonds 
for  these  state  schools  and  additional  dormitories,  and  other  necessary  build- 
ings are  now  in  process  of  construction. 

The  George  Peabody  College  for  Teachers,  a  professional  institution  for  the 
training  of  teachers,  principals,  superintendents  and  other  educators,  is  located 
at  Nashville.  It  has  been  endowed  by  the  trustees  of  the  Peabody  fund,  has 
received  generous  additional  support  from  the  State  of  Tennessee,  County  of 
Davidson  and  City  of  Nashville.  It  functions  for  the  whole  South,  and  thou- 
sands of  its  graduates  are  occupying  responsible  educational  positions  in  every 
part  of  the  country. 

The  city  schools  of  Tennessee  are  equal  to  the  best  in  the  country.  The  large 
cities — Memphis,  Nashville,  Chattanooga  and  Knoxville — are  well  provided  with 
excellent  buildings,  modern  courses  of  study,  trained  teachers,  and  every  facility 
for  first-class  school  work. 

The  county  high  schools  have  rapidly  increased  in  number  during  the  last 
few  years  under  the  stimulus  of  the  state  supplemental  appropriation.  They 
are  operated  under  special  tax  levied  by  the  county,  together  with  the  state 
subsidy.  There  are  now  544  county  high  schools  in  the  state — 182  of  them  being 
standard  first-class  schools  with  a  four-year  course  of  high  school  work.  Agri- 
culture and  domestic  science  are  taught  in  all  first-class  high  schools,  and  in 
about  fifty  such  schools  these  subjects  are  being  carried  on  under  the  Smith- 
Hughes  Law. 

The  state  system  of  elementary  schools  covers  every  county.  The  county  is 
the  unit  of  school  administration  and  the  schools  under  the  control  of  a  county 
superintendent  and  a  county  board  of  education. 

THE  MELUNGEONS 

In  the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee  lives  a  distinct  race,  a  race  as  different 
from  all  the  other  races  on  the  Western  Hemisphere  as  the  Negro  is  different 
from  the  Indian.  Moreover,  this  race  is  found  nowhere  else  in  America.  It  is 
the  race  of  the  Melungeons,  a  mysterious  race,  few  in  numbers,  whose  origin  is 
open  to  speculation.  For  many  years  they  were  thought  to  be  Indians,  or  a 
mixture  of  Indians  and  white  people,  whereby  probably  originated  their  name, 
Melungeon,  which  means  a  mixture. 

So  far  as  is  known  they  were  first  found  in  Hancock  County  on  Newman's 
Ridge,  soon  after  the  Revolutionary  war.  Now  they  are  settled  in  several  coun- 
ties, although  still  most  numerous  in  Hancock  County.  They  are  about  the  same 
color  as  mulattoes,  but  their  hair  is  straight  and  they  have  intermarried  with 
the  Caucasian  race  to  a  limited  extent. 

Judge  Lewis  Shepherd,  who  has  made  a  close  study  of  the  Melungeons  ex- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  791 

tending  over  a  long  period  of  time,  says  that  in  a  case  at  law  in  which  he  repre- 
sented a  Melungeon  girl,  a  question  arose  whether  the  Melungeons  have  negro 
blood  in  their  veins.  He  says :  "It  was  shown  by  tradition  and  the  reputa- 
tion prevailing  among  these  people  'from  the  time  whereof  the  memory  of  man 
runneth  not  to  the  contrary, '  that  they  were  descendants  of  the  ancient  Phoeni- 
cians, who  built  the  City  of  Carthage  and  produced  the  great  general,  Hannibal. 
They  removed  from  Carthage  and  after  a  time  they  settled  in  Morocco,  whence 
they  crossed  the  Strait  of  Gibraltar  and  settled  in  the  southern  part  of  Portugal, 
whence  came  the  celebrated  Phoenician  general,  Othello,  who  was  immortalized 
in  Shakespeare's  great  play  the  'Moor  of  Venice.'  They  were  not  tainted  with 
negro  blood,  for  the  women  of  Carthage  sacrificed  their  long  raven  colored  hair 
to  be  plaited  and  twisted  into  cables  for  the  ships  engaged  in  the  Punic  wars. 

"A  colony  of  these  Moors  crossed  the  Atlantic  before  the  Revolutionary  war 
and  settled  on  the  coast  in  the  northern  part  of  South  Carolina.  They  mul- 
tiplied rapidly  and  by  their  industry  and  energy  they  accumulated  considerable 
property.  The  South  Carolina  people,  however,  would  not  receive  them  on 
terms  of  equality.  They  refused  to  recognize  them  socially  and  would  not  allow 
their  children  to  go  to  school  with  them.  In  fact,  they  believed  they  were  free 
negroes  and  treated  them  as  such.  By  the  laws  of  South  Carolina  a  per  capita 
tax  was  levied  against  free  negroes  and  the  tax  authorities  continually  harassed 
them  by  efforts  to  collect  the  tax.  Under  this  rigid  proscription  of  the  proud 
people  of  Carolina,  their  condition  became  intolerable  and  so  they  emigrated 
in  a  body  and  settled,  after  a  long  and  wandering  journey  through  the  wilder- 
ness, in  Hancock  County,  Tennessee." 

In  1890  or  1891,  Miss  "Will  Allen  Dromgoole  wrote  of  the  Melungeons,  or 
Malungeons,  as  she  spells  the  word,  in  the  Arena.  In  part  she  said:  "When 
John  Sevier  organized  the  State  of  Franklin,  there  was  living  in  the  mountains 
of  East  Tennessee  a  colony  of  dark-skinned,  reddish-brown  complexioned  peo- 
ple, supposed- to  be  of  Moorish  descent,  who  affiliated  with  neither  whites  or 
blacks,  and  who  called  themselves  Malungeons,  and  who  claimed  to  be  of  Por- 
tuguese descent.  They  lived  to  themselves  exclusively  and  were  looked  upon 
neither  as  Indians  or  negroes.  All  the  negroes  ever  brought  to  America  were 
slaves.  The  Malungeons  were  never  slaves,  and  until  1834,  enjoyed  all  the 
rights  of  citizenship ;. even  in  the  convention  which  disfranchised  them  they  were 
referred  to  as  'free  persons  of  color,'  or  'Malungeons.'  " 

And  again  she  said:  "The  Constitutional  Convention  (of  1834)  left  these 
most  pitiable  of  all  outcasts;  denied  their  oath  in  court  and  deprived  of  the 
testimony  of  their  own  color,  left  utterly  helpless  in  all  legal  contests,  they 
naturally,  when  the  state  set  the  brand  of  the  outcast  upon  them,  took  to  the 
hills,  the  isolated  peaks  of  the  uninhabited  mountains,  the  corners  of  the  earth, 
as  it  were,  where,  huddled  together  they  became  a  law  unto  themselves,  a  race 
indeed  separate  and  distinct  from  the  several  races  inhabiting  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee. ' ' 

Melungeons  are  also  found  in  Rhea  County  where  they  are  qniet  and  or- 
derly. They  are,  to  a  considerable  extent,  illiterate  and  are  mostly  engaged 
in  farming.  While  most  authorities  believe  that  the  word  Melungeon  is  derived 
from  the  French  melange,  a  mixture,  others  think  that  it  was  originally  raa- 
langeon,  the  first  part,  malan,  being  derived  from  the  Greek  word,  malan, 
meaning  black.  Other  spellings  are  Melangins,  and  Melungins,  with  the  accent 
on  the  second  syllable,  and  the  g  hard,  as  in  give. 


792  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

TENNESSEE    DIVISION    UNITED    DAUGHTERS    OP    THE    CONFEDERACY 

Tennessee  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  state  in  which  the  United  Daugh- 
ters of  the  Confederacy  was  organized.  It  is  therefore  necessary  in  writing  a 
history  of  the  Tennessee  division,  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the  general  organi- 
zation, its  conception,  its  personnel,  and  wonderful  growth. 

All  over  the  South,  in  '61- '65,  relief  societies  were  formed  by  the  women  of 
the  Confederacy  for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  sick  and  disabled  Confederate 
soldiers.  There  seems  to  be  no  special  date  marking  the  beginning  of  this  lov- 
ing service,  which  will  cease  only  when  every  Confederate  soldier  has  answered 
the  last  roll  call.  Then  will  his  descendants,  to  the  third  and  fourth  genera- 
tions, find  the  now  splendidly  organized  band  of  Southern  women  "Carrying 
on"  in  the  historical  and  educational  work  of  the  South  that  they  may  know 
'The  Story  of  the  Glory  and  the  Glory  of  the  Story  of  the  Men  who  wore  the 
Grey." 

Of  these  relief  societies  in  Tennessee  we  find  that  the  earliest  had  as  its 
leader,  Mrs.  Felicia  Grundy  Porter,  of  Nashville.  Following  this  was  the  Monu- 
mental Association,  the  Ladies'  Auxiliary  to  the  Confederate  Soldiers'  Homo. 
Southern  Mothers,  and  the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association,  which  is  still  an  active 
organization  caring  for  the  graves  of  the  Confederate  dead  wherever  located. 

Mrs.  Caroline  Meriwether  Goodlett  was  the  first  to  conceive  the  idea  of  con- 
solidating the  work  of  all  Confederate  women  and  called  a  meeting  in  Nashville, 
September  10,  1894,  for  the  purpose  of  organization. 

To  this  call  Georgia,  Tennessee  and  Texas  responded, .  and  the  name  "Na- 
tional Daughters  of  the  Confederacy"  was  adopted,  and  the  following  constitu- 
tion was  drafted : 

CONSTITUTION   OP    THE    NATIONAL   DAUGHTERS    OP    THE    CONFEDERACY 

(Organized  September  10,   1894) 
A  distinguished  lawyer  says: 

"The  interpretation  of  the  duties  of  a  President  is  to  protect  the  Con- 
stitution under  every  and  all  circumstances.  When  changes  are  to  be  made, 
it  must  be  by  the  voice  of  this  body  alone,  and  no  one,  whether  President  or 
otherwise,  has  the  power  to  take  from  or  add  to  it. 

ARTICLE    I 

Name 

Section  1.  The  survivors  of  Confederate  soldiers  and  sailors  in  the  United 
States  of  America,  as  are  now  or  shall  hereafter  be  organized  into  local  asso- 
ciations or  bodies  concurring,  are  hereby  united  and  embraced  in  one  general 
organization,  and  the  form  for  the  union  of  such  components  shall  be  that  of 
a  federation  of  subordinate  bodies. 

Sec.  2.  The  name  or  title  of  the  federation  shall  be  National  Association 
of  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

ARTICLE   II 

Objects 
Section   1.     The  objects  and   purposes   of  the   Federation   shall  be   social, 
literary7,   historical,   monumental,   benevolent,   and  honorable   in   every   degree, 
without  any  political  signification  whatsoever.      Pursuant   with  the  mandates 
of  such  purposes  it  is  the  endeavor — 

1.  To  unite  in  the  Federation  all  bodies  of  Southern  women  now  organized 
or  that  may  hereafter  be  formed. 

2.  To  cultivate  ties  of  friendship  among  our  women  whose  fathers, 
brothers,    sons,    and    in    numberless    cases    mothers,    shared    common    dangers. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  793 

sufferings,  and  privations ;  and  to  perpetuate  honor,  integrity,  valor,  and  other 
noble  attributes  of  true  Southern  character. 

3.  To  instruct  and  instill  into  the  descendants  of  the  people  of  the  South 
a  proper  respect  for  and  pride  in  the  glorious  war  history,  with  a  veneration 
and  love  for  the  deeds  of  their  forefathers  which  have  created  such  a  monument 
of  military  renown,  and  to  perpetuate  a  truthful  record  of  the  noble  and 
chivalric  achievements  of  their  ancestors.  All  with  the  view  of  furnishing 
authentic  information  from  which  a  conscientious  historian  will  be  enabled  to 
write  a  correct  and  impartial  history  of  the  Confederate  side  during  the 
struggle  for  Southern  independence. 

Sec.  2.  All  divisions  shall  be  numbered  consecutively  according  to  their 
dates  of  entering  into  this  Federation,  and  shall  retain  the  number  at  time 
assigned  them,  thereby  making  the  enumeration  an  actual  record  of  the  relative 
organization  of  all  bodies  as  divisions  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

Sec.  3.  Divisions  shall  require  of  applicants  for  membership  therein  proofs 
that  they  are  descendants  of  those  who  have  honorably  served  in  the  army 
or  navy  of  the  Confederate  States.  For  which  proof  an  application  blank  will 
be  furnished,  and  which  must  be  submitted  to  a  Committee  on  Credentials, 
and  their  report  shall  be  balloted  upon  by  the  members,  three  black  balls 
rejecting. 

ARTICLE    III 

Officers 

A  President,  who  shall  preside  at  all  meetings.  In  her  absence  the  senior 
Vice  President  present  shall  preside. 

A  Vice  President  for  each  of  the  Southern  States. 

A  Recording  Secretary. 

A  Financial  and  Corresponding  Secretary. 

A  Treasurer. 

All  these  elected  for  one  year,  or  until  their  successors  are  elected  and 
qualified. 

ARTICLE   IV 

Finance 
A   Committee   of   Finance   shall   be   composed   of   five   members,   to   which 
shall  be  referred  all  matters  of  receipts  and  expenditures. 

article  v 
Monuments 
A  Committee  on  Monuments  and  Cemeteries,  appointed  by  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  each  State,  of  which  committee  the  Vice  President  of  each  State  shall 
be  Chairman,  shall  consist  of  five  members,  to  which  shall  be  referred  all 
matters  relating  to  monuments  to  Southern  War  dead,  the  care  of  Confederate 
cemeteries,  and  isolated  graves  of  those  who  gave  their  lives  to  the  Confederacy. 

article  VI 
Representation 
All  Chartered  Divisions,  wherever  located,  shall  have  the  right  of  repre- 
sentation in  the  Legislative   Council  of  the  Federation.     All   Divisions  shall 
be  entitled  to  one  vote  for  every  twenty-five  members. 

ARTICLE  VII 

Powers 

Section  1.  The  Federation  shall  have  power  to  design,  make,  and  use  a 
common  seal,  together  with  a  seal  for  Divisions,  and  such  badges  for  a  special 
identity  as  it  shall  determine;  and  may  alter  and  change  any  device  and  in- 
scription thereon,  and  prescribe  conditions  governing  use  of  the  same. 

Sec.  2.  The  use  of  the  name,  seal,  and  badges  of  the  Federation  for  business 
purposes  is  expressly  prohibited. 

Sec.  3.  The  Legislative  Council  shall  have  power  to  alter  and  amend  this 
Constitution,  by  a   two-thirds  vote  of  the   delegate   representation,   on   call    of 


794  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  Divisions,  in  regular  session  assembled,  and  by  a  majority  vote  may  adopt 
by-laws  for  the  additional  government  of  the  body,  and  enact  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  general  advantage  of  members. 

ARTICLE    VIII 

Insignia — Seals 

Section  1.  The  seal  of  the  Federation  shall  be  a  reproduction  of  the  great 
seal  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America,  except  the  inscription,  "Daughters 
of  the  Confederacy"  on  the  outer  rim. 

Sec.  2.  The  seals  for  Divisions  shall  be  of  same  design,  except  as  to  name 
and  dates. 

Sec.  3.  All  official  documents  emanating  from  the  headquarters  of  the 
Federation  shall  bear  the  impress  of  its  great  seal. 

Sec.  4.  Each  charter  or  parent  Division  shall  procure  the  designated  seal 
and  stamp  its  official  communications  with  an  impression  thereof;  and  docu- 
ments without  an  imprint  of  the  Division  seal  will  not  be  considered  official. 

article   IX 

Badges 

The  badge  to  be  worn  shall  consist  of  a  representation  of  the  Confederate 

nag  (stars  and  bars),  white,  blue,  and  scarlet  enamel,  surrounded  by  a  laurel 

wreath,  with  letters,  "D.  C."  under  flag;  on  ends  of  ribbon  bow  tying  wreath 

with  dates  "  '61- '65";  this  to  be  worn  as  throat  pin  or  breast  ornament. 

How  obtained — Such  badges  can  be  obtained  only  on  voucher  of  President 
of  Division,  countersigned  by  President  of  State  Division. 

ARTICLE  X 

Certificate  of  Membership 
Certificate  of  membership  must  be  given  each  member,  signed  by  President 
of  Charter  Division,  President  and  Secretary  of  Subdivision. 

Mrs.  J.  M.  Clarke, 
Mrs.  J.  B.  Lindsley, 
Mrs.  Ann  Snyder, 
Mrs.  George  Cunningham, 

Committee. 
Assisted  by  Maj.  J.  P.  Hickman 

Mrs.  C.  M.  Goodlett  was  elected  president  and  Mrs.  Jno.  P.  Hickman,  sec- 
retary. 

The  second  meeting  was  held  in  Nashville,  March  30,  1895,  with  representa- 
tives from  Georgia,  Tennessee,  North  and  South  Carolina  and  Texas  in  at- 
tendance. 

This  second  meeting  approved  and  indorsed  the  proceedings  of  the  former 
meeting  and  issued  a  call  to  all  southern  women  to  unite. 

At  the  third  meeting,  held  in  Atlanta,  November,  1895,  Virginia,  Kentucky, 
Florida  and  Maryland  had  fallen  in  line. 

At  this  meeting,  Mrs.  Jno.  C.  Brown  of  Nashville,  wife  of  our  gallant  Maj. 
Gen.  Jno.  C.  Brown,  was  made  president. 

The  name  was  changed,  dropping  the  word  National  and  using  only  United 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy.  The  constitution  was  amended  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  growing  organization,  each  state  being  allowed  to  form  its  own  division 
as  a  part  of  the  general  society. 

The  growth  has  been  phenomenal  and  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confed- 
eracy is  one  of  the  largest  organizations  of  women  in  the  world,  its  membership 
now  numbering  over  seventy-five  thousand. 

The  five  objects  of  the  organization  are :  Memorial,  historical,  educational, 
benevolent  and  fraternal. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  795 

The  Tennessee  division,  with  its  wonderful  heritage  of  being  the  pioneer  in 
this  great  work,  has  now  3,502  earnest  southern  women  who  are  willing  to  give 
of  their  strength,  time  and  money  that  this  great  work  shall  continue  in  memory 
of  their  brave  and  loved  defenders. 

It  is  truly  wonderful  the  good  that  has  been  accomplished. 

The  memorial  work  done  by  the  Ladies'  Memorial  Association  and  the  United 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  in  Tennessee  is  evidenced  by  thirty-two  Con- 
federate monuments  erected  in  memory  of  the  southern  soldier. 

Union  City,  Obion  County,  erected  the  first  and  the  others  are  as  follows : 
McMinnville,  Public  Square ;  Memphis,  Forrest  Monument,  Forrest  Park ;  Nash- 
ville, Mount  Olivet  Cemetery;  Franklin,  Public  Square;  Murfreesborp,  Public 
Square ;  Paris,  Courthouse  yard ;  Shelbyville,  Willow  Mount  Cemetery ;  Gal- 
latin, Trousdale  Place,  near  Public  Square ;  Knoxville,  Bethel  Cemetery ;  Knox- 
ville,  Fort  Sanders;  Jackson,  Court  Square;  Covington,  Court  Square;  Dyers- 
burg,  Courthouse  yard ;  Pulaski,  Courthouse  yard  in  memory  of  Sam  Davis ; 
Columbia,  Rose  Hill  Cemetery ;  Bolivar,  Courthouse  yard ;  Clarksville,  Green- 
wood Cemetery;  Shiloh  Battlefield,  near  Shiloh  Church,  in  memory  of  Bate's 
Regiment ;  Chattanooga,  Confederate  Cemetery ;  Memorial  Arch  and  Gate  to 
Cemetery;  Chickamauga,  National  Military  Park,  three  monuments;  Chicka- 
mauga  Park,  Private  Battery  Monument  to  Carne  's  Battery ;  Lebanon,  Cedar 
Grove  Cemetery;  Fayetteville,  Courthouse  yard;  Trenton,  Public  Square;  Rip- 
ley ;  Lewisburg ;  Mount  Pleasant ;  Brownsville. 

The  historical  work,  consisting  of  the  preservation  of  Confederate  and  south- 
ern history  in  all  its  purity,  with  the  purpose  to  keep  ever  in  our  minds,  and 
transmit  to  our  children  and  all  future  generations  that  spirit  of  Truth  and 
Justice  that  animated  the  men  of  the  South  in  '61- '65. 

The  educational  work  of  the  Tennessee  division  is  referred  to  with  pardon- 
able pride,  as  we  have  available  to  the  youth  of  our  state,  descendants  of  Con- 
federate soldiers,  two  scholarships  in  the  University  of  Tennessee  amounting 
to  $3,332,  endowed  as  a  memorial  to  two  of  our  great  Tennessee  heroes,  Gen. 
Felix  K.  Zollicoffer  and  Gen.  William  B.  Bate.  In  addition  to  this  we  have 
fifteen  division  scholarships  amounting  to  $1,827,  and  twenty-one  chapter  scholar- 
ships totaling  $1,815. 

The  site  has  been  purchased,  and  part  of  the  funds  are  in  hand  for  the 
erection  of  a  Confederate  Memorial  Hall  on  Peabody  Campus,  which  will  serve 
as  a  dormitory  for  girls  of  Confederate  lineage,  while  they  are  receiving  their 
education  at  Peabody  College. 

The  benevolent  work  is  the  happy  privilege  that  is  never  neglected — the 
care  of  the  indigent  Confederate  soldier  and  his  family  and  the  happiness  and 
welfare  of  the  veterans  in  the  Confederate  Soldiers'  Home  in  Nashville. 

As  a  fraternal  organization  the  Tennessee  Division,  United  Daughters  of 
the  Confederacy  has  worked  in  great  harmony,  keeping  ever  before  them  the 
sacred  and  beloved  cause  for  which  their  united  effort  has  always  stood  and  by 
which  so  much  has  been  accomplished. 

In  a  history  of  the  Tennessee  division  issued  some  years  ago,  by  a  committee 
composed  of  Mrs.  Wm.  Hume,  chairman,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Goodlett,  and  Miss  Susie 
Gentry,  the  following  names  are  given  as  those  who  were  pioneers  in  the  Con- 
federate work  in  Tennessee :  Capt.  M.  S.  Cockrill,  Dr.  W.  J.  McMurray,  E.  R. 
Richardson,  Maj.  R.  H.  Douglass,  Col.  Jno.  Overton,  Gen.  Wm.  B.  Bate,  M.  A. 
Spurr,  Maj.  Jno.  P.  Hickman,  Mrs.  Jno.  C.  Brown,  Mrs.  Geo.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Geo. 


796  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

N.  Fall,  Mrs.  James  Y.  Leigh,  Misses  Medora  and  Alice  Cheatham,  Mrs.  M.  H. 
Clift,  Mrs.  W.  M.  Pilcher,  Mrs.  E.  W.  Foster,  Mrs.  J.  P.  Hickman,  Mrs.  Ross 
Handley,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Maney,  Mrs.  M.  P.  Dozier,  Mrs.  J.  B.  Lindsley,  Mrs.  Ann 
Snyder,  Mrs.  S.  A.  Gaut,  Mrs.  R.  H.  Dudley,  Mrs.  Isabella  Clark,  Mrs.  John 
Overton,  Mrs.  M.  K.  Burrus,  Mrs.  Doctor  Gooch,  Miss  Mollie  Claiborne,  Mrs. 
Mary  Paul  McGuire,  Miss  Sallie  Brown,  Mrs.  Joe  Bigson,  Mrs.  Robert  S.  Hol- 
lins,  Mrs.  W.  T.  Hardison,  Mrs.  Annie  Lytton,  Mrs.  Jno.  Lewis,  Miss  White 
May,  Mrs.  Lucy  Orr,  Mrs.  Judith  Pilcher,  Mrs.  Rebecca  Porter,  Mrs.  Robert 
Riddle,  Miss  Kate  Shields,  Mrs.  T.  M.  Steger,  Mrs.  T.  P.  Allison,  Mrs.  Fletcher 
Baxton,  Mrs.  Jno.  K.  Breast,  Mrs.  Jennie  C.  Buntin,  Mrs.  Rachael  Craighead, 
Mrs.  Sarah  Helen  Clark,  Mrs.  R.  L.  Cave,  Mrs.  Jno.  W.  Childress,  Mrs.  Mark 
Cockrill,  Mrs.  M.  C.  Davis,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Dyas,  Miss  Dyas,  Mrs.  K.  Polk  Gale, 
Mrs.  T.  L.  Herbert,  Mrs.  Horace  H.  Lurton,  Mrs.  Wm.  L.  Nichols,  Octavia  Z. 
Bond,  Mrs.  S.  G.  Walter  White,  Mrs.  M.  I.  DuPree,  and  many  others. 

Mrs.  Hume's  history  gives  honorable  mention  of  Mrs.  Mary  Bradford  Johns, 
a  heroine  during  the  battle  of  Nashville ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Gordon  Law  of  Memphis, 
the  only  president  of  southern  mothers;  Mrs.  James  Thomas  and  Mrs.  Bostick, 
great  workers  during  the  war;  Mrs.  Col.  McGavock,  of  Franklin,  devoted  to 
the  Confederate  soldiers  after  the  battle  of  Franklin;  Mrs.  Lucy  Russell,  of 
Paris;  Mrs.  Musidora  McCorry,  of  Jackson;  Mrs.  Matthew  McClung,  of  Knox- 
ville. 

The  officers  of  Chapter  No.  1,  Nashville,  the  first  chapter  to  be  organized, 
were  Mrs.  John  Overton,  president;  Mrs.  W.  J.  McMurray,  first  vice  president; 
Mrs.  J.  C.  Gaut,  second  vice  president ;  Mrs.  Wm.  Hume,  third  vice  president ; 
Miss  Nellie  Ely,  recording  secretary;  Mrs.  H.  N.  Snyder,  corresponding  secre- 
tary; Mrs.  Nat.  Gooch,  treasurer;  Mrs.  W.  B.  Maney,  sergeant  at  arms. 

The  writer  regrets  that  limited  space  will  not  permit  the  names  of  all  the 
splendid  women  who  have  served  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy  in 
a  private  or  official  capacity,  but  it  will  be  possible  only  to  give  the  presidents 
and  places  of  meetings. 

Nashville,  September  10,  1894,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Goodlett,  president. 

Nashville,  March  30,  1895,  Mrs.  C.  M.  Goodlett,  president. 

These  were  the  organization  meetings  before  Tennessee  became  a  separate 
division.     Presidents  of  the  Tennessee  division  are  as  follows : 

Meeting  held  in  Nashville,  January  21,  1897,  Mrs.  S.  F.  Wilson,  first  vice 
president,  presiding;  Chattanooga,  October  7,  1897,  Mrs.  Frank  A.  Moses,  first 
vice  president,  presiding;  Jackson,  May  11,  1900,  Mrs.  J.  T.  McCutcheon,  sec- 
ond vice  president,  presiding;  Lebanon,  May  8,  1901,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Latham,  presi- 
dent; Nashville,  May  14,  1902,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Latham,  president;  Clarksville,  May 
6,  1903,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Latham;  Paris,  May  11,  1904,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Oehmig;  Chat- 
tanooga, president ;  Knoxville,  May  7,  1905,  Mrs.  W.  G.  Oehmig,  president ;  Mem- 
phis, May  2,  1906,  Mrs.  A.  B.  White,  Paris,  president;  Columbia,  May  15,  1907, 
Mrs.  A.  B.  White,  president;  Chattanooga,  May  13,  1908,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Pilcher, 
Nashville,  president ;  Jackson,  May,  1909,  Mrs.  M.  B.  Pilcher,  president ;  Clarks- 
ville, May  11,  1910,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Sanson,  Knoxville,  president;  Nashville,  May 
10,  1911,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Sanson,  Knoxville,  president;  Dayton,  May  8,  1912,  Mrs. 
Harriett  Holland,  Jackson,  president;  Knoxville,  May  14,  1913,  Mrs.  Harriett 
Holland,  president;  Trenton,  May  13,  1914,  Mrs.  Herbert  Leech,  Clarksville. 
president ;  Murfreesboro,  May  12,  1915,  Mrs.  Herbert  Leech,  president :  John- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  797 

son  Cit}',  May  11,  1916,  Mrs.  J.  Norment  Powell,  Johnson  City,  president ;  Mem- 
phis, Alay  9,  1917,  Mrs.  J.  Norment  Powell,  president;  Nashville,  May  8,  1918, 
Mrs.  Birdie  A.  Owen,  Jackson,  president ;  Knoxville,  May  14,  1919,  Mrs.  Birdie 
A.  Owen,  president;  Jackson,  May  12,  1920,  Mrs.  Bennett  D.  Bell,  Nashville, 
president;  Clarksville,  May  11,  1921,  Mrs.  Bennett  D.  Bell,  president;  Chat- 
tanooga, May  12,  1922,  Mrs.  Wm.  McDonald  Goodman,  Knoxville,  president. 

There  are  now  in  the  Tennessee  Division  Chapters  at  the  following  places: 

Brownsville,  Chattanooga  (two  chapters),  Clarksville,  Cleveland,  Colliers- 
ville,  Columbia  (two  chapters),  Covington,  Dayton,  Dickson,  Dover,  Dresden, 
Dyersburg,  Fayetteville,  Franklin,  Gallatin,  Harriman,  Humboldt,  Jackson, 
Johnson  City,  Knoxville  (two  chapters),  Lebanon,  Lewisburg,  Linnville,  Mem- 
phis (six  chapters),  Monteagle,  Mount  Pleasant,  Morristown,  Mulberry,  Mur- 
freesboro,  Nashville  (five  chapters),  Paris,  Pulaski,  Ripley,  St.  Elmo  (two  chap- 
ters), Savannah,  Sewanee,  Shelbyville,  Springfield,  Spring  City,  Spring  Hill, 
South  Pittsburg,  Stanton,  Sweetwater,  Trenton,  Union  City,  Whiteville,  and 
Erwin  with  the  following  children's  auxiliaries: 

The  Tennessee  division  has  not  ignored  the  importance  of  training  the  chil- 
dren to  take  their  places  in  this  great  work. 

Chattanooga,  Auxiliary  Gen.  A.  P.  Stewart  Chapter;  Cleveland,  Auxiliary 
Jefferson  Davis  Chapter;  Dyersburg,  Auxiliary  John  Lauderdale  Chapter;  Jack- 
son, Auxiliary  Musidora  C.  MeCorry  Chapter;  Memphis,  Auxiliary  Mary 
Latham  Chapter;  Memphis,  Auxiliary  General  Forrest  Chapter;  Morristown, 
Auxiliary  Sam  Davis  Chapter;  Nashville,  Auxiliary  Nashville  Chapter  No.  1: 
Nashville,  Auxiliary  Mary  F.  Hughes  Chapter;  Shelbyville,  Auxiliary  Agnes 
L.  Whitesides  Chapter;  Stanton,  Auxiliary  Joe  Wheeler  Chapter;  St.  Elmo, 
Auxiliary  Frances  M.  Walker  Chapter;  Knoxville,  Auxiliary  Knoxville  Chapter. 

The  Tennessee  women  who  have  held  the  high  office  of  president-general  are: 
Mrs.  Jno.  C.  Brown  and  Mrs.  Alexander  B.  White. 

On  the  roll  of  our  gifted  writers  in  the  Tennessee  division  we  find  Mrs. 
Annie  Booth  McKinney,  of  Knoxville ;  Mrs.  Octavia  Z.  Bond,  Columbia  ;  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Fry  Page,  Nashville;  Miss  Will  Allen  Dromgool,  and  Charles  Egbert 
Craddock,  of  Rutherford  County;  Mrs.  John  Temple,  of  Jackson;  Mrs.  Jas.  H. 
Watson,  of  Memphis;  Miss  Bettie  Garland,  of  Clarksville;  Mrs.  Virginia  Boyle, 
of  Memphis ;  and  Mrs.  Beatrice  Stevens  of  Dyersburg. 

For  much  of  the  information  in  this  sketch  I  am  indebted  to  Mrs.  Wm. 
Hume,  and  I  will,  in  closing,  use  a  quotation  from  the  pen  of  this  venerable 
lady  of  the  Old  South:  "History  shows  that  the  remembrance  of  a  Nation's 
glory  stimulates  in  successive  generations  truer  patriotism  and  nobler  effort. 
Standing  as  we  do  near  the  summit  of  the  first  century  of  Tennessee's  history, 
we  contemplate  with  pride  the  glory  of  the  past,  and  look  with  confidence  to 
the  prospect  of  the  future." 

TENNESSEE    WOMAN  S    CHRISTIAN    TEMPERANCE    UNION 

The  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized  at  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  in  November,  1874,  and  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  crusade  against 
the  saloon  that  was  started  in  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  in  1873.  The  fire  did  not  catch 
as  readily  in  the  southern  states  as  in  the  northern,  bid  at  the  first  national 
convention,  Mrs.  J.   C.   Johnson,   of  Memphis,  was  elected  vice  president   for 

Vol.  1—51 


798         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Tennessee.  At  that  time  there  were  no  local  unions  in  the  state,  but  in  March, 
1876,  a  union  was  organized  in  Memphis.  Later  other  unions  were  organized, 
notably  one  in  Nashville  in  the  home  of  Judge  and  Mrs.  E.  H.  East.  Frances 
Willard  was  visiting  some  of  the  southern  states  at  this  time  and  was  the  in- 
spiration of  this  organization. 

On  account  of  opposition  and  indifference  the  unions  were  not  very  active, 
but  the  seed  was  being  sown  that  later  was  to  bear  fruit.  Each  year  at  the 
national  convention  Mrs.  Johnson  was  elected  vice  president  for  Tennessee,  and 
through  her  earnest,  consecrated  efforts  made  possible  the  state  organization 
that  was  effected  October  25,  1882,  at  Nashville.  Mrs.  Johnson  was  elected 
president  of  the  state  union  but  lived  only  six  months  after  her  election  to  this 
office. 

At  the  second  state  convention,  which  was  also  held  at  Nashville,  there  were 
reported  four  unions  and  thirty  members,  but  these  few  had  been  active  in 
legislative  matters  and  the  organization  was  slowly  claiming  the  attention  of  the 
public.  At  this  convention,  which  was  especially  notable  on  account  of  the  dis- 
tinguished guests,  viz. :  Mrs.  Margaret  Bottome,  Hannah  Whitall  Smith,  Mrs. 
Mary  Wadsworth  and  Mrs.  Sallie  Chapin,  Mrs.  Ella  Harrison,  wife  of  Judge 
Harrison,  of  Nashville,  was  elected  state  president.  Mrs.  M.  A.  Allen  and  Mrs. 
Douglas  Walworth,  of  Memphis,  went  that  year  as  delegates  to  the  National 
Convention  at  Detroit,  Mich. 

At  the  state  convention  held  at  McKenzie  in  1884,  Mrs.  Lide  Meriwether 
was  chosen  as  the  Moses  to  lead  the  temperance  hosts.  She  was  a  leader  who 
commanded  the  attention  and  admiration,  not  only  of  the  members  of  the  or- 
ganization, but  of  the  entire  state.  Polished,  versatile,  witty,  she  was  equal 
to  any  and  all  occasions.  It  is  related  that  when  Grover  Cleveland  was  Presi- 
dent, and  his  sister,  Miss  Rose  Elizabeth,  presided  at  the  White  House,  Mrs. 
Meriwether  attended  a  reception  given  by  the  President  and  Miss  Cleveland. 
When  Mrs.  Meriwether  was  introduced  to  Miss  Cleveland,  the  latter  exclaimed : 
"Let  now  thy  servant  depart  in  peace  for  I  have  seen  Lide  Meriwether." 

At  the  convention  of  1883,  the  following  resolution  was  passed:  "Whereas, 
the  Legislature  at  the  last  and  preceding  session  imposed  a  heavy  tax  on  liquor 
dealers  and  passed  stringent  laws  looking  to  the  prevention  of  the  sale  of  liquor 
to  minors  and  habitual  drunkards,  from  which,  together  with  what  is  known 
as  the  'Four  Mile  Law,'  great  good  has  resulted — Resolved,  that  we,  the  women 
of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Tennessee  in  convention  as- 
sembled, pledge  ourselves  to  use  whatever  influence  we  may  have,  individually 
or  collectively,  to  prevent  the  repeal  of  these  laws  and  to  secure  through  legis- 
lation the  accomplishment  of  prohibition  by  submitting  the  question  to  the  peo- 
ple at  a  time  when  no  other  issue  is  before  them." 

The  first  year,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs.  Meriwether,  the  work  took  on 
new  life.  In  less  than  six  months  thirty-seven  unions  were  organized  and  the 
resolution,  passed  by  the  convention  in  1883,  was  never  lost  sight  of.  Year  by 
year  the  great  objective  was,  an  amendment  to  the  constitution  prohibiting  the 
sale  and  manufacture  of  liquor.  Both  democratic  and  republican  parties  were 
appealed  to,  to  declare  in  their  platforms  for  the  submission  of  the  amendment 
to  the  people.  Both  parties  agreed  to  do  so.  The  amendment  was  to  go  be- 
fore the  people,  the  election  to  be  held  September  29,  1887.  All  through  that 
hot,  trying  summer  the  women  worked.  Days  of  prayer  were  observed ;  work- 
ers were  sent  out  all  over  the  state;  literature  was  distributed;  women  forgot 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  799 

the  age-old  traditions  and  customs  and  on  election  day  went  to  the  polls  to  work 
and  pray.  The  liquor  forces  with  their  money,  much  of  it  sent  in  by  northern 
liquor  men  to  control  the  negro  vote,  won  the  day  and  the  amendment  was  lost. 
One  colored  man,  a  young  teacher,  said  to  a  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  woman,  "What  are  we  to  do?  My  poor  deluded  people  are  made  their 
own  executioners  by  the  very  people  who  claim  to  have  been  our  Moses.  We 
had  better  have  died  in  the  wilderness  than  to  have  been  delivered  unto  this. ' ' 

During  this  campaign  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  grew  rap- 
idly so  that  by  the  convention  of  1887,  210  local  unions  and  109  Young  Women's 
Unions  had  been  organized  and  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion  had  a  member- 
ship of  3,000.  The  ministers  were  much  more  friendly  and  the  churches  were 
being  offered  for  our  lecturers  and  organizers.  Alas  and  alack !  The  defeat  of 
the  amendment  quenched  the  ardor  of  many  who  had  done  valiant  work  during 
the  campaign  and  there  was  a  falling  away  in  membership.  However,  the 
women  who  had  been  in  the  fight  for  years  stood  by.  The  work  was  reorganized 
and  put  on  a  firmer  and  more  enduring  basis. 

In  1886,  work  among  the  negroes  was  begun,  their  first  convention  being 
held  in  Memphis,  September  21,  1886.  The  attendance  was  small  but  the  in- 
terest manifested  was  fine.  Mrs.  C.  H.  Phillips,  of  Memphis,  was  president,  and 
unions  were  organized  in  Memphis,  Claybrook,  Pinson,  Dresden,  Ripley,  Mc- 
Kenzie,  Newbern,  Tullahoma,  Union  City,  Paris,  Middleton  and  Pocahontas. 

The  Legislature  of  1887  was  petitioned  to  pass  a  law  requiring  the  teaching, 
in  all  the  schools  of  the  state  supported  wholly  or  in  part  by  public  money,  the 
effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics  on  the  human  system.  Such  a  law  was  already 
in  effect  in  more  than  half  the  states  of  the  union  and  the  Tennessee  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union  had  been  working  several  years  to  create  senti- 
ment for  such  a  law.  They  failed  at  this  time  but  after  years  of  patient,  per- 
sistent labor  success  crowned  their  efforts,  and  in  1895  the  law  was  written  on 
the  statute  books.  To  Mrs.  Emily  M.  Settle  is  due  much  of  the  credit  for  this 
law.  For  eight  years  she  climbed  the  long  steps  to  the  capitol  to  appear  before 
the  Legislature  in  the  interest  of  the  bill.  If  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union  had  done  nothing  else  the  securing  of  this  law  would  have  been  ample 
recompense  for  all  their  years  of  hard  work.  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Hunt,  national  su- 
perintendent of  scientific  temperance  instruction  was  present  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature  and  rendered  valuable  assistance  in  securing  the  law. 
As  she  so  prophetically  said:  "The  star  of  hope  of  the  temperance  reform  hangs 
over  the  schoolhouse — and  the  boys  and  young  men  who  were  taught  in  our 
schools  the  nature  and  effects  of  alcohol,  later  grown  to  manhood,  made  pos- 
sible our  state  and  national  prohibitory  laws." 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  instrumental  in  securing 
a  law  against  the  sale  of  impure  literature  and  they  worked  valiantly  to  secure 
a  law  raising  the  "Age  of  Consent"  from  ten  to  eighteen  years.  Like  the  Sci- 
entific Temperance  Instruction  Law,  this  was  not  done  in  a  day:  but  the  Legis- 
lature of  1893  did  raise  the  age  to  sixteen  and  subsequent  legislatures  advanced 
the  age  limit  until  it  is  now  twenty-one. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  did  splendid  work  in  helping 
to  secure  a  reform  school  for  juvenile  offenders  and  they  also  sought  to  have 
a  reformatory  work  house  for  women  offenders  and  also  for  police  matrons  in 
the  city  courts.  Year  after  year  the  legislatures  were  petitioned  in  behalf  of 
these  measures  and  anv  one  but  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  women 


800  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

would  have  given  up.  But  it  is  characteristic  of  the  women  of  this  organization 
thai  they  know  no  defeat.  "No  call  for  retreat  can  be  blown  from  the  bugle 
of  right."  Defeated  at  one  point  they  calmly  began  work  along  another  line 
of  approach  to  the  same  objective  and  usually  won  out. 

in  this  brief  history  it  is  not  possible  to  go  into  detail;  only  the  high  points 
can  be  touched.  For  thirteen  years  Mrs.  Lide  Meriwether  was  the  honored  and 
beloved  leader.  But  waning  physical  powers  compelled  her  to  relinquish  the 
office  of  president  and  at  the  convention  held  in  Chattanooga  in  1897,  Mrs.  An- 
nette A.  Gibson,  who  had  served  for  a  number  of  years  as  recording  secretary 
and  who  had  already  made  for  herself  a  place  in  the  work  of  the  state,  was 
elected  president  and  held  the  office  for  two  years  (1897  to  1899). 

Almost  from  the  beginning  of  the  state  organization  there  was  a  woman  liv- 
ing near  Fayetteville,  the  wife  of  a  retired  physician  and  successful  farmer  ami 
the  mother  of  eight  children,  who  was  deeply  interested  in  the  temperance  work. 
She  held  various  offices  in  the  state  organization,  superintendent  of  purity,  of 
narcotics,  of  the  press,  unfermented  wine  at  the  sacrament,  etc.,  and  later  state 
corresponding  secretary.  In  all  these  offices  she  gave  her  very  best,  so  when. 
at  the  Clarksville  Convention  in  1899,  Silena  Moore  Holman  was  called  upon  to 
take  charge  of  the  dwindling  hosts  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
she  was  not  an  untried  leader.  At  that  convention,  which  was  held  in  the 
Hebrew  Synagogue — because  none  of  the  Protestant  churches  would  allow  the 
convention  to  be  held  in  their  houses  of  worship,  twelve  delegates  were  present. 
representing  twenty-two  unions  with  a  membership  of  approximately  250.  Some- 
bow  that  convention  was  the  turning  point  in  the  life  of  the  organization.  Be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year  the  number  of  unions  had  increased  to  thirty -nine  with 
a  membership  of  511.  The  next  year  saw  a  like  increase  and  everyone  took  heart 
and  went  to  work. 

It  was  at  the  1899  convention  that  the  "Open  Door"  was  made  the  official 
organ  of  the  state  organization,  and  Mrs.  Mary  C.  Baker,  one  of  the  Lord's 
anointed,  was  made  editor,  and  most  efficiently  and  faithfully  did  she  administer 
the  office  of  editor  until,  in  1921,  on  account  of  ill  health,  she  was  compelled 
to  give  up  active  work  but  was  continued  as  corresponding  editor. 

It  is  practically  impossible  to  give  a  history  of  the  Woman 's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  without  speaking  of  other  efforts  that  were  constantly  being 
made  for  the  outlawing  of  the  legalized  liquor  traffic.  Up  to  1899  the  Four- 
Mile  Law  had  stopped  the  retail  selling  of  liquor  in  the  smaller  towns  and  vil- 
lages, but  in  every  county  there  was  one  or  more  towns  in  which  liquor  could 
be  legally  sold.  In  1899  the  Legislature  passed  a  law  permitting  the  towns  of 
2,000  and  under  to  surrender  their  charter  and  reincorporate  without  the  saloon. 
In  1903  the  law  was  extended  to  towns  of  5,000  inhabitants,  and  in  1907  to 
towns  of  150,000  inhabitants.  By  the  time  the  Legislature  of  1907  had  ad- 
journed there  were  only  four  cities  in  the  entire  state  in  which  liquor  could  be 
legally  sold.  Whenever  a  bill  was  before  the  Legislature  to  extend  the  benefit 
of  the  Four-Mile  Law  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  by  petitions, 
letters,  personal  work  and  every  other  way  possible,  did  all  they  could  to  secure 
the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  when  the  elections  were  held  in  the  towns  to  decide 
whether  the  changes  should  be  made  or  not,  the  women  were  very  active  in  se- 
curing a  favorable  vote. 

While  the  women  of  the  Woman 's  Christian  Temperance  Union  rejoiced  over 
the  benefits  of  the  Four-Mile  Law  they  never  for  one  moment  lost  sight  of  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  801 

one  great  purpose  of  the  organization,  state  and  national  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic.  At  the  state  convention  that  met  in  Columbia  in  1907,  the  fol- 
lowing resolution  was  unanimously  adopted:  "We,  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  of  Tennessee,  believe  that  our  state  is  now  ready  for  absolute 
prohibition.  Believing  this,  it  is  our  purpose  to  make  a  strong  and  determined 
effort  to  secure  a  law  prohibiting  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor  in  our 
state  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Legislature.  To  this  end  we  urge  our  women 
everywhere  to  keep  this  question  constantly  before  their  people;  to  hold  pub- 
lie  meetings;  to  secure  good  speakers  and  to  do  everything  possible  to  bring 
about  such  a  state  of  public  sentiment  that  only  men  in  favor  of  this  measure 
will  be  sent  to  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature." 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  does  not  for  one  moment  claim 
all  the  honor  of  securing  this  statewide  law.  Other  organizations  and  indi- 
viduals gave  fully  of  time  and  effort  and  no  one  organization  working  alone 
could  have  succeeded.  But  to  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  does 
belong  the  credit  of  initiating  the  campaign  and  also  of  being  a  leading  factor 
in  the  battle  royal  that  was  waged. 

Mrs.  Holman  had  proved  her  ability  as  a  leader  and  she  threw  herself  and 
all  her  God-given  power  and  ability  into  the  tight  for  a  statewide  law.  To 
the  women  over  the  state  she  became  known  as  "General  Holman"  and  never 
did  any  general  have  a  more  responsive,  devoted  following  than  had  Mrs.  Hol- 
man in  the  women  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union.  From  state 
headquarters  thousands  of  letters  were  sent  out  to  ministers  and  others  asking 
cooperation.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  pages  of  literature  were  sent  broad- 
cast over  the  state.  Speakers  and  workers  were  sent  into  every  town  and  vil- 
lage and  men  and  women  were  enlisted  for  service.  Petitions  asking  for  state- 
wide prohibition  were  sent  to  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  state  and  when  the 
Legislature  of  1909  convened  these  petitions  with  thousands  and  thousands  of 
names  of  men  and  women  began  to  pour  in  to  the  members  of  the  Legislature. 
When  the  statewide  bill  was  to  have  a  hearing  before  the  legislative  committee, 
women  from  all  over  the  state  went  to  the  capitol  and  filled  the  galleries  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  where  the  hearing  was  to  be  held.  When  the  bill  came 
before  the  House  the  next  day  the  galleries  and  every  available  space  was  filled 
with  women  and  men  who  breathlessly  awaited  the  roll  call.  When  the  bill 
passed  by  a  majority  vote,  prayers  of  thanksgiving  went  up  from  hearts  sur- 
charged with  joy.  The  next  day  the  scenes  were  repeated  in  the  Senate  and 
the  bill  became  a  law  written  upon  our  statute  books. 

The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  did  its  part  in  securing  the  en- 
actment of  laws  necessary  for  the  enforcement  of  Our  statewide  law,  and  year 
after  year  speakers  and  workers  were  sent  into  practically  every  community 
in  the  state,  keeping  alive  temperance  sentiment  and  creating  a  demand  for  the 
enforcement  of  our  prohibition  law. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  organization  women  from  the  different  sections 
of  the  state  have  backed  up  the  efforts  of  the  state  officers  and  are  deserving 
of  mention  in  this  history  of  the  work.  In  the  early  days  Mrs.  M.  L.  Wells,  of 
Chattanooga;  Mrs.  E.  J.  Roach,  of  McKenzie ;  Mrs.  Georgia  Alizcll,  Nashville; 
Mrs.  M.  F.  Reynolds,  Union  City;  Miss  Nannie  McCormack,  Knoxville;  and 
Mrs.  A.  M.  Shook,  Tracy  City,  were  among  those  most  prominent  in  the  stale 
work.  Among  the  early  state  officers  we  find  the  names  of  Mrs.  Nat  Baxter, 
Nashville;  Mrs.  E.  E.  Loomis,  Chattanooga;  Mrs.  W.  S.  Abernathy,  Memphis; 


802         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Mrs.  E.  II.  East,  Nashville;  and  Mrs.  Emily  M.  Sutle,  Nashville.  Later  we  find 
Mis.  Cenia  A.  l'atton,  Jonesboro;  Mrs.  J.  E.  Dosser,  Knoxville;  Mrs.  J.  A. 
Manly,  Harriman ;  Mrs.  Mattie  G.  Shook,  Winchester;  Mrs.  Bettie  M.  Donelson, 
Nashville;  Mrs.  T.  H.  Thayer,  Harriman;  and  Mrs.  T.  H.  McCallie,  Chattanooga. 

For  four  years  Mrs.  S.  J.  Dosser,  of  Knoxville,  and  Mrs.  E.  W.  Pentecost, 
Chattanooga,  were  associated  with  Mrs.  Holman  as  state  officers.  At  the  Leba- 
non Convention  in  1904,  Mrs.  Leida  Gaines  Ransom,  of  Nashville,  was  elected 
corresponding  secretary,  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Davis  Collins,  of  Winchester,  treas- 
urer. Mrs.  Minnie  Kerr  Gilbert  was  elected  recording  secretary  in  1901,  and 
is  the  oldest  officer,  in  point  of  service,  in  the  state.    Mrs.  Collins  ranks  second. 

The  names  of  Mrs.  E.  L.  Saxon,  Miss  Lillie  0 'Daniel,  Mrs.  Florence  Ewell 
Atkins,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Hagan,  Mrs.  Leila  Owen  Stratton,  Mrs.  Rose  Nipher,  Mrs. 
Mary  Jewett  Telford  and  Mrs.  Lem  Gilreath  are  written,  not  only  on  the  pages 
of  this  history,  but  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women  who  have  listened  to  their 
message  as  they  carried  it  into  almost  every  town  and  village  in  the  state. 

Sixteen  years  Silena  Moore  Holman  led  the  White  Ribbon  Army  of  Tennes- 
see and  then,  on  September  18,  1915,  the  grim  reaper  came  and  "Life's 
fitful  dream"  was  over.  Her  body  lay  in  state  at  the  home  in  Fayetteville, 
and  from  far  and  near  came  men  and  women  to  pay  a  last  loving  tribute  to  one 
who  had  served,  not  only  her  state,  but  her  nation.  Mrs.  Holman  was  a  re- 
markable woman.  She  was  one  whose  highest  ambition  had  been  to  serve  her 
fellowman  and  her  intellect  was  so  keen  and  her  grasp  upon  the  affairs  of  the 
state  and  nation  so  wonderful  that  her  counsel  was  sought,  not  by  women  alone 
but  by  men  as  well.  Ex-Senator  W.  R.  Webb,  of  Bellbuckle,  classed  her  as  a 
"real  statesman."  Almost  her  last  words  were,  "Tell  the  women  to  go  forward 
with  the  work." 

At  the  Martin  Convention  in  1915,  which  met  shortly  after  Mrs.  Holman 's 
death,  Mrs.  Mary  P.  Bang,  of  Nashville,  a  woman  of  unusual  ability  and  one 
who  had  been  identified  with  the  work  for  years  as  departmental  superintendent 
and  corresponding  secretary,  was  elected  president,  and  Mrs.  Minnie  Alison 
Welch,  of  Sparta,  was  chosen  as  vice  president.  Mrs.  Estelle  McMillan  Knox, 
who  had  been  vice  president  for  several  years,  was  made  state  corresponding 
secretary  and  served  most  efficiently  for  four  years.  During  Mrs.  Bang's  ad- 
ministration and  largely  through  her  efforts,  Mrs.  Holman 's  portrait,  painted 
by  Mrs.  Willie  Betty  Newman,  was  presented  to  the  State  of  Tennessee  and 
hangs  in  the  library  at  the  State  Capitol.  Governor  Rye,  in  receiving  the  pic- 
ture for  the  state,  paid  a  beautiful  tribute  to  Mrs.  Holman.  "It  is  proper  for 
the  state  to  place  it  among  the  galaxy  of  statesmen,  warriors  and  jurists.  Has 
she  not  led  the  greatest  army  that  ever  marched  to  battle  in  civilization?  Has 
she  not  given  a  complete  system  of  law  for  the  establishment  of  temperance? 
She  has  stormed  the  citadel  of  King  Alcohol  and  conquered.  I  accept  the  gift 
in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Tennessee,  but  especially  in  the  name  of  the 
mothers." 

When  America  entered  the  World  war  in  1917,  the  Woman's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  was  already  organized  for  war  work,  for  under  the  department 
of  "Work  Among  Soldiers  and  Sailors,"  the  women  had  for  years  been  minister- 
ing to  Uncle  Sam's  "boys."  They  helped  to  equip  the  ambulance  sent  over  by 
the  National  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  also  the  field  kitchens  and 
stereomotographs.  They  supported  French  and  Belgian  orphans.  Made  thou- 
sands of  comfort  kits  for  the  boys  in  the  army  and  navy.     The  state  president, 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  803 

Mrs.  Welch,  was  secretary  of  the  Council  of  Defense  and  the  members  of  the 
local  unions  invested  over  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand  dollars  in  Lib- 
erty Bonds  and  War  Savings  Stamps  and  contributed  over  twelve  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  to  the  work  of  the  Red  Cross,  and  all  this  in  addition  to  the 
work  done  in  the  Red  Cross  rooms  where  it  was  said  that  the  Woman's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union  had  more  members  at  work  than  had  any  other  woman's 
organization. 

Under  Mrs.  Bang's  leadership,  both  as  president  and  as  superintendent  of 
the  department  of  legislation,  fine  work  was  done  in  petitioning  the  State  Legis- 
lature in  behalf  of  the  Bone  Dry  Bill,  and  also  the  National  Congress  in  the 
interest  of  National  Constitutional  Prohibition.  Hundreds  and  thousands  of 
letters  and  telegrams  were  sent  to  the  Legislature  and  to  Congress. 

At  the  Bristol  Convention  in  1917,  Mrs.  Minnie  Alison  Welch  of  Sparta,  a 
young  woman  full  of  enthusiasm  and  energy  and  an  abiding  faith  in  the  high 
purpose  of  the  organization,  was  elected  president  and  is  still — in  1922 — the 
efficient,  capable  leader.  Mrs.  Grace  W.  Robins  of  MeKenzie  was  elected  vice 
president  at  this  convention.  Under  Mrs.  Welch's  administration  the  war  work 
was  continued  and  enlarged  upon  and  much  has  been  done  through  the 
legislative  department.  The  Mothers'  Pension  Bill  has  become  a  law;  splendid 
work  has  been  done  in  the  Conservation  of  Child  Life ;  petitions  in  the  interest 
of  the  suffrage  bill  were  sent  in  by  the  unions,  also  much  work  done  in  behalf 
of  the  Anti-Cigaret  Law.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  has  fur- 
nished instructors  for  the  State  Normals  who  teach  the  teachers  how  to  teach 
scientific  temperance;  have  helped  in  arranging  the  programs  for  Frances 
Willard,  or  Temperance  Day,  which  was  secured  through  the  efforts  of  the 
organization  for  the  schools  of  the  state,  and  has  cooperated  with  other  organ- 
izations in  anti-tuberculosis  and  other  state-wide  needs. 

The  work  among  the  young  people  is  under  the  efficient  management  of  Mrs. 
Myra  A.  Tandy,  and  Mrs.  Rose  Nipher  is  the  capable  and  zealous  state  secretary 
of  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion. 

At  this  time — 1922 — the  state  officers  are  as  follows :  Mrs.  Mary  P.  Bang, 
honorary  life  president ;  Mrs.  Minnie  A.  Welch,  president ;  Mrs.  Grace  W. 
Robins,  vice  president ;  Mrs.  Amanda  Neal  Wheelock,  corresponding  secretary ; 
Mrs.  Minnie  Kerr  Gilbert,  recording  secretary;  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Davis  Collins, 
treasurer. 

Through  its  "do  everything"  policy  the  organization  will  continue  its  services 
to  humanity  and  its  aggressive  warfare  against  the  liquor  traffic  and  help  to 
hasten  the  day  when  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  the  kingdom  of 
our  God  and  His  Christ,  and  the  white  flag  of  prohibition  shall  float  side  by  side 
with  the  national  colors  of  every  land. 


CHAPTER  XXXI II 
COUNTIES  OP  TENNESSEE  * 

Politically,  Tennessee  is  divided  into  three  grand  divisions,  East  Tennessee. 
.Middle  Tennessee,  and  West  Tennessee.  The  counties  of  East  Tennessee  are: 
Anderson,  Bledsoe,  Blount,  Bradley,  Campbell,  Carter,  Claiborne,  Cocke,  Cum- 
berland, Grainger,  Greene,  Hamblen,  Hamilton,  Hancock,  Hawkins,  Jefferson, 
Johnson,  Knox,  Loudon,  Marion,  McMinn,  Meigs,  Monroe,  Morgan,  Polk,  Rhea, 
Roane,  Scott,  Sequatchie,  Sevier,  Sullivan,  Unicoi,  Union,  Washington — 34. 

The  counties  of  Middle  Tennessee  are:  Bedford,  Cannon,  Cheatham,  Clay, 
Coffee,  Davidson,  Dekalb,  Dickson,  Fentress,  Franklin,  Giles,  Grundy,  Hickman, 
Houston,  Humphreys,  Jackson,  Lawrence,  Lewis,  Lincoln,  Macon,  Marshall, 
Maury,  Montgomery,  Moore,  Overton,  Perry,  Pickett,  Putnam,  Robertson,  Ruth- 
erford, Smith,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Trousdale,  Van  Buren,  Warren,  Wayne,  White, 
Williamson,  Wilson — 40. 

The  counties  of  West  Tennessee  are :  Benton,  Carroll,  Chester,  Crockett, 
Decatur,  Dyer,  Fayette,  Gibson,  Hardeman,  Hardin,  Haywood,  Henderson, 
Henry,  Lake,  Lauderdale,  Madison,  McNairy,  Obion,  Shelby.  Tipton,  Weak- 
ley—21. 

East  Tennessee 

anderson  county 

Anderson  County,  named  in  honor  of  Judge  Joseph  Anderson,2  was  created 
by  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  November  6,  1801.  It  was  formed  from  parts 
of  Knox  and  Grainger  counties.  It  lies  partly  in  the  valley  of  East  Tennessee 
and  partly  on  the  Cumberland,  plateau.  It  contains  about  four  hundred  and 
fifty  square  miles. 

Settlements  began  in  this  county  about  the  year  1800  principally  by  David 
Hall,  Wm.  Tunnell,  Isaac  Coward,  Wm.  Hogshead,  Jno.  Chiles,  Joseph  Hart, 
Thos.  Hart,  Joseph  Black,  Joshua  Frost,  Collins  Roberts,  Jno.  Garner,  Aaron 
Slover,  Jno.  Gibbs,  Robt.  Ross,  Jno.  Wilson. 

The  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  on  December  15, 
1801,  at  the  house  of  Jno.  Denham,  Sr.  The  justices  of  this  court  were :  Hugh 
Montgomery,  Wm.  Underwood,  Frederick  Miller,  Jas.  Grant,  Jno.  Kirby,  Wm. 
McKamy,  Jos.  Sinclair,  James  Butler,  Wm.  Standifer  and  Solomon  Massingale. 
Wm.  Hogshead,  who  began  practice  about  1802,  was  the  first  lawyer  of  the 
county. 

The  county  seat  was  first  named  Burrville,  in  honor  of  Aaron  Burr.  By 
act  of  the  Legislature,  in  1809,  the  name  was  changed  to  Clinton  in  honor  of 
DeWitt  Clinton.     The  site  of  Clinton  was  first  owned  by  Jno.  Leib  and  the 


"'Reproduced  from  "Counties  of  Tennessee,"  published  by  the  Department  of  Educa- 
tion, Division  of  History,  State  of  Tennessee. 

2  One  of  the  three  judges  of  the  Southwest  Territory  and  successor  to  William  Blount  as 
United  States  senator,  when  the  latter  was  expelled  from  the  Senate. 

804 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  805 

lands  surrounding  it  were  settled  by  a  colony  of  Germans,  among  whom  were 
John  Clodfelter,  Geo.  Bumgartener  and  John  Leinart.  Besides  the  Germans 
there  were:  Jno.  McWhirter,  Jno.  Sutherland,  Stephen  Bradley,  Richard 
Luallen,  James  Kirkpatriek,  Robt.  Kirkpatriek  and  those  mentioned  above. 

The  greater  part  of  the  wealth  of  Anderson  County  is  in  its  coal  and  timber 
lands.     Many  large  mines  are  in  operation. 

Statistics  of  Anderson  County:  Population  1920,  18,298.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $8,701,767.  Area,  about  360  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,677.  Railway  mileage,  78.  County  drained  by  Clinch  and  Powell 
rivers.  Its  valleys  are  very  fertile.  Staple  products :  Wheat,  corn  and  oats. 
Live  stock  industry  is  very  flourishing.  County  seat,  Clinton,  about  twenty-two 
miles  northwest  of  Knoxville ;  population,  1,409.  Has  churches,  schools,  weekly 
newspaper;  2  banks,  enterprising  mercantile  establishments,  several  flourishing 
mills,  and  other  industries.  Coal  Creek  has  a  population  of  1,204.  Scholastic- 
population  of  county,  6,512:  high  schools,  7;  elementary  schools,  55. 

BLEDSOE    COUNTY 

Bledsoe  County  was  named  in  honor  of  Abraham  Bledsoe  and  was  created 
out  of  Roane  County  by  act  of  the  Legislature  on  November  30,  1807.  The 
original  county  seat  was  known  as  Old  Madison,  six  miles  from  Dunlap  and 
fifteen  miles  from  Pikeville,  the  present  county  seat.  The  first  court  in  the 
county  was  held  at  the  residence  of  a  Mr.  Thomas.  The  country  surrounding 
Pikeville  is  a  fine  agricultural  region.  There  have  been  three  colleges  in  or 
near  Pikeville,  the  People's  College,  Bledsoe  College  and  Sequatchie  College, 
the  first  named  of  which  was  chartered  in  1871.  Sequatchie  College  was  char- 
tered in  1870.     Mineral  springs,  iron  ore  and  coal  are  abundant. 

Statistics  of  Bledsoe  County :  Population,  1920,  7,218.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,368,308.  Area,  300  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,060.  Railway  mileage,  15.  Drained  by  Sequatchie  River  and  tribu- 
taries. Surface  somewhat  mountainous.  Live  stock,  fruits  and  grain  crops  are 
principal  products.  Pasturage  excellent.  Large  areas  of  fine  timber.  Corn, 
oats  and  wheat  are  successfully  grown.  Coal  and  limestone  abound.  Pikeville 
is  the  county  seat ;  population,  488.  Churches,  schools  and  weekly  newspaper, 
bank  and  flourishing  business  establishments.  Scholastic  population,  2,946; 
high  schools,  2 ;  elementary  schools,  38. 

BLOUNT  COUNTY 

Blount  County  is  one  of  the  oldest  counties  in  the  state,  having  been  erected 
by  the  Territorial  Legislature  on  Jul}-  11,  1795.  It  was  named  for  Win,  Blount 
who  was,  at  that  time,  the  governor  of  Southwest  Territory.  It  was  carved  out 
of  Knox  County.  Its  county  seat,  Maryville,  was  named  for  Mary  (Grainger) 
Blount,  wife  of  Governor  William  Blount.  Its  early  settlers  came  principally 
from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  among  them  was  the  mother  of  Sam  Hous- 
ton who  settled  near  .Maryville,  in  1806.  The  settlement  of  the  county  really 
began  in  1785,  although  pioneers  had  come  in  some  years  previously.  Among 
the  early  settlers  were  the  Bogles,  McCroskeys,  McCullochs,  Boyds,  Cunning- 
hams, Tiptons,  McGaugheys,  and  McMurrays.  As  we  have  already  seen,  they 
were  greatlv  harassed  by  the  Indians. 


806  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  on  the  second  Mon- 
day in  September,  17!).").  at  the  house  of  William  Weaver.  Early  lawyers  were 
John  Lowery,  Samuel  Glass,  John  Wilkinson,  John  Garner  and  Enoch  Parsons. 
Parsons  was  defeated  for  governor,  in  1819,  by  McMinn.  Maryville  College, 
one  of  the  best  institutions  for  higher  learning  in  the  state,  was  founded  by 
Rev.  Isaac  Anderson. 

Statistics  of  Blount  County:  Population,  1920,  28,800.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $25,370,192.  Area,  614  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,601.  Railway  mileage,  98.  Drained  by  the  Holston  and  Little  Tennes- 
see rivers,  the  former  navigable  for  boats.  Surface  mountainous  with  fertile 
valleys,  which  abundantly  produce  wheat,  corn,  oats,  fruits,  and  live  stock. 
Blount  County  has  more  pure-bred  Aberdeen-Angus  cattle  than  any  county 
south  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  many  fine  herds  of  pure-bred  Poland  China  hogs. 
Over  six  hundred  silos  in  the  county.  Forests  of  oak  and  pine.  Marble  and 
iron  are  mined.  County  seat,  Maryville,  on  railroad ;  population,  3,739.  Has 
fine  schools,  two  weekly  newspapers,  three  banks,  fine  churches,  and  many 
flourishing  industries.  Alcoa  and  Townsend  are  other  prosperous  towns.  Alcoa 
has  a  population  of  3,358.  Aluminum  plant,  hosiery  mill,  foundry,  casket  fac- 
tory, three  woodworking  factories,  and  tannery,  are  among  the  leading  indus- 
tries of  the  county.  B.  R.  Kramer  is  president  of  the  Maryville- Alcoa  Chamber 
of  Commerce.  Private  schools  of  county  are  Maryville  College,  Maryville  Poly- 
technic, and  Friendsville  Academy.  Scholastic  population,  10,079 ;  high  schools, 
2 ;  elementary  schools,  86. 

BRADLEY  COUNTY 

Bradley  County,  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Edward  Bradley,  of  Shelby  County, 
was  established  by  act  of  the  Legislature  in  1835.  The  surface  of  the  county  is 
made  up  of  long  valleys  running  from  northeast  to  southwest  with  ridges  be- 
tween them.  In  it  is  a  vast  amount  of  water  power,  a  part  of  which  has  been 
harnessed  for  commercial  use  in  the  Ocoee  hydro-electric  plant  established  by 
the  Tennessee  Power  Company. 

The  entire  section  of  which  this  county  is  a  part  was  the  scene  of  many 
bloody  battles  with  the  Indians  in  the  early  pioneer  days.  In  1819,  an  agency 
known  as  the  Cherokee  Agency,  was  established  on  ,the  present  site  of  the  City 
of  Charleston,  following  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians  and  Return  J. 
Meigs  was  appointed  the  first  agent.  He  held  this  position  until  1823,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  McMinn  who,  in  1821,  had  completed  his  third 
successive  term  as  governor.  McMinn  died  in  1824  and  was  succeeded  by  Hugh 
Montgomery.  Simultaneously  with  the  establishment  of  the  Indian  agency, 
Lewis  Ross,  brother  of  John  Ross,  the  famous  Cherokee  chief,  established  a 
store  at  the  agency  and  remained  there  until  the  removal  of  the  Indians  in  1838. 
His  wife  was  a  Miss  Holt  from  Virginia.     Will  T.  Hale  says: 

"Previous  to  1832  several  wdiite  men  were  married  to  Cherokees  or  half 
breeds  throughout  the  section.  Encroachments  were  made  by  the  whites  in 
1832,  leading  the  Indians  to  believe  they  would  have  to  abandon  their  lands. 
For  a  consideration  some  of  them  proposed  to  cede  their  holdings.  Chief 
John  Ross  and  a  large  following  opposed  this  movement.  Major  Ridge,  his 
son  John,  Elias  Boudinotte,  James  Starr,  Wm.  Rodgers,  John  Rodgers,  and 
John  Watkins,  Jr.,  were  in  favor  of  the  cession,  and  in  1834,  without  the 
sanction  of  Ross,  ceded  the  lands  to  the  United  States.  A  feud  resulted.  The 
first  victim  was  Walker,  a  well  educated  half  breed,  who,  in  1824,  had  married 


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808         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Miss  Emily  J.  Meigs,  a  daughter  of  Return  J.  Meigs,  who  lived  on  a  farm  just 
north  of  the  present  Cleveland. 

"Surveying  the  Ocoee  district  was  begun  in  1837.  In  Nov.,  1838,  Luke 
Lea  was  made  entry  taker,  his  office  being  opened  at  Cleveland.  For  the  first 
four  months  the  price  of  land  was  $7.50  per  acre;  in  the  next  few  months  the 
price  was  reduced,  until  in  1841  it  sold  at  one  cent  per  acre.  Settlers  came 
in  rapidly. 

"One  of  the  first  preachers  was  Dr.  J.  B.  McFerrin.  Judge  Chas.  J.  Keith, 
in  1836,  organized  the  first  court.  Among  the  first  lawyers  were  Geo.  W. 
Rawles,  Monroe  Campbell  and  Levi  Trewhitt. " 

Statistics  of  Bradley  County:  Population,  1920,  18,652.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,461,376.  Area,  280  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,836.  Railway  mileage,  35.  Drained  by  Hiwassee  River  and  trihu- 
taries.  Surface  hilly  and  well  timbered  and  soil  fertile.  Wheat,  corn  and  live 
stock  are  the  leading  pi-oduets ;  and  the  county  is  rapidly  coming  to  the  front 
in  fruit  growing,  especially  apples,  peaches  and  strawberries.  Soil  and  climate 
well  adapted  to  all  kinds  of  fruits.  Cleveland,  county  seat,  is  on  the  Southern 
Railway,  twenty-nine  miles  northeast  of  Chattanooga;  population,  6,522;  well 
supplied  with  churches  and  schools;  has  a  large  woolen  mill  and  trousers  fac- 
tory, stove  foundry,  coffin  factory,  electric  light  plant,  four  banks,  two  weekly 
newspapers,  and  a  large  number  of  flourishing  mercantile  establishments. 
Charleston,  Tasso,  and  McDonald  are  other  towns  of  Bradley  County.  Scho- 
lastic population  of  county,  6,936;  high  schools,  6;  elementary  schools,  53. 

CAMPBELL   COUNTY 

Campbell  County  was  erected  on  September  11,  1806,  out  of  Anderson  and 
Claiborne  counties  and  was  named  for  Col.  Arthur  Campbell.  Powell's  Valley,3 
famous  in  the  early  annals  of  the  state,  runs  through  the  entire  county  on 
the  eastern  side.  The  Court  of  Picas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  at 
the  house  of  Richard  Linville  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1806.  Settle- 
ments had  been  made,  however,  ten  or  more  years  previously.  The  site  of  Jacks- 
boro,  the  county  seat,  was  owned  by  Hugh  Montgomery,  one  of  the  earliest 
pioneers.  His  son,  Maj.  L.  P.  Montgomery,4  was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Tohopeka, 
or  Horseshoe  Bend  in  the  Creek  war. 

William  Lindsay  built  the  first  iron  furnace  in  the  county.  This  was  for 
George  Baker.  But  later  he  built  others  which  were  very  successful  for  that 
time. 

Statistics  for  Campbell  County.  Population,  1920,  28,265.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $12,919,026.  Area,  488  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,892.  Railway  mileage,  89.  Drained  by  Clinch  River  and 
tributaries  of  Cumberland  River.  Surface  mountainous  and  covered  with  fine 
forests.  Staple  products:  corn,  oats  and  grass.  Well  adapted  to  live  stock  in- 
dustry, which  is  increasing  in  importance.  Rich  coal  deposits  are  found  in 
county.  Jacksboro,  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  638,  and  is  thirty-three 
miles  from  Knoxville.  Coal  mines  are  in  operation  near  Jacksboro.  Has  gen- 
eral stores,  churches,  schools,  a  bank,  and  weekly  newspaper.  Lafollette,  with 
a   population  of   3,056,   is   a  flourishing  town,    with  mining    industries,   banks, 


3  North  Carolina  gave  Kichard  Henderson  190,000  acres  in  this  valley  as  a  reward  for 
his  colonization  services. 

*  Montgomery,  Ala.,  was  named  for  him. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  809 

weekly  newspaper.  One  of  the  largest  iron  furnaces  in  the  South  is  in  opera- 
tion there.  Jellieo  City,  with  a  population  of  1,878,  is  another  flourishing  town 
in  the  county.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  11,005;  high  schools,  nine;  ele- 
mentary schools,  eighty. 

CARTER    COUNTY 

Carter  County  was  the  first  county  erected  by  the  first  General  Assembly 
of  Tennessee  in  April,  1796,  before  the  state  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  June 
1,  1796.  It  was  taken  from  Washington  County,  the  oldest  county  in  the  state, 
and  was  named  for  Landon  Carter,  son  of  John  Carter.  The  county  seat,  Eliza- 
bethton,  was  named  in  honor  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth.  William  Been,  the  first 
permanent  settler,  and  other  pioneers  located  on  or  near  the  Watauga  River 
in  this  county.  In  this  valley  homes  were  established  by  Valentine  Sevier,  Sr., 
father  of  John  Sevier,  by  James  Robertson  and  by  Jas.  P.  Taylor,  grandfather 
of  Robert  L.  and  Alfred  A.  Taylor.  It  is  said  that  James  P.  Taylor  was  one 
of  the  greatest  orators  of  his  time  as  well  as  eminent  as  a  lawyer.  His  brother- 
in-law  was  Thomas  D.  Love,  for  whom  Robert  Love  Taylor  was  given  his  middle 
name. 

The  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  probably  organized  on  July  4, 
1776,  at  the  home  of  Samuel  Tipton.  The  justices  of  the  peace  present  were: 
Andrew  Greer,"'  Landon  Carter,  Nathaniel  Taylor,  David  McNabb,  Lochonal 
Campbell,  Guttredge  Garland,  John  Vaught,  Joseph  Lands,  and  Reuben  Thorn- 
ton. 

Statistics  of  Carter  County:  Population,  1920,  21,488.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  ^7,993,976.  Area,  298  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,717.  Railway  mileage,  eighty-three.  Drained  by  Watauga  River.  Sur- 
face mountainous  with  fertile  valleys  and  well  timbered.  Corn,  oats,  grass,  and 
live  stock  are  the  staple  products.  An  abundance  of  iron  ore  is  found  in  the 
county.  Elizabethton,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,749.  Has  three 
banks,  a  weekly  newspaper,  grist,  saw,  and  woolen  mills,  good  churches  and 
schools;  iron  works  in  vicinity.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  7,712;  high 
schools,  thirteen  ;  elementary  schools,  forty-nine. 

CLAIBORNE   COUNTY 

Claiborne  County  was  erected  on  October  29,  1801,  and  was  named  for 
Win.  C.  C.  Claiborne.0  It  was  formed  from  Grainger  and  Hawkins  counties. 
The  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  at  the  house  of  John 
Owens,  on  December  7,  1801,  at  which  time  the  following  named  justices  of 
the  peace,  appointed  by  Governor  Roane,  were  qualified:  Isaac  Lane,  Joseph 
Webster,  William  Trent,  James  Chisum,  Abraham  Lenham,  John  Wallen,  Mat- 
thew Sims,  John  Yanbibber,  William  Rogers,  George  Read,  C.  Newport,  jno. 
( lascy,  Joseph  Nations  and  James  Kenfro.  The  courts  were  held  at  the  houses 
of  magistrates  until  1804  when  a  small  courthouse  was  erected.  Cumberland 
Gap,  famous  in  history,  is  in  this  county.  Through  this  gateway  in  the  moun- 
tains, the  pioneers  of  the  early  days  passed  from  Virginia,  North  Carolina  and 
East  Tennessee  into  Kentucky.     The  first  officers  of  this  court    were:     Walter 


5  Father  of  Joseph  Greer,  the  King  \s  Mountain  messenger. 

6  One  of  the  first  judges  of  the  Superior  Court  and  one  of  the  first  representatives  in 
Congress  from  Tennessee. 


810  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Evans,  clerk  of  the  court;  John  Hunt,  sheriff;  Ezekiel  Craft,  register;  Luke 
or  Lew  Boyer,  or  Bowyer,  solicitor;  Nathaniel  Austin,  ranger;  John  Sumpter, 
constable. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  organized  in  April,  1810,  by  William  Cocke. 

The  first  settlements  in  the  county  were  made  at  Big  Spring,  near  Sycamore 
Creek,  in  1794-1795;  in  Powell's  Valley  and  along  Clinch  River. 

Tazewell,  the  county  seat,  was  laid  out  probably  in  1802  or  1803,  when  the 
first  house  in  this  place  was  erected.  The  first  merchant  was  William  Graham, 
who  erected  the  first  church. 

On  October  14,  1802,  Bishop  Asbury  preached  "at  Hunt's  at  Claiborne 
Courthouse." 

Statistics  of  Claiborne  County :  Population,  1920,  2:5,286.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $8,549,141.  Area,  472  sq.  mi.  Number  of 
farms,  3,022.  Railway  mileage,  37.  Drained  by  the  Powell  and  Clinch  rivers. 
Surface  generally  mountainous  and  covered  with  timber.  Soil  in  valleys  very 
fertile.  Wheat,  corn,  oats  and  grass  are  staple  products,  and  the  live  stock 
industry  is  flourishing.  Iron,  zinc  and  lead  ores  are  found  in  the  county,  and 
coal  is  also  mined.  Tazewell,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  424.  Other 
towns  in  the  county  are  New  Tazewell,  Lone  Mountain,  Hoop,  and  Hartranft. 
Tazewell  has  a  bank,  schools,  churches,  and  a  weekly  newspaper.  Scholastic 
population,  8,994;  high  schools,  2;  elementary  schools,  100. 

COCKE  COUNTY 

Cocke  County  was  erected  on  October  9,  1797,  and  named  in  honor  of 
William  Cocke.7-  It  was  carved  out  of  Jefferson  County.  The  first  settlements 
were  made  along  the  Nollichuckj-  River  in  1783.  Among  the  early  settlers  were : 
George  McNutt,  John  McNabb,  John  Gilliland,  Wm.  Lillard,  Samuel  Odell 
and  Daniel  Adams.  For  the  first  ten  years  the  Indians  gave  them  much  trouble. 
The  first  church  was  organized  by  the  Baptists  in  1794,  about  a  year  after  the 
Indian  depredations  ceased.  Eminent  lawyers  of  the  early  days  were :  Thomas 
Gray,  William  Garrett  and  Tilghman  A.  Howard,  the  last  named  of  whom 
moved  to  Indiana  and  became  a  well  known  general  in  the  Civil  war. 

Statistics  of  Cocke  County:  Population,  1920,  20,782.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,402,158.  Area,  458  sq.  mi.  Number  of  farms, 
2,800.  Railway  mileage,  48.  Drained  by  the  French  Broad  and  Nollichucky 
rivers.  Smoky  Mountain  extends  along  the  southeastern  border  of  the  county, 
and  this  section  is  covered  with  timber.  Soil  in  valleys  is  very  fertile.  The 
staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  grass,  and  live  stock.  Newport,  the  county 
seat,  is  on  the  Southern  Railway,  50  miles  east  of  Knoxville ;  has  a  population  of 
2,753,  several  churches  and  schools;  two  weekly  newspapers,  two  banks,  cotton 
and  flour  mills,  and  a  canning  establishment  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  south. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  6,652 ;  high  schools,  1 ;  elementary  schools,  86. 

CUMBERLAND  COUNTY 

Cumberland  County  was  erected  in  1856  from  parts  of  White,  VanBuren, 
Bledsoe,  Rhea,  Roane,  Morgan  and  Putnam.  It  was  named  for  the  Cum- 
berland Mountains,  on  whose  crest  it  lies,  and  they,  as  well  as  the  Cumberland 


i  He  and  William  Blount  were  the  first  United  States  senators  from  Tennessee. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  811 

River,  were  named  by  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  in  honor  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland. 
The  first  county  court  was  held  at  Crossville,  the  county  seat,  located  near  the 
center  of  the  county. 

The  fruits  and  vegetables  of  this  county,  as  well  as  the  mountain  counties 
generally,  possess  peculiar  excellences  of  freedom  from  insect  pests  as  well  as 
beauty  and  flavor.  As  early  as  the  founding  of  the  county  itself  this  fact  was 
known  and  J.  W.  Dodge,  who  lived  near  Crossville,  took  many  prizes  for  his 
apples. 

Statistics  of  Cumberland  County:  Population,  1920,  10,094.  Assessed  val- 
uation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,232,844.  Area,  nearly  800  square  miles. 
Number  of  farms,  1,267.  Railway  mileage,  58.  Situated  centrally  upon  the 
Cumberland  Plateau,  at  an  average  elevation  of  nearly  2,000  feet,  it  is  drained 
by  the  affluents  of  both  the  Cumberland  and  the  Tennessee  rivers.  The  surface 
is  gently  undulating,  generally  covered  with  timber.  Luxuriant  native  grasses 
make  it  one  of  the  best  counties  in  the  state  for  grazing  cattle.  There  are 
many  deposits  of  coal  in  the  county  and  several  mines  are  in  operation.  Land 
excellently  adapted  to  truck  and  fruit  growing.  Soil  especially  suited  to  Irish 
potatoes.  Crossville,  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  948,  is  on  the  Ten- 
nessee Central  Railway.  It  has  good  churches  and  schools,  a  bank,  a  weekly 
newspaper,  and  is  the  center  of  rapidly  developing  coal  and  timber  industries. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,855 ;  high  schools,  1 ;  elementary  schools,  59. 

GRAINGER  COUNTY 

Grainger  County  was  the  second  county  created  by  the  first  Legislature  on 
April  22,  1796.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Mrs.  "William  Blount,  whose  maiden 
name  was  Mary  Grainger.  It  was  formed  from  Hawkins  and  Knox  counties. 
The  county  seat  is  Rutledge,  named  for  George  Rutledge,  a  prominent  pioneer. 
Some  of  the  pioneers  were  Col.  James  Ore,8  the  Senters,  Crabtrees,  Hendersons, 
Taylors,  Johnsons,  Bassetts,  Lebons,  Lowes,  Jarnagins,  and  Tates.  Settlement 
began  about  1784. 

The  county  seat  was  not  located  until  1801  when  the  courthouse  was  erected. 
But  the  county  court  was  organized  on  June  13,  1796  (less  than  two  months 
after  the  county  was  created),  at  the  house  of  Benjamin  McCarty,  with  the 
following  named  magistrates  appointed  by  Governor  Sevier :  Thomas  Henderson, 
Elijah  Chisum,  James  Blair,  John  Estes,  Phelps  Read,  Benjamin  McCarty, 
James  Moore,  John  Bowen,  John  Kidwell,  John  Sims,  William  Thompson,  and 
Major  Lea. 

Statistics  of  Grainger  County:  Population,  1920,  13,369.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,980,954.  Area,  300  sq.  mi.  Number  of 
farms,  2,257.  Railway  mileage,  47.  Drained  by  Clinch  and  Ilolston  rivers, 
has  a  high  ridge  surface  called  Clinch  Mountain.  County  is  well  timbered ; 
soil  in  valleys  very  fertile.  Corn,  oats,  wheat,  grass  and  live  stock  are  the 
staple  products.  Fine  iron  ore  deposits  are  found  in  the  county.  County  has 
ample  railway  mileage.  Tate  Spring  and  other  noted  mineral  springs  are  in 
this  county.  Rutledge,  the  county  seat,  is  near  the  base  of  Clinch  Mountain, 
about  33  miles  northeast  of  Knoxville,  and  has  a  population  of  about  600,  two 
banks,  schools,  churches,  weekly  newspaper,  and  flourishing  business  establish- 


s  He   commanded  the   expedition  from   the   Cumberland   settlements   against   the   Indians 
at  Niekajack  Cave  and  Running  Water  in  1794. 


812  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ments.    Other  towns  are  Washburn,  Noeton  and  Idol.    Scholastic  population  of 
county,  4.4S0  ;  high  schools,  5;  elementary  schools,  56. 

GREENE  COUNTY 

Greene  County  was  created  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina  from  a  part  of 
Washington  County  in  April,  1783,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Nathanael 
Greene.9  Settlements  were  begun  in  1778,  or  earlier.  Some  of  the  early  set- 
tlers were:  Anthony  Moore,  who  located  near  Henderson's  Station,  Daniel 
Kennedy,  and  Henry  Earnest,  who  was  greatly  interested  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Methodist  Church  named  Ebenezer,  said  to  be  the  first  organization  of  this 
sect  in  the  State  of  Tennessee.    It  was  located  on  the  Nollichueky  River. 

On  the  third  Monday  in  August,  1783,  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Robert  Can*,  near  the  Big  Spring,  in 
Greeneville.  The  magistrates  present  were :  Joseph  Hardin,  John  Newman, 
George  Dougherty,  James  Houston,  Amos  Bird  and  Asahel  Rawlings. 

From  the  very  beginning  much  attention  was  paid  to  education.  Greene- 
ville College,  founded  by  Hezekiah  Balch,  was  chartered  in  1794,  and  Tusculum 
College  was  established  in  1818,  by  Dr.  Samuel  Doak.  Some  Quakers  settled 
in  this  county,  many  of  whom  became  greatly  interested  in  emancipation  of 
slaves. 

Statistics  of  Greene  County :  Population,  1920,  32,824.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $20,501,539.  Area,  580  sq.  mi.  Number  of  farms, 
5,313.  Railway  mileage,  31.  Drained  by  Nollichueky  River  and  Lick 
Creek.  Surface  partly  mountainous  and  well  timbered.  Valleys  are  very 
fertile.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  grass,  tobacco  and  live  stock. 
The  tobacco  industry  has  developed  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years,  a  fine  quality 
of  hurley  being  produced.  The  Southern  Railway  intersects  the  county.  Fine 
deposits  of  limestone  and  iron  are  found  in  the  county.  Greeneville,  the  county 
seat,  has  a  population  of  3,775,  and  is  on  the  Southern  Railway.  Greeneville  is 
a  large  tobacco  market  with  six  large  warehouses,  four  banks,  hosiery  mill,  chair 
factory,  two  wagon  factories,  tobacco  factory,  stemmery  and  redrying  plant, 
one  of  the  largest  proprietary  medicine  concerns  in  the  south,  three  flour  mills 
and  other  industries;  a  weekly  and  daily  papers.  Other  towns  are  Baileytown, 
Mosheim,  Chuckey,  and  Midway.  There  are  several  commercial  organizations, 
including  the  Burley  Association,  C.  H.  Bewley,  secretary ;  Rotary  Club,  J.  H. 
Rader,  secretary.  Greene  County  has  300  miles  of  pike  roads  and  200  miles 
of  graded  roads.  The  county  is  very  progressive  in  educational  matters,  having 
five  Presbyterian  mission  schools,  Tusculum  College,  and  private  schools  in 
Greeneville.  The  public  school  system  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
state.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  12,895;  high  schools,  8;  elementary 
schools,  100. 

HAMBLEN  COUNTY 

Hamblen  County  was  created  on  May  31,  1870,  and  was  named  for  Hezekiah 
Hamblen.  It  was  formed  from  parts  of  Grainger,  Jefferson,  and  Hawkins 
counties.     The  first  settlement  in  what  is  now  Hamblen  County  was  made  by 


9  North  Carolina  also  gave  him  25,000  acres  of  land,  located  in  Maury  County. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  813 

Robert  McFarland  and  Alexander  Outlaw  in  1783.  They  located  at  the  "bend" 
of  the  Nolliehucky. 

One  of  the  historic  spots  in  this  county  is  "Hayslope,"  the  handsome  old 
home  of  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  Col.  James  Roddey,  one  of  the  signers  of 
the  First  Constitution  of  Tennessee.  The  Town  of  Russellville  is  built  on  a  tract 
of  land  awarded  Colonel  Roddey  for  services  in  the  Battle  of  King's  Mountain, 
and  was  named  for  his  second  wife,  Miss  Russell. 

Morristown  was  named  for  the  Morris  family  of  whom  three  brothers,  Gideon, 
Daniel  and  Absalom,  settled  near  it,  having  gone  thither  from  their  former  home 
on  the  Watauga. 

Through  the  territory  now  included  in  Hamblen  extended  the  stage  road 
from  Knoxville  to  Abingdon,  Ya.,  which  road  was  constructed  as  early  as 
1792-1793 ;  and  along  this  road  most  of  the  settlers  located,  among  them  William 
Chaney,  Thomas  Daggett,  Phelps  Read,  Richard  Thompson,  Isaac  Martin,  and 
John  Crockett,  father  of  David  Crockett. 

On  October  3,  1870,  the  countj^  court  was  organized  in  an  old  storehouse  in 
Morristown.  The  magistrates  present  were :  S.  P.  Hixon,  L.  D.  Milligan,  L.  F. 
Leiper,  C.  L.  Gregory,  George  McFarland,  R.  M.  Hamblen,  A.  J.  Donelson, 
Alexander  Williams,  Jonathan  Noe,  G.  W.  Carmichael,  C.  J.  Burnett,  D.  S. 
Noe,  R.  P.  Sharp,  William  Felkner,  S.  M.  Heath,  James  Hale,  W.  B.  Ninnie, 
S.  J.  Couch,  I.  P.  Haun,  and  Samuel  Smith. 

Statistics  of  Hamblen  County :  Population,  1920,  15,056.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  .$11,184,675.  Area,  150  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,564.  Railway  mileage,  31.  Drained  by  the  Holston  and  French 
Broad  rivers.  The  surface  is  undulating  and  the  soil  fertile.  The  Southern 
Railway  intersects  the  county.  Principal  products  are  grass,  fruit,  live  stock 
and  poultry.  It  is  one  of  the  best  fruit  counties  in  the  eastern  section  of  the 
state,  and  the  poultry  industry  is  also  of  large  proportions,  Morristown,  the 
county  seat,  being  one  of  the  largest  poultry  markets  in  the  South.  Morristown, 
on  the  Southern  Railway  and  the  Holston  River,  has  a  population  of  5,875, 
has  splendid  churches  and  schools,  daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  three  banks, 
manufacturing  establishments,  and  prosperous  mercantile  concerns.  Scholastic 
population  of  the  county,  5,416;  high  schools,  5;  elementary  schools,  35. 

HAMILTON    COUNTY 

Hamilton  County  was  elected  out  of  Rhea  County  by  act  of  the  Legislature 
passed  on  October  25,  1819,  which  provided  "that  the  territory  southwest  of 
Rhea  and  south  and  east  of  Bledsoe  and  Marion  counties,  should  constitute  a 
county  by  the  name  of  Hamilton,  in  honor  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
the  late  Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States." 
The  act  recites  the  boundaries  of  the  new  county  which,  of  course,  were  somewhat 
changed  when  James  County  was  carved  out  of  portions  of  Hamilton  and 
Bradley  counties  in  January  27,  1871.  On  April  14,  1919,  however,  an  act  '" 
was  passed  abolishing  James  County  and  transferring  to  Hamilton  the  territory 
formerly  embraced  in  James. 

About  half  of  the  County  of  Hamilton,  when  Hist  formed,  and  all  of  the 
county  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Tennessee  River  lay  within  the  territory  of  the 


io  Private  Acts  of  1919,  Chapter  695,  p.  2129. 


814  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Cherokee  nation.  The  Indian  title  was  extinguished  by  a  treaty  concluded 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Cherokces  on  December  29,  1835. 

The  county  scat  was  first  established  at  Dallas,  but  by  an  election  in  1840, 
the  seat  was  transferred  to  Harrison,  named  after  Gen.  William  H.  Harrison, 
subsequently  elected  President.  By  an  election  in  November,  1870,  the  county 
seat  was  transferred  from  Harrison  to  Chattanooga. 

Prof.  J.  B.  Brown,  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  1921-1923, 
in  an  article  published  in  the  Nashville  American  on  June  26,  1910,  said  of 
Hamilton  County  besides  other  things: 

"The  topography  of  the  county  is  exceedingly  varied.  The  larger  portion 
toward  the  northwest  is  mountainous  and  wild,  while  the  remainder,  about 
two-fifths,  is  for  the  most  part  lowland,  lying  in  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee 
River  or  of  some  of  its  tributaries  from  the  northwest.  Walden's  Ridge  and 
Raccoon  Mountain  occupy  a  small  portion  of  the  western  border.  Missionary 
Ridge,  rising  to  a  height  of  500  feet  above  the  valley;  Walden's  Ridge  1,500 
feet,  and  Lookout  Mountain  to  a  maximum  height  of  1,700  feet  above  the  low 
water  in  the  Tennessee,  are  the  chief  elevations  of  the  comity.  The  climate  of 
Hamilton  County  averages  42  degrees  in  winter,  72  degrees  in  summer,  and 
sixty  degrees  in  spring  and  autumn. 

"The  geology  of  the  county  is  very  simple  but  very  interesting  from  an 
economical  point  of  viewr.  Man}'  formations  are  present  in  the  county,  some 
of  the  strata  belonging  to  the  very  early  formations.  Limestone  predominates, 
existing  in  many  forms.  The  coal  and  iron  deposits  are  most  important.  Coal 
is  found  in  great  abundance  in  Raccoon  Mountain,  Walden's  Ridge  and  Look- 
out Mountain. 

"The  natural  products  of  the  forests  are  greatly  varied.  The  oak,  the 
most  abundant  growth,  is  found  thro\ighout  the  county ;  other  kinds  of  timber 
that  grow  plentifully  are  the  ash,  black  walnut,  beech,  birch,  cherry,  cedar, 
hickory,  maple,  and  white  and  yellow  poplar.  The  short-leaf  yellow  pine  is 
also  found  in  some  portions  of  the  county.  Clover  and  different  varieties  of 
herd's  grass  grow  luxuriantly.  The  leading  crops  are  corn,  wheat,  potatoes, 
broom  corn,  sorghum — all  of  which  grow  to  perfection  in  this  climate. 

"Garden  vegetables  and  horticultural  products  of  all  kinds,  except  some 
varieties  of  the  grape,  find  here  a  congenial  soil  and  atmosphere. 

"It  is  believed  to  be  true  that  the  first  settlers  of  this  county  were  Scotch- 
men, who  came  here  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 
Many  of  them  married  Indian  wives  and  were  incorporated  into  the  Cherokee 
Nation.  The  name  of  Daniel  Ross  is  one  of  the  very  first  associated  with  the 
history  of  Hamilton  County.  Others  are  Robert  Patterson,  Patrick  Martin, 
William  Lauderdale,  and  Charles  Gamble,  who  became  the  first  sheriff. 

"Others  who  belonged  to  a  later  period  are  Haston  Poe,  Asahel  Rawdings, 
James  Cozby,  John  Russell,  Joseph  Rogers,  David  Beck,  John  Brown,  John 
Taylor,  Nimrod  Moore,  Jackson  Jenkins,  Jonathan  Springer,  D.  R.  Rawlings, 
William  Walker,  and  Crispian  Shelton. " 

CHATTANOOGA 

The  country  around  Chattanooga  was  occupied  by  the  Cherokee  Indians 
until  the  year  1837,  when  a  post  office  was  first  established  at  that  point  which 
was  then  called  Ross'  Landing  after  either  Chief  John  Ross  n  or  his  brother  who 
established  a  store  there.  In  that  same  year  a  town  was  laid  off  and  divided 
into  lots  and  the  name  Chattanooga  was  given  to  it.  It  was  incorporated  as 
a  town  in  1841  and  as  a  city  in  1851. 

The  meaning  of  the  name  Chattanooga  has  been  a  mooted  question  for  many 
years.    Most  historians  and  others  say  it  means  "Eagle's  nest."    In  the  Chatta- 


ii  The  house  occupied  by  John  Ross  still  stands  in  Eossville,  a  suburb  of  Chattanooga. 


[HE  LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  817 

nooga  Daily  Times  of  July  1,  1903,  appeared  an  article  written  by  Miss  Zella 
Armstrong  on  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  word  Chattanooga.     In  it  she  said  : 

"In  a  correspondence  with  Hon.  Joshua  Ross,  concerning  his  distinguished 
uncle,  Chief  John,  who  left  his  impress  deep  upon  this  historic  country,  I  in- 
quired what  coidd  be  learned  among  the  living  Cherokees  upon  this  subject. 
Promptly  came  the  answer,  and  it  forever  clears  the  romance  and  the  mystery 
from  our  'eagle's  nest.'  Says  Mr.  Ross-  'My  own  impression  is  that  Chat- 
tanooga is  derived  from  a  Creek  Indian  word,  as  "Creek  Path"  is  not  many 
miles  distant.  I  find  in  the  living  Creek  language  "  Chat-to-to-noo-gee, "  the 
literal  meaning  of  which  is  "rock  coming  to  a  point;  a  cliff  or  bluff,  or  over- 
hanging rock,"  as  is  found  at  the  point  of  Lookout  Mountain.' 

The  University  of  Chattanooga,  in  which  all  the  people  of  this  city  take  so 
just  a  pride,  was  started  as  the  East  Tennessee  Wesleyan  College  at  Athens,  in 
bS(>7.  Later  it  was  called  Grant  University  and  still  later  the  University  of 
Chattanooga  which  has  a  college  of  arts  and  sciences  and  a  school  of  law. 

The  many  points  of  interest  and  scenic  grandeur  in  and  around  Chattanooga 
attract  thousands  of  visitors  and  tourists  from  all  parts  of  the  country.  The 
most  noted  of  these  are:  Chickamauga  National  Military  Park,  Missionary 
Ridge,'  Orchard  Knob,  National  Cemetery,  Confederate  Cemetery,  Lookout 
Mountain  with  its  $100,000  cable  incline  4,750  feet  long,  Signal  Mountain  and 
Walden's  Ridge. 

Statistics  of  Hamilton  County:  Population,  1920,  115,954.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $140,321,440.  (Hamilton  County  now  includes  the 
territory  formerly  embraced  in  James  County,  the  latter  having  been  aholished 
by  act  of  the  General  Assembly.)  Area,  785  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
2,480.  Railway  mileage,  146.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee  River  and  tributaries. 
The  county  has  a  varied  and  fertile  soil,  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  all  kinds 
of  crops,  including  the  different  grains,  grasses,  fruits  and  vegetables.  Truck 
farming  is  carried  on  extensively  in  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga,  and  there  is 
a  large  business  in  the  shipment  of  early  vegetables  to  the  northern  markets. 
The  length  of  the  growing  season  makes  it  possible  for  the  truck  farmer  to  grow 
as  many  as  three  crops  in  one  year  on  the  same  ground,  and  a  ready  and  con- 
venient market  is  found  at  good  prices.  Large  shipments  of  strawberries  are 
made  every  year.  There  is  a  profitable  business  in  poultry  and  dairying.  The 
staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  fruits,  cattle  and  hogs.  The  county  is 
traversed  by  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway,  the  Southern 
Railway,  the  Cincinnati  Southern,  and  there  are  other  roads  entering  from  the 
South.  The  county  has  a  tine  system  of  public  highways.  Lookout  Mountain 
is  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  the  county,  and  is  famed  for  its  magnificent 
scenery  and  historic  interest.  Chickamauga  National  Park  is  near,  as  is  Mis- 
sionary Ridge.  All  of  these  were  battle  grounds  during  the  Civil  war.  Chatta- 
nooga, the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  57,895,  is  one  of  the  most  progressive 
cities  in  the  South  and  is  located  on  the  Tennessee  River  at  I  lie  base  of  Lookout 
Mountain.  Its  river  and  railroad  connections  furnish  lirst-class  transportation 
facilities.  Ten  railroads  enter  the  city.  Chattanooga  has  many  large  manu- 
facturing industries,  two  daily  newspapers,  several  hanks  of  large  resources, 
and  all  the  business  interests  of  a  large  city.  Scholastic  population  of  county. 
35,887;  high  schools,  14:  elementary  schools,  94.  Information  will  he  furnished 
bv  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Chattanooga.  Tenn. 


sis         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

HANCOCK  COUNTY 

Hancock  County  was  creeled  on  January  7,  1S44.  and  was  named  for  John 
Hancock.  It  was  formed  from  portions  of  Hawkins  and  Claiborne  counties. 
On  accounl  of  some  constitutional  objections13  it  was  not  organized  until  1846 
when  a  commission  was  appointed  to  have  the  comity  resnrveyed  so  that  the 
rights  of  other  counties  might  not  be  interfered  with.  The  personnel  of  that 
commission  was:  A.  P.  McCarty,  Anderson  Campbell,  Richard  Mitchell,  William 
Nichol,  of  Hawkins  County,  and  James  Ritchie,  James  Fnlkerson,  John  Farmer, 
Marshall  Brewer,  and  Alexander  Bates,  of  Claiborne  County.  These  com- 
missioners were  also  authorized  to  organize  the  comity.  Sneedville  was  se- 
lected as  the  comity  seat  and  was  named  for  John  L.  T.  Sneed,  the  eminent 
lawyer  who  successfully  defended  the  suit  brought  against  the  new  comity  for 
running  its  line  within  twelve  miles  of  Rogersville,  the  county  seat  of  Hawkins 
County.     The  first  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Alexander  Campbell. 

Settlements  began  as  early  as  1795.  Some  of  the  early  pioneers  were :  Wil- 
liam McGee,  John  Ray,  Enos  Matthias,  William  McCully,  Daniel  Slavins,  John 
Givins,  Alexander  Treat,  Solomon  Mitchell,  John  Amis,  and  Lincoln  Amis.  Of 
the  early  settlers,  M.  E.  Testerman  says:  "The  county  was  settled  largely  by 
immigrants  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  many  of  these  were  of 
the  very  best  blood  of  the  world,  and  no  county  in  the  state,  population  and 
area  considered,  has  in  the  same  length  of  time  produced  more  men  of  worth 
and  note  than  Hancock." 

Hancock  was  one  of  the  first  counties  in  the  state  to  establish  a  system  of 
public  schools,  for  which  its  people  have  always  responded  generously.  This 
is  one  of  the  few  counties  in  the  state  in  which  Melungeons  14  dwell. 

Statistics  of  Hancock  County:  Population,  1920,  10,454.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $2,733,197.  Area,  260  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,820.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  the  Clinch  River.  Its 
surface  is  partly  mountainous  and  covered  with  a  fine  growth  of  timber.  It  is 
rich  in  all  kinds  of  minerals,  including  iron  ore,  lead,  zinc,  marble,  granite, 
ochre,  phosphates,  coal  and  silver.  Corn,  wheat,  oats  and  live  stock  are  staple 
products.  Sneedville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about  five  hundred 
and  is  located  on  the  Clinch  River,  fifty  miles  northeast  of  Knoxville.  It  has 
good  churches,  schools,  bank,  newspaper,  and  flourishing  business  houses. 
Scholastic  population,  3,833 ;  high  schools,  1 ;  elementary  schools,  49. 

HAW7KINS  COUNTY 

Hawkins  County  was  formed  from  Sullivan  County  by  the  State  of  North 
Carolina  in  1786,  while  the  State  of  Franklin  was  concurrently  functioning. 
It  was  named  for  Benjamin  Hawkins,  who,  as  United  States  senator  conjointlj' 
with  Senator  Samuel  Johnston,  executed,  on  February  25,  1790,  the  deed  which 
transferred  what  is  now  Tennessee  to  the  United  States.  Its  early  settlers 
came  principally  from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  with  some  from  Pennsyl- 
vania and  a  sprinkling  from  New  England.     The  first  settlements  were  made 


13  The  constitution  of  the  state  prohibited  the  establishment  of  a  new  county  whose 
line  encroached  within  twelve  miles  of  the  county  seat  of  the  county  from  which  any  of  the 
territory  of  the  new  county  was  taken. 

14  For  an  account  of  these  strange  people,  see  Chapter  XXXII. 


srfv U  *.■£ **£» 


*?*&■'*.  -  ~  ^  ^<afe-i^^t^ 


JOHN  ROSS  HOUSE  AT  EOSSVILLE  NEAR  CHATTANOOGA 


of  ihe 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  821 

in  Carter's  Valley  about  the  time  of  the  first  settlements  on  the  Watauga.  Prom- 
inent among  them  were  the  Kincaids,  Loves,  Longs,  Mulkeys,  Carter  and 
Parker,  who  established  a  store;  Roberl  Lucas.  Thomas  Amis,  who  came  about 
1781  and  built  a  stone  house,  a  store,  a  blacksmith  shop,  a  distillery,  a  saw  mill 
and  grist  mill  and  kept  a  tavern  ;  William  Cocke,  who  settled  at  Mulberry  Grove 
about  1780 ;  Joseph  McMinn,  governor  of  Tennessee,  1815-1821 ;  Peter  Parsons, 
Orville  Bradley,  John  A.  McKinney,  Pleasant  M.  Miller  and  Samuel  Powell. 

From  the  first  they  took  a  great  interest  in  education.  Notable  teachers 
in  the  early  days  were:  John  Long,  1783;  William  Evans,  1784;  James  King, 
1786;  Samuel  B.  Hawkins,  1796. 

Rogersville,  the  county  seat,  was  established  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina, 
this  being  one  of  the  last  acts  of  the  Legislature  of  that  state  prior  to  the  act  of 
cession  in  1789.  It  was  named  for  Joseph  Rogers,  the  first  settler  at  that  place. 
The  old  Rogers  tavern  was  one  of  the  most  famous  taverns  of  the  early  days. 
Andrew  Jackson  and  other  notables  made  it  their  stopping  place. 

The  Knoxville  Gazette,  the  first  newspaper  published  in  Tennessee,  was  first 
issued  in  Rogersville  by  George  Roulstone  in  1791.  The  Railroad  Gazette,  the 
first  newspaper  devoted  exclusively  to  internal  improvement  published  in  the 
United  States,  was  established  at  Rogersville,  in   1832. 

Statistics  of  Hawkins  County :  Population,  1920,  22,918.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $12,741,069.  Area,  490  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  3,314.  Railway  mileage,  51.  Drained  by  the  Clinch  River.  Its  sur- 
face is  hilly  and  valleys  very  fertile.  The  county  is  covered  with  a  growth 
of  fine  timber,  including  hardwoods,  common  to  the  South.  Minerals  found  are 
iron,  zinc,  lead,  barites,  magnesia,  iron  pyrites,  salt,  marble.  Corn,  wheat, 
oats,  grass  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Fruit  growing  is  developing 
into  a  profitable  industry  in  the  county.  Poultry  and  dairy  products  are  im- 
portant industries.  The  Southern  Railway  passes  through  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  county.  The  county  has  good  roads,  and  many  fine  mineral  springs. 
Rogersville,  the  county  seat,  on  the  Southern  Railway,  has  a  population  of 
1,402.  Has  good  churches  and  schools,  banks  and  newspapers,  and  many  pros- 
perous business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  9.620 ;  high 
schools,  5;  elementary  schools,  95. 

JEFFERSON   COUNTY 

Jefferson  County  was  erected  on  June  11,  1792,  by  Wm.  Blount  when  gov- 
ernor of  the  Territory  South  of  the  River  Ohio.  It  was  formed  from  portions 
of  Greene  and  Hawkins  counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Thomas  Jefferson. 
The  first  settlers  came  in  1783.  Among  them  were :  Robert  McFarland,  Alex- 
ander Outlaw,  Thos.  Jarnagin,  James  Hill,  Wes  ey  White,  James  Randolph, 
Joseph  Copeland,  Robert  Gentry,  James  Hubbard,  Matthew  Wallace,  James 
Roddye,  Richard  Rankin,  Thomas  Snoddy,  Parmenas  Taylor,  Hugh  Kelso, 
Adam  Meek,  and  George  Uoherty,  most  of  whom  were  prominently  identified 
with  the  early  history  of  Tennessee. 

Dandridge,  established  in  1793,  was  selected  for  the  county  seat  and  I  he 
first  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Jere- 
miah Matthews  with  the  following  magistrates  in  attendance:  Alexander  Out- 
law, James  Roddye,  John  Blackburn,  James  Lea,  Joseph  Wilson,  Josiah  Wilson, 
Andrew  Henderson,  Amos  Balch  and  William  Cox. 


822  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  oldesl  church  is  the  Hopewell  Presbyterian  Church,  established  in  1785. 

Among  the  interesting  records  of  Jefferson  County  is  the  record  that,  on 
October  22,  1805,  David  Crockett  was  licensed  to  marry  Margaret  Elder.  How- 
ever, after  all  the  arrangements  had  been  made  Miss  Elder  refused  to  marry 
him.  But  it  seems  that  the  wound  was  not  irremediable,  for,  on  August  12, 
180(i,  a.  license  was  issued  to  him  to  marry  Polly  Findley. 

Statistics  of  Jefferson  County:  Population,  1920,  17,677.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,052,203.  Area,  310  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,209.  Railway  mileage,  22.  Drained  by  the  Holston  and  French  Broad 
rivers.  Surface  marked  by  high  ridges  and  fertile  valleys.  It  has  a  fine  timber 
growth,  including  the  hardwoods.  Iron  ore  and  limestone  are  found  in  paying 
quantities.  Wheat,  corn,  oats,  grasses,  fruits  and  live  stock  are  staple  prod- 
ucts. The  Southern  Railway  intersects  the  county.  The  county  seat  lies  three 
miles  north  of  the  French  Broad  River.  It  has  a  population  of  439,  and  is 
a  flourishing  town  with  good  schools,  churches,  banks,  newspaper,  and  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  enterprises.  Other  towns  are  Mossy  Creek  and 
Jefferson  City.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  6,555;  high  schools,  4;  ele- 
mentary schools,  66. 

JOHNSON   COUNTY 

Johnson  County  was  erected  in  1836  out  of  a  part  of  Carter  County  and 
was  named  in  honor  of  Cave  Johnson.  It  is  the  extreme  eastern  county  of  the 
state  and  is  famous  for  its  beautiful  mountain  scenery.  F.  C.  Dougherty,  in 
his  article  published  in  the  Nashville  American,  of  June  26,  1910,  says: 

"Have  you  been  up  in  Johnson,  'The  Land  of  the  sky,' 
Where  a  banquet  of  glory  is  spread  for  the  eye, 
And  the  breezes  that  float  o'er  mountain's  tall  peak, 
Give  back  the  invalid  the  rose  to  his  cheek?" 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1770,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier,  as  some 
investigators  think  that  one  Honeycut,  whom  James  Robertson  found  on  Roane 
Creek,  near  its  confluence  with  the  Watauga  River,  on  his  exploration  trip 
from  North  Carolina,  had  preceded  William  Been. 

At  an  early  period  Nathaniel  Taylor  also  came  to  Roane  Creek  where  he 
established  iron  works.  He  was  an  ancestor  of  Alfred  A.  Taylor  and  Robert 
L.  Taylor  and  Taylorville,  the  first  county  seat,  was  named  for  him.  Some 
years  after  the  war  between  the  states,  Roderick  R.  Random,  then  state  senator, 
succeeded  in  having  the  county  seat  changed  to  Mountain  City. 

The  first,  session  of  the  County  Court  was  held  on  May  2,  1836,  with  the  fol- 
lowing magistrates:  John  Ward,  Thomas  Johnson,  A.  L.  Wilson,  Jared  Aren- 
dill,  J.  W.  Warren,  Joseph  Robinson,  James  W.  Wright,  A.  Wilson,  James 
Brown,  Jesse  Cole,  Levi  Heath,  M.  M.  Wagner,  John  Dugger,  Sr.,  and  Philip 
Shull. 

Statistics  of  Johnson  County :  Population,  1920,  12,230.  Assessed  valuation 
•  of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,037,685.  Area,  340  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,672.  Railway  mileage,  18.  Watauga  River  drains  a  part  of  the  county. 
Surface  mountainous  with  fertile  valleys.  Grazing  fine  for  sheep  and  cattle. 
Large  part  of  the  county  is  covered  with  a  tine  growth  of  timber.  Corn,  wheat, 
oats  and  grasses  are  staple  products.     Iron  ore  is  found  in  the  county.     Moun- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  823 

tain  City,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  724,  and  is  a  flourishing  town  with 
good  schools  and  churches,  hanks,  weekly  newspaper,  and  prosperous  com- 
mercial establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  4,067 ;  high  schools,  1 ; 
elementary  schools,  42. 

KNOX  COUNTY 

Knox  County  was  erected  on  June  11,  1792,  out  of  Greene  and  Hawkins 
counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Henry  Knox,  secretary  of  war  in 
Washington's  cabinet.     On  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  says  Ramsey: 15 

"James  White,  John  Sawyers,  Hugh  Beard,  John  Adair,  George  McNutt, 
Jeremiah  Jack,  John  Kearns,  James  Cozby,  John  Evans,  Samuel  Newell,  Wil- 
liam Wallace,  Thomas  McCulloeh,  William  Hamilton,  David  Craig,  and  William 
Lowry,  presented  a  commission  from  Gov.  Blount,  appointing  them  Justices 
of  the  Peace  for  Knox  county,  and  appeared  before  the  Honourable  David 
Campbell,  Esq.,  who,  in  the  presence  of  Gov.  Blount,  administered  to  each  of 
them  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  also  an 
oath  of  office. 

"Charles  McClung  also  produced  a  Commission  from  the  Governor,  ap- 
pointing him  Clerk  of  Knox  County,  and  he  was  in  like  manner  qualified. 

"Thomas  Chapman,  also,  as  Register. 

"June  25. — Robert  Houston,  in  like  manner,  commissioned  and  qualified 
as  sheriff.     *     *     * 

"The  first  court  held,  was  on  the  16th  of  July,  1792.  Present — James 
White,  Samuel  Newell,  David  Craig,  and  Jeremiah  Jack.  James  White  was 
appointed  Chairman." 

The  following  eminent  men  in  the  history  of  Tennessee  were  qualified  and 
admitted  to  the  practice  of  law  in  this  court :  Luke  Bowyer,  Alexander  Outlaw, 
Joseph  Hamilton,  Archibald  Roane,  Hopkins  Lacy,  John  Rhea  and  James  Reese. 

Knoxville,  the  county  seat  of  Knox  County,  was  founded,  named  and  laid 
out  in  1791.  The  date  of  the  contract  between  James  White,  the  founder  of 
Knoxville,  and  the  commissioners  on  behalf  of  the  purchasers  of  lots  was  Octo- 
ber 3,  1791.  But  it  was  not  until  February,  1792,  that  much  improvement  was 
undertaken  and  June  11,  1792,  is  the  date  of  the  founding  of  Knoxville.  Before 
the  contract  was  made  with  the  purchasers  of  the  lots  and  the  naming  of  the 
town  as  Knoxville,  this  place  was  called  White's  Fort,  which  was  a  frontier 
stronghold. 

There  were  two  eminent  men,  named  James  White,  in  early  Tennessee  his- 
tory, and,  as  they  were  contemporaneous  for  a  time,  they  are  frequently  mis- 
taken for  each  other  even  by  historians. 

One  of  these  notable  characters  was  Dr.  James  White,  of  Davidson  County, 
who  was  chosen  as  the  territorial  representative  in  Congress,  and  the  other  was 
Gen.  James  White,  founder  of  Knoxville  and  father  of  Hugh  Lawson  White. 

General  White  donated  the  land  upon  which  was  located  Blount  College,10 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  adjoining  cemetery. 

When  Win.  Blount  received  his  commission  as  governor  of  the  Southwest 
Territory,  on  August  7,  1790,  he  immediately  left  for  the  scene  of  his  future 
activities,  and,  in  the  autumn  of  that  year,  made  his  residence  at.  the  home 
of  William  Cobb,  in  the  fork  of  the  Holston  and  Watauga  rivers.      Here  were 


is  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"   p.   .r>()8. 

is  Named  in  honor  of  Governor  Win.   Blount,  chartered   in    179-1,  later  named    East  Ten- 
nessee University  and  now  the  University  of  Tennessee. 


824  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

his  court  and  his  capital  until  17!>2,  when  he  made  Knoxville  the  capital  of 
the  territory. 

When  Tennessee  became  the  sixteenth  state  of  the  Union  in  17!)6.  Knoxville 
was  made  the  capital.  Section  1,  of  Article  X.  of  the  firsl  constitution  of  the 
state,  adopted  in  17!H>,  reads:  "Knoxville  shall  he  the  seat  of  government  until 
the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  two."  It  continued  as  the  capital, 
however,  until  1807,  when  the  Seventh  General  Assembly  met  at  Kingston,  bul 
adjourned  to  Knoxville  after  two  days.  Knoxville  remained  the  capital  until 
1813  when  the  Legislature  met  at  Nashville  for  the  first  time.  The  only  time 
subsequently  when  Knoxville  was  the  capital  was  when  the  Legislature  met  there 
in  1817. 

Statistics  of  Knox  County:  Population,  1020,  112,!)26.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  +119,642,106.  Area,  612  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,969.  Railway  mileage,  120.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee  and  its  tribu- 
taries. The  Farms  are  very  rich  and  productive  along  these  streams  and  in  the 
other  valleys.  Improved  valley  lands  range  between  +50  and  +150  per  acre. 
Fine  macadamized  roads  reach  every  section  of  the  county.  Lands  around 
Knoxville  are  well  adapted  to  truck  farming.  All  kinds  of  early  vegetables  are 
grown  and  find  a  ready  market  and  are  shipped  north.  Knoxville,  the  county 
-cat,  with  a  population  of  77,718,  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  flourishing 
cities  in  the  state,  is  the  seat  of  the  State  University  and  there  are  many  other 
fine  schools.  It  has  many  manufacturing  and  industrial  establishments,  splendid 
banking  institutions  and  a  large  jobbing  trade  with  the  eastern  section  of  the 
state  and  with  Kentucky  and  other  states.  Many  fine  marble  quarries  arc 
operated  in  the  vicinity  of  Knoxville,  the  quality  of  the  marble  being  such  that 
it  is  in  demand  all  over  the  country.  Railroads  entering  the  city  are  the 
Sunt  hern,  the  Louisville  &  Nashville,  and  the  Knoxville,  Seviersville  &  East- 
ern. Knoxville  has  two  daily  newspapers  and  several  class  publications.  The 
scholastic  population  of  the  county  is  42,995;  high  schools,  15;  elementary 
schools,  101. 

LOUDON    COUNTY 

Loudon  County  was  erected  on  May  27,  1870,  from  parts  of  Roane,  Monroe, 
and  Blount  counties  and  was  named  in  commemoration  of  Fort  Loudon  which,  in 
turn,  was  named  for  the  Earl  of  Loudon,  commander-in-chief,  in  1756,  of  the 
British  forces  in  America  and  governor  of  Virginia.  It  lies  on  both  sides  of  the 
Tennessee  about  twenty-nine  miles  southwest  of  Knoxville.  This  county  was 
established  in  accordance  with  especial  provisions  embodied  in  Section  4,  of 
Article  X,  of  the  Constitution  of  1870. 

Early  settlers  were  Henry  Bogard,  Jacob  Gardengill,  John  Browder,  Benja- 
min Prater,  William  B.  Lenoir,  James  Blair,  William  Blair,  Jesse  Eldridge. 
and  Simeon   Eldridge. 

The  Presbyterians  erected  the  first  church  in  this  county.  Its  pastor  in  1823 
was  Dr.   Isaac  Anderson,  a  teacher  of  Sam  Houston. 

Statistics  of  Loudon  County:  Population,  1920,  16,275.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  +10,018,424.  Area,  256  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,396.  Railway  mileage,  29.  Drained  by  the  Little  Tennessee  River. 
Surface  is  hilly  but  soil  fertile.  There  is  a  fine  timber  growth  in  the  county. 
Good  opportunities  in  the  county  for  marble  and  furniture   industries.      The 


FARRAGUT  CABIN,  KNOXVTLLE 

Removed  from  original  site  at  Lowe's  Ferry  about  eight  miles  from  Knoxville 

to  Chilhowee  Park  during  National  Conservation  Exposition 


IHE  LIBRARY 

OF  IHE 

UNIVERSITY  OP  Illinois 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  827 

county  is  intersected  by  the  Southern  Railway.  Loudon,  the  county  seat,  has 
a  population  of  about  1,000,  is  a  flourishing  town  on  the  Southern  Railway  and 
the  Tennessee  River,  and  has  splendid  schools,  churches,  weekly  newspaper, 
manufacturing  establishments,  and  stores,  bank,  etc.  Lenoir  City,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  4,210,  has  several  ( manufacturing  establishments,  including  car 
works,  and  is  a  prosperous  town.  Scholastic  population  of  the  county,  5,488; 
high  schools,  4;  elementary  schools,  38. 

MCMINN    COUNTY 

McMinn  County  was  created  on  November  5,  1819,  out  of  lands  ceded  by 
the  Cherokee  Indians  to  the  United  States  in  that  year,  and  was  named  for 
Joseph  McMinn,  who  was  governor  at  that  time. 

McMinn,  Monroe  and  Bradley  counties  embraced  the  largest  and  best  por- 
tions of  the  land  thus  ceded. 

"A  new  judicial  circuit  was  established  in  lower  East  Tennessee,  com- 
posed of  seven  counties,  of  which  McMinn  was  one,  and  the  Hon.  Charles 
F.  Keith,  then  a  leading  lawyer  of  Jefferson  County,  Tennessee,  was  elected 
the  first  judge,  and  held  the  first  Circuit  Court  in  the  county,  at  the  house  of 
John  Walker,  in  the  town  of  Calhoun,  on  the  Hiwassee  River,  fourteen  miles 
southwest  from  Athens,  the  present  county  seat,  on  the  first  Monday  of 
March,   1820."  17 

Maj.  John  Walker  was  part  Cherokee  and  laid  off  the  town  of  Calhoun  on 
land  allotted  him  and  named  it  for  John  C.  Calhoun.  In  1821-1822  the  Town 
of  Athens  was  laid  off  and,  in  1823,  the  courts  of  the  county  were  moved  there. 
Noted  members  of  the  Athens  bar  were :  Return  J.  Meigs,  Spencer  Jarnagin, 
Thomas  Campbell,  later  clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in. Congress,  and 
J.  W.  M.  Brazeale,  the  historian. 

Early  settlers  in  McMinn  County  were :  A.  R.  Turk,  E.  P.-  Owen,  John 
Cowan,  George  Colville,  and  Eli  Sharp. 

After  he  had  served  his  third  successive  term  as  governor,  McMinn  was  ap- 
pointed agent  to  the  Cherokee  Indians  and,  on  his  death,  was  buried  in  the 
yard  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Calhoun  which  was  built  in  1823. 

A  pretty  romance  is  told  of  the  marriage  of  Miss  Emily  Meigs,  daughter  of 
Return  J.  Meigs,  to  the  son  of  John  Walker.  The  young  man  was  very  hand- 
some but  as  he  had  Cherokee  blood,  her  father  opposed  the  union.  So  they 
eloped.  But,  as  he  was  a  Cherokee  chief,  he  was  compelled  to  placate  his  people 
by  espousing  an  Indian  girl,  named  Nancy  Bushyhead.  He  was  murdered  by 
two  Indians  as  he  was  returning  from  the  council  which  decided  upon  the 
Cherokee  cession. 

John  II.  Reagan,  postmaster-general  of  the  Confederacy,  who  also  achieved 
renown  in  Texas,  and  Senator  John  T.  Morgan,  of  Alabama,  were  natives  of 
McMinn  County. 

Statistics  of  McMinn  County:  Population,  1920,  25,133.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,063,543.  Area,  452  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,654.  Railway  mileage,  56.  Drained  by  the  Hiwassee  River  and  tribu- 
taries. Pine  growth  of  timber  and  soil  very  fertile  in  the  valleys.  The  Louis 
ville  &  Nashville  and  Southern  railways  intersect  the  county.  Corn,  wheat,  oats, 
grasses  are  staple  products.     The  county  has  a  fine  system  of  public  highways. 


it  Killebrew 's  "Eesources  of  Tennessee,"  p.  580. 


S2S  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Athens,  the  county  scat,  has  a  population  of  2,580,  and  is  on  the  Southern  Rail- 
way fifty-five  miles  northeast  of  Chattanooga  and  fifty-five  miles  from  Knoxville. 
It  has  a  fine  electric  lip-lit  plant,  splendid  churches  and  schools,  including  a 
branch  of  the  University  of  Chattanooga,  two  newspapers,  flour  mill,  two  box 
factories,  roller  mill,  hosiery  mills,  table  and  chair  factory,  two  planing  mills, 
concrete  tile  plant,  etc.  Etowah,  with  a  population  of  2,516,  is  on  the  main  line 
of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  sixty  miles  south  of  Knoxville.  It  is 
headquarters  of  the  Atlanta  Division  of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad. 
This  town  is  fourteen  years  old  and  has  had  the  most  remarkable  growth  of 
any  town  in  the  state.  Etowah  has  two  banks,  one  newspaper,  fine  electric 
light  plant  and  water  plant,  manufacturing  and  commercial  establishments, 
and  is  in  a  rich  agricultural  section.  Scholastic  population  of  the  county,  8,858; 
high  schools,  6;  elementary  schools,  97.  Other  towns  in  McMinn :  Riceville. 
Calhoun,  Niota,  Englewood,  each  of  which  has  a  bank. 

MARION    COUNTY 

Clarion  County  was  elected  in  1817  out  of  the  Cherokee  lands  and  was 
named  for  Gen.  Francis  Marion.  It  was  organized  in  1818  at  the  town  of 
Liberty  which  remained  the  county  seat  until  1820  when  it  was  removed  to 
Jasper. 

Marion  County  is  noted  for  its  mineral  springs  and  for  its  coal  and  iron 
deposits. 

Statistics  of  Marion  County :  Population,  1920,  17,402.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $12,448,090.  Area,  500  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,037.  Railway  mileage,  68.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee  and  Sequatchie 
rivers.  Surface  broken  by  high  ridge  running  parallel  with  Cumberland  Moun- 
tains. Soil  is  fertile  and  there  is  a  fine  timber  growth.  Staple  products  are 
corn,  wheat,-  cotton,  oats,  hay  and  live  stock.  Coal  is  mined  in  considerable 
quantity.  Jasper,  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  728,  is  situated  on  the 
Sequatchie  River  and  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway,  and  has 
good  churches,  schools,  weekly  newspaper,  and  prosperous  business  establish- 
ments. South  Pittsburg,  with  a  population  of  2,356,  and  Whitwell  are  other 
flourishing  towns.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  6,981 ;  high  schools,  3 ;  ele- 
mentary schools,  58. 

MEIGS  COUNTY 

Meigs  County  also  was  carved  out  of  the  territory  ceded  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Cherokees  in  1819.  It  was  erected  by  act  of  the  Legislature  in 
1836  and  named  for  Return  J.  Meigs.  This  treaty  is  frequently  spoken  of  as 
the  Hiwassee  Purchase.  Meigs  County  was  formed  from  parts  of  Rhea,  Roane, 
Hamilton  and  McMinn  counties. 

Some  romantic  interest  attaches  to  this  county  in  connection  with  Sam 
Houston  as  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  home  of  Chief  Jolly  of  the  Cherokees 
who  adopted  Sam  Houston  and  with  whom  Houston  spent  much  time  when  a 
boy.  It  is  a  tradition  that  the  chief's  home  was  on  Jolly's  Island  at  the  mouth 
of  Hiwassee  River. 

Under  the  treaty  of  1819  the  country  north  of  Hiwassee  River  was  opened 
to  settlement  and  was  attached  to  Rhea  County  until  1836.     As  the  Tennessee 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  829 

River  then  divided  Rhea  County,  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  create  a  new  county 
had  been  made  some  years  previously.  Hon.  Miles  Vernon  was  a  resident  of 
what  is  now  Meigs  County  and,  being  a  member  of  the  state  Senate,  became 
an  active  and  finally  successful  advocate  of  the  creation  of  the  county  desired. 
The  act,  as  originally  passed  by  the  Senate,  named  the  new  county  Vernon, 
in  honor  of  Senator  Vernon,  and  the  county  seat  Reagan,  after  James  Reagan, 
senator  from  McMinn  County.  The  House  of  Representatives,  however,  changed 
these  names  and,  during  the  discussion  the  name  Dekalb  was  suggested  for  the 
county ;  but  finally  agreement  was  arrived  at  on  Meigs  for  the  county,  and  De- 
catur, in  honor  of  Commodore  Stephen  Decatur,  for  the  county  seat. 

The  act  which  created  the  county  was  approved  January  21,  1836,  and  the 
first  County  Court  was  organized  on  May  2,  1836,  at  the  house  of  John  Stewart, 
three  miles  north  of  the  present  county  seat,  which  was  later  located  by  com- 
missioners appointed  by  the  Legislature  on  May  16,  1836.  This  action  took 
place  at  the  residence  of  James  Lillard  and  the  site  itself  was  on  land  donated 
by  him  and  by  Leonard  Brooks.  Money  for  erecting  the  first  county  buildings 
was  raised  by  the  sale  of  lots,  and  the  expense  in  connection  with  the  sale  was 
$49.50,  of  which  $1.50  was  for  "liquor  furnished  by  West  at  divers  times." 

Statistics  of  Meigs  County:  Population,  1920,  6,077.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $2,056,327.  Area,  200  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  935.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee  and  Hiwassee 
rivers.  Hiwassee  River  and  valley  lands  are  very  fertile.  Corn,  wheat,  oats, 
hay  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Decatur,  county  seat,  has  a  population 
of  142,  and  has  a  weekly  newspaper,  bank  and  flourishing  commercial  estab- 
lishments. Scholastic  population  of  county,  2,072 ;  high  schools,  1 ;  elementary 
schools,  32. 

MONROE    COUNTY 

Monroe  County  was  erected  in  1819  out  of  the  Hiwassee  Purchase  and  was 
named  for  President  Monroe.  At  the  time  of  the  cession  and  for  a  long  period 
of  time  previously  the  territory  now  in  this  county  contained  the  old  Indian 
towns  of  Chota,  Tellico,  Citico  and  Toqua.  Fort  Loudon  was  erected  in  1756  at 
the  junction  of  the  Tellico  and  Little  Tennessee  rivers.  This  was  the  first 
structure  erected  in  Tennessee  by  Anglo-Americans.ls 

In  1825,  at  public  sale  of  lands,  the  first  sheriff,  John  McCroskey,  and  James 
Montgomery  bought  farms  and  the  son  of  the  latter,  M.  J.  C.  Montgomery,  was 
the  first  man  in  the  United  States  to  saw  slanting  fence  posts. 

Among  the  first  settlers  were:  Samuel  McSpadden,  William  Williams,  Wil- 
liam Ainsworth,  Michael  Carroll,  William  Bradley,  James  Axely,  William 
Neal,  Daniel  Heiskell,  Rev.  Robt.  Sneed,  Hugh  II.  Gregory,  Alexander  Biggs, 
Pressly  Cleveland,  Finley  Gillespie,  and  Iredell  Wright.  Joseph  B.  Heiskell, 
who  became  attorney-general  of  the  state,  studied  law  under  Gillespie.  Judge 
D.  M.  Key,19  also,  was  born  in  this  county. 

The  first  court  was  held  at  Morgantown  (now  in  Loudon  County).  The 
next  court  was  held  at  Henderson's,  three  miles  east  of  Madisonville,  the  pres- 
ent county  seat,  which  was  named  for  President  Madison,  and  was  established 

18Eamsey's  "Annals  of  Tennessee,"  pp.  51-53,  66,  85. 
19  Postmaster-general    in    President    Haves'    cabinet. 
Vol.  1—53 


830  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

probably   in  1822,  although  some  authorities  say  the  site  "was  selected  and  a 
town  plal idl  in  1827." 

Henderson  &  Johnson  established  in  1832,  at  Madisonville,  an  enterprise 
for  the  publication  of  "Dr.  Gunn's  Domestie  Medicine,"  which  enterprise  at- 
tained somewhat  large  proportions  for  that  day.  It  also  published  a  few 
other  books. 

The  enterprising  Town  of  Sweetwater  had  its  beginning  in  1852  in  which 
year  Newton  Haun  erected  its  first  building. 

The  notable  historical  institutions  of  learning  of  the  county  are:  Bolivar 
Academy,  established  following  the  compact  of  1806;  Hiwassee  College,  char- 
tered in  1847,  of  which  Dr.  Robert  Doak  was  the  first  president,  from  which 
many  able  men  have  gone  forth ;  and  Sweetwater  College,  of  which  the  eminent 
Dr.  J.  L.  Bachman  was  the  head  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  About  twenty 
years  ago  it  was  converted  into  the  Tennessee  Military  Academy,  a  large  and 
flourishing  institution. 

Besides  the  notable  men  already  mentioned  Monroe  County  has  produced 
the  following  who  have  been  or  are  now  eminent  in  various  lines  of  endeavor : 
Gideon  Morgan,  Gen.  John  C.  Vaughn,  who  had  a  noteworthy  record  in  the 
Confederate  army ;  John  L.  Hopkins,  an  attorney ;  Prof.  S.  G.  Gilbreath,  state 
superintendent  of  public  instruction  under  Governor  Turney,  and  now  super- 
intendent of  the  East  Tennessee  State  Normal  School,  at  Johnson  City;  Dr. 
J.  H.  Brunner,  for  many  years  president  of  Hiwassee  College. 

Statistics  of  Monroe  County:  Population,  1920,  22,060.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,916,448.  Area,  580  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,474.  Railway  mileage,  40.  Monroe  County  joins  North  Carolina. 
Drained  by  Tellico  and  Little  Tennessee  rivers.  The  eastern  portion  is  moun- 
tainous and  covered  with  valuable  timber.  The  soil  is  fertile,  the  principal 
products  being  corn,  wheat,  potatoes,  grasses  and  live  stock.  The  county  has  a 
good  system  of  graded  roads  and  a  good  mileage  of  hard  surface  roads.  Iron 
ore,  copper,  barites  and  gold  are  found  in  the  mountainous  portions  of  the 
county.  In  the  Coker  Creek  territory  gold  is  found  in  places  and  quartz  ledges 
and  has  been  successfully  mined,  $80,000  having  been  taken  off  less  than  one 
acre.  The  Louisville  &  Nashville  and  the  Southern  Railway  enter  the  county. 
Madisonville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  850,  is  on  the  Atlantic  Divi- 
sion of  the  L.  &  N.  forty-five  miles  from  Knoxville,  and  has  two  banks,  one 
weekly  newspaper,  flouring  mills,  lumber  plant,  good  schools  and  churches. 
Sweetwater,  on  the  Southern  Railway,  has  a  population  of  1,972,  one  weekly 
newspaper,  two  banks,  barites  mill,  flour  mill,  planing  mill,  woolen  mill,  good 
schools  and  churches,  and  flourishing  mercantile  establishments.  Tennessee- 
Military  Academy  is  located  at  Sweetwater.  Tellico  Plains  has  a  population 
of  1,220,  two  banks,  two  lumber  manufacturing  plants,  one  tannic  acid  plant, 
roofing  slate  plant,  and  several  stores.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  8,034; 
high  schools,  4:  elementary  schools,  80. 

MORGAN    COUNTY 

Morgan  County  was  erected  in  1817  from  Poane  County  and  was  named 
for  Gen.  Daniel  Morgan.  The  first  county  seat  was  at  Montgomery.  Later 
Wartburg  was  selected.  It  is  said  that  the  first  settler  was  Samuel  Hall  who 
located  in  1807  about  seven  miles  northeast  of  Wartburg.     Other  early  comers 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  831 

were:  Martin  Hall,  Joseph  Stonecipher,  Benjamin  Stonecipher,  Michael  Stone- 
cipher,  Ezra  Stonecipher,  John  M.  Staples,  Elijah  Reese,  Titus  England,  John 
Freels,  Royal  Price,  William  Shoemaker,  Matthias  Williams,  Ephraim  Davis, 
Morgan  Hendricks,  John  Wehh,  Littleburg  Brient,  Lewis  Rector,  John  Craig, 
and  Basil  Human. 

Wartburg,  the  county  seat,  was  settled  by  an  enterprising  and  thrifty  col- 
ony of  Germans,  who  proved  to  be  industrious  and  intelligent  and  did  much  for 
the  material  and  educational  interests  of  the  county.  The  first  term  of  the 
County  Court  was  held  in  January,  1818. 

Morgan  County  contains  great  wealth  in  timber  and  coal ;  but  most  of  the 
land  suitable  for  cultivation  is  in  the  valleys. 

The  state  possesses  coal  lands  at  Petros,  the  mines  of  which  are  worked  by 
the  convicts  of  the  branch  prison  at  that  place. 

That  unique  settlement  called  the  Rugby  colony  was  established  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  county.  Its  first  name  was  The  Board  of  Aid  to  Land 
Ownership  when  it  was  organized  by  Boston  people  in  1877  and  was  changed 
three  years  later  to  Rugby  colony  when  the  celebrated  English  author,  Thomas 
Hughes,  and  other  English  capitalists  became  interested.  Mr.  Hughes  opened 
the  colony  on  October  5,  1880.  They  bought  large  tracts  of  land  also  in  Scott 
and  Fentress  counties. 

Morgan  County  statistics:  Population,  1920,  13,285.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,724,137.  Area,  448  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,251.  Railway  mileage,  61.  Drained  by  Emory  and  Obed  rivers.  Its 
surface  is  hilly  and  well  timbered  with  oak,  chestnut  and  pine.  Corn,  grasses 
and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Fruit  growing  is  a  paying  industry.  Large 
deposits  of  coal  are  found  in  the  county.  The  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway 
intersects  the  county.  Wartburg,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about 
five  hundred,  has  a  weekly  newspaper,  bank  and  general  stores.  Scholastic 
population  of  county,  4,453 ;  high  schools,  4 ;  elementary  schools,  51. 

POLK   COUNTY 

Polk  County  was  created  on  November  28,  1839,  from  parts  of  McMinn  and 
Bradley  and  named  for  President  (then  Governor)  James  K.  Polk.  The  county 
seat  "to  be  called  Benton  in  honor  of  the  Hon.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  a  senator  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,"  was  selected  by  vote  of  the  people  on 
February  8,  1840. 

Settlements  were  made  in  1836,  the  first  town  being  Columbus,  where  the 
County  Court  met  on  May  4,  1840.  In  August,  1840,  the  court  met  for  the  first 
time  at  Benton,  which  had  been  laid  out  on  the  MeKamy  farm.  The  Federal 
road  from  Knoxville  to  Cassville,  Ga.,  passed  through  Polk  County.  Among  the 
early  settlers  were:  \V.  W.  l>ijj'<j's,  Nelson  Lawson,  Abraham  Lillard,  Thomas 
Jones,  R.  W.  McClary,  Early  Boyd,  William  Higgins,  Michael  Ilildebrand, 
A.  R.   Stephenson,  and  John  N.   Taylor. 

Ocoee  Academy,  a  school  for  hoys,  was  established  at  Benton,  in  1844. 

In  mineral  resources  Polk  is  one  of  the  richest  counties  in  the  stale.  In 
1850  copper  was  discovered  in  the  Ouektown  basin,  a  low  grade  copper,  hut  of 
unknown  depth  and  seemingly  in  inexhaustible  quantities.  Mixed  with  the  ore 
is  sulphur  and,  for  years,  the  fumes  thrown  off  in  the  process  of  reduction 
destroyed   vegetation   for  many  miles  aronnd   and   caused   a   suit   to   be  entered 


832  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

by  the  State  of  Georgia  against  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Only  a  few  years  ago, 
however,  the  method  of  saving  (lie  sulphur  fumes  and,  with  them,  of  producing 
sulphuric  acid,  a  valuable  by-product,  has  eliminated  the  former  destruction  of 
all  vegetable  growth.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  exhibits  made  by  the  State 
of  Tennessee  a1  the  World's  Pair  at  St.  Louis  was  the  copper  ore  furnished 
by  the  Tennessee  Copper  Company  which  exhibit  was  secured  for  the  state  by 
Mr.  A.  P.  Poster.  The  Ducktown  Company  is  another  very  large  corporation 
engaged  in  the  production  of  copper.  But  copper,  although  the  most  valuable, 
is  not  the  only  mineral  found  in  Polk  County.  No  less  than  one  hundred  dif- 
ferent minerals  have  been  discovered  in  it,  among  them  ten  kinds  of  iron  ore, 
gold,  lead,  graphite,  lithograph  stone,  garnet,  sulphur,  granite,  sandstone,  quartz, 
manganese,  limestone,  tale,  fluorspar,  slate  and  marble. 

Statistics  of  Polk  County :  Population,  1920,  14,243.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $16,883,592.  Area,  400  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  951.  Railway  mileage,  68.  Drained  by  Hiwassee  and  Ocoee  rivers. 
The  surface  is  mountainous  and  well  timbered.  Grazing  for  cattle  and  sheep 
is  abundant.  Extensive  copper  mines  are  operated  in  the  county  by  the  Duck- 
town  Copper  Company  and  the  Tennessee  Copper  Company,  the  output  being 
large.  Lead  is  also  found  in  the  county,  and  there  are  large  quarries  of  gray 
limestone.  Corn,  wheat,  grass  and  live  stock  are  the  principal  products.  The 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  traverses  the  county.  Benton,  the  county  seat, 
with  a  population  of  525,  is  on  the  L.  &  N.  three  miles  south  of  the  Hiwassee 
River.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  bank  and  general 
stores.  Ducktown  is  the  seat  of  the  copper  industry,  and  has  a  population  of 
3,500.  Copper  Hill  is  another  flourishing  town.  Scholastic  population  of  county, 
5,431 ;  high  schools,  3 ;  elementary  schools,  41. 

RHEA    COUNTY 

Rhea  County  was  erected  on  December  3,  1807,  from  Roane  County,  and 
named  for  John  Rhea,12  a  member  of  Congress  from  Sullivan  County,  Tennes- 
see, from  1803  to  1823.  The  Cherokees  had  relinquished  their  claim  to  the 
lands  in  the  county  by  treaty  in  1805. 

In  January,  1808,  the  first  County  Court  was  organized  at  Big  Springs,  in 
the  home  of  William  Henry,  about  three  or  four  miles  north  of  Dayton.  James 
Campbell  was  elected  chairman;  Daniel  Rawlings,  clerk;  Miller  Francis,  sher- 
iff; Thomas  Woodward,  coroner;  Alex.  Ferguson,  register;  Joseph  Brooks, 
trustee;  Thomas  G.  Brown,  ranger;  William  Brown,  solicitor.  The  justices  at 
the  time  of  organization  were:  James  Campbell,  Jonathan  Fine,  Abraham  How- 
ard, John  Henry,  Joseph  Brooks,  Daniel  Rawlings,  and  William  Long. 

On  February  12,  1812,  a  committee,  appointed  to  select  the  county  seat 
met  at  the  home  of  Judge  David  Campbell  and  chose  Washington  at  the  head 
of  Spring  Creek.  The  site  for  the  courthouse  was  on  a  grant  of  land  owned 
by  Richard  G.  Waterhouse,  but  Judge  Campbell,  having  a  claim  upon  a  part 
of  the  grant,  made  a  deed  to  the  commissioners.  The  first  courthouse  was  built 
in  this  vear.     The  first  Circuit  Court  was  held  in  1810. 


12  It  was  John  Rhea's   testimony  which   exculpated  Andrew   Jackson   in   his   controversy 
with  the  Monroe  administration  over  his  authority  to  enter  Florida  in  the  Seminole  war. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  833 

Dayton,  the  present  county  seat,  was  previously  Smith's  Cross  Roads,  and 
grew  to  a  town  of  3,000  inhabitants  in  three  years  after  a  company  of  English 
capitalists,  headed  by  Sir  Titus  Salts,  located  great  iron  furnaces  in  Rhea 
County  in  1884. 

Famous  educational  institutions  of  Rhea  County  are :  Mars  Hill  School, 
afterwards  changed  to  Tennessee  Academy ;  Lorraine  School ;  Tennessee  Valley 
College ;  Dayton  Masonic  College ;  Dayton  University. 

Early  settlers  were :  James  C.  Mitchell,  teacher  of  Hopkins  L.  Turney,  father 
of  Governor  Peter  Turney ;  John  Hackett,  a  famous  land  speculator ;  John 
Locke,  cashier  of  the  loan  office  of  the  old  Bank  of  Tennessee;  James  Roddye, 
the  Cash  family,  Ileiskells,  Capt.  J.  H.  Johnson,  Captain  Cawood,  the  Robin- 
sons, Holloways,  Frank  Marsh,  and  the  Foust  brothers. 

Statistics  of  Rhea  County:  Population,  1920,  13,812.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  .$8,947,220.  Area,  360  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
1,201.  Railway  mileage,  32.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee  River.  Surface  partly 
mountainous.  Cattle,  corn,  wheat,  grass  and  fruits  are  staple  products.  There 
has  been  remarkable  development  and  advance  in  the  cultivation  of  small  fruits, 
a  large  annual  business  being  done  in  the  shipment  of  strawberries.  This  county 
is  noted  for  its  fine  apples.  Coal  and  iron  ore  are  found  in  the  county,  and 
there  are  fine  forests  of  marketable  timber.  The  county  is  traversed  by  the' 
Cincinnati  Southern  Railroad.  Dayton,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of 
1,701.  It  is  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railroad,  thirty-eight  miles  from  Chat- 
tanooga. It  is  a  flourishing  town,  with  good  business  houses,  churches,  schools, 
weekly  newspapers,  banks,  and  several  manufacturing  establishments.  Spring 
City  and  Grand  View  are  flourishing  towns  with  good  schools.  Scholastic  popu- 
lation of  county,  5,246 ;,  high  schools,  4;  elementary  schools,  50. 

ROANE   COUNTY 

Roane  County  was  erected  November  6,  1801,  and  was  formed  from  Knox 
County.  It  was  named  for  Judge  Archibald  Roane,  governor,  1801-1803.  After 
the  Hiwassee  Purchase^  Roane  County  was  extended  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Tennessee  River  and  Morgan  County  was  taken  from  it. 

On  November  30,  1793,  a  blockhouse  was  completed  by  John  Sevier  at 
Southwest  Point,  a  station  established  in  1721,  near  Kingston,  which  was  of 
great  service  to  travelers  and  settlers  as  a  protection  against  the  Indians. 

Capt.  W.  E.  McElwee,  of  Rockwood,  is  authority  for  the  following  statement 
concerning  the  early  history  of  this  section :  "In  1799  the  Legislature  then 
in  session  in  Knoxville  passed  an  act,  '  To  establish  a  town  to  be  named  Kingston, 
on  the  lands  of  Robert  King,  near  Southwest  Point,  in  Knox  County — to  be  laid 
out  under  the  direction  of  David  Miller,  Alexander  Carmichael,  George  Preston, 
John  Smith,  William  L.  Lovely,  and  Thomas  N.  Clark.'  Later  a  petition  was 
sent  to  the  Assembly  to  create  a  new  county,  with  Kingston  for  the  county  seat. 
This  was  done  November  6,  1801.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Archibald  Roane. 
There  were  in  the  county  275  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  organized  into  six 
companies.  Only  eight  men  were  unable  to  sign  their  names  to  the  muster  rolls. 
Forty-two  of  them  had  been  Revolutionary  soldiers,  among  them  Captain 
Walker,  who  had  commanded  the  bodyguard  of  Light  Horse  Harry  Lee." 


834  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  road  running  from  the  Clinch  River  to  the  Cumberland  settlements,  built 
in  1785,  passed  through  Roane  County.  When  Knoxville  became  the  capital 
of  the  Southwest  Territory  in  1792,  the  road  was  extended  to  that  point.  In 
1822  it  became  a  twice-a-week  state  route,  running  through  the  main  street  of 
Kingston.  At  that  time  Kingston  was  a  very  important  point.  Its  inns  were 
stopping  places  for  Jackson,  Sevier  and  other  noted  men  of  those  days.  On 
Monday,  September  21,  1807,  the  Legislature  met  at  Kingston,  but  adjourned 
to  meet  at  Knoxville  on  Wednesday,  September  23d. 

Early  settlers  were:  Dr.  Daniel  Rather,  Thomas  C.  Childress,  William 
French,  David  Patton,  Thomas  Brown,  quartermaster  for  the  garrison  at 
Southwest  Point;  Gen.  John  Brown,  owner  of  extensive  lands,  and  William 
Brown,  an  eminent  lawyer.  Gen.  John  Brown  was  the  first  sheriff  of  Roane 
Count}".  The  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  on  December 
20,  1801,  at  the  home  of  Hugh  Beatty,  at  which  time  the  following  magistrates 
were  qualified:  William  White,  Samuel  Miller,  Hugh  Nelson,  Paul  Harlson, 
Zacheus  Ayer,  George  Preston,  William  Campbell,  James  Preston,  Isham  Cox, 
William  Barnett,  George  McPherson,  and  Abraham  McClelland. 

Early  lawyers  were :  John  Purvis,  James  McCampbell,  W.  C.  Dunlap,  J.  W. 
Brazeale,  J.  Y.  Smith,  and  I.  Hope. 

Soldiers  from  this  county  in  the  Creek  war  and  the  War  of  1812  were :  John 
Loyd,  Daniel  Wester,  Uriah  Allison,  Tom  Margrave  and  John  Morrison.  Sam 
Houston  was  a  clerk  in  a  store  in  Kingston  when  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in 
the  Creek  war. 

Rittenhouse  Academy  was  one  of  the  twenty-seven  academies  established  in 
Tennessee  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  the  compact  of  1806.  It  educated 
many  prominent  men  and  women.  For  many  years  its  principal  was  a  Prussian 
of  high  birth,  named  H.  W.  von  Aldehoff.  He  married  a  sister  of  Judge  James 
Sevier,  a  grandson  of  John  Sevier.  Afterwards  he  established  a  celebrated  school 
on  Lookout  Mountain  and  later  moved  to  Dallas,  Texas. 

Statistics  of  Roane  County:  Population,  1920,  24,624.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $14,239,879.  Area,  450  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,687.  Railway  mileage,  89.  Drained  by  Tennessee  River  and  tributaries. 
Surface  mountainous  and  covered  with  fine  forests  of  timber.  Soil  fertile  in 
valleys  and  river  bottoms.  Mineral  resources  are  iron  "ore,  coal  and  building 
stone.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  grass  and  live  stock.  Fine  county  for 
orchards  and  vineyards.  The  strawberry  industry  has  been  developed  in  the 
county.  The  county  has  a  fine  system  of  public  highways.  Kingston,  the  county 
seat,  with  a  population  of  516,  is  a  flourishing  town  with  good  schools,  churches, 
bank  and  weekly  newspaper.  Harriman,  with  a  population  of  4,019,  has  fine 
schools  and  churches,  banks,  newspapers,  and  several  manufacturing  establish- 
ments. Rockwood,  with  a  population  of  4,652,  is  an  iron  and  coke  center  and 
gives  employment  to  a  large  number  of  people  in  these  industries.  It  has  fine 
schools  and  churches,  banks,  weekly  newspaper  and  manufacturing  establish- 
ment. Scholastic  population  of  county,  8,618 ;  high  schools,  5 ;  elementary 
schools,  57. 

SCOTT  COUNTY 

Scott  County  was  erected  on  December  17,  1849,  out  of  parts  of  Anderson, 
Campbell,  Fentress  and  Morgan  counties,  and  was  named  for  Gen.  Winfield  S. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  835 

Seott.  It  was  surveyed  by  Sampson  Stanfield.  By  the  act  creating  it  a  board 
of  commissioners  was  appointed  consisting  of  Win.  Titwood,  W.  "W.  Cotton, 
Wm.  Massengale,  Drury  Smith,  John  Tipton,  Wm.  Rich,  Thos.  Lawson,  Wm. 
Carney,  and  J.  W.  Kerns.  This  board  appointed  the  following  committee  to 
locate  the  county  seat :  Isaac  Reed,  Baily  Buttram,  Jas.  Litton,  Riley  Chambers, 
and  Henry  Massengale.  They  located  the  county  seat  at  Huntsville,  named  in 
honor  of  a  hunter  of  the  early  days  whose  name  was  Hunt. 

The  first  election  was  held  on  March  2,  1850,  and  the  following  officers  were 
elected:  John  Lewallen,  sheriff;  Allen  McDonald,  County  Court  clerk;  John  L. 
Smith,  Circuit  Court  clerk;  Isaac  Reed,  trustee;  Riley  Chambers,  register. 

The  first  court  was  held  in  July,  1850,  by  Judge  Alexander  and  Attorney- 
General  David  H.  Cummings. 

The  first  courthouse  was  erected  in  1851  and  was  used  until  1874,  when  a 
new  courthouse  was  built.  This,  in  turn,  was  superseded  by  the  third  which 
was  built  in  1906. 

Statistics  of  Scott  County:  Population,  1920,  13,411.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,170,922.  Area,  620  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,344.  Railway  mileage,  70.  Drained  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Cum- 
berland River.  Surface  hilly  and  covered  with  fine  forests.  Staple  products 
are  corn,  grass  and  live  stock.  Considerable  attention  is  given  to  the  produc- 
tion of  small  fruits.  Fine  fire  clay  deposits  are  found.  Huntsville,  the  county 
seat,  with  a  population  of  about  five  hundred,  has  good  schools,  churches,  a 
weekly  newspaper,  and  flourishing  business  establishments.  The  chief  town  in 
the  county  is  Oneida,  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railroad,  with  a  population 
of  943.  A  railroad  is  being  extended  from  Oneida  into  Fentress  County.  Helen- 
wood  is  another  flourishing  town.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  5,411 ;  high 
schools,  5;  elementary  schools,  61. 

SEQUATCHIE   COUNTY 

Sequatchie  County  was  erected  in  1857,  out  of  Hamilton  County,  and  was 
named  for  Sequatchie  Valley  and  the  Sequatchie  River.  It  is  traversed  by  the 
Sequatchie  Valley  which  is  very  fertile.  This  county  is  rich  in  deposits  of  coal 
and  iron.     The  county  seat  is  Dunlap. 

Statistics  of  Sequatchie  County:  Population,  1920,  3,632.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $2,168,407.  Area,  250  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  339.  Railway  mileage,  14.  Drained  by  the  Sequatchie  River  and 
intersected  by  the  Sequatchie  Valley.  Soil  in  the  valleys  is  very  fertile.  One 
of  the  best  grape  producing  sections  in  the  South.  Fine  hardwoods  are  found. 
Mineral  resources  are  limestone,  coal  and  iron  ore.  Corn,  wheat,  oats,  grass 
and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Fine  grazing  lands  for  cattle.  Traversed 
by  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  and  St.  Louis  Railway.  Dunlap,  the  county  seat, 
has  a  population  of  1,465,  and  is  a  flourishing  town  with  good  schools,  churches, 
business  establishments,  and  a  weekly  newspaper.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  1,584;  high  schools,  1;  elementary  schools,  13. 

SEVIER   COUNTY 

Sevier  County  was  erected  by  the  Territorial  Assembly,  on  September  27, 
1794,  out  of  Jefferson  County,  and  was  attached  to  tin-  districl   of  Hamilton. 


836  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

It.  was  named  for  John  Sevier  as  was  the  county  seat,  Sevierville.  The  settle- 
ment of  Sevier  County  began  in  1783,  when  pioneers  built  a  fort  on  Dumplin 
Creek  and  soon  held  a  friendly  conference  with  the  Cherokee  Indians.  Maj. 
James  Hubbard,  whose  family  in  Virginia  had  been  murdered  by  the  Shawnees, 
and  who  was  an  implacable  enemy  of  all  Indians,  attended  and  attempted  to 
intimidate  the  Cherokees.  His  efforts  were  thwarted  by  Capt.  (afterwards 
General)  James  White. 

Among  the  early  settlers  were:  William  Cannon,  Jacob  Hnff,  Samuel  Blair, 
Allen  Bryant,  Peter  Bryant,  Joshua  Gist  (judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
State  of  Franklin),  Thomas  Bucking,  who  built  the  first  brick  house  in  the 
county  eight  miles  south  of  Sevierville,  and  Isaac  Thomas,  a  giant. 

After  the  collapse  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  in  1788,  the  people  who  had 
been  permitted  by  the  Indians  to  locate  in  the  region  south  of  the  French  Broad 
River,  which  included  what  is  now  Sevier  County  were  ignored  by  the  governor 
of  North  Carolina.  Being  technically  trespassers  upon  the  lands  of  the  Indians, 
in  their  emergency  they  set  up  a  government  of  their  own  which  was  the  fourth 
independent  government  established  in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  This  govern- 
ment continued  until  1792  when  Jefferson  County  was  organized  by  Governor 
William  Blount. 

Sevierville  was  laid  off  in  1795.  Only  a  few  sessions  of  the  court  were  held 
before  the  admission  of  the  state  into  the  Union.  The  first  court  after  that 
event  was  held  on  July  4,  1796.  The  following  magistrates  were  present :  Sam- 
uel Newell,  Joshua  Gist,  Joseph  Wilson,  Andrew  Cowan,  Jesse  Vance,  Robert 
Pollack,  Peter  Bryant,  M.  Lewis,  John  Clack,  Robert  Calvert,  Adam  Wilson, 
James  Riggin,  Alexander  Montgomery,  Jesse  Griffin,  Isom  Green,  James  P.  H. 
Porter  and  Lewis  Renan. 

The  first  white  child  born  in  the  county  was  Nancy  Rogers,  who  married 
James  P.  H.  Porter.  Her  name  was  bestowed  on  Nancy  Academy,  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  which  the  Legislature  in  1813  authorized  the  holding  of  a 
lottery.  Geo.  W.  Pickle,  state  attorney-general  and  reporter,  was  a  resident  of 
Sevierville  in  1869. 

Statistics  of  Sevier  County:  Population,  1920,  22,384.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $8,840,827.  Area,  560  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,450.  Railway  mileage,  36.  Drained  by  the  French  Broad  River.  Sur- 
face mountainous  and  partly  covered  with  fine  timber.  Soil  in  valleys  is  rich 
and  fertile.  Fine  limestone  is  quarried  in  the  county.  Staple  products  are 
wheat,  corn,  grass  and  live  stock.  Grazing  for  live  stock  is  abundant.  Sevier- 
ville, the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  776,  is  on  the  Little  Pigeon  River 
and  the  Knoxville,  Sevierville  and  Eastern  Railroad,  thirty  miles  from  Knox- 
ville.  It  had  good  schools,  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  banks  and  general 
stores  and  manufacturing  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county, 
8,503 ;  high  schools,  none ;  elementary  schools,  99. 

SULLIVAN    COUNTY  20 

Sullivan  County,  the  second  county  formed  in  Tennessee,  was  created  by 
the  State  of  North  Carolina  in  1779,  after  a  survey  had  shown  that  it  was  in 
this  state  and  not  in  Virginia  as  had  theretofore  been  thought.     It  was  named 


■to  A    large    part    of   the    facts   herein    stated    are    taken    from    "Historic    Sullivan,"    by 
Oliver  Taylor. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  837 

for  Gen.  John  Sullivan.  With  the  exception  of  a  small  strip,  Sullivan  County 
was  not,  therefore,  a  part  of  Washington  District  when  this  district  was  created, 
but  at  that  time  was  claimed  by  Virginia  and  was  recognized  as  a  part  of  that 
state. 

Among  the  early  settlers  were  John  Rhea,  Gen.  Geo.  Rutledge,  who  com- 
manded a  company  at  King's  Mountain,  Gen.  Geo.  Maxwell,  Col.  David  Looney 
and  Richard  Nethcrland,  the  Kings,  Thomases,  Dulaneys,  Delaneys,  Rutledges, 
Massengills,  Snodgrasses,  Snapps,  Taylors,  Senekers,  Coxes,  Bachmans,  Bushongs, 
Andersons,  Eas'eys,  Cowans,  Pyles,  Bookers,  Akards,  Odells,  Fains,  Gaineses, 
Rollers,  and  Crosses. 

The  claim  is  made  by  the  people  of  Sullivan  that  the  first  permanent  set- 
tlements in  what  is  now  Tennessee  were  made  by  John  and  Thomas  Sharpe  in 
1765,  who  located  in  the  Holston  Valley  and  soon  thereafter  Joseph  Martin, 
who  had  been  with  Dr.  Thomas  Walker  on  his  early  pathfinding  expedition, 
made  his  home  near  Kingsport,  and  that  Thomas  Henderson,  John  Womack,  and 
the  father  of  David  Crockett  came  soon  afterward. 

In  1771,  Evan  and  Isaac  Shelby  came,  built  a  fort  and  opened  a  general 
store  where  the  City  of  Bristol  now  stands,  partly  in  Virginia,  partly  in  Ten- 
nessee. 

Near  the  present  site  of  Kingsport  was  Fori  Patrick  Henry,  named,  of 
course,  for  the  American  patriot  and  orator,  who  was  governor  of  Virginia  at 
the  time.  Prom  this  fort  John  Donelson  and  his  fellow  argonauts  sailed  on 
their  long  and  perilous  journey  down  the  Tennessee  on  December  22,  1779. 
Near  here,  too,  was  fought  the  Battle  of  Island  Flats,  on  .July  20,  1776,  against 
the  Cherokee  Indians  under  Chief  Dragging  Canoe,  in  which  the  Indians  were 
routed  with  severe  loss.  In  this  battle  distinction  was  won  by  Capt.  James 
Shelby,  Lieut.  Robt.  Davis,  Robert  Edmiston,  John  Morrison  and  Isaac  Shelby. 
The  last  named,  a  volunteer,  ''without  authority  gave  an  order  which  was 
obeyed,  and  was  the  means  of  gaining  the  victory. 

Early  educational  institutions  were  King's  College  at  Bristol;  Jefferson 
Academy  and  the  Masonic  Institute  at  Blountville.  Dr.  J.  D.  Tadlock  was  for 
many  years  the  learned  and  beloved  president  of  King's  College.  Among 
other  leading  educators  may  be  mentioned:  George  Wilhehn,  Archimedes  Davis, 
J.  H.  Catron,  Dr.  A.  J.  Brown,  Rev.  T.  F.  Summers,  Rev.  John  King,  Rev.  W.  B. 
Gale,  J.  H.  Seneker,  Wm.  Daily,  and  James  Snapp. 

Among  the  brilliant  legal  lights  should  be  given  the  following:  Wm. 
Blount,  Wm.  Cocke,  John  Netherland,  Matt  Haynes,  Wm.  Deaderick,  C.  J.  St. 
John,  and  John  Fain. 

Statistics  of  Sullivan  County:  Population,  1920,  36,259.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $25,577,079.  Area,  410  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,314.  Railway  mileage,  51.  Drained  by  the  Holston  river  and  the 
head  waters  of  the  Tennessee  river.  Fine  forests  of  timber.  Soil  is  fertile. 
Fine  deposits  of  iron  ore,  and  limestone.  Staple  products  are  fruits,  wheat, 
corn,  oats,  grasses,  live  stock,  poultry,  eggs  and  butter.  Blountville,  the  county 
seat,  is  nine  miles  southwest  of  Bristol  and  has  a  population  of  about  400,  and 
it  has  good  schools  and  churches,  bank  and  flourishing  business  establishments. 
Bristol  is  in  the  center  of  a  territory  rich  in  mineral  deposits.  The  Tennessee 
section  of  the  city  has  a  population  of  8,047  and  is  131  miles  from  Knoxville.  It 
is  an  up-to-date  city  with  all  modern  conveniences.  Five  railroads  enter  the 
city,  including  the  Southern,  and  the  Norfolk  &  Western.      Bristol   lias  large 


838  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

lumber  interests,  a  large  tannery,  and  a  large  number  of  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments. A  large  iron  furnace  is  located  here.  The  city  has  daily  and  weekly 
newspapers,  fine  schools  and  churches,  and  good  hotels  and  mercantile  estab- 
lishments. Kingsport,  with  a  population  of  5,692,  is  a  new  industrial  town  in 
Sullivan  County.  It  is  only  a  few  years  old,  and  before  and  during  the  World 
war  it  employed  several  thousand  in  the  various  industries,  which  include  a  dye 
plant,  cement  plant,  brick  making  plant,  a  printing  plant,  and  several  other 
industries.  During  the  war  some  of  the  plants  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
munitions.  Some  of  the  plants  are  now  closed  down.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  11,463 ;  high  schools,  6 ;  elementary  schools,  77. 

UNICOI  COUNTY 

Unicoi  County  was  erected  on  March  19,  1875,  out  of  Washington  and  Carter 
counties,  and  was  named  for  the  Unicoi  mountain.  The  name  "Unicoi" 
means  White.  Section  16  of  the  act  creating  this  county  says:  "that  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  the  county  of  Unicoi,  Wm.  Tillson,  Esq.,  Chas.  Bean, 
Josiah  Sams,  James  V.  Johnson,  Wm.  Mclnterf,  David  Bell,  Franklin  Hannum, 
Richard  N.  Norris,  and  Thos.  Wright  shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  appointed 
commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  several  fractions  in  which  they  reside." 

Unicoi  County  was  attached  to  the  first  judicial  court. 

The  first  county  court  was  organized  on  January  3,  1876,  with  the  following 
named  magistrates  present:  Henry  McKinney,  A.  E.  Briggs,  D.  T.  0 'Brian, 
B.  W.  Woodward,  M.  C.  Burchfield,  Isaac  Gilbert,  Alexander  Mclnturf,  G.  F. 
Tompkins,  James  M.  Norris,  R.  B.  Hensley,  R.  L.  Rowe,  Alexander  Masters, 
J.  M.  Anderson,  Wm.  Parks,  G.  Garland,  J.  S.  Yader,  Wm.  Mclnturf,  and 
Baptist  McNabb. 

The  county  seat  was  first  named  Vanderbilt,  which  name  was  retained  until 
1879  when  it  was  changed  by  the  Legislature  to  Ervin.  By  an  error  the  post- 
office  department  of  the  government  spelled  it  Erwin,  which  spelling  it  still 
retains. 

Early  settlers  were:  Jesse  Brown,  Enoch  Job,  Richard  Deakins,  Geo. 
Martin,  Wm.  Lewis,  Jas.  Acton,  Jonathan  Webb,  Robert  Hampton.  In  the 
early  days,  like  most  of  the  early  pioneers  of  East  Tennessee,  they  suffered  much 
from  the  Indians.     The  first  church  was  Baptist,  established  probably  in  1785. 

Unicoi  County  is  rich  in  timber  and  mineral  resources. 

Statistics  of  Unicoi  County:  Population,  1920,  10,120.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,590,561.  Area,  196  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  811.  Railway  mileage,  21.  Drained  by  the  Nollichucky  River  and  inter- 
sected by  Carolina,  Clinchfield  &  Ohio  Railway.  Surface  mountainous.  Cotton, 
corn,  oats,  grasses  and  live  stock  are  the  staple  products.  Erwin,  the  county 
seat,  with  a  population  of  2,965,  is  15  miles  south  of  Johnson  City  and  is  a 
flourishing  manufacturing  town,  one  of  the  principal  industries  being  the 
production  of  chinaware.  Erwin  has  good  schools,  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper 
and  flourishing  business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,163 ; 
high  school,  1 ;  elementary  schools,  33. 

UNION  COUNTY 

Union  County  was  erected  on  January  3,  1850,  out  of  parts  of  Grainger, 
Claiborne,  Campbell,  Anderson  and  Knox,  and  the  following  named  men  were 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  839 

appointed  commissioners  who  organized  the  county :  Win.  T.  Garden,  John  F. 
Huddleston,  Ezra  Buckner,  and  Wm.  Colvin,  of  the  county  of  Grainger ;  Malcijah 
Nash,  J.  G.  Palmer,  and  John  Sharpe,  of  Claiborne  County;  Isaac  C.  Dyer, 
Meril  Hill,  and  Hazell  Hill,  of  Campbell  County;  James  W.  Turner,  Allen 
McCoy  and  A.  L.  Carden  of  the  County  of  Anderson;  and  Henry  Graves  and 
Henry  G.  Roberts  of  the  County  of  Knox. 

But  the  organization  of  the  county  was  delayed,  for  the  people  of  Knox 
County,  not  relishing  the  loss  of  that  part  of  the  county  which  was  to  be  taken 
into  the  new  county,  entered  suit  and  secured  an  injunction  against  its  acting 
as  a  county.  Horace  Maynard,  who,  at  that  time  was  a  member  of  Congress 
from  the  first  Tennessee  district,  which  embraced  the  proposed  new  county, 
defended  the  suit  for  Union  County  :in  prolonged  litigation  which  was  finally 
decided  in  favor  of  Union  County  in  1853. 

Because  of  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Maynard  in  this  litigation, 
the  county  seat  was  named  Maynardsville ;  the  first  county  court  was  organized 
there  on  February  6,  1854,  with  the  following  named  magistrates  present: 
Elijah  Evans,  John  Lowry,  Wm.  Calvin,  G.  B.  Carden,  Wm.  Needham,  J.  G. 
Palmer,  Jacob  Turner,  Calvin  B.  Howard  and  Enoch  Branson.  Complete  or- 
ganization of  the  county  was  effected  in  1856. 

This  county  is  rich  in  deposits  of  iron  ore,  marble,  lead  and  zinc. 

Statistics  of  Union  County:  Population,  1920,  11,615.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,877,437.  Area,  220  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,060.  Railway  mileage,  7.  Drained  by  Clinch  and  Powell  rivers. 
Surface  mountainous  and  partly  covered  with  fine  timber.  Fine  deposits  of 
iron,  zinc,  lead  and  marble  are  found  in  the  county.  Corn,  oats,  wheat,  live 
stock  and  dairy  products  are  staple.  Maynardsville,  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  about  500,  and  has  good  schools,  churches,  bank  and  flourishing 
business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  4,187;  high  schools, 
6  ;  elementary  schools,  49. 

WASHINGTON  COUNTY 

Washington  County  was  erected 21  by  the  General  Assembly  of  North 
Carolina,  in  November,  1777.  It  was  formed  from  Washington  District  which 
had  been  detached  from  Wilkes  and  Burke  counties  and  included  all  the  present 
State  of  Tennessee,  although  a  part  of  it,  as  we  have  seen,  was  thought  at  the 
time  to  belong  to  Virginia.  This  county  has  the  distinction  of  being  the  first 
political  division  in  the  United  States  which  was  named  in  honor  of  George 
Washington.  From  it  all  the  other  counties  in  Tennessee  have  been  carved. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  oldest  county  in  the  state  and  was  the  theatre  of  the 
important  events  which  occurred  in  its  early  history. 

At  this  session  of  the  Legislature,  provision  was  also  made  for  opening  a 
land  office  in  Washington  County,  permission  being  given  that  each  head  of  a 
family  might  take  up  six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  his  wife  and  his  children 
one  hundred  acres  each,  all  at  the  rate  of  forty  shillings  per  hundred  acres. 
The  facility  with  which  settlers  might  obtain  lands  caused  a  large  influx  of 
pioneers  immediately,  although  no  wagon  road  had  been  opened  across  the 
mountains. 


2i  Chapter  XXXT   of  the  Laws  of   North   Carolina,  Iredell 's    Revisal,   p.   346.     By   this 
Act  the  County  of  Washington  was  "declared  to  be  part  of  the  District  of  Salisbury." 


840  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

At  leasl  eighl  years  prior  to  the  format  ion  of  this  county,  permanent  settlers 
had  taken  up  their  abodes  on  the  Watauga,  as  we  have  seen.  The  Watauga 
Association  was  formed  in  1772  and  Henderson's  Purchase  of  the  Transylvania 
Country  was  made  from  the  Indians  by  treaty  signed  in  1775  on  the  Watauga. 

John  Carter,  who  had  been  chairman  of  the  court  of  the  Watauga  Association, 
appointed  colonel  of  Washington  County. 

The  county  was  organized  on  February  23,  1778,  with  the  following  named 
magistrates  in  attendance:  John  Carter,  chairman,  John  Sevier,  Jacob  Womack, 
Robert  Lucas,  Andrew  Greer,  John  Shelby,  George  Russell,  Win.  Been,  Zachariah 
Fsbell,  John  McNabb,  Thomas  Houghton,  William  Clark,  John  McMahan,  Ben- 
jamin Gist,  John  Chisholm,  Joseph  Willson,  Wm.  Cobb,  Jas.  Stuart,  Michael 
Woods,  Richard  White,  Benjamin  Wilson,  James  Robertson,  and  Valentine 
Sevier.  On  the  next  day  the  officers  were  elected  as  follows:  John  Sevier, 
clerk;  Valentine  Sevier,  sheriff;  James  Stuart,  surveyor;  John  Carter,  entry- 
taker;  John  McMahan,  register;  Jacob  Womack,  stray-master:  and  John  Mc- 
Nabb, coroner. 

The  first  courthouse  was  built  by  Charles  Robertson.  Andrew  Jackson  lived 
in  Jonesboro  when  he  first  came  to  Tennessee  and  boarded  with  a  Mr.  Chester. 

Jonesboro,  the  oldest  town  in  the  state,  was  selected  for  the  county  seat.  It 
was  named  for  Willie  (pronounced  Wylie)  Jones,  who  had  shown  himself 
friendly  to  the  Watauga  settlers  when  they  had  sent  delegates  to  Halifax,  N.  O, 
to  see  the  governor.  Jonesboro  was  laid  off  in  1779.  The  first  and  the  last 
legislatures  of  the  State  of  Franklin  met  at  Jonesboro.  Many  noted  men  have 
lived  in  this  historic  place.  Among  them:  David  Nelson,  author  of  "The  Cause 
and  Cure  of  Infidelity,"  B.  F.  Lundy,  publisher  of  an  abolition  paper,  W.  G. 
Brownlow,  before  he  moved  to  Knoxville,  Landon  C.  Haynes,  uncle  of  Robert 
L.  and  Alfred  A.  Taylor,  Judge  T.  A.  R.  Nelson,  and  Chief  Justice  J.  W. 
Deaderick. 

Statistics  of  Washington  County :  Population,  1920,  34,052.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  +24,687,316.  Area,  344  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,865.  Railway  mileage,  59.  Drained  by  the  Nollichucky,  Watauga 
and  Holston  rivers.  Surface  diversified  with  mountains  and  valleys,  with 
forests  of  fine  timber.  Mineral  resources,  iron  ore  and  building  stone.  Inter- 
sected by  the  Southern  Railway,  and  other  railways  are  the  Carolina,  Clinch- 
field  and  Ohio  and  the  East  Tennessee  &  Western  North  Carolina.  Jonesboro, 
the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  815,  is  on  the  Southern  Railway,  and  has 
fine  schools,  churches,  newspaper,  banks,  iron  foundry,  and  several  manufac- 
turing establishments.  Johnson  City  has  a  population  of  12,442  and  has  a  large 
number  of  manufacturing  establishments.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  National  Soldiers' 
Home  and  the  East  Tennessee  Normal.  It  has  daily  and  weekly  newspapers 
and  is  one  of  the  flourishing  cities  in  East  Tennessee.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  10,247 ;  high  schools,  10 ;  elementary  schools,  60. 

Middle  Tennessee 

bedford  county 

Bedford  County  was  erected  on  December  3,  1807,  out  of  Rutherford 
County  and  was  named  for  Thomas  Bedford.  It  was  organized  in  1808.  Early 
settlers   were:      Clement    Cannon,    Philip   Burrow,    Freeman    Burrow,   William 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  841 

McMahon,  Matt  Martin,  Barkley  Martin,  Mrs.  Mary  Scruggs,  William  Hix, 
Robert  and  Henry  Hastings,  "Sally"  Sailors,  Joseph  Tillman,  James  Reagan, 
David  Floyd,  Thomas  Gibson,  and  Cuthbert  Word.  The  two  Martins  and  five 
of  their  brothers  served  seven  years  under  George  Washington. 

Several  thousand  acres  of  land  in  Bedford  County  were  issued  by  North 
Carolina  to  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Continental  Line.  Others  were  issued 
for  the  State  of  Tennessee.  Among  the  latter  was  a  grant  to  Andrew  Jackson 
for  land  near  Fall  Creek. 

In  1808,  the  county  was  organized  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Payne  near  the  head 
of  Mulberry  Creek.  In  1809,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  providing  for  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  consisting  of  John  Atkinson,  William  Wood, 
Barthell  Martin,  Howell  Dandy  and  David  McKissack  to  locate  a  county  seat 
within  two  miles  of  the  center  of  the  county.  Afterwards,  John  Lane  and 
Benjamin  Bradford  were  added  to  the  committee.  The  home  of  Amos  Balch, 
two  or  three  miles  southeast  of  Shelbyville,  was  the  county  seat  temporarily.  It 
was  permanency  located  at  Shelbyville,22  in  May,  1810,  on  land  donated  by 
Clement  Cannon.     Shelbyville  was  incorporated  on  October  7,  1819. 

The  first  courthouse  was  erected  in  1810  or  soon  afterwards.  The  first 
chancery  court  was  held  in  1836.  Prominent  lawyers  of  the  early  days  were : 
Archibald  Yell,  who  was  governor  of  Arkansas,  1840-1844.  William  Gilchrist, 
1.  J.  Frierson,  William  II.  Wisener,  Henry  Cooper,  Hugh  L.  Davidson  and 
Thos.  Whitesides. 

Early  physicians  were :  Doctors  J.  G.  Barksdale,  Grant  Whitney,  James  Kin- 
cade,  Frank  Blakemore,  G.  W.  Fogleman,  and  John  Blakemore. 

Famous  schools  were:  Salem  Academy,  established  at  Bellbuckle  in  1820; 
the  Martin  School  at  Fairfield,  in  1828;  the  school  of  Rev.  Geo.  Newton,  started 
near  Wartraee  in  1815  or  1816;  Dixon  Academy,  estabMshed  in  Shelbyville  in 
1820 ;  the  Webb  School  at  Bellbuckle ;  the  Brandon  Training  School  at  Wartraee : 
and  the  Tate  School  at  Shelbyville. 

Probably  the  earliest  church  was  Salem  built  about  1807  near  Shelbyville. 
Rev.  John  Brooks  "rode  circuit"  in  this  county. 

The  war  record  of  Bedford  County  is  remarkable.  It  furnished  a  full  com- 
pany in  the  War  of  1812,  which  took  part  in  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.  Its 
captain  was  Barrett  and  some  of  the  members  were:  John  Farrer,  Wm.  Haz- 
lett,  James  Gowan,  Michael  Womack,  Jno.  L.  Neil,  James,  Philip  and  William 
Burrows,  John  Casteel,  Wm.  Wood,  "Sally"  Sailors,  Robt.  Fergison,  Wm.  P. 
Finch,  Jno.  Pool,  Andrew  Mathus,  Townsend  Fugett,  Wesley  Rainwater,  Ben- 
jamin Webb,  Martin  Hancock,  J.  L.  W.  Dillard,  John  Murphey,  Moses  Pruitt, 
and  James  Scott.  It  furnished  a  full  company  under  Captain  Hunter  in  the  Sec- 
ond Seminole  war.  In  this  company  were:  Lewis  Tillman,  William  Wood,  Albert 
Smell,  John  Hudlow,  John  Stone,  Standards,  Thomas,  and  Abraham  McMahon. 
In  the  war  with  Mexico  it  furnished  a  company  under  Cant.  E.  W.  Frierson. 
In  the  war  between  the  States  it  furnished  troops  to  both  the  Federal  and  the 
Confederate  armies  in  almost  ecpial  proportions. 

Statistics  of  Bedford  County:  Population,  1920,  21,737.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $17,532,014.  Area,  550  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,340.  Railway  mileage,  25.  Drained  by  Duck  River  and  tributaries. 
Traversed  by  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway.     Farms  are  in  a  tine 


22  Named  for  Col.  Isaac  Shelby. 


842         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

state  of  cultivation,  and  staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  cotton,  grasses  and 
live  stock.  Shelbyville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,912  and  is  on  a 
branch  of  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway.  It  has  an  electric  light  plant,  water 
works,  cotton  factory,  a  hub  and  spoke  factory,  foundry,  saw  mills,  planing  mills, 
and  other  manufacturing  enterprises,  with  good  banks,  churches  and  schools, 
and  two  newspapers.  Other  prosperous  towns  are  Bellbuckle,  Wartrace,  Nor- 
mandy, Flat  Creek  and  Unionville.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  7,403; 
high  schools,  5 ;  elementary  schools,  74. 

CANNON  COUNTY 

Cannon  County  was  erected  on  January  21,  1836,  out  of  Warren,  Coffee, 
Wilson  and  Rutherford  counties  and  was  named  for  Newton  Cannon,  who  was 
governor  at  that  time,  and  who  appointed  a  commission  of  five  members  to  estab- 
lish the  lines  between  Cannon  and  the  adjoining  counties  and  to  lay  off  a  public 
square  at  Danville  which  was  the  name  of  the  county  seat  until  it  was  changed 
to  Woodbury  in  honor  of  Gen.  Levi  Woodbury. 

Henry  D.  McBroom  and  his  brother  owned  most  of  the  land  on  and  adjacent 
to  the  public  square  of  Woodbury  and  the  former  gave  every  alternate  lot 
around  it  to  those  who  would  put  up  a  structure  on  it.  He  also  owned  the  only 
hotel  or  inn  at  that  time.  He  later  built  the  Dillon  Hotel  which  was  an  historic 
structure.     It  was  burned  in  1907. 

At  the  time  the  county  was  organized  the  only  store  in  Woodbury  (Danville) 
was  that  of  Henry  Wiley. 

Among  the  early  pioneers  were :  Henry  D.  McBroom,  Wm.  Hollis,  John 
Wood,  Henry  Ford,  Wm.  Mears,  Usibel  Stone,  Benj.  Allen,  Geo.  St.  John,  Wm. 
McFerrin,  Joshua  Barton,  Archibald  Stone,  Asa  Smith,  Elijah  Stephens,  Wm. 
Preston,  Sr.,  Walter  Wood,  Benjamin  Cummings,  Sr.,  Warren  Cuminings,  Wm. 
Cummings,  Sr.,  John  Stone,  Andrew  Melton,  Alexander  McBroom,  Wm.  James, 
John  Wood,  James  Todd,  Benjamin  Hale,  Jno.  Haley,  Archibald  Hicks,  Gideon 
Rucker,  Lonis  Jetton,  Gabriel  Elkins,  James  Avent,  and  Lemuel  Moore. 

The  first  County  Court  met  in  May,  1836,  at  the  tavern  of  Henry  D.  McBroom, 
with  the  following  named  magistrates  in  attendance :  Thomas  Powell,  Allen 
Haley,  Joseph  Simpson,  Blake  Sedgley,  Isaac  Finley,  Jas.  L.  Essary,  Isaac  W. 
Ellidge,  John  Pendleton,  I.  M.  Brown,  Elijah  Stephens,  F.  L.  Turner,  C.  C. 
Evans,  John  Melton,  Samuel  Lance,  Wm.  Bates,  John  Martin,  Wm.  B.  Foster, 
John  Frazer,  Martin  Phillips,  Lemuel  Moore,  Reuben  Evans,  Jas.  Goodwin, 
Peter  Reynolds,  Jas.  Batey,  Joel  Cheatham  and  Jonathan  Fuston.  The  following 
named  officials  qualified  at  this  meeting:  Samuel  J.  Garrison,  county  court 
clerk;  Geo.  Grizzle,  sheriff;  Alex.  F.  McFerrin,  register;  Job  Stephens,  trustee; 
Alexander  McKnight,  coroner;  Henry  H.  Clifton,  ranger;  Wm.  Stone,  entry- 
taker;  Hugh  Robinson,  surveyor.  A  committee  of  six  consisting  of  Hugh  Rob- 
inson, James  Clark,  Arch  Stone,  Wm.  Bates,  John  B.  Stone,  and  Jno.  Brown, 
was  appointed  to  lay  off  town  lots. 

Statistics  of  Cannon  County:  Population,  1920,  10,241.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,248,639.  Area,  280  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,992.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  numerous  small  streams. 
Surface  hilly  and  rolling  and  soil  very  fertile.  Corn,  wheat  and  live  stock  are 
staple  products.  Woodbury,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  278,  and  is  a 
flourishing  town  with  good  schools,  churches,  bank,  weekly  newspaper  and  pros- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  843 

perous  mercantile  establishments.     Scholastic  population  of  county,  4,560 ;  high 
schools,  7;  elementary  schools,  34. 

CHEATHAM   COUNTY 

Cheatham  County  was  erected  on  February  28,  1856,  out  of  parts  of  Davidson, 
Robertson,  Dickson  and  Montgomery  counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of 
Nathaniel  Cheatham,  speaker  of  the  Senate  at  this  time.  Early  settlers  located 
along  the  streams.  Benjamin  Darrow  located  his  home  near  Sycamore  Mills 
about  1790.  About  the  same  time  John  Hyde  and  Howard  Alley  settled  near 
Pleasant  View.  In  1796  a  settlement  was  made  at  Ashland  City  by  Robert 
Heaton  and  Braxton  Lee.  For  the  protection  of  the  settlers  against  the  Indians 
a  blockhouse  was  erected  at  Half  Pone. 

The  first  county  seat  was  held  at  Sycamore  Mills  on  May  15,  1856,  when  the 
following  magistrates  qualified :  W.  L.  Gower,  chairman ;  B.  F.  Binkley,  J.  M. 
Lee,  F.  L.  Hooper,  Jesse  Hooper,  N.  Crockett,  J.  L.  Majors,  R.  T.  Gupton,  W.  W. 
Williams,  A.  J.  Bright  and  R.  L.  Weakley.  Samuel  Watson,  the  first  county 
judge,  qualified  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  1856.  For  the  county  seat  land 
was  bought  at  Ashland  from  Mr.  Lennox.  The  County  Court  held  its  sessions 
at  Forest  Hill,  a  short  distance  south  of  Ashland,  until  November,  1857,  when 
its  session  was  held  for  the  first  time  at  Ashland. 

On  December  8,  1859,  Ashland  became  an  incorporated  town  under  the  name 
of  Ashland  City,  but  through  negligence  of  county  officials  the  charter  was 
forfeited.  It  was  incorporated  again  with  E.  Dozier  as  mayor  about  fourteen 
years  ago. 

To  Prof.  A.  S.  Link  is  due,  in  no  small  measure,  the  great  interest  which  the 
people  of  this  county  take  in  education.  He  founded  Ashland  Institute  in  1880, 
and  after  one  year  was  joined  by  R.  S.  Turner.  Professor  Link  established  the 
Link  School  at  Thomasville  in  1902.  In  1859,  Millwood  Academy  was  opened  at 
Sycamore  by  Professors  Marvin  and  Lawrence.  In  1884,  Pleasant  View  School 
was  opened  by  Prof.  W.  I.  Harper.  In  1868,  the  Sycamore  Powder  Mills  bought 
the  entire  machinery  of  the  Confederate  works  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  and  moved  il 
to  Sycamore  where  it  produced  an  important  output  until  1904. 

At  the  narrows  of  the  Harpeth  River,  Montgomery  Bell  carried  on  the  manu- 
facture of  iron  for  many  years. 

Statistics  of  Cheatham  County :  Population,  1920,  10,039.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,840,766.  Area,  400  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,449.  Mileage  of  railway,  28.  Drained  by  Cumberland  River  and 
tributaries.  Surface  rolling  and  generally  fertile.  Has  a  fine  growth  of  timber. 
Corn,  tobacco,  wheat  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  The  Nashville,  Chatta- 
nooga &  St.  Louis  railways  traverse  the  county.  Ashland  City,  the  county  seat, 
has  a  population  of  649,  is  on  the  Cumberland  River  and  the  Tennessee  Central 
Railway,  and  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  bank,  newspaper,  and  several 
prosperous  business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,413; 
high  schools,  3 ;  elementary  schools,  58. 

CLAY  COUNTY 

Clay  County  was  named  in  honor  of  Henry  Clay.  It  was  erected  December 
7,  1870,  from  nearly  equal  parts  of  Jackson  and  Overton  counties.     Celina  was 


844         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

selected  for  the  county  seal  over  Butler's  Landing  and  Bennett's  Perry.    Celina 

is  located  at  the  mouth  of  Obed  River  and  for  many  years  lias  been  one  of  the 
most  important  trading  and  shipping  points  on  the  upper  Cumberland. 

In  thai  part  of  Clay  County  taken  from  Overton  County,  and  in  Overton 
County,  John  Sevier  located  57,000  acres  of  land  on  the  visit  to  which  lie  refers 
in  his  diary,  a  copy  of  which  was  secured  by  the  Tennessee  Historical  Society 
only  a  few  years  ago.  After  his  death,  in  1815,  his  widow  moved  to  the  Dale, 
known  later  as  the  Clark  place  in  Clay  County.  From  there  she  moved  to 
Alabama  wdiere  she  died.  Her  remains  were  removed  to  Knoxville  last  year  and 
now  repose  beside  those  of  her  distinguished  husband. 

Statistics  of  Clay  County:  Population,  1920,  9,193.  Assessed  valuation  of 
taxable  property,  1921,  $3,571,848.  Area,  217  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
1,605.  Railway  mileage,  none.  This  comity  borders  on  Kentucky  and  is  drained 
by  the  Cumberland  and  its  tributary.  Obed  River.  Its  surface  is  hilly,  and  the 
soil  of  the  river  bottoms  is  very  fertile.  It  has  tine  forests  of  timber.  Corn, 
tobacco,  wheat,  oats  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Celina,  the  county  seat, 
has  a  population  of  420.  It  is  on  the  Cumberland  River  and  has  g-ood  schools 
and  churches,  a  bank,  a  weekly  newspaper,  and  a  number  of  prosperous  mer- 
cantile establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,077;  high  schools,  4; 
elementary  schools,  45. 

COFFEE  COUNTY 

Coffee  County  was  organized  on  May  2,  1846,  and  was  originally  composed  of 
Warren,  Franklin  and  Bedford.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  John  Coffee. 
By  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  on  January  8,  1836,  the  following  named  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  run  the  boundary  lines  of  the  new  county  and  to 
locate  the  county  seat,  viz. :  Hugh  Davidson,  Alexander  Blakely,  David  Hiek- 
erson,  Thomas  Powers,  Wm.  Bradshaw  and  Lecil  Bobo.  They  selected  a  site 
on  the  lands  of  James  p]vans  and  Andrew  Haynes,  who,  on  March  1,  1836, 
donated  two  hundred  acres  to  the  county  for  this  purpose.  In  March,  1836, 
also,  the  following  named  men  were  elected  magistrates  from  the  ten  civil 
districts  into  which  the  county  had  been  divided,  viz. :  Adam  Rayburn,  John  G. 
Walker,  Alfred  Ashley,  John  Lusk,  Larkin  Burnham,  Robert  S.  Rayburn, 
Alexander  Downey,  James  Yell,  Gabriel  Jones,  William  Hodge,  Johnson  Garrett, 
Josiah  Berry,  John  Charles,  Wm.  Montgomery,  Wade  Stroud,  Lecil  Bobo,  John 
W.  Camden,  Jesse  Wooten,  Jas.  M.  Arnold,  and  Wm.  Holmes. 

Their  first  session  was  on  May  2,  1836,  at  the  Baptist  meeting-  house  on  the 
site  of  Manchester.  .John  W.  Camden  was  made  chairman  and  the  following 
officers  qualified:  Daniel  McLean,  county  court  clerk;  John  Bell,  sheriff;  James 
A.  Brantley,  register;  Moses  P.  White,  trustee;  and  Wm.  P.  Harris,  coroner. 

The  sessions  of  the  county  court  were  held  in  the  log  house  used  by  the 
Baptists  as  a  church  until  1837,  when  a  courthouse  was  erected. 

The  circuit  court  was  organized  in  June,  1836,  with  Samuel  Anderson  as  a 
judge  and  James  Whiteside,  attorney  general.  Its  sessions  were  held  in  the  log 
house  of  a  private  citizen. 

It  is  said  that  Manchester,  the  county  seat,  was  named  for  Manchester, 
England,  because  it  was  thought  that  the  Coffee  County  capital  would,  in  time, 
be  famed  like  its  imagined  prototype,  for  its  iron  manufactures. 

Near  Manchester,  in  the  forks  of  Duck  River,  is  what  is  known  as  Stone  Fort, 


DAVIDSON   COUNTY   COURTHOUSE,   NASHVILLE 
Built  in  1803:   burned  in  1856 


DAVIDSON  COUNTY  COURTHOUSE,   NASHVILLE,   1870 


THE  HRKARV 
OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  847 

evidently  a  fortification  of  some  prehistoric  race.  It  encloses  an  area  of  thirty- 
seven  acres  and  from  its  walls  of  loose  stones  covered  with  earth  have  grown 
trees  of  great  age. 

Statistics  of  Coffee  County:  Population,  1920,  17,344.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921^  $9,405,734.  Area,  about  350  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,314.  Railway  mileage,  29.  This  county  is  situated  at  the  western 
base  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains,  and  is  traversed  by  the  Nashville,  Chatta- 
nooga &  St.  Louis  Railway.  The  soil  is  a  mixture  of  loam  and  sand,  with  a  good 
clay  subsoil,  and  is  easily  worked.  Fruits  and  vegetables  can  be  produced  in 
great  abundance.  Tobacco  cultivation  is  becoming  extensive.  Staple  products 
are  wheat,  corn,  oats,  tobacco,  live  stock.  The  county  is  drained  by  Duck  River 
and  tributaries.  Manchester,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  1,114,  is  on 
the  north  fork  of  Duck  River  and  on  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway.  It  has 
churches,  schools,  banks,  two  weekly  newspapers,  waterworks,  and  many  pros- 
perous business  establishments.  Tullahoma,  on  the  main  line  of  the  N.  C.  & 
St.  L.  Railway,  has  a  population  of  3,479,  has  fine  schools  and  churches,  banks,  a 
weekly  newspaper,  an  electric  light  plant,  and  numerous  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments and  prosperous  stores.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  5,812 ;  high 
schools,  3 ;  elementary  schools,  61. 

DAVIDSON  COUNTY 

Davidson  County  was  created  by  act  of  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina, 
approved  October  6,  1783.  It  originally  included  most  of  the  territory  west  of 
Hie  Cumberland  Mountains  now  included  in  Middle  Tennessee.  It  was  named 
for  Gen.  Wm.  Lea  Davidson,  concerning  whom  Mr.  Hugh  Davidson  of  Shelby- 
ville,  says:  "Gen.  Wm.  Lea  Davidson  was  killed  at  Cowan's  Ford,  N.  C, 
February  1,  1781,  while  resisting  the  advance  of  British  troops  commanded  by 
Colonel  Hall.  Davidson  County,  N.  C,  Davidson  College,  Davidsonville  and 
Davidson  River  were  named  in  his  honor.  Also,  Davidson  County,  Tennessee, 
and  Davidson  Academy.  His  widow,  who  was  Miss  Mary  Brevard,  a  daughter 
of  John  Brevard,  came  with  her  family  at  a  very  early  date  to  near  Nashville, 
and  experienced  the  dangers  and  privations  of  pioneer  life." 

"It  was  believed  by  General  Davidson's  friends  and  relatives  in  North 
Carolina,  that  he  was  killed  by  a  renegade  Tory,  Frederick  Hager,  as  his  body 
was  pierced  by  a  bullet  from  what  was  considered  a  small  boi*ed  gun  at  that 
time  and  Hager  was  known  to  carry  such  a  gun  at  that  time.  After  the 
Revolutionary  war,  Hager,  together  with  several  others  of  his  renegade  class, 
fled  to  Tennessee.  About  1811,  John  Davidson  and  Hugh  Davidson  came  out 
from  Buncombe  County,  N.  C.  The  first  settled  on  "Union  Ridge"  and  the 
latter  about  two  miles  up  Duck  River  from  Normandy.  Hager  hearing  of  these 
two  Davidsons,  fled  again,  this  time  to  the  wilderness  of  Arkansas,  to  a  point 
on  the  Arkansas  River  now  known  as  Six  Post,  where  he  finished  his  miserable 
existence,  leaving  a  large  family. 

"Gen.  "Wm.  Lea  Davidson  was  a  first  cousin  of  Maj.  Wm.  Davidson,  4th  N.  C. 
Reg.  Cont,  Line.  From  Maj.  Wm.  Davidson  descend  the  Davidson  family  and 
the  Hons.  George  N.  and  Abram  Tillman,  of  Nashville." 

When  the  County  of  Davidson  was  formed,  the  county  seal  was  named 
Nashborough,  after  Gen.  Francis  Nash,  of  North  Carolina,  who  was  killed  in 
the  battle  of  Germantown.     The  name  was  changed  to  Nashville  by  act  of  the 


848  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

North  Carolina  Legislature  in  1784.  In  this  year  the  first  courthouse  was  built 
of  hewn  logs,  was  eighteen  feet  square  with  a  lean-to  of  two  feet. 

For  account  of  historic  spots  and  places  in  Davidson  County,  see  Chapter 
XXXI.     For  further  history,  see  the  main  narrative. 

Statistics  of  Davidson  County:  Population,  1920.  167,815.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $197,134,968.  Area,  SOS  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  3,051.  Railway  mileage,  150.  Drained  by  the  Cumberland  River  and 
tributaries.  Its  surface  is  gently  undulating  and  in  some  sections  is  well 
timbered.  Soil  fertile  and  well  adapted  to  diversified  agriculture.  The  county 
successfully  produces  67  different  field  crops  and  fifty-four  varieties  of  garden 
vegetables.  Ten  varieties  of  berries  are  grown  in  the  county,  and  more  than  a 
dozen  varieties  of  other  fruits.  The  county  has  a  fine  system  of  free  turnpikes. 
Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  cotton,  oats,  grass,  fruits  and  live  stock.  Dairy- 
ing industry  has  inereased  largely  in  last  few  years.  Nashville,  the  county  seat 
and  capital  of  the  state,  has  a  population  of  118,342.  It  is  situated  on  the  Cum- 
berland River,  which  is  navigable  below  Nashville  to  the  Ohio,  and  above  Nash- 
ville to  Point  Burnside,  Ky.,  a  distance  of  about  350  miles,  during  a  part  of 
the  year.  Government  locks  and  dams  make  the  river  navigable  for  all  the 
year  as  far  as  Carthage,  and  it  is  expected  that  the  system  will  be  completed 
to  Point  Burnside.  Besides  the  river,  Nashville  has  excellent  transportation 
facilities  in  the  Louisville  &  Nashville,  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis 
and  the  Tennessee  Central.  The  city  has  splendid  streets  and  owns  its  electric 
light  and  water  plants.  The  city  has  nearly  one  hundred  miles  of  electric  railwaj7 
and  two  interurban  lines  reaching  towns  in  adjoining  counties.  Nashville  is  one 
of  the  largest  jobbing  centers  in  the  South,  supplying  a  large  territory  in  Ten- 
nessee and  adjoining  states.  It  is  a  large  manufacturing  center,  its  industries 
giving  employment  to  many  thousands  of  wage  earners.  It  is  one  of  the  largest 
hardwood  lumber  markets  in  the  United  States,  and  its  milling  interests  are 
larger  than  those  of  any  other  southern  city.  It  is  a  large  boot  and  shoe  market 
and  engages  largely  in  the  manufacture  of  these  articles.  Its  daily  newspapers 
have  wide  circulation  and  large  influence.  Its  book  and  periodical  business  is 
the  largest  of  any  city  in  the  South,  and  it  is  the  second  largest  religious  pub- 
lication center  in  the  United  States.  It  is  a  financial  center,  its  banks  having 
combined  assets  of  $60,000,000.  Clearings  for  1921  amounted  to  $845,509,813.12. 
Its  public  schools  are  as  good  as  those  of  any  city  in  the  country,  and  its  other 
institutions  of  learning,  including  Vanderbilt  University,  Peabody  College  for 
teachers  and  Ward-Belmont  School  for  young  women  have  made  it  famous  in 
all  the  branches  of  learning.  Information  will  be  furnished  by  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce  of  Nashville.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  50,835 ;  high  schools, 
1  7  :  elementary  schools,  86. 

DE  KALB   COUNTY 

DeKalb  County  was  erected  in  1837  out  of  parts  of  White,  Warren,  Can- 
non, Wilson  and  Jackson,  and  was  named  for  Baron  DeKalb,  an  officer  in  the 
Revolutionary  war,  who  had  fallen  at  Camden,  New  Jersey.  The  act  creating 
this  county  provided  that  the  first  court  should  be  held  at  the  house  of  Bernard 
Richardson,  near  Smithville,  which  was  chosen  for  the  county  seat  and  named 
for  John  Smith  Bryan,  who  was  commonly  called  "Smith."     The  committee 


BRYAN  TERMINALS  ON  THE  CUMBERLAND  RIVER,  NASHVILLE 


OF  FHE 
UMIVEH«ITY  OF  ILLMMS 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  851 

appointed  to  select  the  county  seat  was:  Thomas  Durham,  Joseph  Banks,  Thos. 
Allen,  Watson  Cantrell  and  Joseph  Clark. 

Bernard  Richardson  gave  to  the  county  fifty  acres  for  the  county  seat,  a  part 
of  which  was  laid  out  in  lots  which  were  sold  at  public  sale. 

On  March  5,  1838,  the  county  was  organized  with  the  following  named 
magistrates  in  attendance :  Lemuel  Moore,  chairman ;  Reuben  Evans,  Joseph 
Turney,  Thomas  Simpson,  John  Martin,  Watson  Cantrell,  David  Fisher,  Wm. 
Scott,  Samuel  Strong,  Henry  Burton,  Martin  Phillips,  John  Frazier,  Joel 
Cheatham,  Jonathan  Fuston,  Peter  Reynolds  and  James  Batey. 

A.  J.  Marchbanks  was  the  first  circuit  judge,  and  B.  L.  Ridley  the  first 
chancellor. 

The  first  settlement  in  DeKalb  County  was  made  in  1797  by  Adam  Dale, 
who  came  from  Maryland  and  located  on  Smith's  Fork  Creek  near  Liberty, 
and  erected  there  the  first  mill  in  the  county. 

Other  early  settlers  were:  Thomas  Whaley,  Josiah  Duncan,  Henry  Burton, 
Thomas  West,  William  and  John  Dale,  James  and  William  Bratton,  William 
and  George  Givan,  the  Walkers,  the  Pruitts,  Jacob  and  Abraham  Overall,  Robin 
Forester,  Reuben  Evan,  Matthew  Sellers,  Benj.  Blades,  Nicholas  Smith,  Benj. 
Garrison,  Jesse  Allen,  Martin  Phillips,  Britton  Johnson,  Giles  Driver,  Levi 
Bozarth,  David  Taylor,  P.  G.  Magness,  Zachariah  Lefever,  John  Wooldridge, 
Bernard  Richardson,  William  Adcock,  Wm.  Floyd,  John  Vantrease,  Jonathan 
and  Stewart  Doss,  E.  Turner,  James  Goodner,  Edmund  Turner,  Wm.  Grand- 
staff,  Thomas  Simpson  and  Wm.  Wright. 

Statistics  of  DeKalb  County :  Population,  1920,  15,370.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,497,060.  Area,  310  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,792.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  the  Caney  Fork  River. 
Surface  hilly  in  part  and  well  covered  in  timber.  The  soil  is  fertile  and  the 
staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  and  live  stock.  Splendid  fruit  growing  section. 
Has  some  deposits  of  zinc  and  clay.  Smithville,  county  seat,  has  a  population 
of  687,  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  bank,  flourishing  stores, 
flouring  mill  and  spoke  and  handle  factory.  Alexandria  has  a  population 
of  510,  has  good  schools  and  churches,  bank  and  prosperous  business  establish- 
ments. Liberty  is  another  thriving  town  in  DeKalb  County.  Scholastic  popu- 
lation of  county,  4,728 ;  high  schools,  5 ;  elementary  schools,  71. 

DICKSON   COUNTY 

Dickson  County  was  erected  on  October  3,  1803,  out  of  part  of  Robertson 
and  Montgomery  counties,  and  was  named  for  William  Dickson,  a  member  of 
Congress,  representing  the  Mero  District.  Its  first  settlements  began  about  1793 
when  a  large  body  of  land  was  granted  by  the  State  of  North  Carolina  to 
Robert  Bell  and  described  as  being  located  on  Jones  Creek.  In  February  of 
the  same  year  the  Cumberland  Furnace,  the  earliest  furnace  in  the  West,  was 
started  by  James  Robertson,  by  whom  it  was  sold  to  Montgomery  Bell.  All 
deeds  were  proven  before  Andrew  Jackson,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Law  and  Equity. 

The  first  County  and  Circuit  courts  were  held  at  the  home  of  James  Nesbit, 
on  Barton's  Creek,  a  few  miles  from  Charlotte.  It  was  organized  by  the  fol- 
lowing named  magistrates:  Montgomery  Bell,  William  Doak,  Sterling  Brewer, 


852  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Win.  Russell,  Gabriel  Allen,  William  Teas,  Samuel  Harvey,  Richard  Napier  and 
Jesse  Croft. 

In  1804  the  Town  of  Charlotte,  named  for  Aunt  Charlotte  Robertson,  one 
of  the  early  settlers,  was  laid  off  by  a  man  named  Ash,  who  reserved  the  central 
lot  for  a  courthouse.  In  1806  it  became  the  county  seat.  Tracy  Academy,  a 
noted  educational  institution,  was  established  there  about  1830.  Between  1810 
and  181:2  the  county  buildings  were  completed,  and,  for  the  next  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years,  Charlotte  was  a  place  of  much  importance.  From  1819  to 
1821  the  Supreme  Court  held  regular  sessions  there. 

Early  settlers  in  this  county  were:  John  Nesbit,  .Montgomery  Bell,  Rich- 
ard Napier,  Abraham  Caldwell,  and  Hudson  Johnson. 

On  May  12,  1810,  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  at 
the  home  of  Rev.  Samuel  McAdoo,  near  the  present  City  of  Dickson,  and  its 
centennial  celebration  was  fittingly  observed  in  1910. 

In  consequence  of  the  effort  made,  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  to  move  the 
county  seat  from  Charlotte  to  Dickson,  the  county  now  has  a  courthouse  at 
each  of  these  towns  and  two  Circuit  and  Chancery  courts,  an  arrangement 
which   has  proved  eminently  satisfactory. 

In  1897  an  effort  was  made  to  establish  a  Socialist  Colony  in  this  county, 
which  effort  attracted  nation-wide  attention.  J.  A.  Wayland,  of  Greencastle, 
Indiana,  located  a  company  at  Tennessee  City,  and  established  there  a  peri- 
odical entitled  The  Coming  Nation.  Dissension  arose  and  Wayland  went 
away  but  those  of  the  colony  who  remained  secured  a  site  on  Yellow  Creek, 
at  the  noted  Adam's  Cave,  six  miles  north  of  Tennessee  City,  where,  under  new 
leadership,  they  began  operating  again,  continued  the  publication  of  The 
Coming  Nation,  and  named  the  enterprise  The  Ruskin  Colony.  Dissensions, 
however,  again  arose,  a  legal  battle  ensued,  and  the  effort  ended  in  dis- 
aster. .  The  remnant  of  the  colony  removed  to  Waycross,  Ga.  Ruskin  Cave 
and  the  site  of  the  former  colony  are  now  the  property  of  the  Ruskin  Cave 
College   Company. 

Statistics  of  Dickson  County:  Population,  1920,  19,342.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,617,329.  Area,  620  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,544.  Railway  mileage,  49.  Drained  by  Cumberland  River  and  its 
tributary,  Harpeth.  Surface  undulating,  partly  covered  with  forest.  Soil  is 
fertile  and  the  staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco  and  live  stock.  Char- 
lotte, the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  200,  is  twelve  miles  from  the  N.  C. 
&  St.  L.  Railway  and  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  bank  and  flourishing 
stores.  Dickson,  on  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway,  is  a  town  of  2,263  population, 
and  has  excellent  schools,  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, banks,  and  stores  doing  large  business.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  6,488;  high  schools,  4;  elementary  schools,  79. 

FENTRESS   COUNTY 

Fer.tress  County  was  erected  in  1823  out  of  Overton  and  Morgan  counties 
and  was  named  for  James  Fentress,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  five  consecutive  terms,  from  1814-1823.  Jamestown,  the  county  seat,  was 
named  for  his  praenomen.  Before  this  action  it  was  called  Sand  Springs.  In 
18'27  John  M.  Clemens,  father  of  Samuel  Clemens  (Mark  Twain),  was  a  lawyer 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  853 

residing  in  Jamestown  and  the  Obedstown  of  the  "Gilded  Age"  was  the 
Jamestown  of  that  time,  now  familiarly  known  as  Jimtown. 

The  first  court  was  held  at  Three  Forks  of  the  Wolf  River.  The  first 
courthouse  23  was  built  in  1828  and  Jamestown  was  incorporated  in  1837. 

Among  the  first  settlers  were :  Conrad  Pile,  Pearson  Miller,  Arthur  Frogge, 
John  Riley,  and  Moses  Poor. 

Obey's  River,  or  Obed  River,  is  said  to  have  been  named  for  one  of  the 
long  hunters,  Obediah  Terrill. 

This  county  was  the  home  of  the  notorious  Federal  bushwhacker,  "Tinker 
Dave"  Beattie,  and  of  Calvin  Logston,  who,  with  others,  perpetrated  cruel 
and  bloody  deeds  in  reconstruction  times,  and  also  of  Marsha  Millsaps,  who, 
in  1843,  was  charged  with  being  a  witch,  and  of  "Old  Man"  Stout  who,  in 
1835,  was  accused  of  practicing  witchcraft. 

As  is  well  known,  this  county  is  the  home  of  the  famous  Sergeant  Alvin  C. 
York,  whose  wonderful  exploit  in  the  World  war  is  familiar  to  everybody. 
History  will  record  him  as  Fentress  County's  most  illustrious  citizen  of  all 
times. 

Statistics  of  Fentress  County:  Population,  1920,  10,435.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,639,378.  Area,  510  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,214.  Railway  mileage,  25.  Drained  by  Obed,  Clear  Fork  and  Wolf 
rivers,  tributaries  of  the  Cumberland,  and  by  Clear  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the 
Tennessee.  Eastern  three-fourths  of  county  is  high  tableland.  Northern  por- 
tion is  the  Wolf  River  valley,  a  fertile  farming  section,  where  is  situated  the 
farm  given  to  Sergeant  Alvin  C.  York,  World  War  hero.  Coal  mines  are  op- 
erated in  the  western  and  eastern  parts  of  the  county  and  there  are  large  areas 
of  undeveloped  coal  lands.  Plateau  and  the  mountain  sides  are  covered  with 
fine  timber.  Natural  grasses  make  fine  grazing  for  cattle.  Jamestown,  county 
seat,  has  a  population  of  about  seven  hundred,  is  a  growing  town,  with  good 
schools  and  churches,  manufacturing  establishments,  prosperous  stores,  bank, 
etc.  Fentress  County  is  the  only  county  in  Tennessee,  thus  far,  to  produce 
crude  oil  in  paying  quantities.  Jamestown,  county  seat,  has  been  made  historic 
as  the  Obedstown  of  Mark  Twain's  "Gilded  Age."  Mark  Twain's  father  at 
one  time  lived  in  Fentress  County,  owning  large  areas  of  land.  The  first  Amer- 
ican soldier  wounded  in  France  was  from  Fentress  County,  as  was  the  World 
war's  greatest  hero.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,612;  high  schools,  3; 
elementary  schools,  56. 

FRANKLIN    COUNTY 

Franklin  County  was  erected  on  December  3,  1807,  from  Warren  and 
Bedford  counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  county 
seat  was  named  Winchester  for  Gen.  James  Winchester.  The  site  of  Winchester 
was  purchased  from  Christopher  for  $1.  No  courts,  however,  were  held  in 
Winchester  until  1814.  The  first  County  Court  was  held  at  the  home  of  Maj. 
Wm.  Russell  in  1808. 

According  to  tradition  the  earliest  settlers  were:  Maj.  Wm.  Russell,  and 
Jesse  Bean,  both  of  whom  arrived  about  1800. 


23  The  plan  for  this  courthouse  was  made  by  Mark  Twain's  father,  who  was  the  first 
Circuit  Court  clerk  of  Fentress  County  and  by  far  the  largest  land  owner.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  the  Si  Hawkins  of  the  ' '  Gilded  Age. ' ' 


854  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

A  large  number  of  men  eminent  in  the  history  of  the  state  have  been 
citizens  of  Franklin  County.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned:  Judge  Nathan 
Green,  Thomas  Fletcher,  Edward  Venable,  Hopkins  L.  Turney,  and  his  son, 
Governor  Peter  Turney,  Dr.  F.  J.  Campbell,  A.  S.  Colyar,  Governor  A.  S. 
Marks,  Thos.  Gregory,  and  Governor  Isham  G.  Harris.  The  most  famous  edu- 
cational institution  of  learning  in  the  county  and  one  of  the  most  famous  in 
the  United  States,  is  the  University  of  the  South,  founded  in  1857  by  Bishop 
Leonidas  Polk  at  Sewanee.  Besides  this,  however,  two  other  notable  institu- 
tions were  established  in  this  county — the  Winchester  Normal,  founded  in 
1878,  and  the  Mary  Sharpe  College,  founded  in  1850. 

Statistics  of  Franklin  County :  Population,  1920,  20,641.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $14,207,894.  Area,  570  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,230.  Railway  mileage,  63.  This  county  is  drained  by  the  Elk 
River  and  numerous  small  streams.  Surface  is  hilly  or  table  lands  with  a 
fine  growth  of  timber.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  cotton,  hay 
and  live  stock.  The  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway  intersects  the  county.  Winchester, 
the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  2,203,  is  on  a  branch  of  the  N.  C.  &  St. 
L.  Railway,  eighty-five  miles  from  Nashville,  and  has  good  schools  and  churches, 
a  weekly  newspaper,  banks,  manufacturing  establishments  and  flourishing 
stores.  Dechard,  with  a  population  of  815,  is  another  flourishing  town  with 
good  schools  and  churches  and  prosperous  business  establishments.  Scholastic 
population  of 'county,  7,691;  high  schools,  3;  elementary  schools,  74. 

GILES  COUNTY 

Giles  County  was  erected  on  November  14,  1809,  formed  from  a  part  of 
Maury  County,  and  named  in  honor  of  Governor  Wm.  B.  Giles,24  of  Virginia, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Andrew  Jackson.  For  the  county  seat  a  site  was  se- 
lected as  near  the  center  of  the  county  as  practicable  and  it  was  named  Pulaski, 
in  honor  of  Count  Pulaski,  of  Poland,  who  had  espoused  the  American  cause 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  was  killed  at  Savannah  in  1779. 

The  act  establishing  this  county  appointed  James  Ross,  Nathaniel  Moody, 
Tyree  Rhodes,  Gabriel  Bumpass,  and  Thomas  Whitson  commissioners  to  select 
the  county  site  and  sell  lots,  reserving  two  acres  for  the  public  square  on  which 
the  courthouse  and  stocks  should  be  erected.  The  site  selected  was  on  the 
land  "South  and  West  of  the  Congressional  Reservation  Line"  and,  con- 
sequently, being  Indian  land,  title  to  it  could  not  be  given  until  the  restriction 
was  removed  on  November  14,  1812. 

The  act  establishing  the  county  provided  also  for  organizing  a  Circuit 
Court  to  be  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  June  and  December,  and  also  a 
Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,  whose  first  session  was  held  on  the  third 
Monday  in  February  at  the  home  of  Lewis  Kirk,  when  the  following  named 
officers  qualified :  German  Lester,  clerk ;  James  Buford,  sheriff ;  James  West- 
moreland, register;  and  Nelson  Patterson,   chairman. 

The  first  Circuit  Court  was  held  probably  in  June,  1810.  Thomas  H. 
Stewart  was  judge,  James  Barry,  clerk,  and  Amos  Balch,  attorney-general. 

William  Crawson  and  others  made  the  first  permanent  settlement  probably 


2*  He  was  a  senator  in  Congress  at  the  time  Tennessee  sought  admittance  into  the 
Union  and  was  an  earnest  and  influential  advocate  of  her  admission  when  strong  opposition 
developed. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  855 

in  1805,  near  the  mouth  of  Richland  Creek.  Some  pioneers  who  settled  on 
the  lands  south  and  west  of  the  Reservation  Line  were  repeatedly  ejected  by 
the  United  States  soldiers  stationed  at  Fort  Hampton  on  Elk  River,  who 
destroyed  their  houses,  crops  and  fences. 

The  first  water  power  mill  was  established  by  Nathaniel  Moody  in  1809, 
on  Robertson  Creek.  In  1810,  Lewis  Brown  built  the  first  horse  power  mill. 
Daniel  Allen  built  a  powder  plant  a  little  later,  the  saltpetre  being  obtained 
from  a  cave  in  Maury  County.    Lester  Morris  had  the  first  cotton  gin  in  1810. 

Early  lawyers  were:  John  Minns,  W.  H.  Field,  W.  C.  Flournoy,  John  H. 
Rivers,  Governor  Aaron  V.  Brown,  Adam  Huntsman,  Governor  Neill  S.  Brown, 
Robert  Rose,  Alfred  Harris,  Lunsford  M.  Bramlett,  and  Davidson  Netherland. 

Educational  institutions  of  importance:  Pulaski  Academy,  chartered  Novem- 
ber 30,  1809 ;  Martin  College,  and  Massey  School. 

Probably  the  first  church  established  was  by  the  Baptists  in  1808,  followed 
in  1809  by  the  Methodists  and  in  1810  by  the  Presbyterians. 

It  was  in  Giles  County  that  Sam  Davis  was  captured  on  November  20,  1863 ; 
and  he  was  executed  at  Pulaski. 

At  Pulaski  the.  Ku  Klux  Klan  was  organized  by  John  C.  Lester,  Jas.  R. 
Crowe,  John  Kennedy,  Calvin  Jones,  Richard  R.  Reed,  and  Frank  O.  McCord. 

For  an  account  of  the  historic  spots  and  places  in  the  county  see  Chapter 
XXXI. 

Statistics  for  Giles  County:  Population,  1920,  30,948.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $21,651,634.  Area,  656  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  5,299.  Railway  mileage,  fifty -three.  Drained  by  Elk  River  ,and  Rich- 
land Creek.  This  county  borders  on  Alabama,  and  its  surface  is  undulating, 
with  some  sections  well  timbered.  The  soil  is  very  productive,  and  it  is  one 
of  the  few  cotton  producing  counties  in  Tennessee.  Corn,  cotton,  fruit  and 
live  stock  are  staple  products.  County  intersected  by  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad. 
Pulaski,  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,780,  and  is  on  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad, 
eighty-one  miles  from  Nashville.  It  is  a  flourishing  town  with  two  weekly  news- 
papers, strong  banks,  fine  churches  and  schools,  and  flourishing  manufacturing 
and  business  establishments.  Pulaski  ships  8,000  to  10,000  bales  of  cotton  an- 
nually. Lynnville,  with  a  population  of  552  is  another  flourishing  town. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  10,264;  high  schools,  eleven;  elementary  schools, 
106. 

GRUNDY  COUNTY 

Grundy  County  was  erected  on  January  29,  1844,  from  parts  of  Coffee  and 
Warren  counties,  and  named  for  Felix  Grundy,  who,  together  with  Samuel  B. 
Barrett  and  others  had  been  dealing  extensively  in  the  mountain  lands  of  that 
section.  The  act  which  created  this  county  appointed  Adrian  Northcutt  and 
William  Dugan,  residents  of  that  part  of  the  county  taken  from  Warren,  and 
John  Burrows  and  Alfred  Braley,  residents  of  that  part  taken  from  Coffee, 
commissioners  to  organize  Grundy  County.  The  act  also  designated  Beersheba 
Springs  as  a  place  for  holding  first  courts. 

The  first  County  Court  organized  on  August  6,  1844,  with  the  following 
named  magistrates  in  attendance :  Adrain  Northcutt,  John  Fults,  Wm.  Dugan, 
Ambrose  Killian,  Robert  Tate,  Isaac  Campbell,  Stephen  M.  Griswold,  Jas. 
Lockhart,  John  Burrows,  Thos.  Warren,  and  Daniel  Sain. 


856  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  following  officers,  who  had  been  elected  on  July  8,  1844,  qualified: 
Philip  Roberts,  sheriff;  Reuben  Webb,  county  court  clerk;  Abraham  Jones, 
register;  John  Burrows,  trustee.  The  court  then  elected  Stephen  M.  Griswold, 
entry-taker;  Wra.  S.  Mooney,  surveyor;  and  Richard  M.  Stepp,  coroner. 

Beginning  with  the  next  session  the  courts  were  held  continuously  at  the 
house  of  Jesse  Wooten  until  October,  1848,  when  the  county  seat  was  established 
at  Altamont.     Later,  Tracy  City  was  made  the  county  seat. 

Tracy  City  was  the  first  home  of  the  great  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railway 
Company,  now  located  near  Birmingham.  It  was  established  by  the  late  A.  S. 
Colyar. 

A  large  colony  of  Swiss  located  near  Altamont  has  done  much  for  the  ma- 
terial progress  of  the  county. 

Statistics  of  Grundy  County:  Population,  1920,  9,753.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $2,691,248.  Area,  325  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  563.  Railway  mileage,  30.  Drained  by  numerous  small  streams.  The 
surface  is  from  1,800  to  2,200  feet  above  sea  level.  County  well  adapted  to  the 
live  stock  industry,  having  fine  grazing  lands.  Staple  products  are  corn,  hay, 
fruits,  and  live  stock.  Tracy  City,  the  principal  town,  has  a  population  of 
2,669,  and  is  the  center  of  large  coal  and  iron  industries.  Large  deposits  of  these 
minerals  are  found.  Tracy  City  has  good  schools  and  churches,  furnace,  man- 
ufacturing establishments,  and  stores.  It  is  on  a  branch  of  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L. 
Railway.  Altamont,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popidation  of  114  and  is  a  flourishing 
town.  Scholastic  popidation  of  county,  3,590 ;  high  schools,  4 ;  elementary 
schools,  31. 

•   HICKMAN   COUNTY  25 

Hickman  County  was  erected  on  December  3rd,  1807,  from  a  part  of  Dickson 
County  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Edmund  Hickman,  a  surveyor,  who,  in  1785, 
together  with  James  Robertson,  and  Robert  Weakley,  came  to  survey  entered 
lands  on  Pine  River.  On  that  trip  Hickman  was  killed  by  the  Indians  near 
the  mouth  of  Defeated  Creek  on  Duck  River,  within  a  mile  of  the  present  city 
of  Centerville,  the  county  seat. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  by  Adam  Wilson,  on  Pine  River, 
in  1817.  In  1819,  the  county  was  organized.  The  commissioners  appointed  to 
run  and  mark  the  lines  of  the  county  were :  David  Love,  Joel  Walker,  John  S. 
Primm,  and  Joseph  Lynn. 

The  first  county  seat  was  Vernon  (chosen  in  1810),  which  was  succeeded  by 
Centerville,  located  in  1822,  on  land  donated  by  John  C.  McLemore  and  Charles 
Stewart.  The  act  which  created  the  county  provided  that  a  court  of  Pleas  and 
Quarter  Sessions  should  meet  on  the  first  Monday  of  January,  April,  July  and 
October  at  the  house  of  Wm.  Joslin  on  Pine  River.  The  first  justices  of  the 
peace  were:  Thos.  Petty,  Wm.  Wilson,  Jam.  Miller,  Robert  Dunning,  and  Alex- 
ander Gray.  Wm.  Wilson  was  chairman  of  the  first  session  of  the  court.  He 
was  father  of  the  first  white  child  (James  Wilson,  born  on  December  27,  1806), 
born  in  Hickman  County.  This  court  elected  the  following  officers:  Wm.  Phil- 
lips, sheriff ;  John  Easley,  trustee ;  Bartholomew  G.  Stewart,  register ;  Joseph 
Lynn,  ranger ;  and  Wm.  Stone,  clerk. 


-5  The  facts  in  this  sketch  were  obtained  largely  from   Spence's   "History   of   Hickman 
County. ' ' 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  857 

Statistics  of  Hickman  County:  Population,  1920,  16,216.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  #7,718,790.  Area,  640  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,928.  Railway  mileage,  forty-six.  Drained  by  Duck  River.  Soil 
fertile  and  well  adapted  to  tlie  live  stock  industry.  Staple  products  are  wheat, 
corn,  oats,  grasses  and  tobacco.  Phosphate  deposits  are  found  in  the  county 
and  there  are  fine  beds  of  iron  ore.  Centerville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popula- 
tion of  882,  with  good  schools,  churches,  weekly  newspaper,  bank,  wagon  fac- 
tory, saw  mill  and  prosperous  mercantile  establishments.  Scholastic  popula- 
tion of  county,  5,253 ;  high  schools,  six ;  elementary  schools,  ninety-three. 

HOUSTON    COUNTY 

Houston  County  was  erected  on  January  21,  1871,  from  parts  of  Dickson, 
Humphreys,  and  Stewart  counties,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Sam  Houston. 
The  act  provided  for  a  part  of  the  County  of  Montgomery  to  be  included,  also, 
subject  to  the  vote  of  the  people  of  the  part  in  question.  But  these  people  voted 
against  inclusion  in  the  new  county. 

The  first  County  Court  was  held  in  the  Union  Church,  in  Erin,  on  April 
3,  1871.  N.  McKinnon  was  the  chairman.  On  April  21,  1871,  Arlington  was 
selected  as  the  county  seat,  and  the  courthouse  was  completed  about  a  year 
later,  and  the  County  Court  convened  in  it  on  May  6,  1872.  Jn  1878,  Erin  be- 
came the  county  seat. 

The  first  officers  of  the  county  were :  J.  S.  Lee,  clerk ;  J.  J.  Pollard,  court 
clerk;  R.  C.  Rushing,  sheriff;  J.  W.  Hall,  trustee;  S.  T.  Allen,  trustee;  C.  S. 
Humphreys,  register. 

The  first  Circuit  Court  met  on  April  4,  1871. 

The  early  settlements  began  about  1798  or  1799,  when  Henry  Edwards  and 
his  family  located  at  Stewart  Station.  Other  pioneers  followed  in  the  next  few 
years.  One  of  them  was  the  father  of  Judge  Jo  C.  Guild,  who  speaks  interest- 
ingly and  affectionately  of  the  people  of  Houston  County  in  his  book  "Old 
Times  in  Tennessee."  Other  pioneers  were  Dred  Boone,  a  relative  of  Daniel 
Boone,  Daniel  Buchanan,  a  man  of  tremendous  strength,  and  Doctor  Marable. 
It  is  said  that  William  Murrell,  a  brother  of  John  A.  Murrell,  taught  school 
in  what  is  now  Houston  County  between  1820  and  1830. 

Statistics  of  Houston  County :  Population,  1920,  6,212.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,111,066.  Area,  210  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  724.  Railway  mileage,  twenty.  Drained  by  the  Cumberland  and  Ten- 
nessee rivers.  Surface  hilly  and  soil  fertile.  Some  sections  well  covered  with 
timber.  Staple  products  are  corn,  tobacco,  grass,  and  fruits.  Erin,  the  county 
seat,  with  a  population  of  855,  is  near  the  Cumberland  River,  twenty-eight  miles 
from  Clarksville.  It  has  good  churches  and  schools,  a  weekly  newspaper,  bank, 
and  manufacturing  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  2,454 ; 
high   schools,  one ;   elementary  schools,  thirty. 

HUMPHREYS   COUNTY 

Humphreys  County  was  erected  on  October  19,  1809,  out  of  part  of  Stew- 
art County  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Parry  W.  Humphreys,  a  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity,  1807-1809,  who  held  the  first  court  in  this 
county. 


858  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  act  creating  the  countj  provided  that  the  first  court  should  be  held  at 
the  house  of  Samuel  Parker,  Jr.,  on  Trace  Creek,  about  two  miles  from  Waverly. 

The  first  county  seat  was  established  in  1816,  at  Reynoldsville,  which  was 
named  for  John  B.  Reynolds,  then  a  representative  in  Congress.  The  Supreme 
Court,  also,  at  that  time,  held  its  sessions  in  Reynoldsville  for  that  division  of 
the  state.  The  site  of  the  county  seat  was  on  fifty  acres  of  land  donated  by 
Alexander  Brevard.  "When  Benton  County  was  erected  in  1835,  largely  from 
territory  previously  included  in  Humphreys,  the  county  seat  was  moved  to 
Waverly,  which  was  named  for  Scott's  Waverley  novels.  The  site  of  "Waverly 
was  donated  by  Davis  Childress  and  the  survey  was  made  by  Isaac  Little  in 
1836. 

Probably  the  first  settlement  in  the  county  was  made  by  Moses  Box,  in  1800, 
at  a  point  on  Trace  Creek,  but  development  was  slow  on  account  of  the  depre- 
dations of  the  Indians. 

Humphreys  has  been  conspicuous  in  all  of  the  wars  in  which  Tennessee  has 
taken  part  and,  in  the  War  between  the  States,  furnished  more  soldiers  than  it 
had  voters.  It  was  at  Johnsonville  in  this  county  where  Forrest  captured  the 
Federal  gunboats  and  destroyed  $5,000,000  worth  of  Federal  property. 

Statistics  of  Humphreys  County :  Population,  1920,  13,482.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,514,498.  Area,  420  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,805.  Railway  mileage,  twenty-seven.  Drained  by  the  Tennessee 
and  Duck  rivers.  Fine  timber  in  some  sections.  Its  surface  is  partly  hilly, 
but  the  land  along  the  rivers  is  very  fertile.  This  is  the  largest  peanut  produc- 
ing county  in  the  state,  and  this  is  an  important  industry.  Other  staples  are 
wheat,  corn,  cotton,  grasses  and  live  stock.  The  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St. 
Louis  Railway  traverses  the  county.  Waverly,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popula- 
tion of  1,054,  with  good  churches,  schools,  weekly  newspaper,  general  stores, 
and  manufacturing  establishments.  McEwen  is  another  flourishing  town  in 
Humphreys  County,  and  has  a  population  of  635,  with  good  schools,  churches, 
bank,  newspaper  and  business  houses.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  4,817  ; 
high  schools,  four;  elementary  schools,  seventy-one. 

JACKSON    COUNTY 

Jackson  County  was  erected  in  1801  from  a  part  of  Smith  County  and  was. 
named  in  honor  of  Andrew  Jackson,  who,  at  that  time,  was  a  judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court  of  Law  and  Equity,  having,  since  1796,  resigned  both  as  a  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  and  as  a  member  of  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States. 

Early  settlers  came  in  soon  after  the  establishment  of  Nashville,  and,  as  the 
Indians  were  a  menace,  a  fort,  named  Fort  Blount,  after  Governor  Wm.  Blount, 
was  erected  in  this  county,  on  the  Cumberland  River,  as  a  protection  for  the 
settlers  and  travelers. 

Gainesboro,  the  county  seat  of  Jackson  County,  named  for  Gen.  Edmund 
Pendleton  Gaines,  was  established  in  1817,  and  incorporated  in  1820. 

Statistics  of  Jackson  County :  Population,  1920,  14,955.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,981,662.  Area,  280  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,403.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  Cumberland  River  and 
tributaries.  Surface  hilly  and  well  covered  with  timber.  Soil  along  the  river 
and  in  the  valleys  very  fertile.     Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  grass. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  859 

and  live  stock.  Splendid  county  for  fruit  growing.  Gainesboro,  the  county 
seat,  has  a  population  of  351,  and  is  near  the  Cumberland  River.  It  has  good 
schools  and  churches,  one  bank,  a  weekly  newspaper,  and  flourishing  stores. 
Granville  is  another  flourishing  town  in  the  county.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  6,022;  high  schools,  four;  elementary  schools,  sixty. 

LAWRENCE  COUNTY 

Lawrence  County  was  erected  in  1817  out  of  part  of  Hickman  and  Maury 
counties  and  named  in  honor  of  Capt.  James  Lawrence,  of  the  Chesapeake,  who, 
when  mortally  wounded,  said  to  his  men:    "Don't  give  up  the  ship." 

The  earliest  settlement  was  made  near  Henryville  on  the  Big  Buffalo  River, 
and  soon  were  established  (about  1815)  a  grain  mill,  a  distillery  and  a  Primi- 
tive Baptist  Church.  From  this  time  population  increased  rapidly  and,  in  a 
few  years,  Lawrence  became  one  of  the  most  enterprising  of  the  pioneer  coun- 
ties of  the  section.  Prominent  among  the  early  settlers  were:  The  Parkes 
family,  the  Striblings,  Sykes  brothers,  Simmses  and  Bentleys. 

Soon  after  the  county  was  organized  David  Crockett  arrived  and  lived  there 
for  several  years.  He  became  a  member  of  the  County  Court  and  of  the  build- 
ing committee  which  erected  the  first  courthouse.  Having  gotten  in  debt,  he 
sold  his  lands  and  moved  to  West  Tennessee.  Last  year  a  splendid  monument 
was  erected  to  his  memory  in  Lawrenceburg. 

Lawrenceburg  was  chartered  on  November  23,  1819.  In  the  years  preced- 
ing the  Civil  war,  Wayland  Springs  was  noted  as  a  resort  for  health  and  pleasure. 

Lawrence  County  is  justly  proud  of  its  record  in  war.  On  the  public  square 
of  Lawrenceburg  stands  a  monument  to  those  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  Mex- 
ican war,  the  only  memorial  of  the  kind,  it  is  believed,  in  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee. It  was  erected  in  1849  and  the  state  contributed  $1,500  toward  the 
cost  of  it. 

Statistics  of  Lawrence  County:  Population,  1920,  23,593.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $11,386,098.  Area,  676  square  miles.  Num- 
ber of  farms,  3,590.  Railway  mileage,  sixty-two.  Drained  by  tributaries  of  the 
Tennessee  River.  Surface  diversified  and  well  timbered.  Good  deposits  of 
iron  ore  and  phosphate  are  found  in  the  county.  Staple  products  are  corn, 
wheat,  cotton,  oats,  grass  and  live  stock.  Lawrenceburg,  the  county  seat,  has 
a  population  of  2,461,  and  is  a  flourishing  town,  with  good  schools,  and  churches, 
two  weekly  newspapers,  banks,  manufacturing  establishments,  general  stores, 
and  electric  light  plant.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  8,375 ;  high  schools, 
one;  elementary  schools,  sixty. 

LEWIS   COUNTY 

Lewis  County  was  created  on  December  23,  1843,  from  parts  of  Hickman, 
Maury,  Lawrence  and  Wayne  counties  and  named  in  honor  of  Meriwether 
Lewis,26  who  with  Wm.  Clark  conducted  the  famous  Lewis  and  Clerk  expedi- 
tion to  Oregon  in  1803-1806. 


26  On  October  11,  1809,  lie  either  committed  suicide  or  was  murdered  at  Grinder's 
Tavern  on  the  Natchez  Trace,  about  eight  miles  from  Hohenwald,  while  he  was  on  his 
way  to  Washington  from  St.  Louis  in  Louisiana  Territory  of  which  he  had  been  appointed 
governor.  In  1848,  the  State  of  Tennessee  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory  on  the  spot 
where  he  was  buried.  This  monument,  about  twenty-five  feet  high,  in  an  obscure  place,  is 
now  neglected,  in  a  bad  condition  and  forgotten  by  almost  everybody. 


860  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

A  Mr.  Dobbins  and  Robert  Grinder,  who  established  a  tavern,  were  among 
the  first   settlers,  about  1807. 

The  first  county  seal  was  Newburg,  which  was  supplanted  by  Hohenwald, 
alter  the  latter  place  had  become  prominent  on  account  of  the  work  and  enter- 
prise of  a  colony  of  Swiss  who  located  there.  Hohenwald  was  named  by  these 
colonists  and  means  high  forest. 

Lewis  County  is  not  blessed  agriculturally  as  most  of  the  counties  of  Ten- 
nessee, but  it  has  valuable  deposits  of  phosphate  and  iron  which  are  adding 
materially  to  its  wealth. 

Statistics  of  Lewis  County:  Population,  1920,  5,707.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,147,871.  Area,  280  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  537.  Railway  mileage,  thirty-four.  Drained  by  several  small  streams, 
tributaries  to  Duck  River.  Intersected  by  a  branch  of  the  Nashville,  Chatta- 
nooga &  St.  Louis  Railway.  Staple  products  are  peanuts,  corn,  wheat,  oats, 
grass  and  live  stock.  Iron  ore,  oxide  of  iron,  and  ochre  are  found  in  the  county. 
Hohenwald,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  742,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two 
banks,  fine  schools  and  churches  and  flourishing  business  houses.  Scholastic 
population  of  county,  2,089;  high  schools,  one;  elementary  schools,  thirty-six. 

LINCOLN    COUNTY 

Lincoln  County  was  erected  on  November  14,  1809,  from  a  part  of  Bedford 
County  and  was  named  for  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln  who  performed  great  serv- 
ices in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

By  the  act  which  created  this  county,  John  Whitaker,  Sr.,  Wright  Williams, 
Eli  Garrett,  Littleton  Duty  and  Jeffe  Woodruff  were  appointed  commissioners 
to  secure  100  acres  of  land  near  the  center  of  the  county  for  a  county  seat  to 
be  named  Fayetteville.  They  bought  the  land  for  $700  from  Ezekiel  Norris, 
who,  in  1806,  had  settled  on  Norris  Creek  on  his  grant  of  1,280  acres. 

The  act  also  provided  that  the  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions  should  be  held  at  the  house  of  Brice  M.  Garner  until  a  place  should  be 
provided  in  Fayetteville.  The  first  session  was  held  on  February  26,  1810. 
The  magistrates  were  qualified  by  Oliver  Williams,  and  Thomas  H.  Benton  acted 
as  clerk  pro  tern.  Both  of  these  men  were  from  Williamson  County.  At  this 
session  Brice  M.  Garner  was  elected  County  Court  clerk.  Thomas  Stewart 
was  elected  judge  of  the  Circuit  Court,  and  James  Bright,  clerk. 

Notable  men  of  the  early  days  were :  Archibald  Yell  and  Joseph  Greer, 
the  latter  of  whom,  a  giant  in  stature,  carried  to  Congress  at  Philadelphia  the 
news  of  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain. 

Statistics  of  Lincoln  County:  Population,  1920,  25,786.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $18,596,485.  Area,  540  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  4,367.  Railway  mileage,  sixty-two.  Drained  by  Elk  River.  Soil  is 
very  fertile  in  a  large  portion  of  the  county.  Leading  crops  are  corn,  wheat 
and  grass.  The  live  stock  industry  is  flourishing  in  this  county.  Fayetteville, 
the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  3,629,  and  is  one  of  the  best  towns  in  this 
section  of  the  state.  It  has  electric  light  and  water  systems,  two  weekly  news- 
papers, four  banks,  fine  schools  and  churches,  and  several  manufacturing  es- 
tablishments. Petersburg,  Flintville,  Elora  and  Mulberry  are  other  towns 
in  the  county.  Scholastic  population  of  the  county,  8,021;  high  schools,  twenty- 
two;  elementary  schools,  fifty-five. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  861 

MACON  COUNTY 

Macon  County  was  erected  on  January  18,  1842,  from  parts  of  Smith  and 
Sumner  counties  and  was  named  for  Nathaniel  Macon,  of  whom  Thomas  H. 
Benton  said:  "He  spoke  more  good  sense  while  getting  in  his  chair  and  get- 
ting out  of  it  than  many  delivered  in  long  and  elaborate  speeches." 

The  first  County  Court  appointed  Britton  Holland,  William  Dunn,  Samuel 
Sullivan,  Eason  Howell,  and  Jefferson  Short  as  commissioners  to  hold  an  elec- 
tion to  select  a  county  seat.  The  place  selected  was  on  land  of  John  B.  John- 
son on  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  Cumberland  and  Big  Barren  rivers  and 
was  named  Lafayette  in  honor  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette. 

The  first  County  Court  met  at  the  house  of  William  Dunn  and  Patrick  Fer- 
guson was  chairman  of  it.  The  first  county  officers  were  :  King  Kerley,  sheriff : 
Wm.  Weaver,  register;  Daniel  0.  Pursley,  trustee;  Wm.  Blaekmore,  county  sur- 
veyor; David  Claiborne,  coroner. 

The  first  constables  were:  Thomas  A.  Meador,  George  White,  Edward  Bar- 
bee,  Ensley  Wilmore,  B.  Y.  Turner,  Bennett  Wright,  and  James  G.  Stone. 

The  first  justices  of  the  peace  were :  Anderson  Bratton,  Wm.  Roberson, 
Charles  Simmons,  Haylum  Pursley,  Taylor  0.  Gillum,  Jefferson  B.  Short,  Icha- 
bod  Young,  Jacob  J.  Johnson,  Lewis  Meador,  Wm.  Roark,  Jas.  J.  York,  James 
Patterson,  and  James  Henderson. 

The  first  courthouse  was  built  in  1844.  The  first  Circuit  Court  was  held  in 
May,  1842,  at  the  house  of  Wm.  Dunn,  and  was  presided  over  by  Judge  Abra- 
ham Caruthers. 

Statistics  of  Macon  County:  Population,  1920,  14,922.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,308,877.  Area,  450  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,743.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  tributaries  of  Cumberland 
and  Big  Barren  rivers.  Its  surface  is  generally  uneven  and  well  timbered. 
Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  grass  and  live  stock.  Good  garden- 
ing and  truck  growing  section.  Lafayette,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of 
547,  good  schools  and  churches,  flourishing  business  establishments,  a  weekly 
newspaper,  and  one  bank.  Red  Boiling  Springs,  a  noted  health  resort,  is  in 
this  county.  Scholastic  population,  5,128;  high  schools,  two;  elementary  schools, 
fifty-nine. 

MARSHALL    COUNTY 

Marshall  County  was  erected  February  26,  1836,  from  parts  of  Lincoln, 
Bedford  and  Maury,  to  which  was  added  a  part  of  Giles  in  1870.  Tt  was 
named  in  honor  of  John  Marshall,  chief  justice. 

The  first  County  Court  was  organized  on  October  3,  1836,  at  the  house  of 
Abner  Houston  with  the  following  justices  of  the  peace  in  attendance :  Wm. 
McClure,  Thos.  Ross,  Wm.  Wilkes,  Peter  Williams,  Thos.  Wilson,  David  Mc- 
Gahey,  James  Adams,  Geo.  Cunningham,  Jas.  V.  Ewing,  John  Field,  Adam 
Miller,  Joseph  Cleek,  Ephraim  Hunter,  Asa  Holland,  Jas.  Patterson,  Jason 
Sheffield,  Sherwood  Dunnigan,  and  Andrew  Laird.  The  following  officers  were 
elected:  Jno.  R.  Hill,  sheriff;  Martin  W.  Oakley,  county  court  clerk;  John  W. 
Record,  trustee;  John  Elliott,  register;  Joseph  McCord,  coroner;  Isaac  H.  Wil- 
liams, ranger;  Hugh  McClelland,  surveyor. 

By  the  act  which  created  the  county,  Richard  Warner,  Wm.  Smith,  Holman 

Vol.  1—55 


862  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

R.  Fowler,  Geo.  W.  McBride,  and  Wm.  D.  Orr  were  appointed  commissioners 
id  select  the  county  seat  to  be  named  Lewisburg  in  honor  of  Meriwether  Lewis. 
Aimer  Houston  gave  fifty  acres  for  the  county  site.  Lewisburg  was  incorporated 
on  December  16,  1837. 

Early  settlers  were :  Asa  Fonville,  in  1807,  and  Jas.  Patterson,  in  1808. 
Win.  McClure,  in  1809,  the  Becks,  Wallaces  and  Aliens.  Gen.  Nathan  Bedford 
Forrest,  who  was  born  near  Chapel  Hill,  was  a  descendant  of  the  Becks.  Capt. 
Andrew  Patterson,  who  commanded  a  company  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
made  a  settlement  near  Chapel  Hill  about  1800. 

The  first  Circuit  Court  was  held  at  Abner  Houston's  house  in  November, 
1836,  Judge  Edmund  Dillahunty,  presiding. 

The  first  Chancery  Court  was  established  in  1836,  Lunsford  M.  Bramlett, 
chancellor. 

The  first  postmaster  was  John  Hatchett.  The  first  paper  published  was 
the  Marshall  Democrat  in  1847.  The  second  was  the  Lewisburg  Gazette,  in 
1848. 

The  first  church  was  Bethbersi,  organized  June  1,  1810,  by  Rev.  Samuel 
Findley,  Presbyterian.     The  first  minister  wras  Rev.  John  Gillespie. 

Statistics  of  Marshall  County :  Population,  1920,  17,375.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $13,927,210.  Area,  377  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,560.  Railway  mileage,  sixty.  Drained  by  Duck  River.  Northern 
part  of  the  county  is  generally  level ;  southern  portion  hilly  with  valleys  that 
are  fertile.  Staple  products  are  corn,  oats,  wheat,  fruit,  and  live  stock.  A 
branch  of  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway  passes  through  the 
county,  and  it  is  also  intersected  by  the  Lewisburg  &  Northern,  a  branch  of  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville.  Lewisburg,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,711, 
fine  schools  and  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  two  banks  and  flourishing 
manufacturing  and  commercial  establishments.  Chapel  Hill,  Farmington  and 
Cornersville  are  other  towns.  Scholastic  population,  5,671;  high  schools,  nine; 
elementary  schools,  forty-five. 

MAURY    COUNTY 

Maury  County  was  erected  November  24,  1807,  from  a  part  of  Williamson 
County,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Maj.  Abram  P.  Maury.  It  is  one  of  the 
best  counties  in  the  state.  From  an  agricultural  point  of  view  no  county  in 
the  state  is  superior  to  it. 

The  first  County  Court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Col.  Joseph  Brown,  about 
three  miles  south  of  Columbia.  He  was  licensed  to  keep  an  "ordinary"  and 
gave  bond  to  furnish  "good,  wholesome  and  clean  lodging  and  diet  for  trav- 
elers, stabling  with  hay,  oats,  corn,  fodder  and  pasturage,  as  the  season  of  the 
year  may  require,  and  not  to  suffer  or  permit  gambling,  nor  on  the  Sabbath 
day  permit  any  person  to  tipple  or  drink  more  than  necessary ! ' ' 

The  magistrates  of  this  first  court  were:  John  Dickey,  John  Miller,  Wm. 
Gilchrist,  Wm.  Frierson,  Isaac  Roberts,  John  Spencer,  John  Lindsey,  Joshua 
Williams,  James  Love,  Lemuel  Pruett,  and  William  Dooley.  Peter  R.  Booker 
was  appointed  solicitor.  Joseph  Herndon  was  the  first  resident  attorney  ad- 
mitted to  practice. 

The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legislature  in  1808  to  select  the  county 
seat  were:     Joshua  Williams,  William  Frierson,  Isaac  Roberts,  John  Lindsey. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  863 

and  Joseph  Brown.  They  selected  Columbia,  which  was  incorporated  in  1817. 
The  first  physicians  were  Doctors  0  'Reilly  and  Estes.  Later  physicians  were : 
Doctors  DePriest,  McNeil,  Sansom,  McJimsey  and  Graves. 

The  first  paper,  The  Western  Chronicle,  was  founded  in  1811,  by  James 
Walker,  who  married  a  sister  of  President  Polk,  in  1813. 

The  early  settlers  in  Maury  County  came  from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia. 
Attention  to  this  county  was  brought  early  and  particularly  because  of  the  loca- 
tion there  of  the  25,000  acres  given  Gen.  Nathanael  Greene,  on  account  of  his 
services  in  the  Revolutionary  war. 

One  of  the  earliest  colonies,  however,  came  from  South  Carolina,  in  1807 
and  in  1808,  led  by  John  Dickey  and  settled  in  the  Zion  Church  neighborhood. 
Besides  Dickey  prominent  settlers  were :  Moses  Frierson,  James  Blakeley,  Wil- 
liam Prierson,  Eli  Frierson,  James  Armstrong,  Thomas  Stephenson,  Nathaniel 
Stephenson,  "Old  Davy"  Matthews,  Samuel  Witherspoon,  John  Stephenson, 
James  Frierson,  P.  Fulton,  Alexander  Dobbins,  Moses  Freeman,  the  Flemings 
and  Mayes.  They  built  a  church,  which  served  also  as  a  schoolhouse,  in  which 
the  minister,  Reverend  Henderson,  was  a  teacher.  At  one  time  James  K.  Polk 
was  one  of  his  pupils. 

Not  far  from  Mount  Zion  was  the  Polk  settlement.  From  the  first  settlers, 
in  1807,  Wm.  Dever  and  his  sister,  Wm.  Polk  bought  their  5,000-acre  grant. 
He  divided  the  estate  among  his  four  sons :  Bishop  Leonidas  Polk,  Lucius  P. 
Polk,  George  N.  Polk  and  Rufus  K.  Polk.  This  became  known  as  the  "Polk 
neighborhood."    Near  it  was  the  home  of  Gen.  Gideon  J.  Pillow. 

Another  prominent  settlement  was  the  Spring  Hill  community  which  was 
started  about  1808-1810,  by  Abram  Hammond,  Colonel  Russell,  Nathaniel 
Cheairs,  James  Black  and  others.  James  Black  was  the  grandfather  of  Col. 
Henry  Watterson,  and  father-in-law  of  Judge  Stanley  Matthews,  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court. 

Few  counties  have  been  so  prolific  in  prominent,  noted  and  great  men. 
Among  them  were  President  James  K.  Polk,  Gen.  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer,  General 
Ewell,  Stanley  Matthews,  Matthew  Fontaine  Maury,  Henry  F.  Cooper,  A.  O.  P. 
Nicholson,  AVm.  Fields,27  Bishop  Leonidas  Polk,  Bishop  Otey,  Gideon  J.  Pillow, 
Terry  H.  Cahal,  Wm.  Polk,  Thos.  Wrenne,  Maj.  James  Holland,  Dr.  Samuel 
Mayes,  Jas.  Armstrong,  a  member  of  Lee's  Legion,  David  Matthews,  who  served 
under  Gen.  Francis  Marion,  Gen.  Richard  Winn,  Edward  Ward  Carmack,  and 
many  others. 

For  the  history  of  many  spots  and  places  in  the  county,  see  Chapter  XXXI. 

Statistics  of  Maury  County:  Population,  1920,  35,403.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $29,694,070.  Area,  596  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,728.  Railway  mileage,  102.  Drained  by  Duck  River.  Land  is  Very 
fertile,  and  is  one  of  the  richest  agricultural  counties  in  the  state.  Staple  prod- 
ucts are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  hay,  fruits  and  live  stock.  The  dairying  industry  is 
extensive,  the  county  having  some  of  the  finest  herds  in  the  state.  There 
are  immense  phosphate  deposits  in  the  county  which  have  been  worked  for 
years.  Columbia,  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  5,526,  is  on  the  Duck  River 
and  has  two  railroads.  It  is  the  seat  of  Columbia  Institute  for  Girls  and  Colum- 
bia Military  Academy  and  has  a  fine  system  of  public  schools,  splendid  churches, 
daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  four  banks,  several  manufacturing  establishments, 
mills,  etc.    It  is  one  of  the  largest  mule  markets  in  the  country.    Mount  Pleasant, 

27  The  compiler  of  the  famous  "Scrapbook. " 


864  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


the  center  of  the  phosphate  mining  industry,  has  a  population  of  2,093,  and  has 
good  schools  and  churches,  two  banks,  a  weekly  newspaper,  cotton  mill,  two 
creameries  and  prosperous  manufacturing  and  mercantile  establishments.  Other 
prosperous  towns  are  Culleoka  and  Spring  Hill.  The  latter  place  has  excellent 
private  schools.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  11,352;  high  schools,  thirteen; 
elementary  schools,  100. 

.MONTGOMERY  COUNTY 

Montgomery  County,  named  for  .John  Montgomery,  was  erected  in  1796. 
when  Tennessee  County  gave  up  its  name  to  the  state  and  its  territory  was 
divided  into  Montgomery  and  Robertson  County.  Its  first  permanent  settlement 
was  made  by  Moses  Renfroe  and  his  company  when  they  left  Col.  John  Donel- 
son's  colony  on  April  12,  1780,  as  they  were  on  their  way  up  the  Cumberland 
to  the  great  French  Lick  (Nashville).  Renfroe  ascended  the  Red  River  to  the 
mouth  of  Person's  Creek  where  he  built  Renfroe 's  Station  (sometimes  called 
Red  River  Station).  Among  these  settlers  were  Moses,  Isaac,  Joseph  and  James 
Renfroe,  Nathan  and  Solomon  Turpin,  Isaac  Mayfield,  James  Hollis,  James 
Johns,  and  a  widow  named  Jones. 

On  account  of  the  fear  of  an  Indian  attack  they  left  the  station  for  the 
Bluff  (Nashville),  and  at  Battle  Creek  were  attacked  and  twenty  persons  killed. 
The  earliest  stations  in  this  county  were  Prince's,  Clarksville,  and  Nevill's. 
Francis  Prince  and  James  Ford  were  the  leaders  at  Prince's.  Col.  James  Ford 
was  probably  the  most  striking  figure  in  the  county  at  that  period.  John 
Montgomery  and  Martin  Armstrong  laid  off  the  land  and  made  the  plan  of  a 
town  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Cumberland  just  above  the  mouth  of  Red  River 
and  entered  the  land  in  1784.  They  named  the  town  Clarksville,  in  honor 
of  George  Rogers  Clark.  In  1785  the  Legislature  of  North  Carolina  established 
the  Town  of  Clarksville  and  named  in  the  act  the  following  commissioners: 
John  Montgomery,  Anthony  Crutcher,  Wm.  Polk,  Anthony  Bledsoe,  and  Lard- 
ner  Clark.     This  was  the  second  town  established  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

In  1788  a  tobacco  inspection  was  established  at  Clarksville,  the  first  in 
the  state.  In  the  same  year  Tennessee  County,  out  of  which  Montgomery 
County  was  carved,  was  established,  and  a  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions 
was  held  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Titsworth,  on  Person's  Creek  for  the  first  and 
second  sessions.  For  the  third  session  it  met  at  the  house  of  Wm.  Grimbs: 
and  all  subsequent  sessions  were  held  at  Clarksville,  where,  on  the  public  square, 
a  rude,  log  courthouse  was  built. 

The  earliest  inhabitants  of  Clarksville  were :  John  Montgomery,  Anthom 
and  William  Crutcher,  Amos  Bird,  Geo.  Bell,  Robert  Nelson  and  Aeneas  Mc- 
Allister. In  1794-1795  there  were,  John  Easton,  Daniel  James,  James  Adams, 
Wm.  Montgomery,  Philip  Gilbert,  Robert  Dunning,  Hugh  McCallum,  Benjamii 
Hawkins,  and  Andrew  Snoddy. 

Soon  after  Clarksville  was  established  George  and  Joseph  B.  Medill,  froi 
South  Carolina,  built  a  fort  on  Red  River  between  Prince's  and  Clarksville. 

The  first  and  most  important  settlement  on  the  south  side  of  the  Cumber- 
land was  Palmyra  at  the  mouth  of  Deason  's  Creek.  It  was  the  first  port  of 
entry  in  the  West,  a  fact  which  indicates  its  importance  at  that  time.  It  was 
laid  out  by  Dr.  Morgan  Brown,  father  of  the  eminent  jurist,  Judge  Wm.  L. 
Brown,  and  was  chartered   in   1796.     From  1780  to   1795  the  people  sufferec 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  865 

much  from  the  Indians  who  were  instigated  by  the  Spanish.  Prominent  among 
their  deeds  of  horror  were  the  Titsworth  Massacre  in  1794;  the  murder  of  John 
Dier  and  Benj.  Lindsey  in  1793;  the  heroic  death  of  John  Montgomery  in 
1794;  the  murder  of  Maj.  Evan  Shelby,  brother  of  Isaac  Shelby,  in  1793;  the 
ambushing  and  killing  of  three  sons  of  Col.  Valentine  Sevier,  brother  of  John 
Sevier,  and  of  their  two  companions  in  1792 ;  and  the  sanguinary  attack  on 
Colonel  Sevier's  station  in  1794. 

Most  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Montgomery  County  came  from  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania.  Among  those  from 
North  Carolina  were  Haydon  Wells;  James,  Charles  and  Duncan  Stewart, 
Anthony  and  William  Crutcher  and  Robert  Nelson.  Among  those  from  South 
Carolina  were:  James  Ford,  Francis,  William  and  Robert  Prince,  Geo.  Bell, 
Geo.  Nevill,  Joseph  B.  Nevill,  and  Dr.  Morgan  Brown.  From  Virginia,  via 
Watauga  were:  Evan  and  Moses  Shelby,  Valentine  Sevier,  John  Montgomery, 
John  H.  Poston.    From  Pennsylvania  were :  James  Elder  and  Aeneas  McAllister. 

Schools  began  in  the  county  immediately  after  the  Indian  atrocities  ended. 
Mrs.  Gibbs  and  Mrs.  Hise  opened  a  school  for  young  ladies  at  Clarksville  in  the 
thirties.  In  1837  the  Female  Academy  was  opened.  There  was  also  a  Male 
Academy.  The  greatest  institution  of  all,  however,  was  the  Southwestern  Pres- 
byterian University. 

Clarksville,  also,  has  been  the  home  of  many  literary  lights,  among  them : 
Father  Ryan,  Wm.  A.  Peffer,  later  a  United  States  senator  from  Kansas,  Martha 
McCulloch  Williams,  Elizabeth  N.  Gilmer  ("Dorothy  Dix"),  Judge  C.  W. 
Tyler  and  Prof.  G.  F.  Nicholassen. 

Statistics  of  Montgomery  County:  Population,  1920,  32,265.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $19,207,350.  Area,  540  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  4,121.  Railway  mileage,  eighty-three.  County  borders  on  Kentucky 
and  is  intersected  by  the  Cumberland  River.  Its  surface  is  undulating  and 
partly  timbered.  Its  soil  is  fertile  and  it  is  one  of  the  best  tobacco  producing 
counties  in  the  state.  Fine  limestone  and  iron  ore  deposits  in  the  county. 
Staple  products  are  tobacco,  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  live  stock.  The  county  is 
traversed  by  L.  &  N.  and  the  Tennessee  Central  Railroads.  Clarksville,  the 
county  seat,  has  a  population  of  8,110.  It  is  on  two  railroads  and  the  Cumber- 
land River.  It  is  an  up-to-date  city  with  all  conveniences,  a  large  tobacco 
market,  has  fine  schools  and  churches,  daily  and  weekly  newspapers,  several 
manufacturing  establishments,  and  is  a  jobbing  center  for  a  large  territory. 
New  Providence,  St.  Bethlehem,  Palmyra,  and  Carbondale  are  other  towns  in 
the  county.  Scholastic  population  in  the  county,  10,332;  high  schools,  six; 
elementary  schools,  ninety-six. 

MOORE    COUNTY 

Moore  County  was  elected  on  December  14,  1871,  "out  of  portions  of 
Lincoln,  Franklin,  Coffee  and  Bedford  counties,  to  be  called  the  county  of 
Moore,  in  honor  of  the  late  Gen.  Wm.  Moore,"  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Lincoln  County,  a  soldier  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  a  member  for  several 
terms  of  the  General  Assembly. 

This  county  was  established  in  violation  of  a  provision  of  the  constitution 
which  requires  that  each  county  shall  have  not  less  than  275  square  miles. 
The   reason  was  that  one  of  its  lines  was  laid  out    less  than  eleven  miles  from 


866  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  courthouse  of  Lincoln  County,  which  promptly  demanded  enough  of  the 
territory  of  the  new  county  to  place  the  boundary  line  at  the  proper  distance 
thus  reducing  the  area  of  Moore  County  to  160  square  miles. 

The  first  settlements  were  made  about  1800,  by  pioneers  from  North  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia.  David  Crockett,  attracted  by  the  game,  once  lived  here,  on 
the  head  waters  of  East  Mulberry  Creek.  Thos.  Roundtree,  one  of  the  first 
settlers,  owned  the  land  on  which  Lynchburg  is  situated,  lie  laid  off  the  town 
about  1820  and  it  was  incorporated  in  1841. 

Moses  Crawford,  one  of  the  first  settlers,  is  authority  for  the  statement 
that  there  was  in  the  early  days  a  den  of  thieves  near  Lynchburg  and  that 
"stealing  was  as  common  as  going  to  church."  It  became  necessary,  therefore, 
to  have  a  vigilance  committee  to  maintain  law  and  order.  Offenses  were  pun- 
ished at  the  whipping  post.  A  small,  weakly  man  named  Lynch,  who  was 
living  there,  was  so  frequently  chosen  to  wield  the  lash  that  in  time  the  place 
was  called  Lynchburg,  so  tradition  says. 

The  first  County  Court  met  at  the  house  of  Tolley  and  Eaton,  in  Lynchburg, 
in  June,  1873,  and  in  the  same  year  Lynchburg  was  selected  as  the  county  seat. 

In  the  early  days  camp  meetings  were  held  at  the  camp  grounds.  Enoch's 
camp  ground,  four  miles  northeast  of  Lynchburg,  was  a  famous  meeting  place 
of  the  Methodists  in  those  times. 

Statistics  of  Moore  County :  Population,  1920,  4,491.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $1,900,629.  Area,  170  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  846.  Railway  mileage,  none.  It  is  drained  by  Elk  River  and  its  sur- 
face is  hilly  and  partly  covered  with  timber.  Soil  fertile  and  principal  prod- 
ucts are  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  live  stock.  Lynchburg,  county  seat,  has  a 
population  of  365,  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks, 
and  flourishing  business  establishments.  It  is  noted  as  a  mule  market.  Scholastic 
population  of  county,  1,600;  high  schools,  one;  elementary  schools,  twenty. 

OVERTON   COUNTY 

Overton  County  was  erected  in  1806  from  a  part  of  Jackson  County  and  was 
named  in  honor  of  Judge  John  Overton,  the  most  intimate  friend  of  Andrew 
Jackson.  The  earliest  settlers  were  Col.  Stephen  Copeland  and  his  son,  "Big 
Joe"  Copeland.  Other  early  settlers  were:  John  Goodpasture,  father  of  the 
distinguished  jurist,  Judge  Jefferson  D.  Goodpasture,  Capt.  Jesse  Arnold,  Capt. 
Simeon  Hinds,  father  of  the  learned  chemist  and  teacher,  Dr.  J.  I.  D.  Hinds,  of 
Lebanon;  Benjamin  Totten,  father  of  Judge  A.  W.  O.  Totten;  Moses  Fisk, 
Judge  Alvin  Cullom,  Adam  Huntsman,  and  some  descendants  of  John  Sevier. 

The  first  court  was  held  at  a  place  called  later  James'  Store,  about  five  miles 
north  of  Livingston.  In  the  year  1807  the  Town  of  Monroe  was  laid  off  and 
selected  as  the  county  seat.  Soon  Livingston  became  a  rival  for  the  honor  of 
being  the  county  seat  and  a  lively  animosity  arose  between  the  two  towns. 
Finally  in  an  election  in  1833,  Livingston  was  victorious  by  a  small  majority. 

The  oldest  town  in  the  county  is  Hilham,  founded  in  1805  by  Moses  Fisk. 
It  was  there  that  the  Fisk  Female  Academy  was  located,  the  first  school  distinctly 
for  girls,  chartered  in  the  South,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the  entire  United  States. 

Alpine  Institute  founded  in  1821  by  Dr.  John  L.  Dillard,  has  had  a  remark- 
able career  and  is  a  flourishing  institution  today.  Five  governors  have  taught 
in  it,  including  its  most  efficient  president,  Gov.  A.  H.  Roberts. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  867 

Statistics  of  Overton  County:  Population,  1920,  17,617.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,471,888.  Area,  376  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,714.  Railway  mileage,  thirty.  Drained  by  Obed  and  Roaring  rivers, 
tributaries  of  the  Cumberland.  Its  surface  is  hilly  and  its  soil  very  fertile. 
Pine  grazing  lands  for  cattle  and  sheep.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  hay 
and  live  stock.  The  county  is  well  timbered  and  there  are  good  deposits  of 
coal.  Livingston,  the  county  seat,  is  the  terminus  of  the  Tennessee,  Kentucky 
&  Northern,  a  short  line  extending  from  the  Tennessee  Central,  and  has  a 
population  of  1,215.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers, 
two  banks  and  several  manufacturing  establishments,  and  is  a  flourishing  town. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  6,597 ;  high  schools,  six ;  elementary  schools, 
eighty-fo\ir. 

PERRY   COUNTY 

Perry  County  was  erected  on  November  14,  1821,  from  a  part  of  Hickman 
County  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Commodore  Oliver  H.  Perry.  It  embraced 
at  first  the  territory  now  in  Perry  and  Decatur  counties. 

The  first  County  Court  was  organized  on  the  first  Monday  in  January,  1820, 
at  the  house  of  James  Dickson,  on  Lick  Creek,  when  Joseph  Brown  was  chosen 
chairman  and  the  following  magistrates  qualified :  James  Dickson,  Joseph 
Brown,  William  Holmes,  William  Britt,  John  L.  Houston,  Enoch  Hooper,  Oswald 
Griffin,  a  Mr.  Nunn,  and  Green  B.  Newsom.  The  following  officers  were  elected : 
William  Harmon,  clerk ;  Aaron  Lewis,  trustee ;  John  A.  Rains,  register ;  Jacob 
Harmon,  ranger;  Mark  Murphy,  coroner;  West  Wood,  sheriff. 

The  county  seat  was  established  in  1871,  at  Perryville,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Tennessee  River.  This  remained  the  county  seat  until  1846  when  the  Ten- 
nessee River  was  made  the  boundary  line  and  the  western  part  was  erected  into 
Decatur  County. 

In  the  early  days  Perryville  was  a  political  and  business  center  of  importance. 
David  Crockett,  Andrew  Jackson,  Sam  Houston,  James  K.  Polk,  and  others, 
visited  it. 

For  two  years  after  the  division  the  courts  of  Perry  County  were  held  at 
Harrisburg,  now  Bethel,  three  miles  south  of  Linden,  which  was  selected  as  a 
county  seat  in  1848  by  a  majority  of  six  votes.  In  the  same  year  the  first  court- 
house was  built  of  logs. 

The  first  school  in  the  county  was  on  Tom's  Creek,  taught  by  Ferny  Stanley 
in  1820.  The  first  steamboat,  the  General  Greene,  arrived  in  1819.  The  first 
merchant  was  John  Yates,  who  had  a  store  on  Tom's  Creek  in  1819.  John 
Tracy  built  the  first  water  mill  on  Cedar  Creek,  in  1820. 

The  first  Circuit  Court  was  held  at  James  Dickson's,  on  Lick  Creek,  in  1820 
Judge  Humphreys  presided. 

The  first  church  was  built  in  1821,  on  Lick  Creek,  by  the  Primitive  Baptists, 
and  the  first  ministers  who  held  services  there  were  Rev.  William  Hodge  and 
Rev.  Samuel  Akins. 

Statistics  of  Perry  County:  Population,  1920,  7,765.  Assessed  valuation  of 
taxable  property,  1921,  $3,379,600.  Area,  420  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
1,235.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Drained  by  Tennessee  River  and  tributaries. 
Surface  diversified  by  high  ridges  and  rich  valleys,  and  portions  of  il  well 
timbered.     It  is  one  of  the  principal  peanut-producing  counties  of  the  stat.** 


868  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Oilier  staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  buckwheat  and  live  stoek.  Linden,  the 
county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about  500  and  is  a  town  of  good  schools  and 
churches,  and  flourishing  business  establishments.  It  is  thirteen  miles  from  the 
Tennessee  River  and  eighty  miles  from  Nashville.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  2,546 ;  high  schools,  three ;  elementary  schools,  forty-eight. 

PICKETT  COUNTY 

Pickett  County  was  erected  in  1879  from  parts  of  Overton  and  Fentress 
counties  and  was  named  for  H.  L.  Pickett,  a  resident  of  Wilson  County.  Its 
early  history  is  the  history  of  the  counties  from  which  it  was  taken. 

Statistics  of  Pickett  County :  Population,  1920,  5,205.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $1,188,975.  Area,  240  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  935.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Its  surface  is  hilly,  and  it  is  well  watered 
by  Obed  and  Wolf  rivers.  Some  sections  covered  with  fine  timber.  Staple 
products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  grass  and  live  stock,  Byrdstown,  the  county 
seat,  has  a  population  of  125,  and  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  bank,  and 
nourishing  business  houses.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  1,914;  high  schools, 
none ;  elementary  schools,  thirty. 

PUTNAM   COUNTY 

Putnam  County  was  erected  on  February  1,  1842,  from  parts  of  White, 
Overton,  Jackson,  Smith  and  DeKalb  counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Gen. 
Israel  Putnam,  of  the  Revolutionary  war. 

In  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  act  creating  this  county,  the  County 
and  Circuit  courts  w:ere  established  and  their  officers  were  elected  and  functioned 
until  1844  when  an  injunction  restraining  the  officers  from  performing  the 
duties  of  their  offices  was  applied  for  and  was  granted.  February  11,  1854, 
however,  Putnam  County  was  reestablished  largely  through  the  efforts  of 
Major  Cooke,  after  whom  Cookeville,  the  county  seat,  was  named.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the  county  and,  at  the  time,  was  an  influential 
member  of  the  State  Senate.  The  way  for  the  reestablishment  of  the  county 
was  facilitated  by  the  decision  of  the  State  Supreme  Court  that  after  the  or- 
ganization of  the  county  was  complete  and  the  original  commissioners  had  per- 
formed their  duty,  it  was  not  w-ithin  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  justice  to 
enjoin  the  civil  officers  from  proceeding  in  their  official  duties. 

The  commissioners  named  in  the  reorganization  act  located  the  county  seat 
and  laid  off  the  town  which  was  named  Cookeville.  Monticello  was  a  competitor 
for  this  honor.  This  commission  was  composed  of  Joshua  R.  Stone  and  Dr. 
Green  H.  Baker,  of  White  County;  Austin  Morgan  and  Maj.  John  Brown,  of 
Jackson  County ;  Wm.  Davis  and  Isaiah  Warthon,  of  Overton  County ;  Wm.  B. 
Stokes  and  Bird  S.  Rhea,  of  DeKalb  County;  and  Benj.  A.  Vaden  and  Nathan 
Ward,  of  Smith  County. 

Putnam  County  furnished  many  gallant  officers  in  the  War  between  the 
States.  Among  them  were :  Sidney  S.  Stanton,  John  B.  Vance,  Harvey  H. 
Dillard,  Holland  Denton,  Walton  Smith,  S.  H.  McDearmon,  John  H.  Quarles, 
W.  B.  Carten,  S.  J.  Johnson,  Rison  Robinson,  C.  J.  Davis,  S.  G.  Slaughter,  Wm. 
Ensor,  Abraham  Hord.  Gen.  Alvin  C.  Gillem,  one  of  the  three  general  officers 
furnished  the  Union  Ariny  from  Tennessee,  was  a  Putnam  countian. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  869 

Monterey  (called  in  the  early  days  Standing  Stone)  and  Bloomington 
Springs  are  noted  summer  resorts.  There  are  important  deposits  of  coal,  phos- 
phate, lithograph  stone,  sandstone,  and  petroleum. 

Statistics  of  Putnam  County :  Population,  1920,  22,231.  Assessed  valuation 
of  .taxable  property,  1921,  $9,784,713.  Area,  430  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,983.  Railway  mileage,  forty-nine.  Drained  by  tributaries  of  the  Caney 
Fork  and  the  Cumberland.  Its  surface  is  undulating  and  partly  covered  with 
fine  timber.  County  well  adapted  to  stock  raising  and  fruit  growing.  Staple 
products  are  corn,  grass  and  live  stock.  Fine  coal  deposits  are  found  in  the 
mountain  section  of  the  county.  The  Tennessee  Central  Railway  traverses  the 
county.  Cookeville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,395,  and  has  fine 
churches  and  schools.  It  is  the  seat  of  the  Tennessee  Polytechnic  Institute.  It 
has  fine  electric  light  plant,  water  system,  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  several 
manufacturing  establishments,  prosperous  stores,  and  is  the  jobbing  center  for  a 
considerable  territory.  Monterey,  on  top  of  a  mountain,  has  a  population  of 
1,445,  and  is  the  center  of  the  spoke  and  handle  and  stave  industry  for  that 
section.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches  and  prosperous  business  establish- 
ments. Algood  and  Baxter  are  other  towns  in  the  county.  Scholastic  popula- 
tion of  county,  7,739 ;  high  schools,  five ;  elementary  schools,  seventy. 

ROBERTSON  COUNTY 

The  creation  of  Robertson  County  was  synchronous  with  that  of  Montgomery 
County,  both  having  been  erected  from  Tennessee  County  on  April  9,  1796.  It 
was  named  in  honor  of  James  Robertson. 

The  first  settler  in  this  county  was  Thomas  Kilgore.  In  1776  or  1777  he 
lived  for  some  time  in  a  cave  on  the  south  fork  of  Red  River,  near  what  is  now 
the  Village  of  Cross  Plains.  After  spending  about  a  year  here,  he  returned  to 
his  family  in  North  Carolina  and  took  part  in  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain. 
On  his  return  he  was  accompanied  by  Moses  Maulden,  Ambrose  Maulson, 
Samuel  Mason,  Josiah  Hankins  and  several  others  with  their  families.  They 
arrived  toward  the  latter  part  of  1780  and  built  a  fort,  called  Kilgore 's  Fort 
or  Kilgore 's  Station,  on  Kilgore 's  land.  After  a  few  months,  however,  they 
abandoned  the  station  because  of  the  depredations  of  the  Indians.  Kilgore  re- 
turned later  and  lived  there  until  his  death  at  the  age  of  108. 

From  Tennessee  County,  of  which  Robertson  was  a  part,  the  delegates  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1796  were  Thomas  Johnson,  James  Ford,  Wil- 
liam Fort,  William  Prince  and  Robert  Prince.  The  original  constitution  is  in 
the  handwriting  of  William  Fort,  who  was  considered  the  best  penman  among 
the  delegates. 

On  July  18,  1776,  the  first  County  Court  organized  at  the  house  of  Jacob 
McCarty,  with  the  following  named  magistrates  present :  William  Fort,  chair- 
man ;  Benj.  Menees,  Wm.  Miles,  Isaac  Phillips,  Bazil  Boren,  Martin  Duncan, 
John  Phillips,  James  Crabtree,  and  Zebulon  Hart.  Samuel  Donelson  was  made 
county  solicitor.  The  next  term  of  the  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Benj. 
Mcintosh,  and  this  continued  to  be  the  place  of  meeting  until  July,  1798,  when 
it  met  at  the  store  of  Geo.  Bell,  where  Springfield  now  is.  When  the  courthouse 
was  built  in  1799  the  sessions  were  held  there. 

In  April,  1796,  thirty  acres  were  donated  to  the  county  by  Archer  Cheatham 


870  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

tor  a  county  site.  In  1798  twenty  acres  more  were  bought  from  Thomas  John- 
son and  Springfield  became  the  county  seat. 

Early  physicians  were  Drs.  Levi  Noyes,  Clark,  B.  Bell,  and  Archie  Thomas. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  organized  on  April  10,  1810.  It  was  presided  over 
by  Judge  Parry  W.  Humphreys.  The  first  lawyer  was  Thornton  A.  Cook. 
Other  early  lawyers  were:   W.  H.  Dortch  and  W.  W.  Pepper. 

According  to  tradition  Wm.  Black  taught  the  first  school  which  was  on 
Sulphur  Fork.  About  1805  Thomas  Bowles  and  John  Edwards  taught  at  Spring- 
field, and,  in  the  next  year,  according  to  N.  W.  True,  Liberty  Academy  was 
established  at  Springfield.  This  became  a  noted  school  and  many  prominent 
men  were  educated  there.  It  existed  about  seventy-five  years  and  was  then  sold 
to  some  negroes  who  used  it  for  a  church. 

Early  churches  were  the  Eed  River  Missionary  Baptist  Church,  the  first, 
1791,  the  Cane  Ridge  Presbyterian  Church,  1793,  where  some  of  the  services  of 
the  Great  Revival  of  1800  were  held  and  Mount  Zion.  A  large  camp  ground 
was  maintained  also. 

This  county  was  the  home  of  the  so-called  Bell  witch  about  whom  hair-raising 
stories  were  told,  and  also  of  the  octoroon  Elijah  Cheek.  It  was  also  the  scene 
of  some  of  the  startling  exploits  of  the  Night  Riders  a  few  years  ago. 

Statistics  of  Robertson  County :  Population,  1920,  25,621.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $17,859,694.  Area,  536  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  4,002.  Railway  mileage,  twenty-six.  Surface  hilly  and  well  covered 
with  timber.  Soil  fertile.  Tobacco  is  one  of  the  principal  products,  this  county 
being  one  of  the  largest  producers  in  the  state.  Other  staple  products  are  wheat, 
corn,  oats  and  live  stock.  Springfield,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of 
3,860,  and  is  a  flourishing  town.  It  is  one  of  the  chief  tobacco  markets  of  the 
state.  Springfield  is  on  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad  and  is  thirty  miles  from  Nashville. 
Tt  has  fine  schools  and  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  four  banks,  and  manu- 
facturing establishments.  Adams,  Green  Brier  and  Cedar  Hill  are  other  towns. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  9,393;  high  schools,  nine;  elementary  schools, 
seventy-four. 

RUTHERFORD   COUNTY 

Rutherford  County  was  erected  on  October  25,  1803,  from  Davidson  and 
was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Griffith  Rutherford,  of  North  Carolina.  It  was 
organized  on  January  3,  1804. 

Uriah  Stone,  who  discovered  Stone's  River,  in  1766,  explored  it  as  far  as 
Old  Jefferson  in  Rutherford  County.  The  famous  Indian  chief,  Black  Fox,  had 
a  camp  near  Murfreesboro  and  the  old  Indian  war  trace  from  Nashville  to 
Chattanooga  passed  through  this  county. 

Early  settlers  were:  Sam  Wilson,  who  located  at  Wilson's  Shoal  on  Stone's 
River;  Wm.  Adkinson,  Thos.  Nelson  and  Thos.  Howell,  near  Stewart  Creek; 
Robt,  Overall,  on  Overall  Creek;  Nimrod  Menifee,  near  the  Federal  cemetery; 
Col.  Robt.  Weakley,  Robt.  Bedford,  Col.  Richard  Ransom,  Rev.  Jas.  Bowman, 
Charles  Ready,  Thos.  Rucker,  Richard  Saunders,  and  Capt.  Wm.  Lytic,  the  last 
named  being  the  owner  of  the  land  on  the  site  of  Murfreesboro. 

On  August  3,  1804,  the  commissioners,  John  Hill,  Frederick  Barfield,  Mark 
Mitchell,  Alexander  McBride,  and  Peter  Legrand,  selected  a  county  seat. 
Through  the  influence  of  Col.  Robt.  Weakley  and  Robt.  Bedford  they  selected 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  871 

Jefferson,  known  now  as  Old  Jefferson,  on  land  between  the  forks  of  Stone's 
River.  The  first  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Rucks,  on  January  3, 
1804,  and  the  first  courthouse  erected  in  1804-1805.  Parry  "W.  Humphreys  was 
made  county  solicitor.    Thos.  H.  Benton  tried  his  first  case  at  Jefferson. 

On  October  17,  1811,  the  Legislature  directed  that  a  county  seat  be  deter- 
mined and  named  and  appointed  seven  prominent  land  owners  to  select  a  site 
of  sixty  acres,  centrally  located.  A  struggle  ensued  between  rival  factions. 
The  site  was  first  called  Cannonsburg  in  honor  of  Newton  Cannon,  governor 
1835-1839,  but,  by  an  amendment  to  the  Act  of  1811,  it  was  called  Murfrees- 
borough  in  honor  of  Col.  Hardy  Murfree,  who  led  the  advance  at  the  battle  of 
Stony  Point,  and  was  incorporated  on  October  17,  1817.  The  first  mayor  was 
Joshua  Haskell,  who  resigned  and  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Wendell.  Lawyers 
of  early  days  were:  S.  R.  Rucker,  J.  R.  Martin,  Charles  Ready,  S.  A.  Laughlin, 
W.  Brady,  Samuel  Anderson,  John  Bruce,  Joshua  Haskell,  and  P.  W.  Hum- 
phreys. Early  physicians  were  Drs.  Jam.  Mooney,  J.  King,  Henry  Holmes  and 
P.  Yandell. 

The  Tennessee  Legislature   held  its  sessions    in   Murfreesboro   from   1819- 
1826,  its  meetings  being  in  the  courthouse. 

Important  educational  institutions:  Soule  College,  originally  Soule's  Female 
Academy,  founded  in  1825 ;  Old  Union  University,  chartered  February  5,  1842 ; 
Tennessee  College,  Anderson's  School  for  Boys  and  the  Middle  Tennessee  Nor- 
mal School. 

Murfreesboro  has  been  the  home  of  two  great  literary  celebrities :  Dr.  Samuel 
P.  Baldwin,  author  of  "Armageddon,"  and  Miss  Mary  N.  Murfree  (Charles 
Egbert  Craddock),  whose  lamented  death  occurred  recently. 

Statistics  of  Rutherford  County :  Population,  1920,  33,059.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $25,441,330.  Area,  580  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  5,254.  Railway  mileage,  thirty-four.  Drained  by  Stone's  River,  a 
tributary  of  the  Cumberland.  Its  surface  is  undulating  and  the  soil  fertile. 
Portions  of  the  county  are  well  timbered.  Staple  products  are  corn,  cotton, 
wheat,  sorghum,  peas,  clover  and  grass.  It  is  one  of  the  best  live  stock  counties 
in  the  state.  Murfreesboro,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  5,367,  and  is 
on  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway,  thirty  miles  from  Nashville.  It  has  fine  public 
and  private  schools,  and  is  the  seat  of  the  Middle  Tennessee  Normal.  It  has 
splendid  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  several  manufacturing  establish- 
ments and  prosperous  stores.  Christiana,  Fosterville,  Smyrna  and  LaVergne 
are  other  towns  in  the  county.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  14,367  ;  high 
schools,  fifteen;  elementary  schools,  100. 

SMITH    COUNTY 

Smith  County  was  erected  in  1799  from  a  part  of  Sumner  County  and  was 
named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  a  pioneer  surveyor,  secretary  of  the 
Southwest  Territory  and  United  States  senator  succeeding  Andrew  Jackson. 

The  early  settlers  were  mostly  from  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  some  of 
them  via  East  Tennessee.  They  raised  cotton,  corn,  tobacco  and  hemp.  Wra. 
"Walton  was  the  first  settler,  having  located,  probably  in  1787,  on  what  was 
afterwards  the  site  of  Carthage.  Other  early  settlers  were:  Daniel  Burford, 
Richard  Alexander,  Peter  Turney,  Win.  Saunders,  Tilman  Dixon,  Micajah  Duke, 


872  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Wm.  McDonald,  Wm.  Goodall,  Armstead  Flippin,  Jas.  Hodges,  Goo.  T.  Wright, 
Arthur  S.  Hogan,  the  Gordons,  Smiths  and  Fites. 

On  December  16,  1799,  the  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions  was  held  at  the  house  of  Tilman  Dixon  on  the  site  of  Dixon  Springs. 
The  following  named  magistrates  were  present  and  qualified:  Garrett  Fitz- 
gerald, chairman ;  Wm.  Alexander,  Jas.  Gwinn,  Tilman  Dixon,  Thos.  Harrison, 
Jas.  Hibbetts,  William  Walton  and  Peter  Turney.  The  last  named  was  the 
father  of  Hopkins  L.  Turney  and  grandfather  of  Governor  Peter  Turney.  The 
oath  was  administered  by  Moses  Fisk,  who  was  appointed  clerk,  pro  tem.  Amos 
Lacey  was  chosen  constable.  During  its  first  years  this  court  had  its  meetings 
sometimes  at  the  house  of  Major  Dixon  and  sometimes  at  Win.  Saunders',  then 
at  Fort  Blount,  then  at  Colonel  Walton's.  But  in  1804,  the  county  site  was 
established  at  the  place  where  Carthage  now  stands,  which  was  laid  out  on  the 
land  of  Col.  Wm.  Walton,  who  built  the  road,  called  after  him,  the  Walton  Road, 
from  the  junction  of  the  Caney  Fork  and  the  Cumberland  across  the  mountain, 
along  which  road  he  erected  houses  for  the  entertainment  of  travelers.  The 
courthouse  was  completed  in  1805,  and  in  March,  1806,  the  court  was  held  in  it. 

The  Circuit  Court  held  its  first  session,  it  is  thought,  in  1810,  with  Judge 
N.  W.  Williams,  presiding.  The  Chancery  Court  held  its  first  term  in  May, 
1825,  and  was  presided  over  by  Judge  John  Catron,  chief  justice  of  the  state, 
1831-1835,  and  then  member  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Among  the 
prominent  members  of  its  bar  were:  Robert  L.  Caruthers,  elected  governor  in 
1863,  and  his  brother,  Abraham  Caruthers ;  Wm.  B.  Campbell,  governor,  1851- 
1853 ;  Wm.  Cullom,  Samuel  M.  Fite,  James  B.  Moore,  Jordan  Stokes,  John  D. 
Goodall,  Andrew  McClain,  A.  A.  Swope,  E.  L.  Gardenhire,  and  Sam  Turney. 

Smith  County  furnished  for  the  War  of  1812,  two  companies  whose  cap- 
tains were  respectively,  Robertson  and  James  Walton ;  four  companies  for  the 
war  with  Mexico,  commanded  by  Capts.  William  Walton,  L.  P.  McMurry,  Don 
Allison,  and  John  D.  Goodall ;  and  twelve  companies  for  the  Confederate  Army. 

Pioneer  ministers  were:  David  P.  Timberlake,  David  Halliburton,  John 
Page,  Jesse  Moreland,  and  John  Maffit. 

Important  educational  institutions  were  the  Geneva  Academy  and  the  Fe- 
male Academy. 

Statistics  of  Smith  County :  Population  of  1920,  17,134.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1923,  $13,652,578.  Area,  368  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,908.  Railway  mileage,  twenty-seven.  Drained  by  the  Cumberland 
and  its  tributary,  the  Caney  Fork.  Surface  hilly  and  well  covered  with  tim- 
ber. Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  tobacco  and  hay.  It  is  one  of  the 
best  live  stock  counties  in  the  state.  Carthage,  the  county  seat,  is  on  the  Cum- 
berland River  and  the  terminus  of  a  branch  of  the  Tennessee  Central.  It  has 
a  population  of  920,  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  one 
bank,  manufacturing  and  mercantile  establishments.  Large  shipments  of  to- 
bacco are  made  from  Carthage.  Dixon  Springs  is  another  prosperous  town 
in  the  county.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  6,832;  high  schools,  two;  ele- 
mentary schools,  seventy-two. 

STEWART    COUNTY 

Stewart  County  was  erected  on  November  1,  1803,  from  a  part  of  Mont- 
o-omerv  Countv  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Duncan  Stewart,  an  energetic  and 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  873 

prosperous  farmer.  At  that  time  this  county  included  a  vast  domain  extend- 
ing west  to  the  Tennessee  River  and  south  to  the  Alabama  line.  After  the 
Chickasaw  purchase  was  made,  October  19,  1819,  the  jurisdiction  of  this  county 
for  a  while  extended  to  the  Mississippi  River  and  covered  more  than  twelve 
hundred  square  miles,  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  entire  state. 

The  earliest  settlers  arrived  about  1795,  mostly  from  North  Carolina.  Among 
them  were:  Geo.  Petty,  Samuel  A.  Smith,  Britton  Sexton,  James  Andrews, 
Samuel  Boyd,  and  Elisha  Dawson.  They  settled  on  or  near  the  site  of  Dover. 
About  1800,  Duncan  Stewart  arrived  with  a  large  number  of  immigrants  from 
North  Carolina,  among  them  were:  John  Kingins,  Christopher  Brandon,  Jo- 
seph Smith,  Tillman  Sexton,  and  Ethelred  Wallace.  In  1809  and  1811,  John 
Wofford  and  James  Wofford  came.  From  Virginia  came :  James  Scarborough, 
Sr.,  Jas.  Scarborough,  Jr.,  Davis  Andrews,  and  Ebenezer  Rumphelt;  other 
pioneer  families  were,  the  Lewis,  Gorham,  Weaks,  Parchman,  Walter,  and  Akers 
families. 

Most  of  the  settlers  from  North  Carolina  had  grants  of  land  for  services  in 
the  Revolutionary  war.  For  several  years  they  suffered  much  from  the  depre- 
dations of  the  Indians. 

On  November  1,  1803,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  in  which  a  commission 
was  appointed  to  select  the  county  seat.  The  county  was  organized  on  March 
12,  1804,  at  the  house  of  George  Martin,  near  Bald  Island,  by  the  following 
named  magistrates :  Thomas  Clinton,  Joshua  Williams,  Wm.  Allen,  and  Geo. 
Petty. 

In  1805,  thirty  acres  were  bought  of  Robt.  Nelson  and  a  county  seat  laid  out. 
Although  the  act  creating  the  county  specified  that  the  name  of  the  county  seat 
should  be  Monroe,  it  was,  nevertheless,  called  Dover.  It  was  incorporated  in 
1836. 

Among  the  early  lawyers  who  practiced  at  Dover  were :  Nathaniel  McNairy, 
Jesse  E.  Rice,  II.  C.  Roberts,  Jas.  Roberts,  Percy  W.  Thompson,  Aaron  Good- 
ridge,  E.  P.  Petty,  J.  B.  Reynolds,  J.  W.  Wall,  C.  M.  Brandon,  J.  W.  Rice, 
M.  Brandon,  Jesse  L.  Harris,  J.  O.  Shackleford,  Peter  Lynch,  Hiram  Valentine, 
John  Reddick,  Win.  Fitzgerald,  West  H.  Humphreys,  Geo.  W.  Marr. 

Earlj'  physicians  were :  Doctors  Brunson,  Hiding,  Cato,  Outlaw  and  Rob- 
erts. 

Probably  the  first  school  was  taught  by  John  Ferrell  -in  1806.  Alexander 
Coppage  was  a  noted  teacher  of  1826.  In  1840,  McDougal  opened  a  "Male 
and  Female  Academy." 

The  Baptists  established  the  first  church,  probably  in  1803. 

From  1854  to  1856,  a  servile  insurrection,  probably  the  only  one  in  the  his- 
tory of  Tennessee  was  fomented  in  this  county,  supposedly  by  white  preachers. 
The  plan  was  for  the  negroes  to  overcome  their  masters  on  a  certain  day  and 
then  to  leave  for  Ohio  where  they  expected  to  be  free.  In  December,  1856,  the 
plot  was  discovered  by  the  vigilance  committee.  Six  of  the  leaders  were  hanged 
and  many  were  whipped. 

Stewart  County  was  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  center  of  the  iron  industry 
of  Middle  Tennessee. 

Statistics  of  Stewart  County:  Population,  1920,  14,664.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,620,099.  Area,  500  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,612.  Railway  mileage,  five.  Drained  by  the  Cumberland  River  which 
intersects   the   county.     The   Tennessee  River  flows  along  the   western   border 


874  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

of  the  county.  Its  surface  is  hilly  and  partly  covered  with  timber.  Soil  fertile. 
A  large  amount  of  export  tobacco  is  grown.  Other  staple  products  are  corn, 
wheat,  oats  and  live  stock.  Several  iron  mines  have  been  worked  in  the  county. 
The  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  passes  through  the  county.  Dover,  the 
county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about  five  hundred  and  has  good  schools  and 
churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and  flourishing  business  houses. 
Scholastic  population  of  county,  5,576 ;  high  schools,  one ;  elementary  schools, 
sixty-three. 

SUMNER   COUNTY  28 

Sumner  County  was  erected  on  November  17,  1786,  by  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  North  Carolina.  It  was  formed  from  a  part  of  Davidson  County  and 
was  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  Jethro  Sumner,  a  gallant  officer  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.    It  was  the  second  county  formed  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

Cisco  says,  "the  curtain  of  history  arises  on  Sumner  County  in  the  year 
1779,  when  a  settlement  of  a  dozen  families  was  formed  near  Bledsoe's  Lick," 
now  Castalian  Springs.  Before  this  day,  however,  Thomas  Sharp  Spencer  and 
others  had  come  into  the  Cumberland  country,  and,  in  1777,  had  built  a  num- 
ber of  cabins  about  one-half  mile  west  of  Bledsoe's  Lick,  and  in  1778  had 
planted  some  corn.  This  was  the  first  agricultural  effort  made  by  men  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  in  Middle  Tennessee. 

Col.  Isaac  Bledsoe  built  a  fort  or  station  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  west  of 
Bledsoe's  Lick,  and  his  brother,  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe,  built  a  fort  two  and  one- 
half  miles  north  of  the  Lick,  and  called  it  "Greenfield." 

Asher  and  others  built  a  fort  a  little  southeast  of  Gallatin.  Forts  were  also 
built  by  John  Morgan,  Maj.  Jas.  White,  Colonel  Sanders,  Jacob  Zeigler,  Capt. 
Jos.  "Wilson,  ancestor  of  Judge  S.  F.  Wilson,  of  the  State  Court  of  Chancery 
Appeals,  Kasper  Mansker,  Hamilton,  and  others. 

Among  the  early  settlers  were:  Col.  Isaac  Bledsoe,  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe, 
Robert  Desha,  Jordan  Gibson,  Henry  Loving,  Wm.  Morrison,  John  Morgan, 
John  Sawyer,  Robt.  Steele,  Jacob  Zeigler,  Henry  Ramsey,  Wm.  Hall,  Hugh 
Rogan,  David  Shelby,  Geo.  D.  Blackmore,  Jas.  and  Geo.  Winchester,  Robt. 
Peyton,  Jos.  Wilson,  Michael  Shafer,  Jas.  Hayes,  Chas.  Morgan,  Gabriel  Black, 
John  Carr,  Robt.  Brigham,  Chas.  Campbell,  Wm.  Crawford,  Edward  and  El- 
more Douglass,  Jas.  Franklin,  Richard  Hogan,  Robt.  and  David  Looney,  Geo. 
Mansker,  Benjamin  Kuykendall,  Thos.  Sharp  Spencer,  John  Peyton,  Jas.  Mc- 
Cain, Benj.  Porter,  John  Withers,  Jno.  Hamilton,  Jno.  Latham,  Wm.  Snoddy, 
Jas.  Cartwright,  Jas.  McCann,  John  and  Joseph  Byrns,  Jas.  Trousdale,  Benj. 
Williams,  Jno.  Edwards,  Samuel  Wilson,  John  Hall,  Wm.  Montgomery,  Edward 
Hagan,  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  Wm.  Frazier,  Benj.  Sheppard  and  Redmond  D. 
Berry,  who  introduced  Kentucky  bluegrass  and  brought  from  North  Caro- 
lina his  blooded  horse  Gray  Metley. 

The  first  court  of  Sumner  County  was  held  on  the  first  Monday  in  April, 
1787,  at  the  house  of  Jno.  Hamilton,  at  Station  Camp  Creek,  about  five  miles 
from  Gallatin.  The  members  of  that  court  were:  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  Maj. 
David  Wilson,  Maj.  George  Winchester,  Isaac  Lindsey,  Wm.  Hall,  John  Hardin, 
Joseph   Kuykendall,    Col.    Edward   Douglass,   and   Col.    Isaac    Bledsoe,    David 


28  The  historical  facts  in  the  sketch  of  this  county  have  been  taken  largely  from  Cisco's 
"Historic  Sumner  County." 


EOCK  CASTLE,  THE  HOME  OF  GENERAL  DANIEL  SMITH 


(HE  UBRMtt 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  877 

Shelby,  son-in-law  of  Col.  Anthony  Bledsoe,  was  appointed  clerk.  John  Hardin, 
Jr.,  was  appointed  sheriff,  and  Isaac  Lindsey,  ranger. 

On  April  20,  1796,  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  passed  an  act  appointing 
commissioners  to  select  a  site  for  the  seat  of  government.  Those  commissioners 
were :  Wm.  Bowen,  Jno.  Wilson,  Isaac  Walton,  Geo.  D.  Blackmore,  and  Hugh 
Crawford.  The  act  also  appointed  the  following  trustees  to  purchase  the  land 
selected  by  the  commissioners :  Henry  Bradford,  David  Shelby,  and  Edward 
Douglass.  Section  3  of  this  act  provided  that  the  town  should  be  called  "ca 
Ira,"  which  name  was  corrupted  into  "Cairo"  and  it  was  so  incorporated  on 
November  5,  1815.  On  October  2,  1797,  this  act  was  repealed  and  another  act 
passed  appointing  another  commission  to  select  the  county  site,  to  buy  land, 
erect  a  courthouse,  prison  and  stocks. 

This  act  also  was  repealed  on  October  26,  1799,  and  Sumner  County  was  re- 
duced to  its  constitutional  limits.  On  November  6,  1804,  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  Legislature  to  provide  for  county  seat  and  buildings  and  that  the  town 
should  be  called  Gallatin,  in  honor  of  Albert  Gallatin,  secretary  of  the  treasury 
of  the  United  States. 

In  Februaiy,  1802,  the  site  of  Gallatin  was  purchased  from  Jas.  Trousdale. 
The  courthouse  was  completed  in  1803. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  established  in  1810,  and  the  Chancery  Court  in  1836. 
The  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  were  held  in  the  homes 
of  various  citizens  until  the  courthouse  was  erected.  The  first  session  of  the 
court  after  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union  was  held  in  the  house  of 
Ezekiel  Douglass,  in  July,  1796.  It  was  composed  of  the  following  members 
appointed  by  Governor  Sevier:  Wm.  Cage,  Stephen  Cantrell,  Jas.  Douglass, 
Edward  Douglass,  James  Gwyn,  Wetheral  Lattimore,  Thos.  Masten,  Thos.  Don- 
ald, Jas.  Pearce,  David  Wilson,  Jas.  Winchester  and  Isaac  Walton.  Probably 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  persons  in  Sumner  County  were  killed  by  the  In- 
dians. An  academy  for  girls  was  incorporated  November  3,  1837.  It  was  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Howard  Female  Institute  in  1856.  Joseph  S.  Fowler  was  a 
teacher  in  this  school.  After  the  war  he  became  a  senator  of  the  United  States 
from  Tennessee.  The  claim  has  been  made  that  it  was  his  vote  which  saved 
Andrew  Johnson  from  being  convicted  when  impeached. 

Rock  Castle,  the  home  of  Gen.  Daniel  Smith,  was  very  celebrated  in  the  early 
days  and  is  still  standing  at  Hendersonville ;  also  Cragfont,  the  home  of  Gen. 
James  Winchester. 

Early  ministers  from  the  county  were:  Jno.  Gwynn,  Jas.  McGhee,  Bishop 
McKendree,  John  Page,  Methodists;  John  Wiseman,  Baptist;  William  McGhee, 
Presbyterian. 

Statistics  of  Sumner  County :  Population,  1920,  27,708.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $21,557,328.  Area,  536  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  4,585.  Railway  mileage  sixty-two.  Sumner  is  one  of  the  finest  stock 
raising  and  agricultural  sections  in  the  state  and  is  intersected  by  the  Louis- 
ville &  Nashville  Railroad,  borders  on  Kentucky,  and  is  bounded  on  the  south 
by  the  Cumberland  River.  Portions  of  it  are  well  timbered  and  it  is  a  fine 
county  for  fruit  growing.  Phosphate  deposits  are  found  in  the  county.  It 
has  a  good  system  of  highways.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  hay 
and  live  stock.  Gallatin,  the  county  seat,  is  on  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Rail- 
road and  is  thirty  miles  from  Nashville,  and  has  fine  schools  and  churches,  two 
weekly  newspapers,  two  banks,  and  prosperous  manufacturing  and  mercantile 


878  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

establishments.  Gallatin  has  a  population  of  2,757.  Portland  is  another  pros- 
perous town.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  9,672:  high  schools,  thirteen; 
elementary  schools,  eighty-three. 

TROUSDALE   COUNTY 

Trousdale  County  was  erected  in  1870,  from  parts  of  Sumner,  Macon,  Smith 
and  Wilson  counties,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Wm.  Trousdale,  governor, 
1849-1851. 

The  first  court  was  held  in  the  Methodist  Church  at  Hartsville  on  the  first 
Monday  in  September,  1870.  The  following  named  magistrates  were  present: 
Jas.  R.  DeBow,  chairman ;  Chas.  McMurray,  and  Jas.  R.  Jefferies.  Hartsville 
was  chosen  as  the  county  seat  in  an  election  held  in  the  following  November. 
The  Circuit  Court  held  its  first  term  in  September,  1870,  Judge  W.  H.  William- 
son, presiding. 

The  following  chancellors  have  presided  over  the  division  of  which  Trousdale 
County  is  a  part :  Chas.  G.  Smith,  Horace  H.  Lurton,  afterwards  a  member  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  B.  J.  Tarver,  and  Geo.  H.  Seay. 

The  Lauderdale,  Donoho,  Sewell,  Cunningham,  Mill  and  Caruthers  families 
were  early  settlers  in  this  county.  Albert  Gallatin  Donoho  was  the  first  white 
child  born  near  Hartsville,  in  1798.  Like  the  people  in  all  the  neighboring 
counties  the  early  settlers  here  suffered  much  from  the  atrocities  of  the  Indians. 

The  section  afterwards  known  as  Trousdale  County  sent  a  company  to  the 
Mexican  war  under  command  of  Capt.  R.  A.  Bennett  and  Lieuts.  J.  M.  Shaver, 
Patrick  Duffy  and  King  Kirby. 

Among  its  distinguished  officers  in  the  War  between  the  States  were :  Col. 
James  Bennett,  Capt.  Wm.  Barksdale,  Maj.  G.  Lowe,  Capt.  H.  C.  Ellis,  and 
Col.  Wm.  J.  Hale. 

The  battle  of  Hartsville  was  fought  on  December  7,  1862.  The  Federal  gar- 
rison, after  an  hour's  fight,  surrendered  to  the  Confederates  under  Gen.  John 
Morgan. 

Statistics  of  Trousdale  County:  Population,  1920,  5,996.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,369,678.  Area,  166  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  876.  Railway  mileage,  eight.  Drained  by  Cumberland  River  and 
tributaries.  Surface  hilly  with  rich  valleys,  and  splendidly  adapted  to  stock 
raising.  Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  hay  and  live  stock.  Harts- 
ville, the  county  seat,  is  on  the  Cumberland  River  and  the  terminus  of  a  branch 
of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad.  It  has  a  population  of  1,023  and  has 
good  schools,  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and  prosperous  business 
establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  1,734;  high  schools,  one;  ele- 
mentary schools,  twenty-five. 

VAN   BUREN  COUNTY 

Van  Buren  County  was  erected  in  1840,  from  parts  of  White,  Warren  and 
Bledsoe  counties  and  named  for  Martin  Van  Buren,  who  was  president  at  that 
time.  The  first  court  was  held  on  April  6,  1840,  at  Spencer,  named  for  Thos. 
Sharp  Spencer. 

Burritt  College,  at  Spencer,  was  established  in  the   '50s,  with  accommoda- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  879 

tions  for  250  students.     Its  influence   on  education   in  this  section    has   been 
incalculable. 

Statistics  of  Van  Buren  County :  Population,  1920,  2,624.  Assessed,  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $1,693,762.  Area,  322  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  432.  Railway  mileage,  none.  This  county  is  well  drained  and  has 
much  fine  timber  and  fine  grazing  lands  for  cattle  and  sheep.  Staple  products 
are  corn,  grasses,  fruits  and  live  stock.  Spencer,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  about  three  hundred,  and  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  bank,  and 
prosperous  business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  1,013. 
High  schools,  one ;  elementary  schools,  twenty-one. 

WARREN    COUNTY 

Warren  County  was  erected  in  1807,  from  a  part  of  White  County  and  is 
said  to  have  been  named  for  Gen.  Wm.  Warren,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill.  It  is  believed  that  Elisha  Pepper,  who  came  from  Virginia  about  1800, 
was  the  first  settler.  Other  early  settlers  were :  Joseph  Colville,  John  Lusk, 
Lyon  Mitchell,  Wm.  Lusk,  Dr.  John  Wilson,  Edward  Hogue,  Dr.  W.  P.  Law- 
rence, Absalom  Clark,  Elijah  Fletcher,  Jno.  England,  Irwin  Hill,  Oliver  Charles, 
Abner  Womack,  Wm.  Womack,  Chesley  Webb,  Jno.  Kirby,  Robert  Biles,  Archi- 
bald Prater,  Allen  Youngblood,  Brown  Spurlock,  Thos.  Gribble,  Mason  French, 
Jas.  Northcutt,  Wm.  Smartt,  Dr.  Archibald  Faulkner,  Asa  Faulkner,  John 
Gross,  James  Cope,  Wm.  Cummings,  Joshua  Hiekerson,  Oliver  Charles,  H.  J.  A. 
Hill,  W.  J.  Stubblefield,  John  Davis,  and  Jas.  Elkins. 

Until  1810,  the  courts  were  held  at  the  home  of  Joseph  Westmoreland  and 
in  a  log  house  near  it  about  a  half  mile  south  of  Barren  Fork.  This  was  near 
the  celebrated  Poplar  Tavern  where  people  intending  to  settle  on  Elk  River, 
usually  stopped.  In  March,  1809,  McMinnville  was  selected  as  the  county 
seat  by  the  commissioners,  Jas.  Taylor,  Thos.  Matthews,  Benj.  Lockhart,  Jas. 
English  and  John  Armstrong.  It  was  located  on  the  lands  of  Joseph  Colville, 
Jno.  A.  Wilson  and  Robt.  Cowan.  In  August,  1810,  McMinnville  was  laid  off 
and  lots  sold. 

Among  the  early  lawyers  were :  T.  Y.  Murray,  Washington  Britain,  Geo. 
Stubblefield,  John  B.  Forrester,  Wm.  Armstrong,  Stokeley  D.  Roman,  Andrew 
J.  Marchbanks,  Napoleon  B.  Baird,  B.  L.  Ridley,  Thos.  K.  Harris. 

This  county  has  furnished  soldiers  for  all  the  wars  in  which  Tennessee  has 
had  a  part. 

Early  educational  institutions  were:  Quincy  Academy,  founded  in  1809; 
Edmondson  Academy,  established  in  1820;  Carroll  Academy,  in  1830;  and  the 
Cumberland  Female  College  in  1850. 

Early  churches  were  Shiloh,  and  Sulphur  Springs  churches,  both  Union  and 
Hickory  Grove,  Methodist.  The  Primitive  Baptist  Church  was  the  first  church 
established  in  McMinnville  in  1837.  Rev.  Isaac  Woodward,  a  saintly  and  ec- 
centric Methodist,  was  the  best  known  of  the  pioneer  ministers. 

Dr.  J.  P.  Lawrence  was  one  of  the  first  physicians. 

Statistics  of  Warren  County:  Population,  1920,  17,306.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,715,632.  Area,  440  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  2,756.  Railway  mileage,  twenty-five.  Drained  by  the  Caney  Fork 
and  Rock  rivers.  Surface  hilly  with  fertile  valleys.  Splendid  fruit  growing 
section.     Some  sections  are  well  timbered.     Staple  products  are  corn,  wheat. 


880  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

oats  and  live  stock.  A  branch  of  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Rail- 
way intersects  the  comity.  McMinnville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of 
2,814,  and  is  a  flourishing  town  with  fine  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  news- 
paper, three  banks,  manufacturing  establishments,  and  prosperous  stores,  flour 
mills,  saw  mills,  etc.  Morrison  and  Rock  Island  are  other  towns.  Scholastic 
population  of  county,  5,760 ;  high  schools,  seven ;  elementary  schools,  sixty-six. 

WAYNE    COUNTY 

Wayne  County  was  erected  by  act  of  the  Legislature  on  November  24,  1817, 
from  parts  of  Hickman  and  Humphreys  counties  and  named  in  honor  of  Gen. 
Anthony  Wayne.  This  act,  however,  was  not  engrossed  and  approved  and, 
therefore,  had  to  be  repassed  at  the  session  of  1819. 

The  first  meeting  for  organization  of  the  county  court  was  held  at  the  house 
of  Benjamin  Hardin,  on  the  Factor's  fork  of  Shoal  Creek  at  the  crossing  of 
the  Natchez  Trace.  The  next  meeting  was  held  at  AVm.  Barnett's  on  the  Old 
Town  Branch  where  Barnett  had  built  a  log  courthouse,  and  the  following 
magistrates  were  present :  Benjamin  Hardin,  Jesse  Cypert,  Wm.  B.  Curtis, 
Wm.  Burns,  Perley  and  David  Gallaher,  Reuben  Kyle,  John  Meredith,  C.  W. 
Pope,  Wm.  B.  Ross,  Henry  Rayburn,  and  Wm.  B.  Walker. 

The  county  officers  elected  were:  Wm.  Barnett,  County  Court  clerk;  Benj. 
Hardin,  sheriff;  Jno.  M.  Barnett,  Circuit  Court  clerk;  John  McClure,  reg- 
ister; Jno.  Meredith,  trustee;  John  Hill,  ranger;  and  W.  B.  Payne,  coroner. 

Courts  were  held  at  this  place  until  1823,  when  the  county  seat  was  moved  to 
Waynesboro,  which  was  founded  by  Wm.  Burns,  in  1821,  and  was  sold  by  him 
to  the  commissioners  appointed  to  locate  the  county  seat,  viz. :  Nathan  Biffer, 
Chas.  Burns,  Jas.  Hollis  and  John  Hill.  This  land,  40  acres,  was  divided  into 
lots,  which  were  sold  and  proceeds  used  to  erect  a  courthouse. 

The  first  Chancery  Court  was  held  at  Waynesboro  in  1847,  Judge  Terry  H. 
Cahal  presiding;  C.  B.  McLean,  clerk  and  master. 

The  mineral  deposits  of  the  county  are  extensive.  The  iron  deposits  have 
been  and  are  still  being  worked.  There  are  also  important  deposits  of  man- 
ganese and  cement. 

Wayne  and  Hardin  are  two  of  the  best  wooded  counties  in  the  state. 
The  first  school,  Ashland  Academy,  was  built  at  Waynesboro  in  1843.     In 
1849  the  Female  Academy  was  established  at  the  same  place. 

The  Masonic  Academy  was  built  at  Clifton  in  1855,  and  Frank  Hughes 
College,  also  at  Clifton,  in  1906. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  on  Pine  River  by  Adam  Wilson. 
Statistics  of  Wayne  County :  Population,  1920,  12,877.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $4,232,812.  Area,  720  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  1,651.  Railway  mileage,  eighteen.  Drained  by  tributaries  of  the 
Tennessee  River.  Surface  generally  hilly  and  is  a  splendid  fruit  growing  sec- 
tion. A  large  part  of  the  county  is  well  timbered.  Staple  products  are  corn, 
wheat,  cotton,  hay  and  live  stock.  Limestone  and  iron  ore  are  found  in  the 
county.  Waynesboro,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  about  six  hundred, 
and  has  good  schools  and  churches,  bank,  and  prosperous  business  establish- 
ments. Collinwood,  another  town,  has  large  manufacturing  interests.  Scho- 
lastic population  of  county,  5,220 ;  high  schools,  4 ;  elementary  schools,  71. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  881 

WHITE  COUNTY 

White  County  was  erected  on  September  11,  1806,  from  a  part  of  Smith 
County,  and  was  named  for  John  White,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  this  county. 
The  first  settlements  were  made  in  the  valley  of  the  Calf  Killer  River,  so  named 
for  an  Indian  chief.  Among  the  early  settlers  were  John  White,  Elijah  Cam- 
eron, Wm.  Phillips,  John  Knowles,  Archibald  Overton,  Aaron  England,  Wm. 
Scarborough,  Isaac  Taylor,  Alexander  Lowery,  Geo.  W.  Gibbs,  John  Hancock, 
T.  B.  Rice,  Joseph  Terry,  Anthony  Dibrell,  Jacob  A.  Lane,  Thos.  Simpson,  Wm. 
Anderson,  Matthias  Anderson,  Benj.  Lampton,  Lewis  Fletcher,  Thos.  Bounds, 
Jesse  Lincoln,  Wm.  Glenn,  Wm.  Burton,  Joseph  Collins,  Montgomery  Carrick. 

The  first  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Joseph  Terry,  on  the  present  site  of 
Rock  Island,  in  Warren  County,  on  October  15,  1806. 

In  1809,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  for  the  establishment  of  Sparta,  the 
county  seat,  and  the  following  commissioners  were  elected  to  lay  it  off:  Thos. 
Bounds,  Benj.  Weaver,  Aaron  England,  Turner  Lane,  James  Fulkerson,  Alex- 
ander Lowery,  and  Nicholas  Gillentine. 

The  first  courthouse  was  built  of  logs,  in  1810,  and  stood  until  1815,  when 
a  brick  building  was  erected,  which  was  used  until  1894,  when  a  new  building 
was  constructed. 

For  several  years  the  Superior  Court  met  in  White  Count,y,  at  first  at  Rock 
Island,  and  later  at  Sparta. 

Among  the  early  lawyers  were  Alexander  Lane,  David  Ames,  Nathaniel 
Hoggard,  Richard  Nelson,  John  H.  Anderson,  Hopkins  L.  Turney,  Sam  Turney, 
John  Catron,  and  Geo.  W.  Gibbs. 

The  first  representative  in  Congress  from  White  County  was  Thos.  K.  Harris 
He  was  killed  in  a  duel  with  Col.  John  W.  Simpson  at  Shell's  Ford  on  Caney 
Fork  River.  Prior  to  this  unfortunate  occurrence  Colonel  Simpson  had  dis 
tinguished  himself  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans  as  had  Captain  Gibbs,  also  of 
White  County. 

White  County  also  furnished  troops  for  the  Creek  war,  the  war  with  Mexico 
and  the  War  between  the  States. 

About  1815,  a  turnpike  road,  built  from  Nashville  to  Knoxville,  passed 
through  Sparta. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  White  County,  especially  coal,  is  remarkable.  In 
1882,  the  Bon  Air  Coal,  Land  &  Lumber  Company  was  organized  by  Gen.  Geo. 
G.  Dibrell  and  his  associates,  ex-Governor  John  C.  Brown,  Col.  John  F.  House, 
Gen.  J.  D.  Adkins,  Gen.  W.  C.  Whitthorne,  Hon.  Benton  McMillin,  then  a  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  Dr.  W.  M.  Morrow,  D.  W.  Dinges,  Samuel  G.  Jones,  and  W.  C. 
Dibrell. 

Statistics  of  White  County:  Population,  1920,  15,701.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $7,845,005.  Area,  390  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,024.  Railway  mileage,  thirty-six.  Drained  by  the  Caney  Fork  River. 
The  surface  is  uneven  and  extensively  covered  with  timber.  Soil  is  fertile. 
The  staple  products  are  corn,  wheat,  oats  and  live  slock.  Good  f'niil  growing 
section.  The  Bon  Air  Coal  Mines  are  located  in  this  county.  A  branch  of 
the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railway  extends  into  the  county.  Sparta, 
the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  1,517,  is  on  the  railroad  and  is  a  town 
of  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two   banks,  and   manufac- 


s.s-J  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

turing  and  commercial  establishments,  electric  light  and  power  plant.   Scholastic 
population  of  county,  f>,N69 ;  high  schools,  three;  elementary  schools,  fifty-six. 

WILLIAMSON   COUNTY  29 

The  act  creating  Williamson  County  was  passed  on  October  26,  1799.  It 
was  formed  from  Davidson  County,  and,  according  to  Dr.  W.  M.  Clarke,  named 
for  "General  Williamson,  of  North  Carolina,  some  of  whose  descendants  were 
prominent  men  of  that  day,  among  others,  Dr.  Hugh  Williamson,  the  intimate 
friend  and  companion  of  Franklin.  It  is  supposed  by  some  that  the  county 
received  its  name  from  Doctor  Williamson  and  the  county  seat  from  the  name 
of  his  eminent  friend."30 

Hunters  and  explorers  went  into  Williamson  County  as  early  as  1784,  and 
the  Harpeth  (spelled  at  first  Harpath)  was  known  in  that  same  year.  Perma- 
nent settlements,  however,  were  not  made  until  shortly  before  1800,  on  account 
of  fear  of  the  Indians.  Probably  the  first  permanent  settlement  was  made  in 
1798,  by  several  families  headed  by  David  McEwen,  who  located  at  Roper's 
Knob.  At  nearly  the  same  time  Wm.  Demonbreun,  son  of  the  famous  Timothy 
Demonbreun,  settled  at  College  Grove.  A  pioneer  named  Sledge  settled  near 
Peytonsville. 

Among  the  numerous  pioneers  who  settled  in  this  county  from  1797  to  1810, 
may  he  mentioned  Stephen  Childress,  Nicholas  Perkins,  Byrd  Bramlett,  Ed- 
mund Wall,  John  Harness,  R.  P.  Currin,  Robt.  Caruthers,  Zion  Hunt,  Wm. 
Hulme,  Solomon  Brent,  Abram  P.  Maury,  Thos.  McKay,  Ewen  Cameron,31  Wm. 
Edmondston,  Matthew  Johnson,  Thos.  H.  Perkins,  Geo.  Neely,  Andrew  Goff, 
John  Aulson,  and  Samuel  Crockett. 

The  act  of  October  26,  1799,  provided  "that  Abraham  Maury,  John  Walthall, 
Joseph  Porter,  Wm.  Boyd  and  David  McEwen  are  hereby  constituted  and  ap- 
pointed commissioners  for  the  regulation  of  said  Town  of  Franklin,  vested  with 
full  power  and  authority  for  that  purpose ;  provided,  they  govern  themselves 
by  the  original  plan  of  said  town." 

This  plan  was  filed  in  the  clerk's  office,  April  5,  1800.  The  Court  of  Pleas 
and  Quarter  Sessions  held  its  first  meeting  on  February  3,  the  first  Monday 
in  February,  1800,  at  the  house  of  Thos.  McKay,  on  the  site  of  Franklin,  and 
continued  to  meet  there  until  November  3,  1800,  when  and  afterwards  its  ses- 
sions were  held  at  the  courthouse.  The  magistrates  present  at  the  first  meet- 
ing were:  John  Johnson,  Sr.,  Jas.  Buford,  Jas.  Scurlock,  Chapman  White, 
and  Daniel  Perkins.  Scurlock  was  elected  chairman,  but  resigned  and  was 
succeeded  by  White. 

The  first  courthouse  was  probably  on  the  square.  Being  a  poor  structure 
it  was  succeeded  by  a  new  courthouse  authorized  by  the  General  Assembly  on 
September  11,  1806.  This  courthouse  was  erected  in  the  center  of  the  public 
square.  Among  the  lawyers  practicing  in  Franklin  in  the  early  days  were : 
Thos.  H.  Benton,  John  H.  Eaton,  Seth  Lewis,  Jesse  Wharton,  I.  Johnson,  L.  P. 
Montgomery,    Joseph    Herndon,    John    Dickinson,    John    McNutt,    Wm.    Smith, 


29  The  historical  facts  in  this  sketch  are  taken  partly  from  Park  Marshall's  "History 
of  Franklin  and  Williamson  County,"  published  serially  in  the  Williamson  County  News. 
Mr.  Marshall  made  a  scrap  book  of  the  clippings  which  he  presented  to  the  state  on  Novem- 
ber 18,  1919. 

3«  Killebrew's  "Resources  of  Tennessee,"  p.   991. 

:;i  It  is  said  that  he  erected  the  first  house  in  Franklin  in  1797. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  883 

Bennett  Searcy,  P.  W.  Humphreys,  G.  W.  L.  Mann,  Peter  R.  Booker,  Felix 
Grundy. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  authorized  by  the  Legislature  on  November  16,  1809. 
Thos.  Stewart  was  Circuit  judge  from  November,  1811  to  1836.  The  first  so- 
licitor before  this  court  was  Alfred  Balch. 

Among  the  notable  cases  tried  in  the  Franklin  Court  was  the  "Crenshaw 
case."  Daniel  Crenshaw  was  indicted  in  1826  for  stealing  a  horse  from  Robt. 
C.  Foster,  and  a  gray  mare  from  Keasiah  Wooldridge ;  also  for  forgery.  He 
was  defended  by  John  Bell  and  pleaded  "Benefit  of  Clergy,"  thereby  escaping 
punishment  in  two  cases. 

Another  notable  case  was  the  trial  of  David  Perry  and  Jonathan  Magness 
for  the  killing  of  Patten  Anderson,  the  friend  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

Williamson  County  is  rich  in  the  number  of  prominent  and  famous  men 
who  have  lived  there.  Among  them  the  following  deserve  special  mention : 
Thomas  H.  Benton,  whose  mother  moved  from  North  Carolina  to  occupy  a 
tract  of  40,000  acres  a  few  miles  from  Franklin.  From  1808  to  1812,  he  had 
more  cases  at  the  Franklin  bar  than  any  other  lawyer. 

John  Bell,  born  in  Nashville,  was  sworn  in  as  an  attorney  in  Franklin  in 
1816,  at  the  age  of  nineteen. 

Meredith  P.  Gentry,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Tennessee  orators;  Rev.  Gideon 
Blackburn,  a  minister  in  Franklin  from  1811  to  1822. 

In  1825  the  following  named  distinguished  lawyers  were  practicing  at  the 
Franklin  bar :  Felix  Grundy,  Geo.  W.  Campbell,  John  Bell,  G.  S.  Yerger,  Wm. 
Hadley,  W.  S.  Hunt,  John  Thompson,  William  McGee,  Wm.  Thompson,  A.  P. 
Maury,  M.  W.  Campbell,  David  Craighead,  P.  S.  Daily,  Andrew  Hays,  Sam 
Houston,  Robert  C.  Foster,  N.  P.  Smith,  C.  S.  Olmstead,  Thos.  Washington, 
Jas.  P.  Clark,  Jesse  Greer,  and  N.  P.  Perkins. 

The  important  educational  institutions  were :  Harpeth  Academy,  chartered 
in  1807,  and  the  buildings  sold  to  Randall  McGavock  in  1823 ;  Harpeth  Union 
Female  Academy,  established  in  1828 ;  Tennessee  Female  College,  and  Battle 
Ground  Academy. 

The  battle  of  Franklin  which,  when  the  forces  engaged  are  considered,  was 
the  bloodiest  of  the  war,  was  fought  on  November  30,  1864.  An  account  of  this 
battle  and  of  other  historic  spots  and  places  in  Williamson  County  is  given  in 
Chapter  XXXI. 

Statistics  of  Williamson  County:  Population,  1920,  23,409.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $22,529,433.  Area,  550  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  3,355.  Railway  mileage,  sixty.  Drained  by  Harpeth  River.  Surface 
is  rolling  and  very  fertile  with  fine  growth  of  timber.  Wheat,  oats,  corn,  cot- 
ton and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Franklin,  the  county  seat,  twenty  miles 
from  Nashville,  on  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad,  has  a  population  of 
3,123,  good  schools  and  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  three  banks,  and 
manufacturing  and  commercial  establishments.  Extensive  deposits  of  phos- 
phate are  found  in  this  county.  Scholastic  population.  10,192;  high  schools, 
ten ;  elementary  schools,  eighty-nine. 

WILSON    COUNTY 

Wilson  County  and  Smith  County  were  erected  on  the  same  day,  October 
26,  1799,  from  a  part  of  Sumner  County.    AVilson  County  was  named  for  Maj. 


ssi  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

David  Wilson,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Sumner  while  it  was 
yet  a  part  of  North  Carolina,  and  had  been  the  first  speaker  of  the  Territorial 
Assembly. 

The  first  court  of  the  county  was  held  on  December  23,  1799,  at  the  house  32 
of  Capt.  John  llarpool  (or  Harpole),  and  was  organized  by  the  following  named 
magistrates:  Charles  Cavenaugh,  John  Alcorn,  John  Lancaster,  Elmore  Doug- 
las, John  Doak,  Matthew  Figures,  Henry  Ross,  Win.  Gray,  Andrew  Donelson, 
and  Wm.  McClain.  The  following  named  officers  were  elected:  Charles  Cave- 
naugh, chairman;  Robt.  Foster,  clerk;  Chiis.  Rosborough,  sheriff;  Wm.  Gray, 
ranger ;  and  John  Alcorn,  register.  Be.  Seawell,  Esq.,  was  appointed  county 
solicitor,  and  John  C.  Hamilton  qualified  as  a  practicing  attorney. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  county  was  at  Drake's  Lick  on  the  Cumberland 
River  and  was  made  in  1797,  by  John  Foster  and  Wm.  McClain.  In  1799,  a 
settlement  was  made  on  Spring  Creek,  seven  miles  southeast  of  Lebanon  by 
John  Foster,  Wm.  Donnell,  and  Alexander  Barkley,  or  Barclay.  In  the  same 
year  a  settlement  was  made  at  Round  Lick  by  Samuel  King,  James  Prather, 
Wm.  McSpadden  and  Wm.  Harris,  and  on  Spring  Creek  eight  or  nine  miles 
south  of  Lebanon  by  David  Magathey,  Foster  Doak,  John  Doak,  Alexander 
Braden,  and  the  Donnells. 

After  1800  immigrants  came  in  constantly  increasing  numbers.  Robin  Shan- 
non, Lee  Harrelson,  John  Ozment,  John  Spinks,  John  Rice,  and  others  settled 
at  Pond  Lick.  Jacob  Vantrease,  Thomas  B.  Reece,  John  Caplinger,  Edmund 
Jennings,  John  Patton,  George  Hearn,  James  Edwards,  Duncan  Johnson,  Dan- 
iel Smith,  Isaac  Grandstaff,  Evans  Tracy,  William  Neal,  Shelah  Waters,  Jo- 
seph Barbee,  Solomon  Bass,  John  Lawrence,  Jordan  Bass,  John  Green,  Wm. 
Coe,  John  Phillips,  William  Haines,  Arthur  Hawkins,  Benj.  Phillips,  and  John 
W.  Peyton  located  at  Round  Lick.  Martin  Talley,  Wm.  Sherrill,  Pernell  Hearn, 
James  Cannon,  John  Jones,  Benj.  Mottley,  Henry  Chandler,  Adair  Harpole 
and  Gregory  Johnson  on  Spring  Creek.  Robert  Jarmon,  Lewis  Merritt,  David 
Fields,  Jonathan  Ozment,  Dawson  Hancock,  and  Seldon  Baird  on  Sinking 
Creek.  Absalom  Knight,  John  Gibson,  Charles  Cummings,  Henry  Mosier,  John 
Merritt,  Frank  Young,  Joseph  Stacey,  and  Charles  Warren  on  Hurricane  Creek. 
Frank  Puckett,  William  Lester,  John  Donnell,  Lord  Sellers,  John  Alsup,  Aaron 
Edwards,  Sampson  Smith,  Jacob  Jennings,  and  William  Warren  on  Fall  Creek. 
Hooker  Reeves,  Joseph  Weir,  Lewis  Chambers,  Nathan  Cartwright,  William 
Wilson,  Matthew  Figures  on  Cedar  Creek.  Joseph  Castleman,  Joseph  Ham- 
ilton, Thomas  Drennon,  Benj.  Dobson,  Aquila  Suggs,  and  Benj.  Hooker  on 
Suggs'  Creek.  Clement  Jennings,  James  H.  Davis,  Thomas  Davis,  Joshua  Kel- 
ley,  Harrison  Hays,  Theophilas  Bass  on  Cedar  Lick  Creek.  Geo.  L.  Smith, 
Wm.  Oakley,  Charles  Rich,  Reason  Byrne,  Abner  Bone,  Jas.  McAdoo,  Edward 
Pickett,  John  Adams,  David  Ireland  on  Smith  Ford.  Caleb  Taylor,  Jas.  Hunter, 
Joseph  Kirkpatrick,  Daniel  Glenn,  Sterling  Tarpley,  and  Wm.  Saunders  on 
the  Cumberland  River. 

The  first  white  male  child  born  in  the  county  was  probably  Josiah  McClain, 
who  was  County  Court  clerk  for  more  than  forty  years. 

Lawyers  who  practiced  in  the  courts  of  Wilson  County  in  the  first  years 
were:  Jesse  Wharton,  Nicholas  Perkins,  John  B.  Johnson,  Lemuel  Herrod, 
John  Dickinson,  Charles  Smith. 

In  1802  the  court  was  held  at  the  house  of  Henry  Turner  on  Barton  Creek. 


32  Probably  on  Spring  Creek,  five  miles  north  of  Lebanon. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  885 

Lebanon  was  chosen  as  the  county  seat  in  1802,  and  was  located  on  land 
previously  belonging  to  James  Menees.  It  was  named  for  the  Biblical  Lebanon 
because,  like  the  ancient  city,  it  was  remarkable  for  its  cedars.  It  was  incor- 
porated in  1807.  Neddie  Jacobs,  a  peculiar  character  and  a  fiddler,  was  the 
first  settler  on  this  site.  Tradition  says  he  was  living  there  as  early  as  1800. 
The  earliest  physicians  were :  Drs.  Samuel  Hogg,  Edmund  Crutcher,  and  Henry 
Shelley.  Doctor  Shelley  built  the  first  brick  house  in  Lebanon  in  1812.  John 
Alcorn  was  the  first  postmaster  and  John  Trotter  the  first  school  teacher.  The 
first  church  was  erected  by  the  Methodists  in  1802,  and  Rev.  German  Baker 
was  the  pastor. 

From  December,  1802  to  1806,  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  met 
at  private  houses.    In  1806  the  first  courthouse,  of  cedar  logs,  was  built. 

The  first  session  of  the  Circuit  Court  was  held  at  the  courthouse  on  Septem- 
ber 24,  1810,  Judge  Thomas  Stewart  presiding.  Early  Circuit  judges  were: 
Thomas  Stewart,  1810-1830;  James  C.  Mitchell,  1830-1835;  Samuel  Anderson, 
1835-1852. 

Lebanon  and  Wilson  counties  have  been  justly  celebrated  for  educational 
facilities  from  the  establishment  of  the  first  school,  taught  by  Benj.  Alexander, 
in  1800,  to  the  present  day.  Among  their  institutions  are  or  have  been :  Camp- 
bell Academy,  Brevard  College,  Abby  Institute,  Carroll  Academy,  Corona, 
Greenwood  Seminary,  Castle  Heights  School  and  Cumberland  University. 

Revolutionary  soldiers  who  settled  in  Wilson  County  were:  James  Scott, 
Jeremiah  McWhirter,  Anthony  Gann,  Philip  Shackler,  John  Harpole,  John 
Dabney,  Edward  Mitchell,  and  John  Wynn. 

Wilson  County  sent  two  companies  to  the  War  of  1812  under  command  of 
Capt.  John  Hayes  and  Capt.  Charles  Wade,  among  whose  soldiers  were :  Fred 
Askey,  Joseph  Settle,  George  Dillard,  William  Norman,  William  Hartsfield, 
Lawrence  Sypert,  Zachariah  Tolliver,  Wm.  Sypert,  Kit  Seaburn,  James  Car- 
son, William  Meyers,  Wm.  Martin,  Grief  Randolph,  T.  K.  Ramsey,  John  Shackle- 
ford,  and  William  Harrison. 

A  company  under  Capt.  J.  J.  Finley  went  from  Wilson  County  to  the  Semi- 
nole war  in  1836,  and  another  company  went,  in  1837,  under  Capt.  W.  L.  S. 
Dearing.  Among  these  troops  were :  T.  J.  Stratton,  Jno.  D.  Mottley,  John  Wil- 
bury,  P.  Hern,  J.  N.  Kennedy,  Dawson  Hancock,  W.  W.  Talley,  Nathan  Oakley, 
Geo.  W.  Lewis.  E.  S.  Smith,  Lewis  Pendleton,  Wm.  Watkins,  J.  H.  Kennedy, 
Samuel  T.  Powers,  and  John  Alexander. 

Two  companies  also  took  part  in  the  Mexican  war  under  Captains  Hayes 
and  Smith. 

Statistics  of  Wilson  County:  Population,  1920,  26,241.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $21,653,882.  Area,  536  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  4,134.  Railway  mileage,  54.  Drained  by  the  Cumberland  River 
and  tributaries.  One  of  the  best  live  stock  counties  in  the  state.  Staple  prod- 
ucts are  wheat,  corn,  oats,  hay,  tobacco,  and  live  stock.  Traversed  by  the  Nash- 
ville, Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railroad  and  the  Tennessee  Central  Railway. 
Lebanon,  the  county  seat,  is  thirty  miles  from  Nashville,  on  the  above  railroads, 
and  has  fine  schools  and  churches.  It  is  the  seat  of  Cumberland  University 
and  Castle  Heights  Training  School.  Has  two  weekly  newspapers,  four  banks, 
electric  light  plant,  and  manufacturing  establishments,  including  a  cotton  and 
woolen  mill,  cannery,  etc.  Watertown  is  another  prosperous  town.  Scholastic 
population  of  county,  9,277;  high  schools,  12;  elementary  schools,  107. 


886  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

West  Tennessee 
benton  county 

Benton  County  was  erected  on  November  24,  1835,  from  parts  of  Humphreys 
and  Henry  counties  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Thomas  H.  Benton.  It  was 
organized  on  February  7,  1836,  by  the  commissioners,  Green  Flowers,  Ephraim 
Perkins,  Lewis  Brewer,  John  F.  Johnson  and  George  Camp.  They  met  at  the 
house  of  Samuel  Haliburton,  in  Tranquillity,  on  the  stage  road  from  Nashville 
to  Memphis,  about  a  mile  west  of  Camden. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1819  by  Willis  and  Dennis  Rushing,  on 
Rushing 's  Creek,  about  six  miles  north  of  Camden.  Among  the  early  settlers 
were :  David  Watson,  Lewis  Graham,  Joseph  Cowell,  Zachary  Barker,  Benjamin 
Holland,  Michael  Fry,  Cas  Matlock,  John  Anderson  and  Jas.  Wyly. 

Camden,  the  county  seat,  was  located  on  land  of  John  Jackson,  whose  only 
title  was  that  of  occupancy.  The  town  was  surveyed  and  laid  off  in  December, 
1836.  Irwin  B.  Carnes  built  the  first  dwelling  in  the  town.  Thos.  H.  Burton, 
Anderson  Lashlee,  and  Jas.  Haywood  also  built  about  the  same  time. 

The  first  courthouse  was  of  logs,  but  in  1837  a  two-story  brick  courthouse 
was  constructed. 

The  officers  of  the  first  County  Court  were:  Thomas  Haliburton,  County 
Court  clerk;  Thomas  Jones,  sheriff;  John  H.  Williams,  trustee;  George  Hollo- 
well,  county  superintendent  of  schools. 

The  first  newspaper  published  in  the  county  was  the  Central  Democrat, 
established  by  William  Doherty  in  1852.  The  first  school  in  the  county  was 
started  in  1822  or  1823  on  Rushing 's  Creek.  The  teacher  was  Allen  C.  Presson. 
The  first  church,  Primitive  Baptist,  was  organized  by  George  Turner  and  Levi 
Kirkland.  Cowell 's  Chapel  Church  was  organized  in  1824  by  Benjamin  Peebles, 
a  pioneer  circuit  rider  and  presiding  elder  of  West  Tennessee.  Among  the  early 
Baptist  ministers  were :  Obadiah  Hardin,  Jacob  Browning,  Lemuel  Herrin,  and 
Josiah  Arnold.  Early  Presbyterian  ministers  were:  Samuel  T.  Thomas,  Abner 
Cooper  and  H.  Babbitt.  Early  circuit  riders:  Thomas  Smith,  Robert  Collins 
and  Levi  B.  Lee. 

Statistics  of  Benton  County :  Population,  1920,  12,046.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,207,788.  Area,  412  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,983.  Railway  mileage,  26.  This  county  is  bounded  on  the 
east  by  the  Tennessee  River.  Portions  of  the  county  are  well  timbered.  The 
surface  is  level  and  the  soil  generally  fertile.  This  is  one  of  the  peanut-growing 
counties,  and  other  staple  products  are  corn,  cotton,  wheat,  oats,  vegetables  and 
live  stock.  Intersected  by  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway.  Camden,  the  county 
seat,  has  a  population  of  800,  and  is  on  the  N.  C.  &  St,  L.  Railway.  It  has  good 
schools,  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and  flourishing  mercantile 
establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  4,332;  high  schools,  3;  ele- 
mentary schools,  62. 

CARROLL    COUNTY 

On  October  19,  1818,  Andrew  Jackson  and  Isaac  Shelby  made  a  treaty  with 
the  Chickasaw  Indians  whereby  all  their  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  River 
were  ceded  to  the  United  States.     Their  lands  within  the  limits  of  Tennessee 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  887 

became  the  Western  District  of  this  state  and,  on  November  7,  1821,  an  act  33 
was  passed  entitled,  "An  Act  to  form  and  establish  new  counties  west  of 
the  Tennessee  River."  Under  the  provisions  of  this  act  Carroll  County  was 
formed  and  named  in  honor  of  Gen.  William  Carroll,  who  was  governor  of  the 
state  at  that  time.  It  was  organized  on  March  11,  1822,  at  the  house  of  R.  E.  C. 
Dougherty,  where  the  first  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  held. 
Huntingdon,  near  the  center  of  the  county,  was  selected  as  the  county  seat  and 
the  first  session  of  the  court  was  held  there  in  a  log  courthouse  on  December  9, 
1822. 

The  first  settlers  came  from  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Virginia, 
some  locating  as  ear.ly  as  1820. 

This  county  furnished  a  company  for  the  war  with  Mexico  and  several  com- 
panies to  each  side  in  the  War  between  the  States. 

Statistics  of  Carroll  County:  Population,  1920,  24,361.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $12,243,353.  Area,  600  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  4,141.  Railway  mileage,  68.  Drained  by  Big  Sandy  and  Obion 
rivers.  Surface  generally  level,  and  there  is  considerable  timber.  Corn,  cot- 
ton, wheat,  fruits,  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Fruit  growing  and  poul- 
try raising  are  profitable  industries.  Huntingdon,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  1,121,  has  good  public  and  private  schools,  two  newspapers,  two  banks, 
electric  lights  and  waterworks,  manufacturing  establishments  and  stores.  Mc- 
Kenzie,  another  town,  has  a  population  of  1,630,  and  is  on  the  Nashville,  Chat- 
tanooga &  St.  Louis  Railway.  It  has  fine  schools,  a  weekly  paper,  churches,  and 
prosperous  business  establishments.  Truck  growing  is  one  of  the  leading  in- 
dustries in  Carroll  County.  Scholastic  population,  8,331;  high  schools,  10; 
elementary  schools,  90. 

CHESTER    COUNTY 

Chester  County  was  erected  on  March  1,  1879,  from  fractions  of  Madison, 
Henderson,  McNairy  and  Hardeman  counties,  and  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Robt. 
I.  Chester.34  On  March  19,  1875,  a  new  county  named  Wisdom  County  had 
been  erected  out  of  the  same  fractions  and  this  act  was  repealed  by  the  act 
which  created  Chester  County. 

The  early  history  of  Chester  County  is  the  history  of  the  counties  out  of 
which  it  was  formed. 

Statistics  of  Chester  County :  Population,  1920,  9,669.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,998,171.  Area,  288  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,667.  Railway  mileage,  16.  This  county  is  on  the  highlands  of  West 
Tennessee  and  is  drained  by  the  Forked  Deer  River  and  intersected  by  the 
Mobile  &  Ohio  Railroad.  The  soil  is  sandy  and  fertile.  Cotton  is  the  leading 
staple,  but  other  crops  are  profitably  grown.  Henderson,  the  county  seat,  is  on 
the  M.  &  O.  Railroad,  and  has  a  population  of  1,181.  It  has  a  weekly  newspaper, 
good  schools  and  churches,  three  banks,  manufacturing  establishments  and 
stores.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,339;  high  schools,  2;  elementary 
schools,  42. 


ss  Chapter  XXXII,  Acts  of  182],  p.  39. 

34  This  distinguished  man   was   quartermaster   of   the    Fourth   Tennessee   Regiment,   com- 
manded by  Col.  Samuel  Bayless  in  the  War  of  1812. 


**s  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

CROCKETT  COUNTY 

Croeketl  County  was  elected  on  December  20,  1845,  from  parts  of  Haywood, 
.Madison,  Gibson,  and  Dyer  counties.  The  caption  of  the  act  is  "An  act  to 
establish  the  county  of  Crockett,  in  honor  of  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  David  Crockett,  one  of  Tennessee's  distinguished  sons."  In  this  act  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  bold  an  election  to  ascertain  if  the  voters  in  the 
fractions  appropriated  to  the  new  county  acquiesced  in  tins  action.  In  1846 
Judge  Read,  of  Madison  County,  decided  that  Crockett  was  not  a  constitutional 
county. 

On  July  7,  1870,  the  Legislature  passed  another  act  with  the  same  caption 
as  that  of  1845  and,  this  time,  Crockett  County  was  constitutionally  erected. 
In  the  latter  act  the  commissioners  appointed  were :  A.  B.  Howlett,  James 
Emerson,  David  Whitacre,  A.  T.  Fielder,  G.  W.  Bettes,  John  Lyon,  J.  C. 
Thorp,  and  T.  F.  Conly.  Considerable  opposition  from  the  old  counties  had  to 
be  overcome.  E.  B.  Mason,  of  Madison  County,  filed  injunction  suits  in  the 
Chancery  courts  of  the  four  counties  affected  but  the  organization  of  the  new 
county  was  finally  effected. 

On  March  9,  1872,  an  election  was  held  for  county  and  district  officers  and 
the  County  Court,  with  Isaac  M.  Johnson,  chairman,  was  organized  in  the  same 
month. 

The  Circuit  Court  was  held  on  April  8,  1872,  in  Alamo,  the  county  seat,  named 
for  the  Alamo  in  San  Antonio,  Texas,  where  Crockett  lost  his  life. 

The  earliest  pioneers,  about  1823,  were :  John  B.  Boykin,  Robert  Johnson, 
Giles  Hawkins,  Cornelius  Bunch,  John  Bowers,  E.  "Williams,  and  John  Yancey. 

Statistics  of  Crockett  County:  Population,  1921,  17,438.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  ^9,235,694.  Area,  275  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
3,072.  Railway  mileage,  36.  Drained  by  Forked  Deer  River  and  well  timbered 
in  parts.  Soil  in  eastern  portion  sandy  loam  and  clay  and  adapted  to  profitable 
growing  of  fruits  and  vegetables.  Western  portion  level  and  fertile  and  well 
adapted  to  the  production  of  cotton,  corn,  wheat,  and  other  staple  crops.  Alamo, 
the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  720,  has  good  schools  and  churches,  two 
banks,  flourishing  stores,  and  manufacturing  establishments.  Bells,  on  the 
railroad,  has  a  population  of  920,  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper, 
two  banks,  manufacturing  establishments  and  stores.  Gadsden,  Crockett  Mills, 
and  Maury  City  are  other  towns.  Scholastic  population,  6,037 ;  high  schools, 
2 ;  elementary  schools,  47. 

DECATUR   COUNTY 

Decatur  County  was  created  in  November,  1845,  from  a  part  of  Perry 
County,  by  Section  11,  of  Chapter  VII  of  the  Acts  of  that  year.  The  wording 
is  as  follows :  ' '  That  a  new  county  be  and  is  hereby  established  to  be  composed 
of  all  that  part  of  Perry  County  lying  on  the  West  side  of  Tennessee  River,  to 
be  known  and  distinguished  by  the  name  of  Decatur  County,  in  honor  of  and 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  Commodore  Stephen  Decatur,  of  the  United  States 
Navy,  of  whose  services  our  nation  should  be  proud,  and  whose  memory  should 
be  revered." 

The  board  of  commissioners  mentioned  in  this  act  to  organize  the  county 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  889 

were :  John  C.  Yarbrough,  Win.  J.  Menzies,  John  S.  Walker,  Samuel  Brashear, 
and  David  B.  Funderburg. 

The  provision  was  also  made  that  the  act  should  go  into  effect,  "from  and 
after  the  first  Thursday  in  March,  1846." 

Decaturville  was  chosen  by  popular  election  as  the  county  seat. 

Statistics  of  Decatur  County :  Population,  1920,  10,198.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $3,182,916.  Area,  310  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  1,813.  Railway  mileage,  11.  Bounded  on  the  east  and  south  by  the 
Tennessee  River.  Surface  comparatively  level  and  covered  with  a  fine  growth  of 
timber.  Iron  ore,  marble,  granite,  and  phosphate  are  found  in  the  county.  Corn, 
cotton  and  hogs  are  staple  products.  Decaturville,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  315,  and  is  five  miles  from  the  Tennessee  River  and  the  same  distance 
from  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Ry.  It  has  good  churches  and  schools,  a  weekly  news- 
paper, a  bank,  and  prosperous  business  establishments.  Parsons,  on  the  railroad, 
has  a  population  of  429,  good  schools,  churches,  two  banks  and  prosperous 
business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,580 ;  high  schools. 
4 ;  elementary  schools,  55. 

DYER  COUNTY 

Dyer  County  was  erected  on  October  16,  1823,  from  the  Western  District 
and  was  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Henry  Dyer.  It  was  organized  in  October, 
1824  and,  in  accordance  with  a  provision  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions  and  of  the  Circuit  Court,  were  held  at  the  house  of  John  Warrens 
until  1826,  when  they  were  held  in  Dyersburg,  the  county  seat.  The  magistrates 
of  the  first  court  were:  John  Rutherford,  Benj.  Porter,  John  D.  Burrus,  Wm. 
Lyrrell,  and  Dr.  Thomas  Hash.  The  chairman  was  John  Rutherford,  and  the 
clerk  Wm.  Mitchell. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  820  at  Key  Corner,35  now  in  Lauderdale 
County.  The  second  settlement,  in  1821,  was  made  about  four  miles  east  of 
Dyersburg  by  Geo.  Davis,  Wm.  Martin,  Jerry  Pierce,  and  Willis  Chamberlain. 

Dyersburg  was  laid  off  in  1825  and  incorporated  in  1826. 

It  is  believed  that  the  first  house  in  the  county  was  of  logs  and  built  by 
Elias  Dement. 

Statistics  of  Dyer  County:  Population,  1920,  29,983.  Assessed  valuation  of 
taxable  property,  1921,  $17,819,244.  Area,  495  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
3,922.  Railway  mileage,  69.  Bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi  River  and 
well  drained  by  smaller  streams.  It  is  hilly,  rolling  and  level,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  fertile  counties  in  the  state.  Well  adapted  to  the  production  of  cereals, 
cotton,  and  other  crops.  Intersected  by  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  and  the 
Birmingham  and  Northwestern.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  corn,  wheat, 
potatoes,  hay,  lumber  and  live  stock.  Dyersburg,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  6,444,  and  is  a  flourishing  town,  on  both  railroads,  and  seventy-six  miles 
north  of  Memphis.  It  is  a  manufacturing  town,  and  has  fine  schools  and  churches, 
three  banks,  a  weekly  newspaper,  and  prosperous  commercial  establishments. 
Newbern  has  a  population  of  1,767,  good  schools,  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper, 
two  banks,  manufacturing  and  commercial  enterprises.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  10,769;  high  schools,  10;  elementary  schools,  75. 


35  For  account,  see  Chapter  XXXI. 


890  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

PAYETTE  COUNTY 

Payette  County  was  erected  on  September  29,  1824,  from  fractions  of  Harde- 
man and  Shelby  counties,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Marquis  de  Lafayette. 
As  provided  by  the  act  the  sessions  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions 
were  held  at  the  house  of  Robert  G.  Thornton,  the  first  meeting  being  on 
December  6,  1824.  The  subsequent  meetings  of  the  court  were  held  here  until 
November,  1825.  The  chairman  of  the  first  court  was  Edmund  D.  Tarver,  and 
the  first  clerk  was  Henry  M.  Johnson,  who  was  the  first  settler  of  Somerville. 
Only  one  case  w7as  tried  at  the  first  session  and  brought  into  the  treasury  of  the 
county  six  and  one-fourth  cents  as  a  fine.  Wolf  scalps  were  taken  as  shown 
by  the  entries  of  the  clerk.  A  tax  of  thirty-seven  and  one-half  cents  on  one 
hundred  acres  brought  in  a  revenue  of  $750  in  1825,  in  which  year  Robert 
Cotton  was  taxed  on  a  four-wheel  carriage,  the  only  one  in  the  county. 

Settlements  began  about  1822,  when  Thomas  J.  Cocke,  of  North  Carolina 
located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  county. 

In  February,  1825,  the  county  seat,  Somerville,  was  located  on  lands  donated 
by  Geo.  Bowers  and  James  Brown  and  the  first  session  in  this  place  was  held 
in  a  log  cabin  on  the  public  square.  Three  years  later  the  first  stage  came  to 
town. 

Somerville  was  named  in  honor  of  Lieut.  Robt.  Somerville,  who  was  killed 
in  the  battle  of  Tohopeka. 

Statistics  of  Fayette  County:  Population,  1920,  31,499.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $13,974,350.  Area,  630  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  5,875.  Railway  mileage,  80.  This  county  borders  on  the  Mississippi, 
and  the  surface  is  generally  level  and  in  portions  well  timbered.  Cotton  is  the 
leading  product  in  the  county,  but  it  is  well  adapted  to  fruits  and  berries,  and 
this  industry  is  developing.  It  is  a  large  producer  of  strawberries.  Cotton, 
corn,  fruit  and  livestock  are  staple  products.  Traversed  by  the  L.  &  N.,  the 
Southern,  and  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway.  Somerville,  the  county  seat,  has  a 
population  of  1,106,  and  is  on  the  Loosahatchie  River.  It  has  fine  schools  and 
churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  prosperous  business  establishments 
and  is  surrounded  by  fine  cotton  plantations.  Scholastic  population  of  county, 
11,771;  high  schools,  11;  elementary  schools,  56. 

GIBSON  COUNTY 

Gibson  County  was  erected  on  October  21,  1823,  from  the  Western  District, 
"in  honor  of  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  Col.  John  II.  Gibson."  The 
act  provided  that,  at  first,  the  courts  should  hold  their  sessions  at  the  house  of 
Luke  Biggs,  four  miles  from  Trenton,  which  was  called  Gibsonport  until  1825, 
when  the  court  was  held  at  Trenton  for  the  first  time. 

The  first  magistrates  commissioned  were :     Win.  P.  Leat,  Robert  Edmondson, 

Obey  Blakemore,  Benj.   White,   Robert  Read, Rice,   Abner   Burgan, 

John  D.  Love,  Wm.  W.  Craig,  W.  B.  G.  Killingsworth,  John  J.  Lane  and  F. 
Davis.  The  first  session  began  on  January  1,  1824,  and  Wm.  P.  Leat  was 
chairman  and  Thomas  Fite,  clerk. 

The  first  settlement  was  made  in  1819  by  Thomas  Fite  and  John  Spencer, 
his  brother-in-law.     They  came  from  Warren  County  and   located  about  eight 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  891 

miles  east  of  Trenton.  David  Crockett  also  lived  in  the  same  year  near 
Rutherford  and  was  joined  in  a  few  months  by  his  family. 

Early  lawyers  were  A.  W.  0.  Totten,  Felix  Parker,  and  J.  H.  Talbot.  Later 
lawyers  were  John  W.  Crockett,  who  became  attorney-general,  John  A.  Tallia- 
ferro,  M.  R.  Hill,  R.  P.  Caldwell,  and  Robila  P.  Raines.  Gibson  County  has 
furnished  three  members  of  the  State  Supreme  Court,  viz. :  A.  W.  0.  Totten, 
T.  J.  Freeman  and  W.  C.  Caldwell. 

Statistics  of  Gibson  County :  Population,  1920,  43,388.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  propertj',  1921,  $26,048,985.  Area,  615  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  6,585.  Railway  mileage,  71.  Drained  by  Obion  and  Forked  Deer  rivers. 
One  of  the  leading  agricultural  counties  in  the  state.  Surface  generally  level 
and  very  fertile.  Portions  well  timbered.  Cotton  is  leading  product,  and  other 
staples  are  corn,  wheat,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  live  stock.  Truck  growing  is  a 
leading  industry,  large  quantities  of  early  vegetables  being  shipped  to  Northern 
markets.  Trenton,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  2,751,  and  is  on  the 
Forked  Deer  River  and  the  M.  &  0.  Railroad.  It  has  a  number  of  manufacturing 
establishments,  two  weekly  newspapers,  good  schools  and  churches,  three  banks, 
and  prosperous  mercantile  establishments.  Humboldt,  at  the  junction  of  the 
M.  &  0.  Railroad  and  L.  &  N.  R.  R.,  has  a  population  of  3,913,  and  is  the  center 
of  a  large  trucking  section.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  news- 
paper, two  banks,  manufacturing  and  commercial  establishments.  It  is  a  large 
shipping  point  for  fruits  and  early  vegetables,  poultry  and  eggs.  Milan,  another 
town  at  the  junction  of*  the  Illinois  Central  and  the  L.  &  N.,  has  a  population 
of  2,057,  and  is  also  a  vegetable  and  fruit  shipping  point  of  importance.  It 
has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and  manufac- 
turing and  commercial  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  15,339; 
high  schools,  30. 

HARDEMAN    COUNTY 

Hardeman  County  was  erected  on  October  16,  1823,  from  the  Western 
District  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Thomas  Jones  Hardeman.  By  the  act 
which  created  it  this  county  was  directed  to  have  the  first  sessions  of  its  courts 
held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  McNeil.  On  October  17,  1823,  the  county  was 
organized  by  the  following  named  commissioners:  Andrew  Taylor,  Wm.  Polk, 
Jacob  Pirtle,  Jno.  Y.  Cochran,  Wm.  P.  Robertson,  Nathan  Stell,  and  John 
Rosson.  Wm.  Polk  was  chosen  chairman  and  Thos.  Hardeman,  clerk  and 
J.  C.  N.  Robertson,  sheriff  of  the  first  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions. 

Settlements  began  in  1819,  but  the  first  notable  settlement  was  made  in  1821 
by  Col.  Ezekiel  Polk,  grandfather  of  President  James  K.  Polk,  William  Polk, 
son  of  Col.  Ezekiel  Polk,  Thomas  McNeal,  son-indaw  of  Col.  Ezekiel  Polk, 
Thomas  J.  Hardeman  and  his  grandson,  Rufus  P.  Neely. 

The  committee  appointed  to  select  the  county  seat  was  composed  of  Abram 
Maury,  Wm.  Hall,  James  Fentress  and  Benj.  Reynolds.  They  selected  a  site 
one  mile  north  of  the  present  location,  and  Maj.  Wm.  Ramsey  donated  twenty- 
six  acres  for  the  site.  The  county  seat  was  at  first  called  Hatchie,  but  in  1824 
the  present  site  was  selected  and  was  called  Bolivar  in  honor  of  Simon  Bolivar, 
the  patriot  and  liberator  of  Venezuela.  Major  Ramsey  and  Colonel  Polk  gave 
fifty  acres  for  the  new  town  site. 


s'l-j  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  first  teacher  in  the  county  was,  perhaps,  Henry  Thompson.  Early 
papers  were  the  Palladium,  The  Sentinel,  and  Free  Press. 

Bolivar  is  the  home  of  the  "Western  Hospital  for  the  Insane. 

Statistics  of  Hardeman  County:  Population  of  1920,  22,278.  Assessed 
valuation  of  taxable  property,  1921,  $9,282,472.  Area,  640  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  3,535.  Railway  mileage,  95.  Borders  on  Mississippi  and  drained  by 
the  Big  Hatehie.  Its  surface  is  nearly  level  and  in  sections  covered  with  fine 
timber.  Soil  fertile,  and  it  is  one  of  the  best  cotton  producing  counties.  Other 
staples  are  corn  and  hay.  Traversed  by  Illinois  Central,  Southern,  and  N.  C. 
&  St.  L.  Railroads.  Bolivar,  the  county  seat,  is  on  the  I.  C.  18  miles  south  of 
Jackson,  and  has  a  population  of  1,031,  with  good  schools  and  churches,  weekly 
newspapers,  two  banks,  and  manufacturing  and  commercial  establishments.  Scho- 
lastic population  of  county,  8,414;  high  schools,  6;  elementary  schools,  104. 

HARDIN  COUNTY 

Hardin  County  lies  partly  in  Middle  Tennessee  and  mostly  in  West  Ten- 
nessee. It  was  formed  on  November  13,  1819,  from  the  Western  District  and 
extended  to  the  Mississippi  River.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Joseph  Hardin. 
Colonel  Hardin  came  from  Roane  County  in  1815  with  a  grant  for  2,000  acres 
of  land  for  services  as  a  colonel  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  On  the  east  bank 
of  the  Tennessee  River,  at  Horse  Creek  near  Savannah,  he  located  his  land, 
settled  there  in  1818  or  1819,  and  established  the  nucleus  for  the  county  soon 
afterwards  named  for  him. 

His  sons  and  daughters  soon  settled  there  as  did  the  Brazletons,  Goodens, 
Thackers,  Courtneys,  Garners,  Dicksons,  Dorans,  Duckworths,  Cherrys,  Kin- 
cannons,    Sloans,   Williamses,   Boyds,  Wisdoms,   Rosses,   Shannons  and   others. 

The  first  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  organized  in  January,  1820, 
by  the  following  named  magistrates:  Isham  Cherry,  David  Kincannon,  James 
Barnes,  Samuel  Harbour,  and  Joseph  McMahan.  The  first  county  officers  were: 
Henry  Mahar,  ranger;  Joseph  McMahan,  trustee;  James  Barnes,  register; 
Stephen  Roach,  coroner. 

The  commissioners  appointed  for  the  purpose  located  the  county  seat  in  the 
approximate  center  of  the  county  and  called  it  Ilardinsville,  later  known  as 
Oldtown,  where  the  county  government  functioned  until  1830,  when  it  was 
moved  to  Savannah,  then  called  Rudd's  Ferry,  and  a  log  courthouse  was  built. 
This  courthouse  was  soon  replaced  by  a  brick  structure. 

The  most  outstanding  event  in  the  history  of  this  county  was  the  battle  of 
Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  which  was  fought  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Ten- 
nessee River  on  April  6  and  7,  1862.  The  National  Cemetery  is  maintained  at 
Pittsburg  Landing  and  the  Shiloh  National  Park,  consisting  of  several  thousand 
acres,  in  charge  of  DeLong  Rice,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  well  kept 
parks  in  the  nation. 

Statistics  of  Hardin  County :  Population,  1920,  17,291.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $5,665,008.  Area,  587  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  2,907.  Railway  mileage,  none.  Borders  on  Alabama  and  Mississippi 
and  intersected  by  Tennessee  River,  which  is  navigable  the  year  round.  Western 
portion  generally  level,  while  eastern  portion  is  hilly,  with  fertile  valleys. 
Eastern  part  well  timbered.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  corn  and  live  stock. 
Savannah,  the  county  seat,  is  on  the  Tennessee  River,  and  has  a  population  of 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  893 

758,  excellent  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and  pros- 
perous mercantile  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  5,915 ;  high 
schools,  6 ;  elementary  schools,  77. 

HAYWOOD    COUNTY 

Haywood  County  was  erected  on  November  3,  1823,  from  the  Western 
District,  and  was  named  in  honor  of  Judge  John  Haywood. 

The  first  settler  was  Col.  Richard  Nixon,  who  came  from  North  Carolina 
in  1821.  His  grandson,  Richard  J.  Nixon,  was  the  first  white  child  born  in 
the  county.  Between  1821  and  1826  the  following  settled  in  the  Nixon  neigh- 
borhood: Gen.  Wm.  Conner,  Jesse  Mauldin,  John  Saunderlin,  and  Nicholas  T. 
Perkins.  Colonel  Nixon's  father,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  received  for  his 
services  a  grant  of  3,600  acres  in  Haywood  County.  He  located  his  home  on 
Nixon  Creek,  four  miles  east  of  Brownsville. 

Such  was  Nixon's  prominence  that  his  house  is  mentioned  in  the  act  creating 
the  county  as  the  place  of  meeting  of  the  courts  until  provision  otherwise  should 
be  made  by  law.  Here,  on  March  8,  1824,  was  organized  the  first  Court  of  Pleas 
and  Quarter  Sessions  with  the  following  magistrates  in  attendance:  Richard 
Nixon,  Clarence  McGuire,  Nicholas  T.  Perkins,  Jonathan  T.  Jaycocks,  Willie 
Dodd,  B.  H.  Sanders,  David  Jeffries,  Blackman  Coleman.  Richard  Nixon  was 
elected  chairman ;  B.  H.  Sanders,  clerk ;  John  G.  Caruthers,  sheriff ;  William  H. 
Henderson,  register ;  Richard  Nixon,  trustee ;  Jonathan  T.  Jaycocks,  ranger ; 
and  Julius  Sanders,  coroner. 

The  commissioners  "to  select  and  set  apart  a  site  for  the  seat  of  justice" 
were  James  Fentress,  Benjamin  Reynolds,  and  Robert  Jetton.  To  them  Thomas 
M.  Johnson  deeded  fifty  acres  on  December  14,  1824,  for  the  county  site  which 
was  named  Brownsville.  The  first  courthouse  built  in  1824-1825  was  of  logs 
and  once  imprisoned  the  notorious  John  A.  Murrell,  who  escaped  from  it.  It 
was  succeeded  by  one  of  brick  in  1845. 

Statistics  of  Haywood  County:  Population,  1920,  25,386.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $10,816,331.  Area,  570  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  4,359.  Railway  mileage,  29.  Drained  by  the  Hatchie  and  Forked 
Deer  rivers.  Surface  nearly  level,  with  an  abundant  supply  of  timber.  Soil 
fertile  and  capable  of  great  diversification  of  crops.  Fruit  growing  is  a 
profitable  business.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  corn,  fruit,  grass  and  live  stock. 
The  L.  &  N.  Railroad  passes  through  the  county.  Brownsville,  the  county  seat, 
has  a  population  of  3,062  and  is  on  the  L.  &  N.  Railroad.  It  has  good  schools 
and  churches,  manufacturing  establishments,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks 
and  is  an  important  shipping  point  for  cotton.  Scholastic  population  of  county, 
9,332 ;  high  schools,  17 ;  elementary  schools,  76. 

HENDERSON   COUNTY 

Henderson  County  was  erected  on  November  7,  1821,  from  the  Western 
District,  and  named  in  honor  of  Col.  James  Henderson. 

The  earliest  settler  was  Joseph  Reel  who,  in  1818,  located  on  Beech  River, 
about  five  miles  east  of  Lexington.  Not  long  after  this  Abner  Taylor  located 
near  the  site  of  Lexington. 

Vol.  1—67 


894  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  lirsi  execution  in  the  county  was  that  of  a  slave  woman  who  drowned 
the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  A.  Wilson. 

Lexington  was  selected  as  the  county  seat  in  1822,  on  land  previously  owned 
by  Samuel  Wilson. 

Statistics  of  Henderson  County :  Population,  1920,  18,436.  Assessed  valu- 
ation of  taxable  property,  1921,  $6,561,186.  Area,  530  square  miles.  Number 
of  farms,  3,290.  Railway  mileage,  42.  Drained  by  tributaries  of  Tennessee. 
Surface  generally  level  and  well  timbered  in  some  portions.  Soil  fertile  in 
valleys  and  river  bottoms.  Leading  product  is  cotton,  and  other  staples  are 
corn,  grass,  and  live  stock.  Lexington,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of 
1,792,  and  is  on  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railway,  which  traverses  the  county.  It  has 
good  schools,  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  two  banks,  electric  light  plant, 
stave  factory,  and  a  number  of  prosperous  stores.  Scholastic  population  of 
county,  8,198 ;  high  school,  1 ;  elementary  schools,  85. 

HENRY  COUNTY 

Henry  County  was  erected  on  November  7,  1821,  from  the  Western  District 
and  named  in  honor  of  Patrick  Henry. 

John  B.  House  was  the  first  settler  in  1819.  Other  early  settlers  were :  Joel 
and  Willis  Hagler,  Jas.  Williams,  William  Wyatt,  Rev.  Benjamin  Peoples,  Rev. 
John  Manly,  Abraham  and  William  Walters,  James  Hicks,  Wm.  Jones,  Johannon 
Smith,  Henry  Wall,  Reuben  Bomar,  Wm.  Porter,  Thomas  Grey,  Jesse  Paschal, 
James  and  R.  D.  Caldwell,  Samuel  Rogers,  Adam  Rome,  Henry  Humphreys, 
Louis  and  Samuel  McCorkle,  Alex  Harmon,  Col.  Richard  Porter,  Hugh  W. 
Dunlap,  John  Brown,  John  Young,  James  and  David  D.  Greer,  and  Dr.  Jacob 
Brazwell. 

The  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  was  held  at  the 
house  of  Peter  Wall  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  1821. 

Paris  was  laid  out  early  in  1823  by  commissioners  appointed  by  the  Legis- 
lature on  lands  secured  from  Joseph  Blythe  and  Peter  Ruff.  The  first  court- 
house was  built  of  logs. 

The  bench  and  bar  of  Henry  County  have  included  many  distinguished  men, 
among  them  Joshua  Haskell,  Wm.  R.  Harris,  L.  N.  Hawkins,  Jas.  D.  Porter, 
Andrew  McCampbell,  A.  G.  Hawkins,  H.  W.  Dunlap,  Wm.  Arnold,  Isham  G. 
Harris,  Will  C.  Dunlap,  Sol  C.  Brazwell,  Edwin  Fitzgerald  and  Tom  C.  Rye. 
Other  distinguished  citizens  are :  John  W.  Crockett,  eldest  son  of  David 
Crockett,  a  member  of  Congress  1837-1841. 

Howell  E.  Jackson,  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

John  D.  C.  Atkins,  congressman  of  the  United  States  in  1837,  and  also  of 
the  Confederate  States  and  again,  after  the  war,  congressman  of  the  U.  S. 
for  five  consecutive  terms. 

Dr.  E.  W.  Grove,  the  millionaire  medicine  manufacturer. 

Rev.  Irl  R.  Hicks,  the  "storm  prophet"  of  St.  Louis. 

Porter  Dunlap,  state  treasurer,  1815-1819,  and  now  a  member  of  the  State 
Utilities  Commission. 

Statistics  of  Henry  County:  Population,  1920,  27,151.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $16,555,918.  Area,  580  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  4,286.  Railway  mileage,  60.  County  borders  on  Kentucky  and  is  bounded 
on  the  east  by  the  Tennessee  River.    Surface  generally  level  and  well  timbered 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  895 

in  some  portions.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  corn,  wheat,  tobacco,  peanuts 
and  oats.  Well  adapted  to  truck  growing  which  is  a  profitable  industry.  Poultry 
business  is  profitable.  Intersected  by  the  L.  &  N.  and  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  rail- 
ways. Paris,  the  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  4,730.  Pine  public  and  private 
schools,  good  churches,  two  weekly  newspapers,  three  banks,  manufacturing 
establishments  and  prosperous  stores.  Has  electric  light  plant  and  waterworks. 
Other  towns  are  Henry,  Springville,  Puryear  and  Whitlock.  Scholastic  popu- 
lation of  county,  9,005 ;  high  schools,  10 ;  elementary  schools,  100. 

LAKE  COUNTY 

Lake  County  was  erected  on  June  9,  1870,  from  a  part  of  Obion  County  and 
named  for  Reelfoot  Lake. 

The  earliest  settlers  in  the  county  were  probably  Richard  Meriwether,  Robert 
Nolen,  and  Frank  Longley,  who  located  before  1825. 

The  first  county  court  was  held  in  Atheneum  Hall  in  Tiptonville,  which  was 
chosen  as  the  county  seat  on  September  5,  1870. 

The  great  outstanding  feature  of  Lake  County  is  Reelfoot  Lake.  This  lake 
was  formed  during  the  earthquake  convulsions  of  the  winter  of  1811-1812.  It 
is  about  eighteen  miles  long  and  from  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  three  miles  in 
width.  It  is  one  of  the  most  noted  places  in  this  country  for  fishing  and 
hunting. 

Statistics  of  Lake  County :  Population,  1920,  9,075.  Assessed  valuation  of 
taxable  property,  1921,  $7,779,841.  Area,  210  square  miles.  Number  of  farms, 
850.  Railway  mileage,  24.  County  is  bordered  on  the  north  by  Kentucky  and 
lies  between  Reelfoot  Lake  and  the  Mississippi  River.  The  county  is  well  tim- 
bered. Soil  very  fertile,  and  staple  products  are  cotton,  corn  and  hogs.  Tipton- 
ville, the  county  seat,  is  on  the  Mississippi  River  and  has  a  population  of  about 
1,000.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  two  banks,  and 
prosperous  business  establishments.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  3,728 : 
high  schools,  2 ;  elementary  schools,  25. 

LAUDERDALE  COUNTY 

Lauderdale  County  was  erected  on  November  24,  1835,  from  parts  of  Dyer, 
Tipton  and  Haywood  counties,  and  was  named  "in  honor  of  and  to  perpetuate 
the  memory  of  Col.  James  Lauderdale,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  New  Orleans 
on  the  night  of  the  23d  of  December,  1814." 

The  first  activities  of  white  men  looking  to  future  settlements  in  what  was 
ultimately  to  be  Lauderdale  County  were  exerted  by  Henry  Rutherford  in  1785. 
He  located  the  famous  "Key  Corner"36  in  that  year  and  his  surveys  covered 
a  large  part  of  Lauderdale,  Crockett  and  Haywood  counties.  Although  he  and 
his  brother  John,  sons  of  the  famous  Gen.  Griffith  Rutherford,  both  settled  in 
this  county  at  a  later  day,  it  is  said  that  the  first  permanent  settler  was  Ben- 
jamin Porter,  who  located  in  April,  1820,  having  brought  his  effects  on  a  flatboat 
up  the  Forked  Deer  River.  His  son,  Benjamin  Porter,  Jr.,  was  the  first  white 
child  born  in  the  county. 

Fulton,  the  oldest  town  in  the  county,  was  laid  out  in  1827,  by  Jas.  Trimble. 
Fulton  was  for  some  years  a  serious  rival  of  Memphis. 


se  An  account  of  this  historic  spot  is  given  in  Chapter  XXX. 


896  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

The  nexl  oldesl  town,  Durhamville,  was  established  by  Col.  Thos.  Durham, 
in  1829. 

The  commissioners  appointed  to  select  the  county  seat  named  it  Ripley,  in 
honor  of  General  Ripley  of  the  War  of  1812.  On  February  24,  1836,  the  com- 
missioners, Howell  Taylor,  Nicholas  T.  Perkins  and  David  Hay,  purchased  from 
Thomas  Brown  62y2  acres  on  which  the  town  of  Ripley  was  laid  out  by  Abel 
H.  Pope.  It  is  located  about  seven  miles  east  of  the  center  of  the  county.  The 
first  church  was  Turner's  Chapel,  established  in  1829  near  Durhamville,  by  Rev. 
Wm.  Taylor. 

The  first  school  was  taught  by  Mrs.  Edith  Kinley  at  her  home  near  Double 
Bridges. 

The  first  newspaper  was  the  Ripley  Gazette  established  about  1860  by  Mr. 
Youngblood. 

Statistics  of  Lauderdale  County:  Population  of  1920,  21,494.  Assessed 
valuation  of  taxable  property,  1921,  $15,266,680.  Area,  450  square  miles. 
Number  of  farms,  3,406.  Railway  mileage,  26.  Bounded  on  the  west  by  the 
Mississippi  River  and  drained  by  smaller  streams.  Surface  nearly  level  with 
a  good  growth  of  timber.  Soil  fertile,  and  the  county  is  a  large  producer  of 
cotton.  Other  staple  products  are  corn,  fruit  and  livestock.  The  Illinois  Central 
Railroad  passes  through  the  county.  Ripley,  the  county  seat,  on  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad,  has  a  population  of  2,070.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches, 
a  weekly  newspaper,  four  banks,  and  manufacturing  and  commercial  establish- 
ments. Henning  and  Halls  are  other  towns  in  the  county.  Scholastic  popula- 
tion of  county,  9,587 ;  high  schools,  5 ;  elementary  schools,  68. 

MADISON  COUNTY 

Madison  County  was  erected  on  November  7,  1821,  from  the  Western  District, 
and  was  named  in  honor  of  President  James  Madison.  The  earliest  settlers, 
however,  arrived  during  the  preceding  two  or  three  years.  Among  them  were : 
James  Cockrill,  J.  H.  Regan,  Adam  Huntsman,  James  Brown,  John  T.  Porter, 
Joseph  Lynn,  Robert  H.  Dyer  and  Adam  R.  Alexander,  the  last  named  in  charge 
of  the  Land  Office  of  the  Tenth  District.  All  these  located  in  the  vicinity  of 
Jackson. 

On  December  17,  1821,  the  county  was  organized  by  the  following  named 
commissioners  who  constituted  the  first  court  of  the  county :  Adam  R.  Alexander, 
Bartholomew  G.  Stewart,  David  Jarvett,  Wm.  Atchison,  Robt.  H.  Dyer,  Jno. 
Thomas,  Duncan  Mclvor,  Joseph  Lynn,  Jas.  Trousdale,  Herndon  Harelson,  Wm. 
Braden,  Samuel  Taylor  and  Wm.  Woolfork.  Herndon  Harelson  was  chosen 
chairman;  Roderick  Mclvor,  clerk;  Thos.  Shannon,  sheriff;  John  T.  Porter, 
register;  Jas.  Brown,  ranger;  Wm.  Atchison,  trustee;  Wm.  Griffin,  coroner; 
Geo.  White,  John  Fore,  Elijah  Jones,  and  Wm.  Doak,  constables.  Henry  L. 
Gray,  Alexander  B.  Bradford  and  Robert  Hughes  qualified  as  attorneys. 

The  first  courthouse  was  completed  in  September,  1822.  Jackson,  the  county 
seat,  named  for  Andrew  Jackson,  was  located  on  the  lands  of  Daniel  Shannon, 
W.  E.  Butler,  Joseph  Phillips  and  John  McNairy.  It  was  incorporated  on 
December  16,  1845.  Its  first  mayor  was  R.  J.  Hays ;  its  first  postmaster,  Samuel 
Taylor ;  its  first  newspaper,  the  Gazette,  founded  on  May  25,  1824,  by  Charles 
I).  McLean,  Elijah  Bigelow  and  Ed  Hays. 

Early    attorneys    were:      John    Wyatt,    Adam    Huntsman,    Miltctn    Brown, 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  897 

Benj.  Gillispie,  A.  L.  Martin,  Stokely  D.  Hays,  Micajah  Bullock,  J.  S.  Allen, 
Hugh  W.  Dunlap,  Andrew  McCampbell  and  M.  A.  McKenzie. 

The  numerous  mounds  in  Madison  County  indicate  that  this  section  was  once 
the  home  of  a  populous  community  of  prehistoric  people. 

The  sale  of  lots  in  the  town  of  Jackson  began  July  4,  1822,  and  lasted  about 
one  week.  Joseph  Lynn  was  allowed  twenty  dollars  for  whisky  furnished  at 
the  sale  to  encourage  bidding.  The  first  purchasers  of  lots  were  Geo.  Todd, 
Herndon  Harelson,  Mark  Fisher,  Duncan  Mclvor,  Wm.  Broden,  Wilson  Mc- 
Clellan,  Jas.  McKnight,  Vincent  Harelson,  David  Horton,  J.  H.  Ball,  Isaac 
Curry,  Wm.  Espy,  Alex.  B.  Bradford,  W.  L.  Flener,  Jas.  Burress,  Jas.  K. 
Polk,  S.  F.  Gray,  S.  C.  Crofton,  Roderick  Mclvor,  and  M.  Leggett.  James  K. 
Polk  bought  three  lots,  costing  the  aggregate  sum  of  $582. 

Madison  County  furnished  to  the  Seminole  war  of  1836,  a  company  called 
The  Grays,  commanded  by  Capt.  Jesse  McMahon ;  also  troops  to  the  Mexican 
war. 

Statistics  of  Madison  County :  Population,  1920,  43,824.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $25,793,119.  Area,  520  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  4,467.  Railway  mileage,  115.  Intersected  by  the  Forked  Deer  River. 
Its  surface  is  generally  level.  Soil  very  fertile  and  staple  products  are  cotton, 
corn,  fruits,  vegetables  and  live  stock.  The  Illinois  Central,  the  Mobile  & 
Ohio,  and  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  Railroads  traverse  the  county.  A  large  cotton  mill 
is  located  at  Bemis,  near  Jackson,  employing  a  large  number  of  operatives. 
Jackson,  the  county  seat,  with  a  population  of  18,860,  is  a  flourishing  city  with 
the  facilities  of  the  three  railroads  named.  It  has  large  manufacturing  interests 
and  is  a  jobbing  center  for  a  large  territory.  Jackson  has  fine  private  and  public 
schools  and  is  noted  as  an  educational  center.  It  has  daily  and  weekly  news- 
papers and  other  large  publishing  interests.  An  artesian  waterworks  system 
owned  by  the  city  supplies  the  city  with  water.  Scholastic  population  of  county, 
16,783 ;  high  schools,  14 ;  elementary  schools,  100. 

MCNAIET   COUNTY 

McNairy  County  was  erected  on  October  8,  1823,  from  a  part  of  Hardin 
County  and  named  in  honor  of  John  McNairy,  whom  President  Washington  had 
appointed  one  of  the  three  judges  of  the  Southwest  Territory.  The  act  creating 
this  county  directed  that  the  first  court  should  be  held  at  the  house  of  Abel  V. 
Maury,  near  the  center  of  the  county.  At  the  first  session  of  the  Court  of  Pleas 
and  Quarter  Sessions  held  on  the  second  Monday  in  January,  1824,  a  commission 
was  appointed  which  selected  for  the  county  seat  Purdy,  named  for  John 
Purdy,  a  surveyor  in  the  service  of  the  government.  Judge  Joshua  Haskell 
presided  over  this  court  which  elected  the  following  officials :  Henry  S.  Wilson, 
sheriff;  Joseph  Barnett,  clerk;  Maclin  Cross,  Circuit  Court  clerk;  Wm.  Maury, 
register;  Benjamin  Rice,  surveyor;  Robert  M.  Owens,  trustee. 

The  first  white  child  born  was  Hugh  Kerby,  in  1821. 

The  first  store  was  owned  by  John  Chambers  and  Nat  Griffith. 

In  1855,  the  citizens  of  Purdy  successfully  resisted  the  efforts  of  the  Mobile 
&  Ohio  Railroad  Company  to  build  their  road  through  the  town,  which  action 
caused  a  gradual  decline  in  the  place,  so  that  when,  in  1870,  an  effort  was  made 
to  move  the  county  seat  to  the  railroad  many  favored  the  project;  however, 


898  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

tin-  effort  was  not  crowned  with  success  until  1890,  when  P.  H.  Thrasher  gave 
the  county  a  courthouse  located  at  Selmer. 

Strong  characters  of  the  early  days  were :  Col.  James  Warren,  Gen.  John 
H.  Meeks,  Wm.  G.  Jopling,  John  G.  Gooch,  and  Maj.  Benj.  Wright  who  fought 
in  the  battle  of  Tohopeka. 

The  first  church  organization  in  the  county  was  Bethel,  in  1828.  This  was 
a  Presbyterian  Church  and  was  soon  followed  by  the  Baptist  Church  at  Gravel 
Hill. 

In  1857  Isaac  Nash  began  in  Purdy  the  publication  of  the  West  Tennessee 
Argus,  the  first  paper  published  in  the  county.  Two  of  the  most  eminent  men 
whom  this  country  has  produced  were  John  V.  Wright  and  Col.  D.  M.  Wisdom. 

Statistics  of  McNairy  County:  Population,  1920,  18,350.  Assessed  valua- 
tion of  taxable  property,  1921,  $6,829,882.  Area,  550  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,263.  Railway  mileage,  42.  Drained  by  the  Hatchie  River  and  affluents 
of  the  Tennessee.  Part  of  the  county  is  level  and  in  some  portions  of  the 
county  there  is  a  fine  growth  of  timber.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  corn  and 
hogs.  The  Mobile  &  Ohio  and  the  Southern  Railway  traverse  the  county. 
Selmer,  the  county  seat,  is  on  the  M.  &  0.  Railroad,  thirty-five  miles  south  of 
Jackson.  It  has  good  schools  and  churches,  a  weekly  newspaper,  three  banks, 
prosperous  business  establishments,  and  a  population  of  546.  Scholastic  popu- 
lation of  county,  6,127;  high  schools,  6;  elementary  schools,  109. 

OBION  COUNTY 

Obion  County  was  erected  on  October  24,  1823,  from  the  Western  District, 
and  named  for  the  Obion  River. 

The  first  settler  was  Elisha  Parker  who  located  in  1819  in  the  northeast  part 
of  the  county  near  the  Weakley  County  line. 

The  first  court  in  accordance  with  the  act  creating  the  county  met  at  the 
house  of  Wm.  M.  Wilson,  on  January  19,  1824.  This  location  was  about  three 
miles  west  of  Troy  which  was  selected  by  the  commissioners  in  1825  as  the 
county  seat,  and  which  was  laid  out  on  land  donated  by  Wm.  Polk. 

The  sessions  of  the  court  continued  to  be  held  at  Wilson's  home  until  the 
county  courthouse  was  built  at  Troy  in  1824. 

Union  City  was  laid  out  in  1854  on  the  land  of  Gen.  G.  W.  Gibbs.  It  was 
incorporated  in  1861,  the  first  mayor  having  been  Thomas  Ray,  and  is  now 
the  county  seat.  One  of  the  first  resident  attorneys  was  Charles  McAlister. 
In  1842  S.  W.  Cochran  from  Ohio  located  in  Troy  and  became  one  of  the 
leading  attorneys  in  that  part  of  the  state.  Other  early  lawyers  of  Troy  were: 
Jno.  C.  Hawkins,  J.  W.  Buford,  T.  C.  Swanson,  Thos.  R.  Shearon.  Early 
lawyers  of  Union  City  were:    D.  D.  Bell,  Charles  N.  Gibbs,  and  Wm.  B.  Gibbs. 

Statistics  of  Obion  County:  Population,  1920,  28,393.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $29,793,421.  Area,  540  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  3,378.  Railway  mileage,  73.  This  county  is  bordered  on  the  north  by 
Kentucky  and  on  the  west  by  Reelfoot  Lake  and  is  one  of  the  richest  agricul- 
tural counties  in  the  state.  Surface  nearly  level  and  there  is  a  plentiful  supply 
of  timber.  Soil  rich  and  fertile,  and  staple  products  are  cotton,  corn,  wheat, 
oats  and  live  stock.  One  of  the  best  wheat  producing  counties  in  the  state. 
Intersected  by  the  Illinois  Central,  the  Mobile  &  Ohio,  and  the  N.  C.  &  St.  L. 
Railway.    Union  City,  county  seat,  has  a  population  of  4,412,  and  is  a  flourish- 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  899 

ing  town  with  fine  schools  and  churches,  various  manufacturing  establishments, 
up-to-date  stores,  two  weekly  newspapers,  two  banks,  lumber  mills,  railroad 
shops,  etc.  Other  towns  are  Kenton,  Obion  and  Troy.  Scholastic  population 
of  county,  10,500 ;  high  schools,  11 ;  elementary  schools,  85. 

SHELBY  COUNTY 

Shelby  County  was  erected  on  Nov.  24,  1819,  from  Hardin  County  and 
named  "in  honor  and  to  perpetuate  the  name  of  Isaac  Shelby,  late  governor 
of  Kentucky."  A  large  part  of  the  land  now  comprising  the  City  of  Memphis 
was  originally  granted  by  the  state  of  North  Carolina  in  1783  to  John  Rice, 
who,  in  1791,  was  killed  by  Indians  while  on  a  trading  expedition  in  the  vicinity 
of  Clarksville.  In  1794  Judge  John  Overton  bought  from  Elisha  Wright,  the 
brother  of  John  Wright,  the  five  thousand  acres  of  the  Rice  tract  for  five  hundred 
dollars  and  on  the  next  day  transferred  a  half  interest  in  it  to  Andrew  Jackson, 
between  whom  and  himself  a  beautiful  and  tender  affection  existed.  Jackson, 
however,  sold  his  interest  before  the  property  was  developed.  A  part  of  his 
interest  was  conveyed  to  Gen.  Jas.  Winchester,  who  named  the  prospective 
metropolis  Memphis  because  of  supposed  resemblance  to  the  ancient  city  of 
Memphis,  Egypt. 

Memphis  was  laid  out  by  Judge  Overton  and  incorporated  in  1826  or  1827. 

Marcus  B.  Winchester,  a  son  of  Gen.  Jas.  Winchester,  was  the  first  mayor. 
Between  him  and  Isaac  Rawlings  existed  a  bitter  rivalry  for  many  years. 
Rawlings  had  been  a  sutler  with  Jackson's  army  in  1813,  and  also  an  Indian 
agent.  He  was  the  first  magistrate  of  Shelby  County,  holding  the  office  without 
either  election  or  appointment,  but  by  common  consent.  He  was  a  prominent 
and  picturesque  figure  and  succeeded  Winchester  as  the  second  mayor  of 
Memphis,  and  was  reelected  several  times. 

Keating,  in  his  valuable  "History  of  Memphis,"  says  that  no  other  American 
city  was  laid  out  on  so  generous  a  scale  as  was  the  case  with  Memphis  according 
to  the  plans  of  Overton  and  Winchester ;  that  every  emergency  in  the  life  of 
a  leading  commercial  point  seemed  to  be  provided  for.  It  seemed  to  have 
everything  except  religious  organizations,  for  there  was  not  a  church  in 
Memphis  until  1827,  although  it  is  believed  that  there  were  several  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  county.  The  first  religious  services  were  held  in  the  court- 
house by  Methodist  circuit  riders  of  whom  the  earliest  was  Elijah  Coffee,  who 
came  in  March,  1822,  in  a  flatboat.  A  small  meeting  house  was  erected  in 
Court  Square  in  1826. 

Keating  says,  "After  the  preacher  came  the  press,"  referring  to  the  fact 
that  Phebus  founded  the  first  newspaper  called  The  Memphis  Advocate.  The 
first  number  appeared  January  18,  1827. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  existence  of  Memphis  conditions  were  very  rough. 
J.  J.  Rawlings  said  that  when  he  went  to  Memphis  in  1824  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  society.  "Nothing  that  deserved  that  name.  There  were  a  few  boys 
or  young  men,  adventurers,  uncontrolled  by  any  restrictions ;  no  preachers,  no 
ladies  to  visit ;  they  ran  riot  as  they  pleased. ' ' 

Whisky  was  twenty-five  cents  a  gallon,  and  horse  racing  was  the  favorite 
pastime. 

In  1827  the  County  Court  was  removed  to  Raleigh,  which  then  became  the 
county  seat,  a  fact  which  aroused  much  indignation  in  Memphis.     In  that  year 


900  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

an  epidemic  of  dengue,  or  breakbone  fever,  broke  out,  followed  next  year  by 
the  first  appearance  of  yellow  fever.  In  1828  also,  South  Memphis  was  organized 
as  a  separate  municipality  and  for  several  years  a  rivalry  between  it  and  Fort 
Pickering,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Memphis  on  the  other,  was  carried  on  with 
extreme  bitterness.  There  was  also  keen  rivalry  between  Memphis  and  Ran- 
dolph. But,  beginning  with  1829,  when  stage  coach  service  was  established  to 
Memphis  as  a  center  from  important  eastern  points,  the  supremacy  of  that  city 
was  incontestable.  The  first  railroad  was  the  Memphis  and  LaGrange,  begun  in 
1838  and  never  finished. 

The  first  public  road  in  Shelby  County  was  ordered  marked  out  by  the 
County  Court  in  May,  1820. 

THE   NASHOBA   VENTURE 

Perhaps  the  first  effort  in  Tennessee  for  the  benefit  of  the  many  made  by  an 
individual  influenced  by  pure  altruism  was  inaugurated  by  Fanny  Wright  at 
"Nashoba,"  near  Memphis,  in  1825.  With  her  own  funds,  alone,  she  bought 
a  tract  of  1,940  acres  located  on  Wolf  River  northeast  of  Memphis,  and  erected 
on  it  a  school  for  negroes  whom  she  hoped  to  educate  to  prepare  them  for 
citizenship  before  setting  them  free.  Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  many  at  the 
present  day,  she  encountered  little  opposition,  and  on  her  list  of  trustees  she 
had  strong  names,  some  even  illustrious.  They  were :  General  Lafayette,  Wm. 
McClure,  Robert  Owen,  Cadwallader  D.  Colden,  Richardson  Whitby,  Robert 
Jennings,  Robert  Dale  Owen,  George  Flowery,  Camilla  Wright,  and  James 
Richardson.  She  wished  to  give  an  object  lesson  in  gradual  emancipation.  It 
was  not  at  all  that  any  instruction  should  inculcate  the  idea  of  social  equality 
between  the  two  races,  nor  did  she  have  any  sympathy  with  the  professional 
abolitionists.  She  traveled  over  the  South  in  the  interest  of  her  venture  stating 
that  her  remedies  for  the  evils  of  slavery  were  gradual  emancipation  and  in- 
dustrial education.  Her  school  lasted  several  years.  When  she  realized  she 
would  be  compelled  to  abandon  the  project  she  chartered  a  vessel  and  herself 
accompanied  her  negroes  to  Hayti  where  she  set  them  free.  The  trustees,  in 
1831,  restored  the  property  to  her. 

Accounts  of  a  large  number  of  historical  spots  and  places  in  Memphis  and 
Shelby  County  are  given  in  Chapter  XXXI. 

Statistics  of  Shelby  County :  Population,  1920,  223,216.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $273,256,558.  Area,  728  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  8,204.  Railway  mileage,  231.  Bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi 
River,  on  the  south  by  Mississippi,  and  intersected  by  the  Loosahatchie  and 
Wolf  rivers.  Surface  level  and  portions  well  timbered.  Soil  very  rich  and 
fertile,  and  one  of  the  best  cotton  producing  counties.  Staple  products,  cotton, 
corn,  lumber  and  hogs.  Memphis,  the  county  seat  and  largest  city  in  the  state, 
has  a  population  of  162,351.  It  is  an  important  rail  and  river  shipping  point, 
being  the  largest  inland  cotton  market  in  the  country.  Two  fine  bridges  cross 
the  Mississippi  at  Memphis,  which  has  a  fine  system  of  streets  and  sewers,  and 
is  supplied  with  water  from  a  fine  system  of  artesian  wells.  It  is  a  large 
manufacturing  point  and  is  the  jobbing  center  for  a  large  territory,  including 
states  of  the  South  and  Southwest.  It  is  a  large  lumber  market  and  also  an 
important  market  for  mules  and  horses.  It  is  the  center  of  the  cotton  seed  oil 
industry   in   the   South   and   the   largest   cotton   seed   oil  market  in   the   world. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  901 

It  is  a  rapidly  growing  city,  and  growing  in  importance  as  a  manufacturing  and 
distributing  point.  Has  three  daily  newspapers  and  various  other  periodicals 
and  large  publishing  interests,  fine  public  and  private  schools,  splendid  banking 
facilities.  The  West  Tennessee  Normal  is  located  at  Memphis.  Scholastic  pop- 
ulation of  county,  68,654;  high  schools,  19;  elementary  schools,  141. 

TIPTON  COUNTY 

Tipton  County  was  erected  on  October  29,  1823,  from  the  "Western  District, 
and  named  "in  memory  of  Capt.  Jacob  Tipton,  who  fell  at  St.  Clair's  defeat." 

By  the  act  which  created  this  county  provision  was  made  that  the  County 
and  Circuit  Court  should  meet  at  the  house  of  Nathan  Hartfield  until  otherwise 
provided  for  by  law.  Among  the  early  pioneers  were  Gen.  Jacob  Tipton,  son 
of  Capt.  Jacob  Tipton,  Dr.  Hold,  Captain  Scurry,  Major  Lauderdale,  George 
W.  Frazier,  K.  H.  Douglass,  and  Jesse  Benton,  brother  of  Senator  Thos.  H. 
Benton.  Jesse  Benton  lived  at  Randolph  and  was  very  active  in  promoting 
the  interests  of  that  place  which  posed  as  a  rival  to  Memphis,  and  which  became 
a  very  important  center  of  trade  for  all  the  western  sections  except  the  counties 
of  Shelby  and  Fayette. 

Covington  was  selected  as  the  county  seat,  which  was  located  on  land  donated 
by  John  C.  McLemore  and  Tyree  Rhodes.  In  1852  an  effort  was  made  to  remove 
the  county  seat  from  Covington  to  Randolph  but  it  failed  by  a  small  vote. 

Statistics  of  Tipton  County:  Population,  1920,  30,258.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $15,074,391.  Area,  400  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  5,271.  Railway  mileage,  27.  Bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Mississippi 
River.  Soil  is  fertile  and  surface  level  except  for  a  range  of  hills  near  river. 
Well  timbered  and  watered  by  running  streams  and  artesian  wells.  Cotton, 
corn,  wheat,  oats,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  live  stock  are  staple  products.  Trav- 
ersed by  L.  &  N.  and  the  Illinois  Central  railroads.  Covington,  the  county  seat, 
has  a  population  of  3,410,  and  has  fine  churches  and  schools,  a  weekly  newspaper, 
three  banks,  electric  light  plant  and  waterworks,  cotton  mill,  cottonseed  oil  mill 
and  other  manufacturing  enterprises,  and  is  a  flourishing  town.  Brighton, 
Atoka,  and  Tipton  are  other  towns.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  10,703 ; 
high  schools,  11 ;  elementary  schools,  78. 

WEAKLEY   COUNTY 

Weakley  County  was  erected  on  October  21,  1823,  from  the  Western  District, 
and  was  named  in  honor  of  Col.  Robert  Weakley,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
of  the  early  pioneers  of  Middle  Tennessee,  a  member  of  Tennessee's  first  Legis- 
lature, and  speaker  of  the  State  Senate  in  1823. 

Provision  was  made  in  the  act  which  created  this  county  that  the  sessions 
of  the  County  and  Circuit  courts  should  be  held  at  the  house  of  John  Tyrrell 
until  otherwise  provided  for  by  law. 

The  first  settlers  were :  Reuben  Edmonston  and  John  Bradshaw,  brothers- 
in-law,  who  located  on  Mud  Creek,  in  1819.  Alexander  Paschal  arrived  in  1822 
and  was  considered  well-to-do,  as  his  wife  had  seven  dresses.  The  first  cabin 
was  built  by  John  Bradshaw.  The  county  was  organized  in  1825  and  Dresden 
was  selected  as  the  county  seat  and  laid  out  in  that  same  year.  The  first 
courthouse  was  completed  in  1827  and  the  first  session  of  the  court  held  in  it 


902 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


in  1828.  Prior  to  this  time  some  of  the  sessions  of  the  court  had  been  held  in 
the  house  of  Benjamin  Bondurant  in  Dresden. 

Early  members  of  the  bar  were:  A.  G.  Bondurant,  Henry  A.  Semple,  Jobn 
A.  Garner,  S.  A.  Warner,  and  John  Grundy,  son  of  Felix  Grundy.  Emerson 
Etheridge,  the  famous  orator,  was  a  resident  of  Dresden. 

Early  physicians  were :  Drs.  T.  C.  Edwards,  Joseph  Irby,  and  Jubilee 
Rogers. 

Early  preachers  were:  Thos.  Ross,  Gilliland  Holland,  and  Lorenzo  D. 
Overall. 

Weakley  County  furnished  eleven  companies  to  the  Confederate  Army,  and 
four  companies  to  the  Federal  Army. 

Martin  was  established  in  1873  and  incorporated  in  1874. 

Statistics  of  Weakley  County :  Population,  1920,  31,053.  Assessed  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  1921,  $21,969,965.  Area,  620  square  miles.  Number  of 
farms,  5,050.  Railway  mileage,  51.  Drained  by  the  Obion  River.  The  surface 
is  generally  level  and  the  soil  fertile.  Staple  products  are  cotton,  tobacco,  corn, 
wheat,  oats,  fruits,  vegetables  and  live  stock.  The  N.  C.  &  St.  L.  railway  and 
the  Illinois  Central  traverse  the  county.  Dresden,  the  county  seat,  has  a  popu- 
lation of  1,007,  good  schools  and  churches,  lumber  mills,  stave  factory,  tannery, 
a  weekly  newspaper,  three  banks,  and  is  a  flourishing  town.  Martin,  another 
prosperous  town  at  the  junction  of  the  railroad,  has  a  population  of  2,837, 
good  schools  and  churches,  manufacturing  establishments,  prosperous  stores,  a 
weekly  newspaper,  and  three  banks.  Scholastic  population  of  county,  10,914; 
high  schools,  15 ;  elementary  schools,  91. 


APPENDIX 


PETITION   OP   WATAUGA   ASSOCIATION   TO   BE   ANNEXED   TO   NORTH    CAROLINA 

This  petition  was  drafted  by  "William  Tatham,  clerk  pro  tem,  and  was  dated 
July  5,  1776.  (See  article  on  "William  Tatham,  Wataugan,"  by  Sam'l  C. 
Williams  in  Tennessee  Historical  Magazine  for  October,  1921,  page  156.) 

"To  the  Hon.  the  Provincial  Council  of  North-Carolina: 

"The  humble  petition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Washington  District,  including 
the  River  Wataugah,  Nonachuckie,  &c,  in  committee  assembled,  Humbly 
Sheweth,  that  about  six  years  ago,  Col.  Donelson,  (in  behalf  of  the  Colony  of 
Virginia,)  held  a  Treaty  with  the  Cherokee  Indians,  in  order  to  purchase  the 
lands  of  the  Western  Frontiers;  in  consequence  of  which  Treaty,  many  of  your 
petitioners  settled  on  the  lands  of  the  Wataugah,  &c,  expecting  to  be  within 
the  Virginia  line,  and  consequently  hold  their  lands  by  their  improvements  as 
first  settlers ;  but  to  their  great  disappointment,  when  the  line  was  run  they 
were  (contrary  to  their  expectation)  left  out;  finding  themselves  thus  dis- 
appointed, and  being  too  inconveniently  situated  to  remove  back,  and  feeling 
an  unwillingness  to  loose  the  labour  bestowed  on  their  plantations,  they  applied 
to  the  Cherokee  Indians,  and  leased  the  land  for  the  term  of  ten  years,  before 
the  expiration  of  which  term,  it  appeared  that  many  persons  of  distinction  were 
actually  making  purchases  forever;  thus  yielding  a  precedent,  (supposing  many 
of  them,  who  were  gentlemen  of  the  law,  to  be  better  judges  of  the  constitution 
then  we  were,)  and  considering  the  bad  consequences  it  must  be  attended  with, 
should  the  reversion  be  purchased  out  of  our  hands,  we  next  proceeded  to  make 
a  purchase  of  the  lands,  reserving  those  in  our  possession  in  sufficient  tracts 
for  our  own  use,  and  resolving  to  dispose  of  the  remainder  for  the  good  of  the 
community.  This  purchase  was  made  and  the  lands  acknowledged  to  us  and 
our  heirs  forever,  in  an  open  treaty,  in  Wataugah  Old  Fields;  a  deed  being 
obtained  from  the  chiefs  of  the  said  Cherokee  nation  for  themselves  and  their 
whole  nation,  conveying  a  fee  simple  right  to  the  said  lands,  to  us  and  our 
heirs  forever,  which  deed  was  for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  two 
thousand  pounds  sterling,  (paid  to  them  in  goods,)  for  which  consideration 
they  acknowledged  themselves,  their  whole  nation,  their  heirs,  &c,  forever  to 
resign,  warrant  and  defend  the  said  lands  to  us,  and  our  heirs,  &c,  against 
themselves,  their  heirs,  &c. 

"The  purchase  was  no  sooner  made,  than  we  were  alarmed  by  the  reports 
of  the  present  unhappy  differences  between  Great  Britain  and  America,  on 
which  report,  (taking  the  now  united  colonies  for  our  guide,)  we  proceeded  to 
choose  a  committee,  which  was  done  unanimously  by  consent  of  the  people. 
This  committee  (willing  to  become  a  party  in  the  present  unhappy  contest) 
resolved,  (which  is  now  on  the  records,)  to  adhere  strickly  to  the  rules  and 
orders  of  the  Continental  Congress,  and  in  open  committee  acknowledged 
themselves  indebted  to  the  united  colonies  their  full  proportion  of  the  Con- 
tinental expense. 

"Finding  ourselves  on  the  Frontiers,  and  being  apprehensive  that,  for  the 
want  of  a  proper  legislature,  we  might  become  a  shelter  for  such  as  endeavored 
to  defraud  their  creditors ;  consisting  also  the  necessity  of  recording  Deeds, 
Wills,  and  doing  other  public  business;  we,  by  consent  of  the  people,  formed 
a  court  for  the  purposes  above  mentioned,  taking  (by  desire  of  our  const  itucnts) 
the  Virginia  laws  for  our  guide,  so  near  as  the  situation  of  affairs  would  admit ; 
this  was  intended  for  ourselves,  and  was  done  by  the  consent  of  every  in- 
dividual ;  but  wherever  we  had  to  deal  with  people  out  of  our  district,  we  have 

903 


904  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ruled  them  to  bail,  to  abide  by  our  determinations,  (which  was,  in  fact,  leaving 
the  matter  to  reference,)  otherways  we  dismissed  their  suit,  lest  we  should  in 
any  way  intrude  on  the  legislature  of  the  colonies.  In  short,  we  have  en- 
deavored so  strickly  to  do  justice,  that  we  have  admitted  common  proof  against 
ourselves,  on  accounts,  &c,  from  the  colonies,  without  pretending  a  right  to 
require  the  Colony  Seal. 

"We  therefore  trust  we  shall  be  considered  as  we  deserve,  and  not  as  we 
have  (no  doubt)  been  many  times  represented,  as  a  lawless  mob.  It  is  for  this 
very  reason  we  can  assure  you  that  we  petition;  we  now  again  repeat  it,  that 
it  is  for  want  of  proper  authority  to  try  and  punish  felons,  we  can  only  men- 
tion to  you  murderers,  horse-thieves  and  robbers,  and  are  sorry  to  say  that 
some  of  them  have  escaped  us  for  want  of  proper  authority.  We  trust,  how- 
ever, this  will  not  long  be  the  case;  and  we  again  and  again  repeat  it,  that  it 
is  for  this  reason  we  petition  to  this  Honorable  Assembly. 

"Above  we  have  given  you  an  extract  of  our  proceedings,  since  our  settling 
on  Wataugah,  Nonachuckie,  &c,  in  regard  to  our  civil  affairs.  We  have  shown 
you  the  causes  of  our  first  settling  and  the  disappointments  we  have  met  with, 
the  reason  of  our  lease  and  of  our  purchase,  the  manner  in  which  we  pur- 
chased, and  how  we  hold  of  the  Indians  in  fee  simple ;  the  causes  of  our  form- 
ing a  committee,  and  the  legality  of  its  election;  the  same  of  our  Court  and 
proceedings,  and  our  reasons  for  petitioning  in  regard  to  our  legislature. 

"We  will  now  proceed  to  give  you  some  account  of  our  military  establish- 
ments, which  were  chosen  agreeable  to  the  rules  established  by  convention,  and 
officers  appointed  by  the  committee.  This  being  done,  we  thought  it  proper 
to  raise  a  company  on  the  District  service,  as  our  proportion,  to  act  in  the 
common  cause  on  the  sea  shore.  A  company  of  fine  riflemen  were  accordingly 
enlisted,  and  put  under  Capt.  James  Robertson,  and  were  actually  embodied, 
when  we  received  sundry  letters  and  depositions,  (copies  of  which  we  now 
enclose  you,)  you  will  then  readily  judge  that  there  was  occasion  for  them  in 
another  place,  where  we  daily  expected  an  attack.  We  therefore  thought 
proper  to  station  them  on  our  Frontiers,  in  defense  of  the  common  cause,  at 
the  expense  and  risque  of  our  own  private  fortunes,  till  farther  public  orders, 
which  we  flatter  ourselves  will  give  no  offence.  We  have  enclosed  you  sundry 
proceedings  at  the  station  where  our  men  now  remain. 

"We  shall  now  submit  the  whole  to  your  candid  and  impartial  judgement. 
We  pray  your  mature  and  deliberate  consideration  in  our  behalf,  that  you 
may  annex  us  to  your  Province,  (whether  as  county,  district,  or  other  division,) 
in  such  manner  as  may  enable  us  to  share  in  the  glorious  cause  of  Liberty ; 
enforce  our  laws  under  authority,  and  in  every  respect  become  the  best  mem- 
bers of  society ;  and  for  ourselves  and  constituents  we  hope,  we  may  venture 
to  assure  you,  that  we  shall  adhere  strictly  to  your  determinations,  and  that 
nothing  will  be  lacking  or  any  thing  neglected,  that  may  add  weight  (in  the 
civil  or  military  establishments)  to  the  glorious  cause  in  which  we  are  now 
struggling,  or  contribute  to  the  welfare  of  our  own  or  ages  yet  to  come. 

"That  you  may  strictly  examine  every  part  of  this  our  Petition,  and  delay 
no  time  in  annexing  us  to  your  Province,  in  such  a  manner  as  your  wisdom 
shall  direct,  is  the  hearty  prayer  of  those  who,  for  themselves  and  constituents, 
as  in  duty  bound,  shall  ever  pray. 

John  Carter,  Chn.  George  Rusel, 

Charles  Roberdson,  Jacob  Womack, 

James  Robertson,  Robert  Lucas. 

Zach.  Isbell,  Jacob  Womack, 

John  Sevier,  Joseph  Dunham, 

Jas.  Smith,  Rice  Durroon, 

Jacob  Brown,  Edward  Hopson, 

Wm.  Been,  Lew.  Bowyer,  D.  Atty, 

John  Jones,  Joseph  Buller, 

The  above  signers  are  the  Members  on  Committee  assembled. 
Wm.  Tatham,   Clerk,  P.  T. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


905 


Andw.  Greer, 

his 
Joab  X  Mitchell 

mark 
Gideon  Morris, 
Shadraek  Morris, 
William  Crocket, 
Thos.  Dedmon, 
David  Hickey, 
Mark  Mitchell, 
Hugh  Blair, 
Elias  Pebeer, 
Jos.  Brown, 
John  Neave, 
John  Robinson, 
Christopher  Cunningham, 
Jas.  Easeley, 
Ambrose  Hodge, 
Dan'l  Morris, 
Wm.  Cox, 
James  Easley, 
John  Haile, 
Elijah  Robertson, 
William  Clark 

his 
John   X  Dunham, 

mark 
Wm.  Overall, 
Matt.  Hawkins, 
John  Brown, 
Jos.  Brown, 
Job  Bumper, 
Isaac  Wilson, 
Richard  Norton, 
George  Hutson, 
Thomas  Simpson, 
Valentine  Sevier, 
Johnathan  Tipton, 
Robert  Sevier, 
Drury  Doodan, 
Richard  Fletcher, 
Ellexander  Greear, 
Jos.  Greer, 
Andrew  Greear,  jun., 
Teeler  Nave, 
Lewis  Jones, 
John  I.  Cox, 
John  Cox,  jr., 
Abraham  Cox, 
Emanuel  Shote, 


Tho.  Houghton, 
Jos.  Luske, 
Wm.  Reeves, 
David  Hughes, 
Landon  Carter, 
John  McCormick, 
David  Crocket, 
Edw'd  Cox, 
Tho's  Hughes, 
William  Roberson, 
Henry  Siler, 
Frederick  Calvit, 
John  Moore, 
William  Newberry, 
Adam  Sherrell, 
Samuel  Sherrell,  junr., 
Samuel  Sherrell,  senr., 
Ossa  Rose, 
Henry  Bates,  jun., 
Jos.  Grimes, 
Christopher  Cunningham, 

sen., 
Joshua  Barten,  sen., 
Joud.  Bostin,  sen., 
Henry  Bates,  jun., 
Will'  Dod, 
Grives  Morris, 
Wm.  Bates, 
Rob't  Mosely, 
Ge.  Hartt, 
Isaac  Wilson, 
Jno.  Waddell, 
Jarret  Williams, 
Oldham  Hightower, 
Abednago  Hix, 
Charles  McCartney, 
Frederick  Vaughn, 
Jos.  McCartney, 
Mark  Robertson, 
Joseph  Calvit, 
Joshua  Houghton, 
John  Chukinbeard, 
James  Cooper, 
William  Brokees, 
Julius  Robertson, 
John  King, 
Michael  Hider, 
John  Davis, 
John  Barley." 


THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  TENNESSEE— 1796 


We  the  people  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  south  of  the  River  Ohio, 
having  the  right  of  admission  into  the  General  Government  as  a  member  State 
thereof,  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  act  of 
cession  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  recognizing  the  ordinance  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  north-west  of  the  River  Ohio,  do 
ordain  and  establish  the  following  Constitution  or  form  of  government,  and  do 
mutually  agree  with  each  other  to  form  ourselves  into  a  free  and  independent 
State  by  the  name  of  the  State  of  Tennessee. 

ARTICLE  I 

Section  1.  The  legislative  authority  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a  General 
Assembly,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  both 
dependent  on  the  people. 

Section  2.  Within  three  years  after  the  first  meeting  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly, and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  seven  years,  an  enumeration  of  the 
taxable  inhabitants  shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  directed  by  law. 
The  number  of  Representatives  shall  at  the  several  periods  of  making  such 
enumeration  be  fixed  by  the  Legislature,  and  apportioned  among  the  several 
counties  according  to  the  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  in  each,  and  shall  never 
be  less  than  twenty-two  nor  greater  than  twenty-six  until  the  number  of  taxable 
inhabitants  shall  be  forty  thousand ;  and,  after  that  event,  at  such  ratio  that  the 
whole  number  of  Representatives  shall  never  exceed  forty. 

Section  3.  The  number  of  Senators  shall,  at  the  several  periods  of  making 
the  enumeration  before  mentioned,  be  fixed  by  the  Legislature,  and  apportioned 
among  the  districts  formed  as  hereinafter  directed  according  to  the  number  of 
taxable  inhabitants  in  each,  and  shall  never  be  less  than  one-third  or  more 
than  one-half  of  the  number  of  Representatives. 

Section  4.  The  Senators  shall  be  chosen  by  districts  to  be  formed  by  the 
Legislature,  each  district  containing  such  a  number  of  taxable  inhabitants  as 
shall  be  entitled  to  elect  not  more  than  three  Senators.  When  a  district  shall 
be  composed  of  two  or  more  counties  they  shall  be  adjoining,  and  no  county  shall 
be  divided  in  forming  a  district. 

Section  5.  The  first  election  for  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  com- 
mence on  the  second  Thursday  in  March  next,  and  shall  continue  for  that  and 
the  succeeding  day ;  and  the  next  election  shall  commence  on  the  first  Thursday 
in  August,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven,  and  shall  continue 
on  that  and  the  succeeding  day ;  and  forever  after  elections  shall  be  held  once 
in  two  years,  commencing  on  the  first  Thursday  in  August  and  terminating  the 
succeeding  day. 

Sec.  6.  The  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  commence  on  the 
last  Monday  of  March  next,  the  second  on  the  third  Monday  of  September,  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven;  -and  forever  after  the  General  As- 
sembly shall  meet  on  the  third  Monday  of  September  next  ensuing  the  then 
election,  and  at  no  other  period,  unless  as  provided  for  by  this  Constitution. 

Sec.  7.  That  no  person  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly 
unless  he  shall  have  resided  three  years  in  the  State  and  one  year  in  the  county 
immediately  preceding  the  election,  and  shall  possess  in  his  own  right  in  the 
county  which  he  represents  not  less  than  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  shall 
have  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

Sec.  8.  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  when  assembled,  shall 
each  choose  a  Speaker  and  its  other  officers,  be  judges  of  the  qualifications  and 
election  of  its  members,  and  sit  upon  its  own  adjournment  from  day  to  day. 
Two-thirds  of  each  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business,  but  a  smaller  num- 

906 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  907 

ber  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  by  law  to  compel  the 
attendance  of  absent  members. 

Sec.  9.  Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its 
members  for  disorderly  behavior,  and,  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel 
a  member,  but  not  a  second  time  for  the  same  offense,  and  have  all  other  powers 
necessary  for  the  Legislature  of  a  free  State. 

Sec.  10.  Senators  and  Representatives  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason, 
felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for 
any  speech  or  debate  in  either  House  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other 
place. 

Sec.  11.  Each  House  may  punish,  by  imprisonment,  during  their  session, 
any  person,  not  a  member,  who  shall  be  guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  House  by 
any  disorderly  or  contemptuous  behavior  in  their  presence. 

Sec.  12.  Whenever  vacancies  happen  in  either  House,  the  Governor  for  the 
time  being  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

Sec.  13.  Neither  House  shall,  during  their  session,  adjourn  without  the 
consent  of  the  other  for  more  than  three  days ;  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that 
in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Sec.  14.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  House,  but  may  be  amended,  altered, 
or  rejected  by  the  other. 

Sec.  15.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  three  times,  on  three  different  days,  in 
each  House,  and  be  signed  by  the  respective  Speakers  before  it  becomes  a  law. 

Sec.  16.  After  a  bill  has  been  rejected,  no  bill  containing  the  same  substance 
shall  be  passed  into  a  law  during  the  same  session. 

Sec.  17.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  this  State  shall  be,  "Be  it  enacted  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee." 

Sec.  18.  Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings  and  publish 
them,  except  such  parts  as  the  welfare  of  the  State  may  require  to  be  kept 
secret ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays  of  the  members  on  any  question  shall,  at  the 
request  of  any  two  of  them,  be  entered  on  the  journals. 

Sec.  19.  The  doors  of  each  House,  and  committees  of  the  whole,  shall  be 
kept  open  unless  when  the  business  is  such  as  ought  to  be  kept  secret. 

Sec.  20.  The  Legislature  of  this  State  shall  not  allow  the  following  officers 
of  Government  greater  annual  salaries  than  as  follows,  until  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  four,  to  wit :  The  Governor  not  more  than  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars;  the  Judges  of  the  Superior  Courts  not  more  than 
six  hundred  dollars  each ;  the  Secretary  not  more  than  four  hundred  dollars ; 
the  Treasurer  or  Treasurers  not  more  than  four  per  cent,  for  receiving  and 
paying  out  all  money;  the  Attorney  or  Attorneys  tor  the  State  shall  receive  a 
compensation  for  their  services  not  exceeding  fifty  dollars  for  each  Superior 
Court  which  he  shall  attend.  No  member  of  the  Legislature  shall  receive  more 
than  one  dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  per  day,  nor  more  for  every  twenty-five 
miles  he  shall  travel  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  21.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of 
appropriations  made  by  law. 

Sec.  22.  No  person  who  heretofore  hath  been,  or  hereafter  may  be,  a  col- 
lector or  holder  of  public  moneys  shall  have  a  seat  in  either  House  of  the  General 
Assembly  until  such  person  shall  have  accounted  for  and  paid  into  the  treasury 
all  sums  for  which  he  may  be  accountable  or  liable. 

Sec.  23.  No  Judge  of  any  court  of  law  or  equity,  Secretary  of  State,  At- 
torney-general, Register,  Clerk  of  any  court  of  record,  or  person  holding  any 
office  under  authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  General 
Assembly.  Nor  shall  any  person  in  this  State  hold  more  than  one  lucrative 
office  at  one  and  the  same  time;  Provided,  That  no  appointment  in  the  Militia 
or  of  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  shall  be  considered  a  lucrative  office. 

Sec.  24.  No  member  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  eligible  to  any  office 
or  place  of  trust,  except  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  or  trustee  of  any 
literary  institution,  when  the  power  of  appointment  to  such  office  or  place  of 
trust  is  vested  in  their  own  body. 


908  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  25.  Any  member  of  either  House  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  have 
liberty  to  dissent  from  and  protest  against  any  act  or  resolve  which  he  may 
think  injurious  to  the  public  or  any  individual,  and  have  the  reasons  of  his 
dissent  entered  on  the  journals. 

Sec.  26.  All  lands  liable  to  taxation  in  this  State  held  by  deed,  grant,  or 
entry,  shall  he  taxed  equal  and  uniform,  in  such  manner  that  no  one  hundred 
acres  shall  be  taxed  higher  than  another,  except  town  lots,  which  shall  not  be 
taxed  higher  than  two  hundred  acres  of  land  each.  No  freeman  shall  be  taxed 
higher  than  one  hundred  acres,  and  no  slave  higher  than  two  hundred  acres 
on  each  poll. 

Sec.  27.  No  article  manufactured  of  the  product  of  this  State  shall  be  taxed 
otherwise  than  to  pay  inspection  fees. 

ARTICLE  II 

Section  1.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a 
Governor. 

Sec.  2.  The  Governor  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  at  the  times  and  places  they  shall  respectively  vote  for  the 
members  thereof.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  Governor  shall  be  sealed 
up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of  government  by  the  returning  officers,  directed 
to  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  who  shall  open  and  publish  them  in  the  presence 
of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  each  House  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
person  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  Governor ;  but  if  two  or 
more  shall  be  equal  and  highest  in  votes,  one  of  them  shall  be  chosen  Governor 
by  joint  ballot  of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  Contested  elections  for 
Governor  shall  be  determined  by  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  in  such 
manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  3.  He  shall  at  least  be  twenty-five  years  of  age  and  possess  a  freehold 
estate  of  five  hundred  acres  of  land,  and  have  been  a  citizen  or  inhabitant  of 
this  State  four  years  next  before  his  election,  unless  he  shall  have  been  absent 
on  the  public  business  of  the  United  States  or  of  this  State. 

Sec.  4.  The  first  Governor  shall  hold  his  office  until  the  fourth  Tuesday  of 
September,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-seven,  and  until  another 
Governor  shall  be  elected  and  qualified  to  office ;  and  forever  after  the  Governor 
shall  hold  his  office  for  the  term  of  two  years,  and  until  another  Governor  shall 
be  elected  and  qualified ;  but  shall  not  be  eligible  more  than  six  years  in  any 
term  of  eight. 

Sec.  5.  He  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  this  State, 
and  of  the  militia,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into  service  of  the  United 
States. 

Sec.  6.  He  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  after  conviction, 
except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

Sec.  7.  He  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a  compensation  for  his  services, 
which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he 
shall  have  been  elected. 

Sec.  8.  He  may  require  information  in  writing  from  the  officers  in  the 
executive  department  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices. 

Sec.  9.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the  General  Assembly 
by  proclamation,  and  shall  state  to  them,  when  assembled,  the  purpose  for  which 
they  shall  have  been  convened. 

Sec.  10.    He  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  shall  be  faithfully  executed. 

Sec.  11.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  General  Assembly  informa- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  government,  and  recommend  to  their  consideration  such 
measures  as  he  shall  judge  expedient. 

Sec.  12.  In  case  of  his  death,  or  removal  from  office,  or  resignation,  the 
Speaker  of  the  Senate  shall  exercise  the  office  of  Governor  until  another  Gov- 
ernor shall  be  duly  qualified. 

Sec.  13.  No  member  of  Congress  or  person  holding  any  office  under  the 
United  States  or  this  State  shall  execute  the  office  of  Governor. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  909 

Sec.  14.  When  any  officer,  the  right  of  whose  appointment  is  by  this  Con- 
stitution vested  in  the  General  Assembly,  shall,  during  the  recess,  die,  or  his 
office  by  other  means  become  vacant,  the  Governor  shall  have  power  to  fill  up 
such  vacancy  by  granting  a  temporary  commission,  which  shall  expire  at  the 
end  of  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  15.  There  shall  be  a  seal  of  this  State,  which  shall  be  kept  by  the 
Governor,  and  used  by  him  officially,  and  shall  be  called  "the  Great  Seal  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee." 

Sec.  16.  All  grants  and  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  and  by  the 
authority  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  be  sealed  with  the  State  seal,  and  signed 
by  the  Governor. 

Sec.  17.  A  Secretary  of  this  State  shall  be  appointed  and  commissioned 
during  the  term  of  four  years.  He  shall  keep  a  fair  register  of  all  the  official 
acts  and  proceedings  of  the  Governor;  and  shall,  when  required,  lay  the  same 
and  all  papers,  minutes,  and  vouchers  relative  thereto  before  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall  be  enjoined  upon  him  by 
law. 

ARTICLE  III 

Section  1.  Every  freeman  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upward 
possessing  a  freehold  in  the  county  wherein  he  may  vote,  and  being  an  in- 
habitant of  this  State,  and  every  freeman  being  an  inhabitant  of  any  one  county 
in  the  State  six  months  immediately  preceding  the  day  of  the  election,  shall  be 
entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  for  the  county  in  which 
he  shall  reside. 

Sec.  2.  Electors  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the 
peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance  at  elections,  and  in 
going  to  and  returning  from  them. 

Sec.  3.    All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot. 

ARTICLE  IV 

Section  1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of 
impeachment. 

Sec.  2.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate.  When  sitting  for 
that  purpose  the  Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or  affirmation. 

Sec.  3.  No  person  shall  be  convicted  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
of  the  members  of  the  whole  House. 

Sec.  4.  The  Governor  and  all  civil  officers  under  this  State  shall  be  liable 
to  impeachment  for  any  misdemeanor  in  office ;  but  judgment,  in  such  cases, 
shall  not  extend  further  than  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  hold 
any  office  of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the  State.  The  party  shall  neverthe- 
less, in  all  cases,  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment  ac- 
cording to  law. 

ARTICLE  V 

Section  1.  The  judicial  power  of  the  State  shall  be  vested  in  such  superior 
and  inferior  courts  of  law  and  equity  as  the  Legislature  shall  from  time  to 
time  direct  and  establish. 

Sec.  2.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  by  joint  ballot  of  both  Houses,  appoint 
Judges  of  the  several  courts  of  law  and  equity ;  also  an  Attorney  or  Attorneys 
for  the  State,  who  shall  hold  their  respective  offices  during  good  behavior. 

See.  3.  The  Judges  of  the  superior  courts  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a 
compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  but  shall  not  be 
allowed  any  fees  or  perquisites  of  office,  nor  shall  they  hold  any  other  office  of 
trust  or  profit  under  this  State  or  the  United  States. 

Sec.  4.  The  Judges  of  the  superior  courts  shall  be  justices  of  oyer  and 
terminer  and  general  jail  delivery  throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  5.  The  Judges  of  the  superior  and  inferior  courts  shall  charge  juries 
with  respect  to  matters  of  fact,  but  may  state  the  testimony  and  declare  the  law. 

Sec.  6.  The  Judges  of  the  superior  court  shall  have  power  in  all  civil  cases 
to  issue  writs  of  certiorari  to  remove  any  cause,  or  a  transcript  thereof,  from 


910  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

any  inferior  jurisdiction  into  their  court  on  sufficient  cause,  supported  by  oath 
or  affirmation. 

Sec.  7.  The  Judges  or  justices  of  the  inferior  courts  of  law  shall  have  power 
in  all  civil  cases  to  issue  writs  of  certiorari  to  remove  any  cause,  or  a  transcript 
thereof,  from  any  inferior  jurisdiction  into  their  court  on  sufficient  cause,  sup- 
ported by  oath  or  affirmation. 

Sec.  8.  No  Judge  shall  sit  on  the  trial  of  any  cause  when  the  parties  shall 
be  connected  with  him  by  affinity  or  consanguinity,  except  by  consent  of  parties. 
In  case  all  the  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  shall  be  interested  in  the  event  of 
any  cause  or  related  to  all  or  either  of  the  parties,  the  Governor  of  the  State 
shall  in  such  case  specially  commission  three  men  of  law  knowledge  for  the 
determination  thereof. 

Sec.  9.  All  writs  and  other  process  shall  run  in  the  name  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  and  bear  test  and  be  signed  by  the  respective  Clerks.  Indictments 
shall  conclude,  "against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State." 

Sec.  10.  Each  court  shall  appoint  its  own  Clerk,  who  may  hold  his  office 
during  good  behavior. 

Sec.  11.  No  fine  shall  be  laid  on  any  citizen  of  this  State  that  shall  exceed 
fifty  dollars,  unless  it  shall  be  assessed  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  who  shall  assess 
the  fine  at  the  time  they  find  the  fact,  if  they  think  the  fine  ought  to  be  more 
than  fifty  dollars. 

Sec.  12.  There  shall  be  Justices  of  the  Peace  appointed  for  each  county,  not 
exceeding  two  for  each  captain's  company,  except  for  the  company  which  in- 
cludes the  county  town,  which  shall  not  exceed  three,  who  shall  hold  their 
offices  during  good  behavior. 

ARTICLE  VI 

Section  1.     There  shall  be  appointed  in  each  county,  by  the  County  Court, 
one  Sheriff,  one  Coroner,  one  Trustee,  and  a  sufficient  number  of  Constables, 
who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years.    They  shall  also  have  power  to  appoint 
one  Register  and  Ranger  for  the  county,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  during  good ' 
behavior.     The  Sheriff  and  Coroner  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor. 

Sec.  2.  There  shall  be  a  Treasurer  or  Treasurers  appointed  for  the  State, 
who  shall  hold  his  or  their  offices  for  two  years. 

Sec.  3.  The  appointment  of  all  officers  not  otherwise  directed  by  this  Con- 
stitution shall  be  vested  in  the  Legislature. 

ARTICLE  VII 

Section  1.  Captains,  subalterns,  and  non-commissioned  officers  shall  be 
elected  by  those  citizens  in  their  respective  districts  who  are  subject  to  military 
duty. 

Sec.  2.  All  field  officers  of  the  militia  shall  be  elected  by  those  citizens  in 
their  respective  counties  who  are  subject  to  military  duty. 

Sec.  3.  Brigadiers-general  shall  be  elected  by  the  field  officers  of  their  re- 
spective brigades. 

Sec.  4.  Majors-general  shall  be  elected  by  the  Brigadiers  and  field  officers 
of  the  respective  divisions. 

Sec.  5.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  the  Adjutant-general;  the  Majors- 
general  shall  appoint  their  Aides ;  the  Brigadiers-general  shall  appoint  their 
Brigade  Majors ;  and  the  commanding  officers  of  regiments  their  Adjutants  and 
Quartermasters. 

Sec.  6.  The  captains  and  the  subalterns  of  the  cavalry  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  troops  enrolled  in  their  respective  companies,  and  the  field  officers  of  the 
districts  shall  be  appointed  by  the  said  captains  and  subalterns ;  Provided,  That 
whenever  any  new  county  is  laid  off  the  field  officers  of  said  cavalry  shall  ap- 
point the  captain  and  other  officers  therein  protempore,  until  the  company  is 
filled  up  and  completed,  at  which  time  the  election  of  the  captains  and  sub- 
alterns shall  take  place  as  aforesaid. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  pass  laws  exempting  citizens  belonging  to  any 
sect  or  denomination  of  religion,  the  tenets  of  which  are  known  to  be  opposed 
to  bearing  of  arms,  from  attending  private  and  general  musters. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  911 

ARTICLE  VIII 

Section  1.  Whereas,  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  are,  by  their  professions, 
dedicated  to  God  and  the  carle  of  souls,  and  ought  not  to  be  diverted  from  the 
great  duties  of  their  functions ;  therefore,  no  minister  of  the  gospel  or  priest  of 
any  denomination  whatever  shall  be  eligible  to  a  seat  in  either  House  of  the 
Legislature. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  who  denies  the  being  of  God  or  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  shall  hold  any  office  in  the  civil  department  of  this  State. 

ARTICLE  IX 

Section  1.  That  every  person  who  shall  be  chosen  or  appointed  to  any  office 
of  trust  or  profit  shall,  upon  entering  on  the  execution  thereof,  take  an  oath 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  also  an  oath  of  office. 

Sec.  2.  That  each  member  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  shall, 
before  they  proceed  to  business,  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State,  and  also  the  following  oath : 

"I,  A.  B.,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that,  as  a  member  of  this  General 
Assembly,  I  will,  in  all  appointments,  vote  without  favor,  affection,  partiality, 
or  prejudice,  and  that  I  will  not  prepare  or  assent  to  any  bill,  vote,  or  resolution 
which  shall  appear  to  me  injurious  to  the  people,  or  consent  to  any  act  or  thing 
whatever  that  shall  have  a  tendency  to  lessen  or  abridge  their  rights  and 
privileges  as  declared  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State." 

Sec.  3.  Any  elector  who  shall,  receive  any  gift  or  reward  for  his  vote,  in 
meat,  drink,  money,  or  otherwise,  shall  suffer  such  punishment  as  the  laws  shall 
direct.  And  any  person  who  shall,  directly  or  indirectly,  give,  promise,  or 
bestow  any  such  reward  to  be  elected,  shall  thereby  be  rendered  incapable,  for 
two  years,  to  serve  in  the  office  for  which  he  was  elected,  and  be  subject  to  such 
further  punishment  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct. 

Sec.  4.  No  new  county  shall  be  established  by  the  General  Assembly  which 
shall  reduce  the  county  or  counties,  or  either  of  them  from  which  it  shall  be 
taken,  to  a  less  content  than  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  square  miles ;  nor  shall 
any  new  county  be  laid  off  of  less  content.  All  new  counties,  as  to  the  right  of 
suffrage  and  representation,  shall  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  county  or 
counties  from  which  it  was  taken  until  entitled  by  numbers  to  the  right  of 
representation.  No  bill  shall  be  passed  into  a  law  for  the  establishment  of  a 
new  county  except  upon  a  petition  to  the  General  Assembly  for  that  purpose, 
signed  by  two  hundred  of  the  free  male  inhabitants  within  the  limits  or  bounds 
of  such  new  county  prayed  to  be  laid  off. 

ARTICLE  X 

Section  1.  Knoxville  shall  be  the  seat  of  government  until  the  year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  two. 

Sec.  2.  All  laws  and  ordinances  now  in  force  and  use  in  this  territory,  not 
inconsistent  with  this  Constitution,  shall  continue  to  be  in  force  and  use  in  this 
State  until  they  shall  expire,  be  altered  or  repealed  by  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  3.  That  whenever  two-thirds  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  think  it 
necessary  to  amend  or  change  this  Constitution,  they  shall  recommend  to  the 
electors  at  the  next  election  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  to  vote  for 
or  against  a  convention.  And  if  it  shall  appear  that  a  majority  of  all  the 
citizens  of  the  State  voting  for  Representatives  have  voted  for  a  convention,  the 
General  Assembly  shall,  at  their  next  session,  call  a  convention,  to  consist  of  as 
many  members  as  there  be  in  the  General  Assembly,  to  be  chosen  in  the  same 
manner,  at  the  same  place,  and  by  the  same  electors  that  chose  the  General 
Assembly,  who  shall  meet  within  three  months  after  the  said  election,  for  the 
purpose  of  revising,  amending,  or  changing  the  Constitution. 

Sec.  4.  The  declaration  of  rights  hereto  annexed  is  declared  to  be  a  part  of 
the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  shall  never  be  violated  on  any  pretense  what- 
ever. And  to  guard  against  transgression  of  the  high  powers  which  we  have 
delegated,  we  declare  that  every  thing  in  the  bill  of  rights  contained,  and  every 
other  right  not  hereby  delegated,  is  excepted  out  of  the  general  powers  of 
government,  and  shall  forever  remain  inviolate. 


912  TFAXKssKK.  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ARTICLE  XI 
Declaration  of  Rights 

Section  1.  That  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and  all  free  govern- 
ments are  founded  on  their  authority,  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety, 
and  happiness.  For  the  advancement  of  those  ends,  they  have  at  all  times  an 
inalienable  and  indefeasible  right  to  alter,  reform,  or  abolish  the  government 
in  such  manner  as  they  may  think  proper. 

Sec.  2.  That  government  being  instituted  for  the  common  benefit,  the  doc- 
trine of  non-resistance  against  arbitrary  power  and  oppression  is  absurd,  slavish, 
and  destructive  of  the  good  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Sec.  3.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship 
Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences ;  that  no  man 
can  of  right  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect,  or  support  any  place  of  worship,  or 
to  maintain  any  ministry  against  his  consent;  that  no  human  authority  can,  in 
any  case  whatever,  control  or  interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience ;  and  that 
no  preference  shall  ever  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  establishment  or 
modes  of  worship. 

Sec.  4.  That  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to 
any  office  or  public  trust  under  this  State. 

Sec.  5.    That  elections  shall  be  free  and  equal. 

Sec.  6.     That  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  inviolate. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
possessions  from  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures;  and  that  general  warrants, 
whereby  an  officer  may  be  commanded  to  search  suspected  places,  without  evi- 
dence of  the  fact  committed,  or  to  seize  any  person  or  persons  not  named,  whose 
offenses  are  not  particularly  described  and  supported  by  evidence,  are  danger- 
ous to  liberty,  and  ought  not  to  be  granted. 

Sec.  8.  That  no  man  shall  be  taken  or  imprisoned,  or  disseized  of  his  free- 
hold, liberties,  or  privileges,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  in  any  manner  destroyed 
or  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty,  or  property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers  or 
the  law  of  the  land. 

Sec.  9.  That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  hath  the  right  to  be 
heard  by  himself  and  his  counsel ;  to  demand  the  nature  and  cause  of  the 
accusation  against  him,  and  to  have  a  copy  thereof ;  to  meet  the  witnesses  face 
to  face ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor ;  and  in 
prosecutions  by  indictment  or  presentment,  a  speedy  public  trial  by  an  im- 
partial jury  of  the  county  in  which  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  and 
shall  not  be  compelled  to  give  evidence  against  himself. 

Sec.  10.  That  no  person  shall,  for  the  same  offense,  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy 
of  life  or  limb. 

Sec.  11.  That  laws  made  for  the  punishment  of  acts  committed  previous 
to  the  existence  of  such  laws,  and  by  them  only  declared  criminal,  are  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  a  free  government ;  wherefore  no  ex  post  facto  law  shall  be 
made. 

Sec.  12.  That  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture 
of  estate.  The  estate  of  such  persons  as  shall  destroy  their  own  lives  shall 
descend  or  vest  as  in  case  of  natural  death.  If  any  person  be  killed  by  casualty, 
there  shall  be  no  forfeiture  in  consequence  thereof. 

Sec.  13.  That  no  person  arrested  and  confined  in  jail  shall  be  treated  with 
unnecessary  rigor. 

Sec.  14.  That  no  person  shall  be  put  to  answer  any  criminal  charge  but  by 
presentment,  indictment,  or  impeachment. 

Sec.  15.  That  all  prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  unless 
for  capital  offenses,  when  the  proof  is  evident  or  the  presumption  great;  and 
the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless  when, 
in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  public  safety  may  require  it. 

Sec.  16.  That  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 
posed, nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  inflicted. 

Sec.  17.     That  all  courts  shall  be  open,  and  every  man,  for  an  injury  done 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  913 

him  in  his  lands,  goods,  person,  or  reputation,  shall  have  remedy  by  due  course 
of  law,  and  right  and  justice  administered  without  sale,  denial,  or  delay.  Suits 
may  be  brought  against  the  State  in  such  manner  and  in  such  courts  as  the 
Legislature  may  by  law  direct ;  Provided,  the  right  of  bringing  suit  be  limited 
to  the  citizens  of  this  State. 

Sec.  18.  That  the  person  of  a  debtor,  where  there  is  not  a  strong  presump- 
tion of  fraud,  shall  not  be  continued  in  prison  after  delivering  up  his  estate 
for  the  benefit  of  his  creditor  or  creditors,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  pre- 
scribed by  law. 

Sec.  19.  That  the  printing  presses  shall  be  free  to  every  person  who  under- 
takes to  examine  the  proceedings  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  any  branch  or  officer 
of  the  Government ;  and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made  to  restrain  the  right  thereof. 
The  free  communication  of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable  rights 
of  man,  and  every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write,  and  print  on  any  subject, 
being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty.  But  in  prosecutions  for  the 
publication  of  papers  investigating  the  official  conduct  of  officers  or  men  in 
public  capacity,  the  truth  thereof  may  be  given  in  evidence;  and  in  all  indict- 
ments for  libel  the  jury  shall  have  a  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  facts, 
under  the  direction  of  the  court,  as  in  other  criminal  cases. 

Sec.  20.  That  no  retrospective  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligations  of  eon- 
tracts  shall  be  made. 

Sec.  21.  That  no  man's  particular  services  shall  be  demanded,  or  property 
taken  or  applied  to  public  use,  without  the  consent  of  his  representatives,  or 
without  just  compensation  being  made  therefor. 

Sec.  22.  That  the  citizens  have  a  right,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to  assemble 
together  for  their  common  good,  to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  apply 
to  those  invested  with  the  powers  of  government  for  redress  of  grievances,  or 
other  proper  purposes,  by  address  or  remonstrance. 

Sec.  23.  That  perpetuities  and  monopolies  are  contrary  to  the  genius  of  a 
free  State,  and  shall  not  be  allowed  by  law. 

Sec.  24.  That  the  sure  and  certain  defense  of  a  free  people  is  a  well-regu 
lated  militia ;  and,  as  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  freedom, 
they  ought  to  be  avoided  as  far  as  the  circumstances  and  safety  of  the  com- 
munity will  admit ;  and  that  in  all  cases  the  military  shall  be  in  strict  sub- 
ordination to  the  civil  authorities. 

Sec.  25.  That  no  citizen  in  this  State,  except  such  as  are  employed  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States  or  militia  in  actual  service,  shall  be  subject  to  cor- 
poral punishment  under  the  martial  law. 

Sec.  26.  That  the  freemen  of  this  State  have  a  right  to  keep  and  to  bear 
arms  for  their  common  defense. 

Sec.  27.  That  no  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war  but  in  a  manner  prescribed 
by  law. 

Sec.  28.  That  no  citizen  of  this  State  shall  be  compelled  to  bear  arms, 
provided  he  will  pay  an  equivalent  to  be  ascertained  by  law. 

Sec.  29.  That  an  equal  participation  in  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  one  of  the  inherent  rights  of  the  citizens  of  this  State ;  it  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  ceded  to  any  prince,  potentate,  power,  person  or  persons  whatever. 

Sec.  30.  That  no  hereditary  emoluments,  privileges,  or  honors  shall  be 
granted  or  conferred  in  this  State. 

Sec.  31.  That  the  people  residing  south  of  French  Broad  and  Holston, 
between  the  rivers  Tennessee  and  Big  Pigeon,  are  entitled  to  the  right  of  pre- 
emption and  occupancy  in  that  tract. 

Sec.  32.  That  the  limits  and  boundaries  of  this  State  being  ascertained,  it 
is  declared  they  are  as  hereafter  mentioned — that  is  to  say :  Beginning  on  the 
extreme  height  of  the  Stone  Mountain,  at  the  place  where  the  line  of  Virginia 
intersects  it,  in  latitude  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north;  running 
thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  said  mountain  to  the  place  the  Watauga 
River  breaks  through  it;  thence  a  direct  course  to  the  top  of  the  Yellow  Moun- 
tain, where  Bright's  road   crosses   1  ho   same;    thence   along  the   ridge   of   said 


914  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

mountain,  between  the  waters  of  Doe  River  and  the  waters  of  Rock  Creek,  to 
the  place  where  the  road  crosses  the  Iron  Mountain ;  from  thence,  along  the 
extreme  height  of  said  mountain,  to  the  place  where  Nolichucky  River  runs 
through  the  same ;  thence  to  the  top  of  the  Bald  Mountain ;  thence  along  the 
extreme  height  of  said  mountain  to  the  Painted  Rock,  on  French  Broad  River ; 
thence  along  the  highest  ridge  of  said  mountain  to  the  place  where  it  is  called 
the  Great  Iron  or  Smoky  Mountain ;  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  said 
mountain  to  the  place  where  it  is  called  the  Unicoi  or  Unaka  Mountain,  between 
the  Indian  towns  of  Cowee  and  Old  Chota;  thence  along  the  main  ridge  of  the 
said  mountain  to  the  southern  boundary  of  this  State,  as  described  in  the  act 
of  cession  of  North  Carolina  to  the  United  States  of  America ;  and  that  all  the 
territory,  lands,  and  waters  lying  west  of  the  said  line,  as  before  mentioned, 
and  contained  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  are 
within  the  boundaries  and  limits  of  this  State,  over  which  the  people  have  the 
right  of  exercising  sovereignty,  and  the  right  of  soil,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  recognizing  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
the  Bill  of  Rights,  and  Constitution  of  North  Carolina,  the  cession  act  of  the 
said  State,  and  the  ordinance  of  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  territory 
north-west  of  the  Ohio;  Provided,  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  extend  to 
affect  the  claim  of  individuals  to  any  part  of  the  soil  which  is  recognized  to 
them  by  the  aforesaid  cession  act. 

SCHEDULE 

Section  1.  That  no  inconvenience  may  arise  from  a  change  of  the  temporary 
to  a  permanent  State  government,  it  is  declared  that  all  rights,  actions,  prosecu- 
tions, claims,  and  contracts,  as  well  of  individuals  as  of  bodies  corporate,  shall 
continue  as  if  no  change  had  taken  place  in  the  administration  of  government. 

Sec.  2.  All  fines,  penalties,  and  forfeitures  due  and  owing  to  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  of  America  south  of  the  River  Ohio  shall  inure  to  the  use 
of  the  State.  All  bonds  for  performance,  executed  to  the  Government  of  the 
said  territory,  shall  be  and  pass  Over  to  the  Governor  of  this  State  and  his 
successors  in  office,  for  the  use  of  the  State,  or  by  him  or  them  respectively,  to 
be  assigned  over  to  the  use  of  those  concerned  as  the  case  may  be. 

Sec.  3.  The  Governor,  Secretary,  Judges,  and  Brigadiers-general  have  a 
right,  by  virtue  of  their  appointments  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
to  continue  in  the  exercise  of  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices  in  their  sev- 
eral departments  until  the  said  officers  are  superseded  under  the  authority  of 
this  Constitution. 

Sec.  4.  All  officers,  civil  and  military,  who  have  been  appointed  by  the 
Governor  shall  continue  to  exercise  their  respective  offices  until  the  second  Mon- 
day in  June,  and  until  successors  in  office  shall  be  appointed  under  the  authority 
of  this  Constitution  and  duly  qualified. 

Sec.  5.  The  Governor  shall  make  use  of  his  private  seal  until  a  State  seal 
shall  be  provided. 

Sec.  6.  Until  the  first  enumeration  shall  be  made  as  directed  in  the  second 
section  of  the  first  article  of  this  Constitution,  the  several  counties  shall  be 
respectively  entitled  to  elect  one  Senator  and  two  Representatives;  provided, 
That  no  new  county  shall  be  entitled  to  separate  representation  previous  to 
taking  the  enumeration. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  next  election  for  Representatives  and  other  officers  to  be 
held  for  the  county  of  Tennessee  shall  be  held  at  the  house  of  William  Miles. 

Sec.  8.  Until  a  land-office  shall  be  opened  so  as  to  enable  the  citizens  south 
of  French  Broad  and  Holston,  between  the  rivers  Tennessee  and  Big  Pigeon,  to 
obtain  titles  upon  their  claims  of  occupancy  and  pre-emption,  those  who  hold 
land  by  virtue  of  such  claims  shall  be  eligible  to  serve  in  all  capacities  where  a 
freehold  is  by  this  Constitution  made  a  requisite  qualification. 

Done  in  convention  at  Knoxville,  by  unanimous  consent,  on  the  sixth  day 
of  February  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety- 
six,  and  of  the  independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  twentieth. 

In  testimony  whereof  we  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 
William  Maclin,  Secretary.  William  Blount,  President. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  TENNESSEE— 1834. 


Whereas,  The  people  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  south  of  the  River 
Ohio,  having  the  right  of  admission  into  the  General  Government  as  a  member 
State  thereof,  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  the  act 
of  cession  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina  recognizing  the  ordinance  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  north-west  of  the  River  Ohio,  by 
their  delegates  and  representatives  in  convention  assembled,  did,  on  the  sixth 
day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-six,  ordain  and  establish  a  Constitution  or  form  of  government,  and 
mutually  agreed  with  each  other  to  form  themselves  into  a  free  and  independent 
State,  by  the  name  of  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  and, 

Whereas,  The  General  Assembly  of  the  said  State  of  Tennessee  (pursuant 
to  the  third  section  of  the  tenth  article  of  the  Constitution),  by  an  act  passed 
on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-three,  entitled  "An  Act  to  provide  for  the  calling  of  a 
convention,"  did  authorize  and  provide  for  the  election  by  the  people  of  dele- 
gates and  representatives,  to  meet  at  Nashville,  in  Davidson  County,  on  the 
third  Monday  in  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-four,  for  the  purpose  of  revising  and  amending  (or  changing)  the  Con- 
stitution ; 

We,  therefore,  the  delegates  and  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee,  elected  and  in  convention  assembled,  in  pursuance  of  the  said  act 
of  Assembly,  have  ordained  and  established  the  following  amended  Constitu- 
tion and  form  of  government  for  this  State,  which  we  recommend  to  the  people 
of  Tennessee  for  their  ratification  : 

ARTICLE  I 

Declaration  of  Rights 

Section  1.  That  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and  all  free  govern- 
ments are  founded  on  their  authority,  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety,  and 
happiness;  for  the  advancement  of  those  ends  they  have,  at  all  times,  an  in- 
alienable and  indefeasible  right  to  alter,  reform,  or  abolish  the  government  in 
such  manner  as  they  may  think  proper. 

Sec.  2.  That  government  being  instituted  for  the  common  benefit,  the  doc- 
trine of  non-resistance  against  arbitrary  power  and  oppression  is  absurd,  slavish, 
and  destructive  of  the  good  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Sec.  3.  That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship 
Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience ;  that  no  man 
can,  of  right,  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect,  or  support  any  place  of  worship,  or 
to  maintain  any  minister  against  his  consent;  that  no  human  authority  can,  in 
any  case  whatever,  control  or  interfere  with  the  rights  of  conscience ;  and  that 
no  preference  shall  ever  be  given  by  law  to  any  religious  establishment  or  mode 
of  worship. 

Sec.  4.  That  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any 
office  or  public  trust  under  this  State. 

Sec.  5.     That  elections  shall  be  free  and  equal. 

Sec.  6.     That  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  inviolate. 

Sec.  7.  That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and 
possessions   from   unreasonable   searches   and  seizures;   and    that    general    war- 

915 


916  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

rants,  whereby  ;m  officer  may  be  commanded  to  search  suspected  places,  with- 
out evidence  of  the  fact  committed,  or  to  seize  any  person  or  persons  not  named, 
whose  offenses  arc  not  particularly  described  and  supported  by  evidence,  are 
dangerous  to  liberty,  and  ought  not  to  be  granted. 

Sec.  8.  That  no  free  man  shall  be  taken  or  imprisoned,  or  disseized  of  his 
freehold,  liberties,  or  privileges,  or  outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  in  any  manner 
destroyed  or  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty,  or  property,  bui  by  I  lie  judgment  of 
his  peers  or  the  law  of  the  land. 

Sec.  9.  That  in  all  criminal  prosecutions  the  accused  hath  the  right  to  be 
heard  by  himself  and  his  counsel ;  to  demand  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusa- 
tion against  him,  and  to  have  a  copy  thereof;  to  meet  the  witnesses  face  to  face; 
to  have  compulsory  process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor ;  and  in  prose- 
cutions by  indictment  or  presentment,  a  speedy  public  trial  by  an  impartial  jury 
of  the  county  or  district  in  which  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  and  shall 
not  be  compelled  to  give  evidence  against  himself. 

Sec.  10.  That  no  person  shall,  for  the  same  offense,  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy 
of  life  or  limb. 

Sec.  11.  That  laws  made  for  the  punishment  of  acts  committed  previous 
to  the  existence  of  such  laws,  and  by  them  only  declared  criminal,  are  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  a  free  government ;  wherefore  no  ex  post  facto  law  shall 
be  made. 

Sec.  12.  That  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture  of 
estate.  The  estate  of  such  persons  as  shall  destroy  their  own  lives  shall  descend 
or  vest  as  in  case  of  natural  death.  If  any  person  be  killed  by  casualty,  there 
shall  be  no  forfeiture  in  consequence  thereof. 

Sec.  13.  That  no  person  arrested  and  confined  in  jail  shall  be  treated  with 
unnecessary  rigor. 

Sec.  14.  That  no  person  shall  be  put  to  answer  any  criminal  charge  but  by 
presentment,  indictment,  or  impeachment. 

Sec.  15.  That  all  prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  unless 
for  capital  offenses,  when  the  proof  is  evident  or  the  presumption  great ;  and 
the  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended  unless  when, 
in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  the  General  Assembly  shall  declare  the  public 
safety  requires  it. 

Sec.  16.  That  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  im- 
posed, nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  inflicted. 

Sec.  17.  That  all  courts  shall  be  open,  and  every  man,  for  an  injury  done 
him  in  his  lands,  goods,  person,  or  reputation,  shall  have  remedy  by  due  course 
of  law,  and  right  and  justice  administered  without  sale,  denial,  or  delay.  Suits 
may  be  brought  against  the  State  in  such  manner  and  in  such  courts  as  the 
Legislature  may  by  law  direct. 

Sec.  18.  That  the  person  of  a  debtor,  where  there  is  not  strong  presumption 
of  fraud,  shall  not  be  detained  in  prison  after  delivering  up  his  estate  for  the 
benefit  of  his  creditor  or  creditors,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  19.  That  the  printing  presses  shall  be  free  to  every  person  to  examine 
the  proceedings  of  the  Legislature,  or  of  any  branch  or  officer  of  the  Govern- 
ment; and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made  to  restrain  the  right  thereof.  The  free 
communication  of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable  rights  of  man, 
and  every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write  and  print  on  any  subject,  being  re- 
sponsible for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty.  But  in  prosecutions  for  the  publication 
of  papers  investigating  the  official  conduct  of  officers  or  men  in  public  capacity, 
the  truth  thereof  may  be  given  in  evidence ;  and  in  all  indictments  for  libel  the 
jury  shall  have  a  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  facts,  under  the  direction 
of  the  court,  as  in  other  criminal  cases. 

Sec.  20.  That  no  retrospective  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligations  of  con- 
tracts, shall  be  made. 

Sec.  21.  That  no  man's  particular  services  shall  be  demanded,  or  property 
taken  or  applied  to  public  use,  without  the  consent  of  his  representatives,  or 
without  just  compensation  being  made  therefor. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  917 

Sec.  22.  That  perpetuities  and  monopolies  are  contrary  to  the  genius  of  a 
free  State,  and  shall  not  be  allowed. 

Sec.  23.  That  the  citizens  have  a  right,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to  assemble 
together  for  their  common  good,  to  instruct  their  representatives,  and  apply  to 
those  invested  with  the  powers  of  government  for  redress  of  grievances,  or 
other  proper  purposes,  by  address  or  remonstrance. 

Sec.  24.  That  the  sure  and  certain  defense  of  a  free  people  is  a  well-regu- 
lated militia ;  and,  as  standing  armies  in  time  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  freedom, 
they  ought  to  be  avoided  as  far  as  the  circumstances  and  safety  of  the  community 
will  admit ;  and  that  in  all  cases  the  military  shall  be  kept  in  strict  subordina- 
tion to  the  civil  authority. 

Sec.  25.  That  no  citizen  of  this  State,  except  such  as  are  employed  in  the 
army  of  the  United  States  or  militia  in  actual  service,  shall  be  subjected  to 
punishment  under  the  martial  or  military  law. 

Sec.  26.  That  the  free  white  men  of  this  State  have  a  right  to  keep  and  to 
bear  arms  for  their  common  defense. 

Sec.  27.  That  no  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  quartered  in  any  house 
without  the  consent  of  the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war  but  in  a  manner  prescribed 
by  law. 

Sec.  28.  That  no  citizen  of  this  State  shall  be  compelled  to  bear  arms,  pro- 
vided he  will  pay  an  equivalent,  to  be  ascertained  by  law. 

Sec.  29.  That  an  equal  participation  in  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis- 
sippi is  one  of  the  inherent  rights  of  the  citizens  of  this  State ;  it  cannot,  there- 
fore, be  conceded  to  any  prince,  potentate,  power,  person  or  persons  whatever. 

Sec.  30.  That  no  hereditary  emoluments,  privileges,  or  honors  shall  be 
granted  or  conferred  in  this  State. 

Sec.  31.  That  the  limits  and  boundaries  of  this  State  being  ascertained,  it 
is  declared  they  are  as  hereafter  mentioned — that  is  to  say :  Beginning  on  the 
extreme  height  of  the  Stone  Mountain,  at  the  place  where  the  line  of  Virginia 
intersects  it,  in  latitude  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty  minutes  north ;  running 
thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  said  mountain  to  the  place  where  the 
Watauga  River  breaks  through  it ;  thence  a  direct  course  to  the  top  of  the  Yellow 
Mountain,  where  Bright 's  road  crosses  the  same;  thence  along  the  ridge  of  said 
mountain,  between  the  waters  of  Doe  River  and  the  waters  of  Rock  Creek,  to 
the  place  where  the  road  crosses  the  Iron  Mountain ;  from  thence  along  the  ex- 
treme height  of  said  mountain  to  the  place  where  Nollichucky  River  runs  through 
the  same ;  thence  to  the  top  of  the  Bald  Mountain ;  thence  along  the  extreme 
height  of  said  mountain  to  the  Painted  Rock,  on  French  Broad  River;  thence 
along  the  highest  ridge  of  said  mountain  to  the  place  where  it  is  called  the 
Great  Iron  or  Smoky  Mountain ;  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  said  moun- 
tain to  the  place  where  it  is  called  the  Unicoi  or  Unaka  Mountain,  between  the 
Indian  towns  of  Cowee  and  Old  Chota;  thence  along  the  main  ridge  of  the  said 
mountain  to  the  southern  boundary  of  this  State,  as  described  in  the  act  of 
cession  of  North  Carolina  to  the  United  States  of  America ;  and  that  all  the  terri- 
tory, lands,  and  waters  lying  west  of  the  said  line,  as  before  mentioned,  and 
contained  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  are  within 
the  boundaries  and  limits  of  this  State,  over  which  the  people  have  the  right  of 
exercising  sovereignty,  and  the  right  of  soil,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  recognizing  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the 
Bill  of  Rights,  and  Constitution  of  North  Carolina,  the  cession  act  of  the  said 
State,  and  the  ordinance  of  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  territory  north- 
west of  the  Ohio;  Provided,  Nothing  herein  contained  shall  extend  to  affect  the 
claim  or  claims  of  individuals  to  any  part  of  the  soil  which  is  recognized  to  them 
by  the  aforesaid  cession  act;  And  provided  also,  That  the  limits  and  jurisdiction 
of  this  State  shall  extend  to  any  other  land  and  territory  now  acquired,  or  that 
may  hereafter  be  acquired,  by  compact  or  agreement  with  other  States  or  other- 
wise, although  such  land  and  territory  are  not  included  within  the  boundaries 
hereinbefore  designated. 

Sec.  32.     The  people  residing  south  of  the  French  Broad  and  Holston,  be- 


918  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

tween  the  rivers  Tennessee  and  Big  Pigeon,  are  entitled  to  the  right  of  preemp- 
tion and  occupancy  in  that  tract. 

ARTICLE  II 

Section  1.  The  powers  of  the  government  shall  be  divided  into  three  distinct 
departments:   The  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  or  persons  belonging  to  one  of  these  departments  shall 
exercise  any  of  the  powers  properly  belonging  to  either  of  the  others,  except  in 
the  cases  herein  directed  or  permitted. 

Sec.  3.  The  legislative  authority  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a  General 
Assembly,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  both 
dependent  on  the  people. 

Sec.  4.  An  enumeration  of  the  qualified  voters  and  an  apportionment  of 
the  Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  made  in  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten 
years. 

Sec.  5.  The  number  of  Representatives  shall,  at  the  several  periods  of 
making  the  enumeration,  be  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  or  districts, 
according  to  the  number  of  qualified  voters  in  each,  and  shall  not  exceed  seventy- 
five  until  the  population  of  the  State  shall  be  one  million  and  a  half,  and  shall 
never  exceed  ninety-nine ;  Provided,  That  any  county  having  two-thirds  of  the 
ratio  shall  be  entitled  to  one  member. 

Sec.  6.  The  number  of  Senators  shall,  at  the  several  periods  of  making  the 
enumeration,  be  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  or  districts,  according 
to  the  number  of  qualified  electors  in  each,  and  shall  not  exceed  one-third  the 
number  of  Representatives.  In  apportioning  the  Senators  among  the  different 
counties  the  fraction  that  may  be  lost  by  any  county  or  counties  in  the  appor- 
tionment of  members  to  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  made  up  to  such 
county  or  counties  in  the  Senate  as  near  as  may  be  practicable.  When  a  dis- 
trict is  composed  of  two  or  more  counties  they  shall  be  adjoining,  and  no  coun- 
ties shall  be  divided  in  forming  a  district. 

Sec.  7.  The  first  election  for  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  be  held  on 
the  first  Thursday  in  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five ;  and 
forever  thereafter  elections  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  held 
once  in  two  years,  on  the  first  Thursday  in  August,  which  said  elections  shall 
terminate  the  same  day. 

Sec.  8.  The  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  commence  on  the 
first  Monday  in  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five ;  and  for- 
ever thereafter  the  General  Assembly  shall  meet  on  the  first  Monday  in  October 
next  ensuing  the  election. 

Sec.  9.  No  person  shall  be  a  Representative  unless  he  shall  be  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States^  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  shall  have  been  a  citizen 
of  this  State  for  three  years  and  a  resident  of  the  county  he  represents  one  year 
immediately  preceding  the  election. 

Sec.  10.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  unless  he  shall  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  of  the  age  of  thirty  years,  and  shall  have  resided  three  years  in 
this  State,  and  one  year  in  the  county  or  district  immediately  preceding  the  elec- 
tion. No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  was 
elected,  be  eligible  to  any  office  or  place  of  trust,  the  appointment  to  which  is 
vested  in  the  Executive  or  General  Assembly,  except  to  the  office  of  trustee  of 
a  literary  institution. 

Sec.  11.  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  when  assembled,  shall 
each  choose  a  Speaker  and  its  other  officers ;  be  judges  of  the  qualifications  and 
election  of  its  members,  and  sit  upon  its  own  adjournments  from  day  to  day. 
Not  less  than  two-thirds  of  all  the -members  to  which  each  House  shall  be 
entitled  shall  constitute  a  quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a  smaller  number  may 
adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  by  law  to  compel  the  attendance 
of  absent  members. 

Sec.  12.     Each  House  may  determine  the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  919 

members  for  disorderly  behavior,  aud,  with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel 
a  member,  but  not  a  second  time  for  the  same  offense ;  and  shall  have  all  other 
powers  necessary  for  a  branch  of  the  Legislature  of  a  free  State. 

Sec.  13.  Senators  and  Representatives  shall,  in  all  cases  except  treason, 
felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  during  the  session  of 
the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for 
any  speech  or  debate  in  either  House  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other 
place. 

Sec.  14.  Each  House  may  punish  by  imprisonment,  during  its  session,  any 
person  not  a  member,  who  shall  be  guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  House,  by  any  dis- 
orderly or  contemptuous  behavior  in  its  presence. 

Sec.  15.  When  vacancies  happen  in  either  House,  the  Governor  for  the  time 
being  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 

Sec.  16.  Neither  House  shall,  during  its  session,  adjourn  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  other  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in 
which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Sec.  17.  Bills  may  originate  in  either  House,  but  may  be  amended,  altered 
or  rejected  by  the  other. 

Sec.  18.  Every  bill  shall  be  read  once  on  three  different  days,  and  be  passed 
each  time  in  the  House  where  it  originated  before  transmission  to  the  other.  No 
bill  shall  become  a  law  until  it  shall  have  been  read  and  passed  on  three  different 
days  in  each  House,  and  be  signed  by  the  respective  Speakers. 

Sec.  19.  After  a  bill  has  been  rejected,  no  bill  containing  the  same  substance 
shall  be  passed  into  a  law  during  the  same  session. 

Sec.  20.  The  style  of  the  laws  of  the  State  shall  be:  "Be  it  enacted  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee." 

Sec.  21.  Each  House  shall  keep  a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  publish  it, 
except  such  parts  as  the  welfare  of  the  State  may  require  to  be  kept  secret ;  the 
ayes  and  noes  shall  be  taken  in  each  House  upon  the  final  passage  of  every  bill 
of  a  general  character,  and  bills  making  appropriations  of  public  moneys;  and 
the  ayes  and  noes  of  the  members  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  request  of  any 
two  of  them  be  entered  on  the  journal. 

Sec.  22.  The  doors  of  each  House  and  of  committees  of  the  whole  shall  be 
kept  open,  unless  when  the  business  shall  be  such  as  ought  to  be  kept  secret. 

Sec.  23.  The  sum  of  four  dollars  per  day,  and  four  dollars  for  every  twenty- 
five  miles  traveling  to  and  from  the  seat  of  government,  shall  be  allowed  to  the 
members  of  the  first  General  Assembly  as  a  compensation  for  their  services,  the 
compensation  of  the  members  of  the  succeeding  Legislatures  shall  be  ascertained 
by  law ;  but  no  law  increasing  the  compensation  of  the  members  shall  take  effect 
until  the  commencement  of  the  next  regular  session  after  such  law  shall  have 
been  enacted. 

Sec.  24.  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of 
appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  an  accurate  statement  of  the  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures of  the  public  money  shall  be  attached  to  and  published  with  the  laws 
at  the  rise  of  each  stated  session  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  25.  No  person  who  heretofore  hath  been,  or  may  hereafter  be,  a 
collector  or  holder  of  public  moneys  shall  have  a  seat  in  either  House  of  the 
General  Assembly,  or  hold  any  other  office  under  the  State  government,  until 
such  person  shall  have  accounted  for  and  paid  into  the  treasury  all  sums  for 
which  he  may  be  accountable  or  liable. 

Sec.  26.  No  Judge  of  any  court  of  law  or  equity,  Secretary  of  State. 
Attorney-general,  Register,  Clerk  of  any  court  of  record,  or  person  holding  any 
office  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  General 
Assembly,  nor  shall  any  person  in  this  State  hold  more  than  one  lucrative  office 
at  the  same  time;  Provided,  That  no  appointment  in  the  militia  or  to  the  office 
of  Justice  of  the  Peace  shall  be  considered  a  lucrative  office,  or  operate  as  a 
disqualification  to  a  seat  in  either  House  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  27.  Any  member  of  either  House  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  have 
liberty  to  dissent  from  and  protest  against  any  act  or  resolve  which  he  may 


920         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

think  injurious  to  the  public  or  to  any  individual,  and  to  have  the  reason  for  his 
dissent  entered  on  the  journals. 

See.  28.  All  lands  liable  to  taxation,  held  by  deed,  grant,  or  entry,  town 
lots,  bank  stock,  slaves  between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  fifty  years,  and  such  other 
property  as  the  Legislature  may  from  time  to  time  deem  expedient,  shall  be 
taxable.  All  property  shall  be  taxed  according  to  its  value,  that  value  to  be 
ascertained  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct,  so  that  the  same  shall 
be  equal  and  uniform  throughout  the  State.  No  one  species  of  property  from 
which  a  tax  may  be  collected  shall  be  taxed  higher  than  any  other  species  of 
property  of  equal  value ;  but  the  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  tax  merchants, 
peddlers,  and  privileges  in  such  manner  as  they  may  from  time  to  time  direct. 
A  tax  on  white  polls  shall  be  laid  in  such  manner  and  of  such  an  amount  as  may 
be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  29.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  authorize  the  several 
counties  and  incorporated  towns  in  this  State  to  impose  taxes  for  county  and 
corporation  purposes  respectively,  in  such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law ; 
and  all  property  shall  be  taxed  according  to  its  value,  upon  the  principles  estab- 
lished in  regard  to  State  taxation. 

Sec.  30.  No  article  manufactured  of  the  produce  of  this  State  shall  be  taxed 
otherwise  than  to  pay  inspection  fees. 

Sec.  31.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have  no  power  to  pass  laws  for  the 
emancipation  of  slaves,  without  the  consent  of  their  owner  or  owners. 

ARTICLE  III 

Section  I.  The  supreme  executive  power  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a 
Governor. 

Sec.  2.  The  Governor  shall  be  chosen  by  the  electors  of  the  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  at  the  time  and  places  where  they  shall  respectively  vote  for 
the  members  thereof.  The  returns  of  every  election  for  Governor  shall  be  sealed 
up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of  government  by  the  returning  officers,  directed 
to  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  who  shall  open  and  publish  them  in  the  presence 
of  a  majority  of  the  members  of  each  House  of  the  General  Assembly.  The 
person  having  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  Governor ;  but  if  two  or  more 
shall  be  equal  and  highest  in  votes,  one  of  them  shall  be  chosen  Governor  by  joint 
vote  of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  Contested  elections  for  Governor 
shall  be  determined  by  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  such  manner  as 
shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  3.  He  shall  be  at  least  thirty  years  of  age,  shall  be  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  shall  have  been  a  citizen  of  this  State  seven  years  next  before 
his  election. 

Sec.  4.  The  Governor  shall  hold  his  office  for  two  years,  and  until  his  suc- 
cessor shall  be  elected  and  qualified.  He  shall  not  be  eligible  more  than  six  years 
in  any  term  of  eight. 

See.  5.  He  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  State, 
and  of  the  militia,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States. 

Sec.  6.  He  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons,  after  convic- 
tion, except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

Sec.  7.  He  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a  compensation  for  his  services, 
which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  period  for  which  he  shall 
have  been  elected. 

Sec.  8.  He  may  require  information,  in  writing,  from  the  officers  in  the 
executive  department  upon  any  subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective 
offices. 

Sec.  9.  He  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions,  convene  the  General  Assembly 
by  proclamation,  and  shall  state  to  them,  when  assembled,  the  purposes  for  which 
they  shall  have  been  convened;  but  they  shall  enter  on  no  legislative  business  ex- 
cept  that  for  which  they  were  specifically  called  together. 

Sec.  10.     He  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  executed. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  921 

See.  11.  He  shall,  from  time  to  time,  give  to  the  General  Assembly  informa- 
tion of  the  state  of  the  government,  and  recommend  for  their  consideration  such 
measures  as  he  shall  judge  expedient. 

Sec.  12.  In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  Governor  from  office,  or  of  his  death 
or  resignation,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office  shall  devolve  on  the  Speaker  of 
the  Senate;  and  in  the  case  of  the  death,  removal  from  office,  or  resignation  of 
the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office  shall  devolve  on 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

Sec.  13.  No  member  of  Congress  or  person  holding  any  office  under  the 
United  States,  or  this  State,  shall  execute  the  office  of  Governor. 

Sec.  14.  When  any  officer,  the  right  of  whose  appointment  is  by  this  Consti- 
tution vested  in  the  General  Assembly,  shall,  during  the  recess,  die,  or  the  office, 
by  the  expiration  of  the  term,  or  by  other  means,  become  vacant,  the  Governor 
shall  have  the  power  to  fill  such  vacancy  by  granting  a  temporary  commission, 
which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  15.  There  shall  be  a  seal  of  this  State,  which  shall  be  kept  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  used  by  him  officially,  and  shall  be  called  the  Great  Seal  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee. 

Sec.  16.  All  grants  and  commissions  shall  be  in  the  name  and  by  the  au- 
thority of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  be  sealed  with  the  State  seal,  and  signed  by  the 
Governor. 

Sec.  17.  A  Secretary  of  State  shall  be  appointed  by  joint  vote  of  the  General 
Assembly,  and  commissioned  during  the  term  of  four  years.  He  shall  keep  a 
fair  register  of  all  the  official  acts  and  proceedings  of  the  Governor,  and  shall, 
when  required,  lay  the  same,  and  all  papers,  minutes,  and  vouchers  relative 
thereto,  before  the  General  Assembly  ;  and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall 
be  enjoined  by  law. 

ARTICLE  IV 

Section  I.  Every  free  white  man  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  citizen  of  the  county  wherein  he  may  offer  his 
vote  six  months  next  preceding  the  day  of  election,  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  for 
members  of  the  General  Assembly  and  other  civil  officers  for  the  county  or  dis- 
trict in  which  he  resides ;  Provided,  That  no  person  shall  be  disqualified  from  vot- 
ing in  any  election  on  account  of  color,  who  is  now,  by  the  laws  of  this  State,  a 
competent  witness  in  a  court  of  justice  against  a  white  man.  All  free  men  of 
color  shall  be  exempt  from  military  duty  in  time  of  peace,  and  also  from  paying 
a  free  poll-tax. 

Sec.  2.  Laws  may  be  passed  excluding  from  the  right  of  suffrage  persons  who 
may  be  convicted  of  infamous  crimes. 

Sec.  3.  Electors  shall  in  all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the 
peace,  he  privileged  from  arrest  or  summons  during  their  attendance  at  elections, 
and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  them. 

Sec.  4.  In  all  elections  to  be  made  by  the  General  Assembly  the  members 
thereof  shall  vote  viva  voce,  and  their  votes  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal.  All 
other  elections  shall  be  by  ballot. 

ARTICLE  V 

Section  1.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the  sole  power  of  im- 
peachment. 

Sec.  2.  All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the  Senate.  When  sitting  for  that 
purpose  the  Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or  affirmation.  No  person  shall  be  con- 
victed without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  sworn  to  try  the 
officer  impeached. 

Sec.  3.  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  elect,  from  their  own  body,  three 
members,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prosecute  impeachments.  No  impeachment 
shall  be  tried  until  the  Legislature  shall  have  adjourned  sine  die,  when  the  Senate 
shall  proceed  to  try  such  impeachment. 


922  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

See.  4.  The  Governor,  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  Judges  of  the  inferior 
courts,  Chancellors,  Attorneys  for  the  State,  and  Secretary  of  State  shall  be 
liable  to  impeachment  whenever  they  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, commit  any  crime  in  their  official  capacity  which  may  require  dis- 
qualification ;  but  judgment  shall  only  extend  to  removal  from  office  and  dis- 
qualification to  fill  any  office  thereafter.  The  party  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable 
to  indictment,  trial,  judgment,  and  punishment  according  to  law. 

Sec.  5.  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  other  civil  officers  not  hereinbefore  men- 
tioned, for  crimes  or  misdemeanors  in  office,  shall  be  liable  to  indictment  in  such 
courts  as  the  Legislature  may  direct ;  and,  upon  conviction,  shall  be  removed 
from  office  by  said  court  as  if  found  guilty  on  impeachment,  and  shall  be  subject 
to  such  other  punishment  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  VI 

Section  1.  The  judicial  power  of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  one  Supreme 
Court  and  in  such  other  inferior  courts  as  the  Legislature  shall  from  time  to  time 
ordain  and  establish  in  the  Judges  thereof  and  in  Justices  of  the  Peace.  The 
Legislature  may  also  vest  such  jurisdiction  in  corporation  courts  as  may  be 
deemed  necessary. 

Sec.  2.  The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  three  Judges,  one  of  whom  shall 
reside  in  each  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the  State.  The  concurrence  of  two  of  the 
Judges  shall,  in  every  case,  be  necessary  to  a  decision.  The  jurisdiction  of  this 
court  shall  be  appellate  only,  under  such  restrictions  and  regulations  as  may  from 
time  to  time  be  prescribed  by  law ;  but  it  may  possess  such  other  jurisdiction  as  is 
now  conferred  by  law  on  the  present  Supreme  Court.  Said  courts  shall  be  held 
at  one  place,  and  at  one  place  only,  in  each  of  three  grand  divisions  of  the  State. 

Sec.  3.  The  General  Assembly  shall,  by  joint  vote  of  both  Houses,  appoint 
Judges  of  the  several  courts  of  law  and  equity,  but  courts  may  be  established  to 
be  holden  by  Justices  of  the  Peace.  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  be  thirty- 
five  years  of  age,  and  shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  twelve  years. 

Sec.  4.  The  Judges  of  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Legislature  may  establish 
shall  be  thirty  years  of  age,  and  shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  eight  years. 

Sec.  5.  The  Legislature  shall  elect  Attorneys  for  the  State  by  a  joint  vote 
of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  the  term 
of  six  years.  In  all  cases  where  an  Attorney  for  any  district  fails  or  refuses  to 
attend  and  prosecute  according  to  law,  the  court  shall  have  power  to  appoint  an 
Attorney  pro  tempore. 

Sec.  6.  Judges  and  Attorneys  for  the  State  may  be  removed  from  office  by  a 
concurrent  vote  of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  each  House  voting 
separately ;  but  two-thirds  of  the  members  to  which  each  House  may  be  entitled 
must  concur  in  such  vote.  The  vote  shall  be  determined  by  ayes  and  noes,  and  the 
names  of  the  members  voting  for  or  against  the  Judge  or  Attorney  for  the  State, 
together  with  the  cause  or  causes  of  removal,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of 
each  House  respectively.  The  Judge  or  Attorney  for  the  State  against  whom  the 
Legislature  may  be  about  to  proceed,  shall  receive  notice  thereof,  accompanied 
with  a  copy  of  the  causes  alleged  for  his  removal,  at  least  ten  days  before  the  day 
on  which  either  House  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  act  thereupon. 

Sec.  7.  The  Judges  of  the  supreme  or  inferior  courts  shall,  at  stated  times, 
receive  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  which  shall 
not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  time  for  which  they  are  elected.  They 
shall  not  be  allowed  any  fees  or  perquisites  of  office,  nor  hold  any  office  of  trust 
or  profit  under  this  State  or  the  United  States. 

Sec.  8.  The  jurisdiction  of  such  inferior  courts  as  the  Legislature  may  from 
time  to  time  establish,  shall  be  regulated  by  law. 

Sec.  9.  Judges  shall  not  charge  juries  with  respect  to  matters  of  fact,  but 
may  state  the  testimony  and  declare  the  law. 

Sec.  10.  Judges  or  Justices  of  the  inferior  courts  of  law  as  the  Legislature 
may  establish,  may  have  power  in  all  civil  cases  to  issue  writs  of  certiorari  to 
remove  any  cause,  or  the  transcript  of  the  record  thereof,  from  any  inferior  juris- 
diction into  said  court  on  sufficient  cause,  supported  by  oath  or  affirmation. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  923 

Sec.  11.  No  Judge  of  the  supreme  or  inferior  courts  shall  preside  on  the 
trial  of  any  cause  in  the  event  of  which  he  may  be  interested,  or  where  either  of 
the  parties  shall  be  connected  with  him  by  affinity  or  consanguinity,  within  such 
degrees  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law,  or  in  which  he  may  have  been  of  counsel, 
or  in  which  he  may  have  presided  in  any  inferior  court,  except  by  consent  of  all 
the  parties.  In  case  all  or  any  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  thus  be 
disqualified  from  presiding  on  the  trial  of  any  cause  or  causes,  the  court,  or  the 
Judges  thereof,  shall  certify  the  same  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  he  shall 
forthwith  specially  commission  the  requisite  number  of  men  of  law  knowledge 
for  the  trial  and  determination  thereof.  In  case  of  sickness  of  any  of  the  Judges 
of  the  supreme  or  inferior  courts  so  that  they  or  any  of  them  are  unable  to  at- 
tend, the  Legislature  shall  be  authorized  to  make  provision  by  the  general  laws 
that  special  judges  may  be  appointed  to  attend  said  courts. 

Sec.  12.  All  writs  and  other  process  shall  run  in  the  name  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  and  bear  test  and  be  signed  by  the  respective  Clerks.  Indictments 
shall  conclude:    "Against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State." 

Sec.  13.  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  appoint  their  Clerks,  who  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  the  period  of  six  years.  Chancellors  (if  courts  of  chancery 
shall  be  established)  shall  appoint  their  Clerks  and  Masters,  who  shall  hold  their 
offices  for  the  period  of  six  years.  Clerks  of  the  inferior  courts,  holden  in  the 
respective  counties  or  districts,  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  thereof, 
for  the  term  of  four  years.  Any  Clerk  may  be  removed  from  office  for  mal- 
feasance, incompetency,  or  neglect  of  duty,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  law. 

Sec.  14.  No  fine  shall  be  laid  on  any  citizen  of  this  Stat'e  that  shall  exceed 
fifty  dollars,  unless  it  shall  be  assessed  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  who  shall  assess 
the  fine  at  the  time  they  find  the  fact,  if  they  think  the  fine  should  be  more  than 
fifty  dollars. 

Sec.  15.  The  different  counties  of  this  State  shall  be  laid  off,  as  the  General 
Assembly  may  direct,  into  districts  of  convenient  size,  so  that  the  whole  number 
in  each  county  shall  not  be  more  than  twenty-five,  or  four  for  every  one  hundred 
square  miles.  There  shall  be  two  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  one  Constable  elected 
in  each  district  by  the  qualified  voters  therein,  except  districts  including  county 
towns,  which  shall  elect  three  Justices  and  two  Constables.  The  jurisdiction  of 
said  officers  shall  be  co-extensive  with  the  county.  Justices  of  the  Peace  shall  be 
elected  for  the  term  of  six  and  Constables  for  the  term  of  two  years.  Upon  the 
removal  of  either  of  said  officers  from  the  district  in  which  he  was  elected  his 
office  shall  become  vacant  from  the  time  of  such  removal.  Justices  of  the  Peace 
shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor.  The  Legislature  shall  have  powers  to 
provide  for  the  appointment  of  an  additional  number  of  Justices  of  the  Peace 
in  incorporated  towns. 

ARTICLE   VII 

Section  1.  There  shall  be  elected  in  each  county,  by  the  qualified  voters 
therein,  one  Sheriff,  one  Trustee,  one  Register — the  Sheriff  and  Trustee  for  two 
years  and  the  Register  for  four  years ;  Provided,  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to 
the  office  of  Sheriff  more  than  six  years  in  any  term  of  eight  years.  There  shall 
be  elected  for  each  county,  by  the  Justices  of  the  Peace,  one  Coroner  and  one 
Ranger,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years.  Said  officers  shall  be  removed 
for  malfeasance  or  neglect  of  duty,  in  such  manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  2.  Should  a  vacancy  occur  subsequent  to  an  election  in  the  office  of 
Sheriff,  Trustee,  or  Register,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the  Justices;  if  in  that  of  the 
Clerk  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the  court ;  and  the  person 
so  appointed  shall  continue  in  office  until  his  successor  shall  be  elected  and 
qualified ;  and  such  office  shall  be  filled  by  the  qualified  voters  at  the  first  election 
for  any  of  the  county  officers. 

Sec.  3.  There  shall  be  a  Treasurer  or  Treasurers  appointed  for  the  State 
by  the  joint  vote  of  both  Houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall  hold  their 
offices  for  two  years. 


924         TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  4.  The  elect  i >f  all  officers  and  the  filling  of  all  vacancies  not  other- 
wise directed  or  provided  by  this  Constitution,  shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as 
the  Legislature  shall  direct. 

Sec.  5.  The  Legislature  shall  provide  that  the  election  of  the  county  and  other 
officers  by  the  people  shall  not  take  place  at  the  same  time  that  the  general  elec- 
tions are  held  for  members  of  Congress,  members  of  the  Legislature,  and  Gover- 
nor.    The  elections  shall  commence  and  terminate  on  the  same  day. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

Section  1.  All  militia  officers  shall  be  elected  by  persons  subject  to  military 
duty  within  the  bounds  of  their  several  companies,  battalions,  regiments,  bri- 
gades, and  divisions,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the  Legislature  may, 
from  time  to  time,  direct  and  establish. 

Sec.  2.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  the  Adjutant-general  and  his  other  staff 
officers ;  the  Majors-general,  Brigadiers-general,  and  commanding  officers  of  regi- 
ments, shall  respectively  appoint  their  staff  officers. 

Sec.  3.  The  Legislature  shall  pass  laws  exempting  citizens  belonging  to  any 
sect  or  denomination  of  religion  the  tenets  of  which  are  known  to  be  opposed  to 
the  bearing  of  arms,  from  attending  private  and  general  musters. 

ARTICLE  IX 

Section  1.  Whereas,  ministers  of  the  gospel  are,  by  their  profession,  dedi- 
cated to  God  and  the  care  of  souls,  and  ought  not  to  be  diverted  from  the  great 
duties  of  their  functions ;  therefore,  no  minister  of  the  gospel  or  priest  of  any 
denomination  whatever,  shall  be  eligible,  to  a  seat  in  either  House  of  the 
Legislature. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  who  denies  the  being  of  God,  or  a  future  state  of  rewards 
and  punishments,  shall  hold  any  office  in  the  civil  department  of  this  State. 

Sec.  3.  Any  person  who  shall,  after  the  adoption  of  this  Constitution,  fight 
a  duel,  or  knowingly  be  the  bearer  of  a  challenge  to  fight  a  duel,  or  send  or  accept 
a  challenge  for  tbat  purpose,  or  be  an  aider  or  abettor  in  fighting  a  duel,  shall 
be  deprived  of  the  right  to  hold  any  office  of  honor  or  profit  in  this  State,  and 
shall  be  punished  otherwise  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  may  prescribe. 

ARTICLE  X 

Section  1.  Every  person  who  shall  be  chosen  or  appointed  to  any  office  of 
trust  or  profit  under  this  Constitution  or  any  law  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 
shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  thereof,  take  an  oath  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  this  State  and  of  the  United  States,  and  an  oath  of  office. 

Sec.  2.  Each  member  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  shall, 
before  they  proceed  to  business,  take  an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  Con- 
stitution of  this  State  and  of  the  United  States,  and  also  the  following  oath : 

"I, ,  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that,  as  a  member  of  this 

General  Assembly,  I  will,  in  all  appointments,  vote  without  favor,  affection, 
partiality,  or  prejudice ;  and  that  I  will  not  propose  or  assent  to  any  bill,  vote,  or 
resolution  which  shall  appear  to  me  injurious  to  the  people,  or  consent  to  any 
act  or  thing  whatever  that  shall  have  a  tendency  to  lessen  or  abridge  their  rights 
and  privileges  as  declared  by  the  Constitution  of  this  State. ' ' 

Sec.  3.  Any  elector  who  shall  receive  any  gift  or  reward  for  his  vote,  in 
meat,  drink,  money,  or  otherwise,  shall  suffer  such  punishment  as  the  laws  shall 
direct ;  and  any  person  who  shall,  directly  or  indirectly,  give,  promise,  or  bestow 
any  such  reward  to  be  elected,  shall  thereby  be  rendered  incapable,  for  six  years, 
to  serve  in  the  office  for  which  he  was  elected,  and  be  subject  to  such  further 
punishment  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct. 

Sec.  4.  New  counties  may  be  established  by  the  Legislature,  to  consist  of 
not  less  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles,  and  which  shall  contain  a 
population  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  qualified  voters.     No  line  of  such  county 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  925 

shall  approach  the  court-house  of  any  old  county  from  which  it  may  be  taken 
nearer  than  twelve  miles.  No  part  of  a  county  shall  be  taken  to  form  a  new 
county  or  a  part  thereof  without  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters 
in  such  part  taken  off;  and  in  all  cases  where  an  old  county  may  be  reduced  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  new  one,  the  seat  of  justice  in  said  old  county  shall 
not  be  removed  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  the 
Legislature,  nor  shall  said  old  county  be  reduced  to  less  than  six  hundred  and 
twenty-five  square  miles ;  Provided,  however,  That  the  county  of  Bedford  may  be 
reduced  to  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  square  miles;  and  there  shall  not  be 
laid  off  more  than  one  new  county  on  the  west  and  one  on  the  east  adjoining  the 
county  of  the  dividing  line,  a  majority  of  the  qualified  voters  of  said  county 
voting  in  favor  of  said  division ;  the  counties  of  Carter,  Rhea,  and  Humphreys 
shall  not  be  divided  into  more  than  two  counties  each,  nor  shall  more  than  one 
new  county  be  taken  out  of  the  territory  now  composing  the  counties  of  Tipton, 
and  Dyer ;  nor  shall  the  seats  of  justice  in  the  counties  of  Rhea,  Carter,  Tipton, 
and  Dyer  be  removed  without  the  concurrence  of  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature. The  county  of  Sullivan  may  be  reduced  below  the  contents  of  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  square  miles,  but  the  line  of  any  new  county  which  may 
hereafter  be  laid  off  shall  not  approach  the  county  seat  of  said  county  nearer 
than  ten  miles.  The  counties  of  Marion  and  Bledsoe  shall  not  be  reduced  below 
one  thousand  qualified  voters  of  each  in  forming  a  new  county  or  counties. 

Sec.  5.  The  citizens  who  may  be  included  in  any  new  county  shall  vote  with 
the  county  or  counties  from  which  they  may  have  been  stricken  off  for  members 
of  Congress,  for  Governor,  and  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  until  the 
next  apportionment  of  members  of  the  General  Assembly  after  the  establishment 
of  such  new  county. 

ARTICLE  XI 

Miscellaneous  Provisions 

Section  1.  All  laws  and  ordinances  now  in  force  and  use  in  this  State,  not 
inconsistent  with  this  Constitution,  shall  continue  in  force  and  use  until  they 
shall  expire,  or  be  altered  or  repealed  by  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  2.  Nothing  contained  in  this  Constitution  shall  impair  the  validity  of 
any  debts  or  contracts,  or  affect  any  rights  or  property,  or  any  suits,  actions, 
rights  of  action,  or  other  proceedings  in  courts  of  justice. 

Sec.  3.  Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Constitution  may  be  pro- 
posed in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives ;  and  if  the  same  shall  be  agreed 
to  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  Houses,  such  pro- 
posed amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  entered  on  their  journals,  with  the 
yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred  to  the  General  Assembly  then  next  to  be 
chosen,  and  shall  be  published  six  months  previous  to  the  .time  of  making  such 
choice ;  and  if,  in  the  General  Assembly  then  next  chosen  as  aforesaid,  such 
proposed  amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  agreed  to  by  two-thirds  of  all  the 
members  elected  to  each  House,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  As- 
sembly to  submit  such  proposed  amendment  or  amendments  to  the  people  in  such 
manner  and  at  such  times  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  prescribe.  And  if  the 
people  shall  approve  and  ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments  by  a  majority 
of  all  the  citizens  of  the  State  voting  for  Representatives  voting  in  their  favor, 
such  amendment  or  amendments  shall  become  a  part  of  this  Constitution.  When 
any  amendment  or  amendments  to  the  Constitution  shall  be  proposed  in  pur- 
suance of  the  foregoing  provisions,  the  same  shall,  at  each  of  the  said  sessions, 
be  read  three  times  on  three  several  days  in  each  House.  The  Legislature  shall 
not  propose  amendments  to  the  Constitution  oftener  than  once  in  six  years. 

Sec.  4.  The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  grant  divorces,  but  may 
authorize  the  courts  of  justice  to  grant  them  for  such  causes  as  may  be  specified 
by  law;  Provided  That  such  laws  be  general  and  uniform  in  their  operation 
throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  5.  The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  authorize  lotteries  for  any 
purpose,  and  shall  pass  laws  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets  in  this  State. 

Vol.  T— 59 


926  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  6.  The  Legislature  shall  fix  the  rate  of  interest,  and  the  rate  so  estab- 
lished shall  be  equal  and  uniform  throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  7.  The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  suspend  any  general  law  for 
the  beneiit  of  any  particular  individuals,  nor  to  pass  any  law  for  the  benefit  of 
individuals  inconsistent  with  the  general  laws  of  the  land ;  nor  to  pass  any  law 
granting  to  any  individual  or  individuals  rights,  privileges,  immunities,  or 
exemptions  other  than  such  as  may  be  by  the  same  law  extended  to  any  member 
of  the  community  who  may  be  able  to  bring  himself  within  the  provisions  of  such 
law;  Provided  always,  The  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  grant  such  charters 
of  corporation  they  may  deem  expedient  for  the  public  good. 

Sec.  8.  The  Legislature  shall  have  the  right  to  vest  such  powers  in  the  courts 
of  justice,  with  regard  to  private  and  local  affairs  as  may  be  expedient. 

Sec.  9.  A  well-regulated  system  of  internal  improvement  is  calculated  to 
develop  the  resources  of  the  State  and  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of 
her  citizens;  therefore  it  ought  to  be  encouraged  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  10.  Knowledge,  learning,  and  virtue  being  essential  to  the  preservation 
of  republican  institutions,  and  the  diffusion  of  the  opportunities  and  advantages 
of  education  throughout  the  different  portions  of  the  State  being  highly  con- 
ducive to  the  promotion  of  this  end,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly, 
in  all  future  periods  of  this  Government,  to  cherish  literature  and  science.  And 
the  fund  called  the  "common  school  fund,"  and  all  the  lands  and  proceeds 
thereof,  dividends,  stocks,  and  other  property  of  every  description  whatever, 
heretofore  by  law  appropriated  by  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  for  the  use 
of  common  schools,  and  all  such  as  shall  hereafter  be  appropriated,  shall  remain 
a  perpetual  fund,  the  principal  of  which  shall  never  be  diminished  by  legislative 
appropriation;  and  the  interest  thereof  shall  be  inviolably  appropriated  to  the 
support  and  encouragement  of  common  schools  throughout  the  State,  and  for  the 
equal  benefit  of  all  the  people  thereof;  and  no  law  shall  be  made  authorizing  said 
fund,  or  any  part  thereof,  to  be  diverted  to  any  other  use  than  the  support  and 
encouragement  of  common  schools.  And  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  As- 
sembly to  appoint  a  Board  of  Commissioners,  for  such  term  of  time  as  they  may 
think  proper,  who  shall  have  the  general  superintendence  of  said  fund,  and  who 
shall  make  a  report  of  the  condition  of  same  from  time  to  time  under  such  rules, 
regulations,  and  restrictions  as  may  be  required  by  law ;  Provided,  That  if  at  any 
time  hereafter  a  division  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States,  or  of  the 
money  arising  from  the  sales  of  such  lands,  shall  be  made  among  the  individual 
States,  the  part  of  such  lands  or  money  coming  to  this  State  shall  be  devoted  to 
the  purposes  of  education  and  internal  improvement,  and  shall  never  be  applied 
to  any  other  purpose. 

Sec.  11.  The  above  provisions  shall  not  be  construed  to  prevent  the  Legis- 
lature from  carrying  into  effect  any  laws  that  have  been  passed  in  favor  of  the 
colleges,  universities,  or  academies,  or  from  authorizing  heirs  or  distributees  to 
receive  and  enjoy  escheated  property  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  from 
time  to  time  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  12.  The  declaration  of  rights,  hereto  prefixed,  is  declared  to  be  a  part 
of  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  shall  never  be  violated  on  any  pretense 
whatever.  And  to  guard  against  transgression  of  the  high  powers  we  have  dele- 
gated, we  declare  that  every  thing  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  contained  is  excepted 
out  of  the  general  powers  of  the  Government,  and  shall  forever  remain  inviolate. 

SCHEDULE 

Section  1.  That  no  inconvenience  may  arise  from  a  change  of  the  Constitu- 
tion, it  is  declared  that  all  officers,  civil  and  military,  shall  continue  to  hold  their 
offices ;  and  all  functions  appertaining  to  the  same  shall  be  exercised  and  per- 
formed according  to  the  existing  laws  and  Constitution  until  the  end  of  the  first 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  which  shall  sit  under  this  Constitution,  and 
until  the  Government  can  be  re-organized  and  put  into  operation  under  this  Con- 
stitution, in  such  manner  as  the  first  General  Assembly  aforesaid  shall  prescribe, 
and  no  longer. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  927 

See.  2.  The  General  Assembly  which  shall  sit  after  the  first  apportionment 
of  representation  under  the  new  Constitution,  to  wit,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-three,  shall,  within  the  first  week  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  designate  and  fix  the  seat  of  government ;  and  when  so  fixed, 
it  shall  not  be  removed  except  by  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  of  both 
Houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  first  and  second  sessions  of  the  General 
Assembly  under  this  Constitution  shall  be  held  at  Nashville. 

See.  3.  Until  a  land-office  shall  be  opened  so  as  to  enable  the  citizens  south 
and  west  of  the  congressional  reservation  line  to  obtain  titles  upon  their  claims 
of  occupancy,  those  who  hold  lands  by  virtue  of  such  claims  shall  be  eligible 
to  serve  in  all  capacities  where  a  freehold  is,  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  made  a 
requisite  qualification. 

Done  in  convention,  at  Nashville,  this  the  thirtieth  (30th)  day  of  August, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four,  and  of  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  the  fifty -ninth. 

WILLIAM  B.  CARTER,  President. 
WILLIAM  K.  HILL,  Secretary. 

ORDINANCE 

I.  Ordered,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several  officers  of  this  State, 
authorized  by  law  to  hold  elections  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  open 
and  hold  an  election  at  the  places  of  holding  the  elections  for  members  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  their  respective  counties,  on  the  first  Thursday  and  Friday 
in  March  next,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  votes  of  such  qualified  voters  as 
may  desire  to  vote  for  the  adoption  of  this  amended  Constitution ;  Provided,  That 
no  person  shall  be  deemed  a  qualified  voter  in  said  election,  except  such  as  are 
included  within  the  provisions  of  the  first  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  this 
amended  Constitution. 

II.  Ordered,  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  said  returning  officers  in  each 
county  in  this  State  to  prepare  poll-books,  which  shall  be  opened  on  said  days  of 
election,  and  in  which  shall  be  enrolled  the  name  of  each  voter  by  the  assistance 
of  clerks,  who  shall  be  appointed  and  sworn  as  clerks  in  other  elections.  Said 
officers  shall  prepare  a  ballot-box  in  which  shall  be  placed  the  ticket  of  each 
voter.  Each  ticket  shall  have  written  thereon  the  words :  "I  ratify  the  amended 
Constitution,"  or,  if  the  voter  is  opposed  to  it,  "I  reject  the  amended  Constitu- 
tion," or  the  words  "Ratification"  or  "Rejection,"  or  some  such  words  as  will 
distinctly  convey  the  intention  of  the  voter.  The  justices  of  the  several  county 
courts  in  this  State,  at  some  time  previous  to  the  day  of  said  election,  shall  ap- 
point three  inspectors  for  each  precinct,  and  in  case  of  the  failure  of  the  court  to 
appoint  inspectors,  then  said  returning  officers  shall  appoint  them.  It  shall  be 
duty  of  said  returning  officers,  in  the  presence  of  the  said  inspectors,  to  count 
the  votes  given  for  the  ratification  and  rejection  of  the  Constitution,  of  which 
they  shall  keep  a  true  and  correct  estimate  in  said  poll-book.  Said  returning 
officers  shall  deposit  the  original  poll-books  of  said  election  with  the  Clerk  of 
the  County  Court  in  their  respective  counties,  and  shall,  within  five  days  after 
said  election,  make  out  duplicate  statements  of  the  number  of  votes  in  their 
respective  counties  for  ratifying  and  rejection,  and  shall  forward  by  mail  one 
of  said  certificates  to  the  Governor,  one  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  shall  like- 
wise deposit  one  with  the  Clerk  of  the  County  Court.  It  shall  be  duty  of  said 
several  clerks  carefully  to  examine  the  said  poll-books,  and  forthwith  to  certify 
to  the  Secretary  of  State  a  full,  true  and  perfect  statement  of  the  number  of 
votes  taken  for  and  against  the  Constitution,  as  appears  from  the  poll-books 
filed  in  their  office.  Should  said  returning  officer,  or  any  of  them,  fail  to  make 
return  in  due  time  as  above  directed,  the  Secretary  of  State  shall  then  be  author- 
ized to  dispatch  a  special  messenger  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  certified  copy 
of  the  result  of  said  election. 

III.  Ordered,  That  upon  the  receipt  of  said  returns,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Governor,  Secretary  of  State,  and  any  one  of  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
or  any  two  of  the  said  named  officers,  to  compare  the  votes  given  in  said  election 


928  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

for  the  ratification  and  rejection  of  the  amended  Constitution;  and  if  it  shall 
appear  from  said  returns  that  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given  in  said  election 
is  for  ratifying  the  amended  Constitution,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Governor  forthwith  to  make  proclamation  of  that  fact,  and  thenceforth  this 
amended  Constitution  shall  be  ordained  and  established  as  the  Constitution  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee.  It  shall  be,  moreover,  the  duty  of  the  Governor,  in  and 
by  said  proclamation,  to  command  the  Sheriff  and  other  officers  directed  by  law 
to  hold  and  superintend  elections,  to  open  the  polls  of  elections  at  the  places  of 
holding  elections  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  in  their  respective 
counties  on  the  first  Thursday  in  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty- 
five,  for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  Governor  and  for  the  election  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State  from  the  several  districts 
and  counties,  as  mentioned  and  described  in  this  ordinance,  at  which  time  and 
places  elections  shall  be  also  held  for  members  of  Congress,  and  said  officers 
shall  make  return  of  said  elections  under  the  same  rules  and  regulations  as  are 
now  required  by  the  existing  laws ;  and  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  record  the  returns  made  from  each  county  or  district,  and  the  result 
of  said  election  in  a  bound  book  to  be  preserved  in  his  office. 

IV.  Be  it  further  ordered,  That  if  any  Sheriff  or  other  acting  officer  shall 
fail  within  the  time  prescribed  by  this  ordinance  to  discharge  any  of  the  duties 
hereby  required,  such  Sheriff  or  other  returning  officer  so  failing  as  aforesaid 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  the  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  to  be  recovered  by  action 
of  debt  in  any  of  the  courts  of  record  in  this  State,  to  be  sued  for  in  the  name  of 
the  Governor  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  common  schools. 

V.  Be  it  further  ordered,  That  until  the  first  enumeration  and  apportion- 
ment of  representation  in  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-one,  as  directed 
by  the  amended  Constitution,  the  following  districts  shall  be  formed,  each  of 
which  shall  elect  one  Senator,  and  the  polls  of  election  shall  be  compared  at  the 
several  places  herein  mentioned  on  the  first  Monday  succeeding  the  day  of  elec- 
tion, to  wit : 

The  counties  of  Carter,  Sullivan,  and  Washington  shall  form  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  in  the  town  of  Jonesboro. 

The  counties  of  Greene  and  Hawkins  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls 
shall  be  compared  in  the  town  of  Greeneville. 

The  counties  of  Cocke,  Sevier,  Jefferson,  and  Blount  shall  form  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  in  the  town  of  Sevierville. 

The  counties  of  Grainger,  Claiborne,  Campbell,  Anderson,  and  Morgan  shall 
compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  Robert 
Glenn,  Esq.,  in  Campbell  County. 

The  counties  of  Knox  and  Roane  shall  form  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be 
compared  at  Campbell's  Station. 

The  counties  of  Monroe  and  McMinn  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the 
polls  shall  be  compared  in  the  town  of  Athens. 

The  counties  of  Rhea,  Bledsoe,  Marion,  and  Hamilton  shall  compose  one  dis- 
trict, and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  town  of  Dallas. 

The  counties  of  Warren  and  Franklin  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the 
polls  shall  be  compared  at  Hillsborough. 

The  counties  of  Overton,  Jackson,  Fentress,  and  White  shall  compose  one 
district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Livingston. 

The  counties  of  Lincoln  and  Giles  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls 
shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  John  Kennedy. 

The  counties  of  Smith  and  Sumner  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls 
shall  be  compared  at  Hartsville. 

The  county  of  Bedford  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  com- 
pared at  Shelbyville. 

The  county  of  Maury  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  com- 
pared in  Columbia. 

The  county  of  Rutherford  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be 
compared  in  Murfreesboro. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  929 

The  county  of  Davidson  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be 
compared  in  the  city  of  Nashville. 

The  county  of  Williamson  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be 
compared  in  the  town  of  Franklin. 

The  counties  of  Lawrence,  Wayne,  and  Hickman  shall  compose  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Catron  &  Napier's  Furnace. 

The  counties  of  Dickson,  Stewart,  and  Humphreys  shall  compose  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Simmons'  old  place  on  Yellow  Creek. 

The  counties  of  Robertson  and  Montgomery  shall  compose  one  district,  and 
the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Port  Royal. 

The  county  of  Wilson  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  com- 
pared at  Lebanon. 

The  counties  of  Hardeman,  Fayette,  and  Shelby  shall  compose  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  in  Somerville. 

The  counties  of  Madison,  Haywood,  and  Tipton  shall  compose  one  district, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  in  Brownsville. 

The  counties  of  Carroll,  Gibson,  and  Dyer  shall  compose  one  district,  and  the 
polls  shall  be  compared  in  Trenton. 

The  counties  of  Henry,  Weakley,  and  Obion  shall  compose  one  district,  and 
the  polls  shall  be  compared  in  Dresden. 

The  counties  of  Henderson,  Perry,  McNairy,  and  Hardin  shall  compose  one 
district,  and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  James  Wright,  in  Hardin 
County. 

And  until  said  enumeration  and  apportionment  of  one  thousand  eight  hun- 
dred and  forty-one  the  counties  of  Carter,  Sullivan,  Hawkins,  Washington, 
Greene,  Cocke,  Sevier,  Jefferson,  Blount,  Grainger,  Claiborne,  Knox,  Roane, 
Monroe,  McMinn,  Rhea,  and  Bledsoe  shall  each  elect  one  Representative,  and 
the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  their  respective  court-houses. 

The  counties  of  Sullivan  and  Hawkins  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Kingsport. 

The  counties  of  Greene  and  Washington  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  Joshua  Royston,  Esq. 

The  counties  of  Knox  and  Roane  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative,  and 
I  he  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Campbell's  Station. 

The  counties  of  Monroe  and  McMinn  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Athens. 

The  counties  of  Campbell,  Anderson,  and  Morgan  shall  jointly  elect  two 
Representatives,  and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  James  Ross, 
Esq.,  in  Anderson  County. 

The  counties  of  Marion  and  Hamilton  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative, 
and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  Dallas. 

The  counties  of  Warren,  Bedford,  Franklin,  Lincoln,  Giles,  Maury,  Ruther- 
ford, Williamson,  Davidson,  Wilson,  Smith,  and  Sumner  shall  each  elect  two 
Representatives,  and  the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  their  respective  court-houses. 

The  counties  of  Lawrence,  Wayne,  Hickman,  Dickson,  Humphreys,  Montgom- 
ery, Stewart,  Robertson,  Overton,  Jackson,  Fentress,  White,  Hardin,  McNairy, 
Hardeman,  Fayette,  Shelby,  Perry,  Henderson,  Madison,  Haywood,  Tipton, 
Carroll,  Gibson,  Henry,  and  Weakley  shall  elect  each  one  Representative,  and 
the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  their  respective  court-houses. 

The  counties  of  Dyer  and  Obion  shall  jointly  elect  one  Representative,  and 
the  polls  shall  be  compared  at  the  house  of  William  Terrel,  Esq.,  in  Dyer  County. 

The  returns  of  elections  for  Representatives  shall  be  made  at  the  several  places 
herein  pointed  out,  on  the  first  Saturday  succeeding  the  day  of  election. 

WILLIAM  B.  CARTER,  President. 
WILLIAM  K.  HILL,  Secretary. 

MEMBERS  OP  THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  CONVENTION   OP   1  S:54 

Carter — William  B.  Carter. 
Washington — Matthew  Stephenson. 


930 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


Sullivan — Abraham  McClellan. 

Greene — Robert  J.  McKinney. 

Hawkins — John  A.  McKinney. 

Jefferson,  Grainger,  Claiborne,  Campbell — Calloway  Hodges,  Gray  Garrett, 
Richard  Bradshaw. 

Cocke,  Sevier — William  C.  Roadman. 

Knox — Joseph  A.  Mabry. 

Blount — James  Gillespie. 

Monroe — Bradley  Kimbrough. 

McMinn— John  Neal. 

Roane — James  I.  Greene. 

Anderson,  Morgan — John  Whitson. 

Rhea,  Hamilton — William  T.  Senter. 

Bledsoe,  Marion — John  Kelly. 

Washington,  Greene,  Sevier,  Cocke,  Monroe,  Blount,  McMinn — John 
McGauhey. 

Overton,  Fentress — Hugh  C.  Armstrong. 

Jackson — James  W.  Smith. 

White — Richard  Nelson. 

Warren — Isaac  Hill. 

Franklin — George  W.  Richardson. 

Warren,  Franklin — William  C.  Smart. 

Smith,  Sumner — John  J.  White,  Robert  Allen,  Isaac  Walton. 

Wilson — Burchett  Douglas,  Robert  M.  Burton. 

Rutherford — William  Ledbetter,  Henry  Ridley. 

Bedford — Joseph  Kincaid,  Jonathan  Webster. 

Lincoln,  Giles — James  Fulton,  A.  A.  Kincannon,  Thomas  C.  Porter. 

Davidson — Francis  B.  Fogg,  Robert  Weakley. 

Williamson — Newton  Cannon,  William  C.  Childress. 

Maury— Terry  II.  Cahal,  Robert  L.  Cobb. 

Robertson — Richard  Cheatham. 

Montgomery — Willie  Blount. 

Dickson,  Stewart,  Humphreys — James  Gray,  John  Montgomery. 

Hickman,  Wayne,  Lawrence — Boiling  Gordon,  Henry  Sharp. 

Henry — Peter  Kendall. 

Carroll — Ennis  Ury. 

Henderson — John  Purdy. 

Hardin,  Perry,  McNairy — James  Scott,  Maclin  Cross. 

Madison — Adam  Huntsman. 

Hardeman — Julius  C.  N.  Robertson. 

Fayette — West  Humphries. 

Shelby — Adam  R.  Alexander. 

Gibson,  Dver — Nelson  I.  Hope. 

Weakley,  Obion— G.  W.  L.  Marr. 

Haywood,  Tipton — William  H.  Loving. 

The  Constitution  of  1834  was  framed  by  a  convention  which  met  at  Nashville, 
May  19,  1834,  and  adjourned  August  30,  1834;  was  ratified  by  the  people  on 
March  5  and  6,  1835,  by  vote  of  42,666  for  to  17,691  against. 


CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  STATE  OF  TENNESSEE 


ADOPTED  IN  CONVENTION  AT  NASHVILLE,  FEBRUARY  23,  A.  D.  1870 


[This  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  1870.  The  language  and  punctuation  of  that  instrument 
are  given  verbatim  et  literatim,  with  the  exception  of  words  in  brackets,  which  are  inserted  as  explana- 
tory of  words   used,   and   with   the  exception   of   the   black   face   index   line  at    the   beginning   of  each   section.] 

Preamble  and  Declaration  of  Rights 

Whereas  the  people  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  south  of  the 
Eiver  Ohio,  having  the  right  of  admission  into  the  general  government  as  a 
member  State  thereof,  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
and  the  Act  of  cession  of  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  recognizing  the  ordi- 
nance for  the  government  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of 
the  Ohio  River,  by  their  delegates  and  representatives  in  convention  assembled, 
did,  on  the  sixth  day  of  February,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-six,  ordain  and  establish  a  Constitution,  or  form  of  gov- 
ernment, and  mutually  agreed  with  each  other  to  form  themselves  into  a  free 
and  independent  State  by  the  name  of  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  and 

Whereas  the  General  Assembly  of  the  said  State  of  Tennessee  (pursuant 
to  the  third  section  of  the  tenth  Article  of  the  Constitution),  by  an  Act 
passed  on  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three,  entitled  "An  Act"  to  provide  for 
the  calling  of  a  convention,  passed  in  obedience  to  the  declared  will  of  the 
voters  of  the  State,  as  expressed  at  the  general  election  of  August,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-three,  did  authorize 
and  provide  for  the  election,  by  the  people,  of  delegates  and  representatives,  to 
meet  at  Nashville,  in  Davidson  County,  on  the  third  Monday  in  May,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-four,  for  the  purpose 
of  revising  and  amending,  or  changing,  the  Constitution,  and  said  convention 
did  accordingly  meet  and  form  a  Constitution,  which  was  submitted  to  the 
people,  and  was  ratified  by  them,  on  the  first  Friday  in  March,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  thirty-five ;  and 

Whereas  the  General  Assembly  of  the  said  State  of  Tennessee,  under  and 
in  virtue  of  the  first  section  of  the  first  Article  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights, 
contained  in  and  forming  a  part  of  the  existing  Constitution  of  the  State,  by  an 
Act  passed  on  the  fifteenth  day  of  November,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine,  did  provide  for  the  calling  of  a  con- 
vention by  the  people  of  the  State,  to  meet  at  Nashville,  on  the  second  Monday 
in  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy, 
and  for  the  election  of  delegates  for  the  purpose  of  amending  or  revising  the 
present  Constitution,  or  forming  and  making  a  new  Constitution ;  and 

Whereas  the  people  of  the  State,  in  the  mode  provided  by  said  Act,  have 
called  said  convention  and  elected  delegates  to  represent  them  herein ;  now, 
therefore,  we,  the  delegates  and  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  Stat^  of 
Tennessee,  duly  elected,  and  in  convention  assembled,  in  pursuance  of  said  Act 
of  Assembly,  have  ordained  and  established  the  following  Constitution  and  form 
of  government  for  this  State,  which  we  recommend  to  the  people  of  Tennessee 
for  their  ratification — that  is  to  say: 

931 


932  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ARTICLE  I 

Declaration  of  TCights 

Section  1.  All  power  inherent  in  the  people;  government  under  their 
control. — Thai  all  power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and  all  free  governments 
are  founded  on  their  authority,  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety  and 
happiness;  for  the  advancement  of  those  ends,  they  have  at  all  times  an  un- 
alienable and  indefeasible  right  to  alter,  reform,  or  abolish  the  government 
in  such  manner  as  they  may  think  proper. 

Sec.  2.  Doctrine  of  nonresistance  condemned. — That  government  being 
instituted  for  the  common  benefit,  the  doctrine  of  nonresistance  against  arbi- 
trary power  and  oppression  is  absurd,  slavish,  and  destructive  of  ["to"  in 
Constitution  of  1796]   the  good  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Sec.  3.  Right  of  worship  free. — That  all  men  have  a  natural  and  indefeas- 
ible right  to  worship  Almighty  God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own 
conscience ;  that  no  man  can,  of  right,  be  compelled  to  attend,  erect,  or  support 
any  place  of  worship,  or  to  maintain  any  minister,  against  his  consent ;  that  no 
human  authority  can,  in  any  case  whatever,  control  or  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  conscience;  and  that  no  preference  shall  ever  be  given,  by  law,  to  any 
religious  establishment  or  mode  ["modes"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  of  worship. 

Sec.  4.  No  religious  or  political  test. — That  no  political  or  religious  test, 
other  than  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of 
this  State,  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification  to  any  office  or  public  trust 
under  this  State. 

Sec.  5.  Elections  to  be  free  and  equal;  right  of  suffrage  declared. — That 
elections  shall  be  free  and  equal,  and  the  right  of  suffrage,  as  hereinafter  de- 
clared, shall  never  be  denied  to  any  person  entitled  thereto,  except  upon  a 
conviction  by  a  jury  of  some  infamous  crime,  previously  ascertained  and  de- 
clared by  law,  and  judgment  thereon  by  court  of  competent  jurisdiction. 

Sec.  6.  Trial  by  jury. — That  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  remain  in- 
violate, and  no  religious  or  political  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification 
for  jurors. 

Sec.  7.  People  to  be  free  from  searches,  seizures,  and  general  warrants.— 
That  the  people  shall  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  posses- 
sions, from  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures ;  and  that  general  warrants, 
whereby  an  officer  may  be  commanded  to  search  suspected  places,  without 
evidence  of  the  fact  committed,  or  to  seize  any  person  or  persons  not  named, 
whose  offenses  are  not  particularly  described  and  supported  by  evidence,  are 
dangerous  to  liberty,  and  ought  not  to  be  granted. 

Sec.  8.  No  free  man  to  be  disturbed  but  by  law.— That  no  man  shall  be 
taken  or  imprisoned,  or  disseized  of  his  freehold,  liberties,  or  privileges,  or 
outlawed,  or  exiled,  or  in  any  manner  destroyed  or  deprived  of  his  life,  liberty, 
or  property,  but  by  the  judgment  of  his  peers  or  the  law  of  the  land. 

Sec.  9.  Right  of  the  accused  in  criminal  prosecutions. — That  in  all  crim- 
inal prosecutions  the  accused  hath  the  right  to  be  heard  by  himself  and  his 
counsel ;  to  demand  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation  against  him,  and 
to  have  a  copy  thereof,  to  meet  the  witnesses  face  to  face,  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and,  in  prosecutions  by  indictment 
or  presentment,  a  speedy  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  county 
("County  or  district"  in  Constitutions  of  1796  and  1834.— 1  Cold.,  338,  342] 
in  which  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  and  shall  not  be  compelled  to 
give  evidence  against  himself. 

Sec.  10.  Not  to  be  put  twice  in  jeopardy. — That  no  person  shall,  for  the 
same  offense,  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb. 

Sec.  11.  No  ex  post  facto  laws. — That  laws  made  for  the  punishment  of 
acts  ["facts"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  committed  previous  to  the  existence 
of  such  laws,  and  by  them  only  declared  criminal,  are  contrary  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  free  government;  wherefore  no  ex  post  law  shall  be  made. 

Sec.  12.     No  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture  of  estates;  no  deodands.— 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  933 

That  no  conviction  shall  work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeiture  of  estate.  The 
estate  of  such  persons  as  shall  destroy  their  own  lives  shall  descend  or  vest 
as  in  case  of  natural  death.  If  any  person  be  killed  by  casualty,  there  shall 
be  no  forfeiture  in  consequence  thereof. 

Sec.  13.  No  unnecessary  rigor. — That  no  person  arrested  and  ["or"  in 
Constitution  of  1796]   confined  in  jail  shall  be  treated  with  unnecessary  rigor. 

Sec.  14.  Crimes  punished  by  presentment,  etc. — That  no  person  shall  be 
put  to  answer  any  criminal  charge  but  by  presentment,  indictment  ["that  no 
freeman,"  etc.,  in  Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  XI,  sec.  14,  and  Constitution  of 
1834,  Art.  I,  sec.  14],  or  impeachment. 

Sec.  15.  What  offenses  bailable;  privilege  of  habeas  corpus. — That  all 
prisoners  shall  be  bailable  by  sufficient  sureties,  unless  for  capital  offenses,  when 
the  proof  is  evident,  or  the  presumption  great.  And  the  privilege  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended,  unless  when,  in  case  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  the  General  Assembly  shall  declare  the  public  safety  requires  it. 

See.  16.  Excessive  bail,  fines,  etc. — That  excessive  bail  shall  not  be  re- 
quired, nor  excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  in- 
flicted. 

Sec.  17.  Courts  shall  be  open ;  redress  of  injuries ;  suits  against  the  State. 
— That  all  courts  shall  be  open ;  and  every  man,  for  an  injury  done  him  in  his 
lands,  goods,  persons,  or  reputation,  shall  have  remedy  by  due  course  of  law, 
and  right  and  justice  administered  without  sale,  denial,  or  delay.  Suits  may 
be  brought  against  the  State  in  such  manner  and  in  such  courts  as  the  Legis- 
lature may  by  law  direct. 

Sec.  18.  No  imprisonment  for  debt. — The  Legislature  shall  pass  no  law 
authorizing  imprisonment  for  debt  in  civil  cases. 

Sec.  19.  Printing  presses  free ;  freedom  of  speech,  etc.,  secured. — That  the 
printing  presses  shall  be  free  to  every  person  ["who  undertakes"  in  Constitu- 
tions of  1796  and  1834]  to  examine  the  proceedings  of  the  Legislature,  or  of 
any  branch  or  officer  of  the  government ;  and  no  law  shall  ever  be  made  to 
restrain  the  right  thereof. 

The  free  communication  of  thoughts  and  opinions  is  one  of  the  invaluable 
rights  of  man,  and  every  citizen  may  freely  speak,  write,  and  print  on  any 
subject,  being  responsible  for  the  abuse  of  that  liberty.  But  in  prosecutions 
for  the  publication  ["publications"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  of  papers  inves- 
tigating the  official  conduct  of  officers,  or  men  in  public  capacity,  the  truth 
thereof  may  be  given  in  evidence ;  and  in  all  indictments  for  libel,  the  jury  shall 
have  the  right  to  determine  the  law  and  the  facts,  under  the  direction  of  the 
court,  as  in  other  criminal   ["criminal"  not  in  Constitution  of  1796]  cases. 

Sec.  20.  No  retrospective  law,  etc. — That  no  retrospective  law,  or  law 
impairing  the  obligations  of  contracts,  shall  be  made. 

Sec.  21.  No  man's  services  or  property  taken  without  consent  or  compen- 
sation.— -That  no  man's  particular  services  shall  be  demanded,  or  property 
taken,  or  applied  to  public  use,  without  the  consent  of  his  representatives,  or 
without  just  compensation  being  made  therefor. 

Sec.  22.  No  perpetuities  or  monopolies. — That  perpetuities  and  monopolies 
are  contrary  to  the  genius  of  a  free  State,  and  shall  not  be  allowed. 

Sec.  23.  People  may  assemble  and  instruct. — That  the  citizens  have  a 
right,  in  a  peaceable  manner,  to  assemble  together  for  their  common  good,  to 
instruct  their  representatives,  and  to  apply  to  those  invested  with  the  powers 
of  government  for  redress  of  grievances,  or  other  purposes,  by  addresses  or 
remonstrance. 

Sec.  24.  Militia;  military  subordinate  to  civil  authority. — That  the  sure 
and  certain  defense  of  a  free  people  is  a  well-regulated  militia;  and  as  stand- 
ing armies  in  time  of  peace  are  dangerous  to  freedom,  they  ought  to  be  avoided 
as  far  as  the  circumstances  and  safety  of  the  community  will  admit;  and  that 
in  all  cases  the  military  shall  be  kept  in  strict  subordination  to  the  civil 
authority. 

Sec.  25.  Punishment  under  martial  and  military  law. — That  no  citizen 
of  ["in"  in  Constitution  of  1796]   this  State,  except   such  as  arc  employed  in 


934  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

the  army  of  the  United  States,  or  militia  in  actual  service,  shall  be  subjected 
to  punishment  under  the  martial  or  military  ["or  military"  not  in  Constitu- 
tion of  1796  and  1834]  law  [the  remainder  of  this  section  was  not  in  the  Con- 
stitutions of  179(1  and  1834]  ;  that  martial  law,  in  the  sense  of  the  unrestricted 
power  of  military  officers,  or  others,  to  dispose  of  the  persons,  liberties,  or 
property  of  the  citizen,  is  inconsistent  with  the  principles  of  free  government, 
and  is  not  confided  to  any  department  of  the  government  of  this  State. 

Sec.  26.  Right  to  bear  arms;  Legislature  to  regulate  wearing  of  arms. — 
That  the  citizens  ["freemen"  in  Constitution  of  1796,  and  "free  white  men" 
in  Constitution  of  1834]  of  this  State  have  a  right  to  keep  and  to  bear  arms 
for  their  common  defense  [the  remainder  of  this  section  was  not  in  the  Con- 
stitutions of  1796  and  1834]  ;  but  the  Legislature  shall  have  the  power,  by  law, 
to  regulate  the  wearing  of  arms  with  a  view  to  prevent  crime. 

Sec.  27.  Quartering  soldiers. — That  no  soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be 
quartered  in  any  house  without  the  ["the"  not  in  Constitution  of  1796]  con- 
sent of  the  owner;  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  28.  No  one  compelled  to  bear  arms. — That  no  citizen  of  this  State 
shall  be  compelled  to  bear  arms,  provided  he  will  pay  an  equivalent,  to  be  as- 
certained by  law. 

Sec.  29.  Navigation  of  the  Mississippi. — That  an  equal  participation  in 
["of"  in  Constitutions  of  1796  and  1834]  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi 
is  one  of  the  inherent  rights  of  the  citizens  of  this  State ;  it  cannot,  therefore, 
be  conceded  to  any  prince,  potentate,  power,  person,  or  persons  whatever. 

Sec.  30.  No  hereditary  honors. — That  no  herditary  emoluments,  priv- 
ileges, or  honors  shall  ever  be  granted  or  conferred  in  this  State. 

Sec.  31.  Boundaries  of  the  State. — That  the  limits  and  boundaries  of  this 
State  be  ascertained,  it  is  declared  they  are  as  hereafter  mentioned — that  is  to 
say :  Beginning  on  the  extreme  height  of  the  Stone  Mountain,  at  the  place 
where  the  line  of  Virginia  intersects  it,  in  latitude  thirty-six  degrees  and  thirty 
minutes  north;  running  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  the  said  mountain, 
to  the  place  where  Watauga  River  breaks  through  it ;  thence  a  direct  course 
to  the  top  of  the  Yellow  Mountain,  where  Bright 's  road  crosses  the  same;  thence 
along  the  ridge  of  said  mountain,  between  the  waters  of  the  Doe  River  and 
the  waters  of  Rock  Creek,  to  the  place  where  the  road  crosses  the  Iron  Mountain ; 
from  thence  along  the  extreme  height  of  said  mountain,  to  the  place  where 
Nolichucky  River  runs  through  the  same ;  thence  to  the  top  of  Bald  Mountain ; 
thence,  along  the  extreme  height  of  said  mountain  to  the  Painted  Rock,  on 
French  Broad  River ;  thence  along  the  highest  ridge  of  said  mountain,  to  the 
place  where  it  is  called  the  Great  Iron,  or  Smoky,  Mountain ;  thence  along  the 
extreme  height  of  said  mountain,  to  the  place  where  it  is  called  Unicoi,  or 
Unaka,  Mountain,  between  the  Indian  towns  of  Cowee  and  Old  Chota ;  thence 
along  the  main  ridge  of  the  said  mountain,  to  the  southern  boundary  of  this 
State,  as  described  in  the  Act  of  cession  of  North  Carolina  to  the  United  States 
of  America ;  and  that  all  the  territory,  lands,  and  waters  lying  west  of  said 
line,  as  before  mentioned,  and  contained  within  the  chartered  limits  of  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  are  within  the  boundaries  and  limits  of  this  State, 
over  which  the  people  have  the  right  of  exercising  sovereignty,  and  the  right 
of  soil,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  rec- 
ognizing the  Articles  of  Confederation,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  and  Constitution 
of  North  Carolina,  the  cession  Act  of  the  said  State,  and  the  ordinance  of  ["the 
late"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  Congress  for  the  government  of  the  territory, 
northwest  of  the  Ohio;  Provided,  nothing  herein  contained  shall  extend  to 
affect  the  claim  or  claims  of  individuals  to  any  part  of  the  soil  which  is  rec- 
ognized to  them  by  the  aforesaid  cession  Act  [the  remainder  of  this  section  is 
not  in  the  Constitution  of  1796]  ;  And  provided  also,  that  the  limits  and  juris- 
diction of  this  State  shall  extend  to  any  other  land  and  territory  now  acquired, 
or  that  may  hereafter  be  acquired,  by  compact  or  agreement  with  other  States, 
or  otherwise,  although  such  land  and  territory  are  not  included  within  the 
boundaries  hereinbefore  designated. 

Sec.  32.     Prisons. — That  the  erection  of  safe  and  comfortable  prisons,  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  935 

inspection  of  prisons,  and  the  humane  treatment  of  prisoners  shall  be  provided 
for. 

Sec.  33.  Slavery  prohibited. — That  slavery  and  involuntary  servitude,  ex- 
cept as  a  punishment  for  crime,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  con- 
victed, are  forever  prohibited  in  this  State. 

Sec.  34.  Right  of  property  in  man. — The  General  Assembly  shall  make 
no  law  recognizing  the  right  of  property  in  man. 

ARTICLE  II 

Distribution  of  Powers 

Section  1.  Division  of  powers. — The  powers  of  the  government  shall  be 
divided  into  three  distinct  departments :  the  Legislative,  Executive,  and  Judicial. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  to  exercise  powers  of  more  than  one  department. — No 
person,  or  persons,  belonging  to  one  of  these  departments  shall  exercise  any 
of  the  powers  properly  belonging  to  either  of  the  others,  except  in  the  cases 
herein  directed  or  permitted. 

Legislative  Department 

Sec.  3.  Legislative  authority;  term  of  office. — The  legislative  authority 
of  this  State  shall  be  vested  in  a  General  Assembly,  which  shall  consist  of  a 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  both  dependent  on  the  people  [the  re- 
mainder of  this  section  originated  with  this  Constitution]  ;  who  shall  hold  their 
offices  for  two  years  from  the  day  of  the  general  election.  (Art  I.,  sec.  1,  of 
Constitution  of  1796.) 

Sec.  4.  Census. — An  enumeration  of  the  qualified  voters,  and  an  appor- 
tionment of  the  Representatives  in  the  General  Assembly  shall  be  made  in  the 
year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one  ["1841"  in  Constitution  of 
1834],  and  within  every  subsequent  term  of  ten  years. 

Sec.  5.  Apportionment  of  Representatives. — The  number  of  Representa- 
tives shall,  at  the  several  periods  of  making  the  enumeration,  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  counties  or  districts,  according  to  the  number  of  qualified 
voters  in  each ;  and  shall  not  exceed  seventy-five  until  the  population  of  the 
State  shall  be  one  million  and  a  half,  and  shall  never  ["thereafter"  in  Con- 
stitution of  1834]  exceed  ninety-nine;  Provided,  that  any  county  having  two- 
thirds  of  the  ratio  shall  be  entitled  to  one  member. 

Sec.  6.  Apportionment  of  Senators. — The  number  of  Senators  shall,  at  the 
several  periods  of  making  the  enumeration,  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
counties  or  districts,  according  to  the  number  of  qualified  voters  in  each,  and 
shall  not  exceed  one-third  the  number  of  representatives.  In  apportioning  the 
Senators  among  the  different  counties  the  fraction  that  may  be  lost  by  any  county 
or  counties,  in  the  apportionment  of  members  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
shall  be  made  up  to  such  county  or  counties  in  the  Senate,  as  near  as  may 
be  practicable.  When  a  district  is  composed  of  two  or  more  counties,  they  shall 
be  adjoining;  and  no  county  shall  be  divided  in  forming  a  district. 

Sec.  7.     Time  of  elections. — The  first  election  for  Senators  and  Represent 
atives  shall  be  held  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  November,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred   and   seventy;   and   forever  thereafter,    elections    for   members   of   the 
General  Assembly  shall  be  held  once  in  two  years,  on  the  first  Tuesday  after 
the  first  Monday  in  November.     Said  elections  shall  terminate  the  same  day. 

Sec.  8.  When  Legislature  to  meet;  when  Governor  to  be  inaugurated.— 
The  first  session  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  commence  on  the  first  Monday 
in  October,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-one,  at  which  time  the 
term  of  service  of  the  members  shall  commence,  and  expire  on  the  first  Tuesday 
of  November,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  at  which  session 
the  Governor  elected  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  November,  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  seventy,  shall  be  inaugurated ;  and  forever  thereafter,  the  General 


936  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Assembly  shall  meet  on  the  first  Monday  in  January  next  ensuing  the  election, 
at  which  session  thereof  the  Governor  shall  be  inaugurated. 

Sec.  9.  Qualifications  of  Representatives. — No  person  shall  be  a  Repre- 
sentative unless  he  shall  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years,  and  shall  have  been  a  citizen  of  this  State  for  three  years,  and  a 
resident  in  the  county  he  represents  one  year,  immediately  preceding  the  election. 

Sec.  10.  Of  Senators;  ineligible  to  office. — No  person  shall  be  a  Senator 
unless  he  shall  be  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  the  age  of  thirty  years, 
and  shall  have  resided  three  years  in  this  State,  and  one  year  in  the  county 
or  district,  immediately  preceding  the  election.  No  Senator  or  Representative 
shall,  during  the  time  for  which  he  was  elected,  be  eligible  to  any  office  or  place 
of  trust,  the  appointment  to  which  is  vested  in  the  Executive  or  the  General 
Assembly,  except  to  the  office  of  trustee  of  a  literary  institution. 

Sec.  11.  Powers  of  each  house;  quorum;  adjournments  from  day  to  day. 
— The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  when  assembled,  shall  each  choose 
a  Speaker  and  its  other  officers,  be  judges  of  the  qualifications  and  election 
of  its  members,  and  sit  upon  its  own  adjournments  from  day  to  day.  Not  less 
than  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  to  which  each  house  shall  be  entitled  ["two- 
thirds  of  each  house"  in  Constitutions  of  1796  and  1834]  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a  smaller  number  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day, 
and  may  be  authorized  by  law  to  compel  the  attendance  of  absent  members. 
(Art.  I.,  sec.  8,  of  Constitution  of  1796.) 

Sec.  12.  Each  house  to  make  its  own  rules. — Each  house  may  determine 
the  rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its  members  for  disorderly  behaviour,  and, 
with  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds,  expel  a  member,  but  not  a  second  time 
for  the  same  offense ;  and  shall  have  all  other  powers  necessary  for  a  branch 
of  ["a  branch  of"  not  in  Constitution  of  1796]  the  Legislature  of  a  free  State. 
(Art.  I.,  sec.  9,  Constitution  of  1796.) 

Sec.  13.  Privilege  of  members. — Senators  and  Representatives  shall,  in 
all  cases,  except  treason,  felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from 
arrest  during  the  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  going  to  and  ["or" 
in  Constitution  of  1796]  returning  from  the  same;  and  for  any  speech  or  de- 
bate in  either  house,  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place.  (Con- 
stitution of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  10.) 

Sec.  14.  Power  to  punish  other  than  members. — Each  house  may  punish, 
by  imprisonment,  during  its  session,  any  person  not  a  member,  who  shall  be 
guilty  of  disrespect  to  the  house,  by  any  disorderly  or  any  ["any"  not  in  Con- 
stitutions of  1796  and  1834]  contemptuous  behavior  in  its  presence.  (Consti- 
tution of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  11.) 

Sec.  15.  Vacancies. — When  vacancies  happen  in  either  house,  the  Gov- 
ernor, for  the  time  being,  shall  issue  writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies. 
(Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  12.) 

Sec.  16.  Limitation  upon  power  of  adjournment. — Neither  house  shall, 
during  its  ["their"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  session,  adjourn  without  the 
["the"  not  in  Constitution  of  1796]  consent  of  the  other  for  more  than  three 
days,  nor  to  any  other  place  than  that  in  which  the  two  houses  shall  be  sitting. 
(Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  13.) 

Sec.  17.  Origin  and  frame  of  bills. — Bills  may  originate  in  either  house ; 
but  may  be  amended,  altered,  or  rejected  by  the  other.  [The  remainder  of 
this  section  originated  with  this  Constitution.]  No  bill  shall  become  a  law 
which  embraces  more  than  one  subject,  that  subject  to  be  expressed  in  the 
title.  All  acts  which  repeal,  revive,  or  amend  former  laws  shall  recite  in  their 
caption,  or  otherwise,  the  title  or  substance  of  the  law  repealed,  revived,  or 
amended.     (Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  14.) 

Sec.  18.  Of  passage  of  bills. — Every  bill  shall  be  read  once,  on  three  dif- 
ferent days,  and  be  passed  each  time  in  the  house  where  it  originated,  before 
transmission  to  the  other.  No  bill  shall  become  a  law  until  it  shall  have  been 
read  and  passed,  on  three  different  days  in  each  house,  and  shall  have  received, 
on  its  final  passage  in  each  house,  the  assent  of  a  majority  of  all  the  members 
to  which  that  house  shall  be  entitled  under  this  Constitution;  and  shall  have 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  937 

been  signed  by  the  respective  Speakers  in  open  session,  the  fact  of  such  signing 
to  be  noted  on  the  journal ;  and  shall  have  received  the  approval  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, or  shall  have  been  otherwise  passed  under  the  provisions  of  this  Consti- 
tution. 

Sec.  19.  When  rejected. — After  a  bill  has  been  rejected,  no  bill  contain- 
ing the  same  substance  shall  be  passed  into  a  law  during  the  same  session. 
(Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  16.) 

Sec.  20.  Style  of  laws ;  when  to  take  effect. — The  style  of  the  laws  of  this 
State  shall  be,  "Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee." [The  remainder  of  this  section  originated  with  this  Constitution.] 
No  law  of  a  general  nature  shall  take  effect  until  forty  days  after  its  passage, 
unless  the  same  or  the  caption  shall  state  that  the  public  welfare  requires  that 
it  should  take  effect  sooner.     (Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  17.) 

Sec.  21.  Journal  of  proceedings;  ayes  and  noes. — Each  house  shall  keep 
a  journal  of  its  proceedings,  and  publish  it,  except  such  parts  as  the  welfare 
of  the  State  may  require  to  be  kept  secret;  the  ayes  and  noes  shall  be  taken 
in  each  house  upon  the  final  passage  of  every  bill  of  a  general  character,  and 
bills  making  appropriations  of  public  moneys ;  and  the  ayes  and  noes  of  the 
members  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  request  of  any  five  of  them,  be  entered 
on  the  journal. 

Sec.  22.  Business  open,  unless,  etc. — The  doors  of  each  house  and  of  ["of" 
not  in  Constitution  of  1796]  committees  of  the  whole  shall  be  kept  open,  unless 
when  the  business  shall  be  such  as  ought  to  be  kept  secret.  (Constitution  of 
1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  19.) 

Sec.  23.  Compensation  of  members ;  number  of  days  to  be  paid  for ;  Sen- 
ators, court  of  impeachment ;  per  diem. — The  sum  of  four  dollars  per  day,  and 
four  dollars  for  every  twenty-five  miles  traveling  to  and  from  the  seat  of 
government,  shall  be  allowed  to  the  members  of  each  General  Assembly  elected 
after  the  ratification  of  this  Constitution,  as  a  compensation  for  their  services. 
But  no  member  shall  be  paid  for  more  than  seventy-five  days  of  a  regular  ses- 
sion, or  for  more  than  twenty  days  of  any  extra  or  called  session,  or  for  any 
day  when  absent  from  his  seat  in  the  legislature,  unless  physically  unable  to 
attend.  The  Senators,  when  sitting  as  a  court  of  impeachment,  shall  each  re- 
ceive four  dollars  per  day  of  actual  attendance. 

Sec.  24.  Public  money. — No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  treasury  but 
in  consequence  of  appropriations  made  by  law  [the  remainder  of  this  section 
was  not  in  the  Constitution  of  1796]  ;  and  an  accurate  statement  of  the  receipts; 
and  expenditures  of  the  public  money  shall  be  attached  to  and  published  with 
the  laws  at  the  rise  of  each  stated  session  of  the  General  Assembly.  (Constitu- 
tion of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  21.) 

Sec.  25.  Defaulters  ineligible. — No  person  who  heretofore  hath  been,  or 
may  hereafter  be,  a  collector  or  holder  of  public  moneys,  shall  have  a  seat  in 
either  house  of  the  General  Assembly,  or  hold  any  other  office  under  the  State 
Government,  until  such  person  shall  have  accounted  for  and  paid  into  the 
treasury  all  sums  for  which  he  may  be  accountable  or  liable.  (Constitution 
of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  23.)       ' 

Sec.  26.  Certain  officers  ineligible;  no  one  to  hold  two  lucrative  offices. — 
No  judge  of  any  court  of  law  or  equity,  Secretary  of  State,  attorney-general, 
register,  clerk  of  any  court  of  record,  or  person  holding  any  office  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  General  Assembly,  nor 
shall  any  person  in  this  State  hold  more  than  one  lucrative  office  at  the  same 
time ;  Provided,  that  no  appointment  in  the  militia,  or  to  the  office  of  justice 
of  the  peace,  shall  be  considered  a  lucrative  office,  or  operative  as  a  disqualifica- 
tion to  a  seat  in  either  house  of  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  27.  Right  of  protest. — Any  member  of  either  house  of  the  General 
Assembly  shall  have  liberty  to  dissent  from  and  protest  against  any  act  or  re- 
solve which  he  may  think  injurious  to  the  public  or  to  any  individual,  and  to 
have  the  reasons  for  ["of"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  his  dissent  entered  on  the 
journals.     (Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  25.) 

Sec.  28.     Taxation,   merchant's   and  privileges. — All   property,  real,  per- 


938  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

sonal,  or  mixed,  slmll  be  taxed;  but  the  Legislature  may  except  such  as  may 
be  held  by  the  Slate,  by  counties,  cities,  or  towns,  and  used  exclusively  for 
public  or  corporation  purposes,  and  such  as  may  be  held  and  used  for  purposes 
purely  religious,  charitable,  scientific,  literary,  or  educational,  and  shall  except 
one  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  personal  property  in  the  hands  of  each  tax- 
payer, and  the  direct  product  of  the  soil  in  the  hands  of  the  producer  and  his 
immediate  vendee.  All  property  shall  be  taxed  according  to  its  value,  that 
value  to  be  ascertained  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct,  so  that 
taxes  shall  be  equal  and  uniform  throughout  the  State.  No  one  species  of 
property  from  which  a  tax  may  be  collected  shall  be  taxed  higher  than  any 
other  species  of  property  of  the  same  value ;  but  the  Legislature  shall  have 
power  to  tax  merchants,  peddlers,  and  privileges  in  such  manner  as  they  may 
from  time  to  time  direct.  The  portion  of  a  merchant's  capital  used  in  the 
purchase  of  merchandise  sold  by  him  to  nonresidents,  and  sent  beyond  the 
State,  shall  not  be  taxed  at  a  rate  higher  than  the  ad  valorem  tax  on  property. 
The  Legislature  shall  have  the  power  to  levy  a  tax  upon  incomes  derived  from 
stocks  and  bonds  that  are  not  taxed  ad  valorem.  All  male  citizens  of  this  State 
over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  except  such  persons  as  may  be  exempted 
by  law  on  account  of  age  or  other  infirmity,  shall  be  liable  to  a  poll  tax  of  not 
less  than  fifty  cents  nor  more  than  one  dollar  per  annum;  nor  shall  any  county 
or  corporation  levy  a  poll  tax  exceeding  the  amount  levied  by  the  State. 

Sec.  29.  Legislature  may  authorize  counties  and  towns  to  tax;  loan  of 
credit  of  county,  etc.,  restricted;  exceptions. — The  General  Assembly  shall 
have  power  to  authorize  the  several  counties  and  incorporated  towns  in  this 
State  to  impose  taxes  for  county  and  corporation  purposes  respectively,  in  such 
manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law ;  and  all  property  shall  be  taxed  according 
to  its  value,  upon  the  principles  established  in  regard  to  State  taxation. 

But  the  credit  of  no  county,  city,  or  town  shall  be  given  or  loaned  to  or 
in  aid  of  any  person,  company,  association,  or  corporation,  except  upon  an  elec- 
tion to  be  first  held  by  the  qualified  voters  of  such  county,  city,  or  town,  and  the 
assent  of  three-fourths  of  the  votes  cast  at  said  election.  Nor  shall  any  county, 
city  or  town  become  a  stockholder  with  others  in  any  company,  association,  or 
corporation,  except  upon  a  like  election  and  the  assent  of  a  like  majority.  But 
the  counties  of  Grainger,  Hawkins,  Hancock,  Union,  Campbell,  Scott,  Morgan, 
Grundy,  Sumner,  Smith,  Fentress,  Van  Buren,  and  the  new  county  herein  au- 
thorized to  be  established  out  of  fractions  of  Sumner,  Macon,  and  Smith  Coun- 
ties, White,  Putnam,  Overton,  Jackson,  Cumberland,  Anderson,  Henderson, 
Wayne,  Cocke,  Coffee,  Macon,  Marshall,  and  Roane,  shall  be  excepted  out  of 
the  provisions  of  this  section,  so  far  that  the  assent  of  a  majority  of  the  quali- 
fied voters  of  either  of  said  counties  voting  on  the  question  shall  be  sufficient, 
when  the  credit  of  such  county  is  given  or  loaned  to  any  person,  association,  01 
corporation ;  Provided,  that  the  exception  of  the  counties  above  named  shall 
not  be  in  force  beyond  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty,  and 
after  that  period  they  shall  be  subject  to  the  three-fourths  majority  applicable 
to  the  other  counties  of  the  State. 

Sec.  30.  Manufactured  produce  of  State  not  taxed. — No  article  manu- 
factured of  the  produce  of  this  State  shall  be  taxed  otherwise  than  to  pay 
inspection  fees.     (Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  I.,  sec.  27.)     9  Bax.,  5-18. 

Sec.  31.  State  aid  forbidden. — The  credit  of  this  State  shall  not  be  here- 
after loaned  or  given  to  or  in  aid  of  any  person,  association,  company,  corpo- 
ration, or  municipality ;  nor  shall  the  State  become  the  owner,  in  whole  or  in 
part,  of  any  bank,  or  a  stockholder  with  others  in  any  association,  company, 
corporation,  or  municipality. 

Sec.  32.  Amendments  to  Constitution  of  United  States. — No  convention 
or  General  Assembly  of  this  State  shall  act  upon  any  amendment  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  proposed  by  Congress  to  the  several  States,  unless 
such  convention  or  General  Assembly  shall  have  been  elected  after  such  amend- 
ment is  submitted. 

Sec.  33.  State  bonds  to  defaulting  railroads,  none. — No  bonds  of  the  State 
shall  be  issued  to  any  railroad  company  which,  at  the  time  of  its  application 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  939 

for  the  same,  shall  be  in  default  in  paying  the  interest  upon  the  State  bonds 
previously  loaned  to  it,  or  that  shall  hereafter,  and  before  such  application,  sell 
or  absolutely  dispose  of  any  State  bonds  loaned  to  it  for  less  than  par. 

ARTICLE  III 

Executive  Department 

Section  1.  Governor. — The  supreme  executive  power  of  this  State  shall 
be  vested  in  a  Governor. 

Sec.  2.  How  and  when  elected. — The  Governor  shall  be  chosen  by  the 
electors  of  the  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  at  the  time  and  places  where 
they  shall  respectively  vote  for  the  members  thereof.  The  returns  of  every 
election  for  Governor  shall  be  sealed  up  and  transmitted  to  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment, by  the  returning  officers,  directed  to  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  who 
shall  open  and  publish  them  in  the  presence  of  a  majority  of  the  members  of 
each  house  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  person  having  the  highest  number 
of  votes  shall  be  Governor;  but  if  two  or  more  shall  be  equal  and  highest  in 
votes,  one  of  them  shall  be  chosen  Governor  by  joint  vote  ["Ballot"  in  Con- 
stitution of  1796]  of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly.  Contested  elections 
for  Governor  shall  be  determined  by  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  in 
such  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  3.  Qualifications. — He  shall  be  at  least  thirty  years  of  age,  shall  be 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  have  been  a  citizen  of  this  State  seven 
years  next  before  his  election. 

Sec.  4.  Terms  of  service. — The  Governor  shall  hold  his  office  for  two 
years,  and  until  his  successor  shall  be  elected  and  qualified.  He  shall  not  be 
eligible  more  than  six  years  in  any  term  of  eight. 

Sec.  5.  Commander  in  chief;  militia  not  to  be  called  out  except,  etc. — He 
shall  be  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  this  State,  and  of  the 
militia,  except  when  they  shall  be  called  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
[the  remainder  of  this  section  originated  with  this  Constitution]  ;  but  the  militia 
shall  not  be  called  into  service  except  in  case  of  rebellion  or  invasion,  and  then 
only  when  the  General  Assembly  shall  declare  by  law  that  the  public  safety 
requires  it. 

Sec.  6.  May  grant  pardons. — He  shall  have  power  to  grant  reprieves  and 
pardons,  after  convictions,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. 

Sec.  7.  Compensation. — He  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a  compensation 
for  his  services,  which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  period 
for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected. 

Sec.  8.  May  require  information  from  officers. — He  may  require  informa- 
tion, in  writing,  from  the  officers  in  the  executive  department,  upon  any  sub- 
ject relating  to  the  duties  of  their  respective  offices. 

Sec.  9.  May  convene  the  Legislature. — He  may,  on  extraordinary  occa- 
sions, convene  the  General  Assembly  by.  proclamation,  in  which  he  shall  state 
specifically  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  to  convene ;  but  they  shall  enter 
on  no  legislative  business  except  that  for  which  they  were  specifically  called 
together. 

Sec.  10.  Execute  laws. — He  shall  take  care  that  the  laws  ["shall"  inserted 
in  Constitution  of  1796]   be  faithfully  executed. 

Sec.  11.  Give  information  to  the  Legislature. — He  shall,  from  time  to  time, 
give  to  the  General  Assembly  information  of  the  state  of  the  government,  and 
recommend  for  ["to"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  their  consideration  such  meas- 
ures as  he  shall  judge  expedient. 

Sec.  12.  Vacancies. — In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  Governor  from  office, 
or  of  his  death  or  resignation,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  .office  shall  devolve 
on  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate;  and  in  case  of  the  death,  removal  from  office,  or 
resignation  of  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office 
shall  devolve  on  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 


940  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  13.  Ineligibility. — No  member  of  Congress,  or  person  holding-  any 
office  under  the  United  States,  or  this  State,  shall  execute  the  office  of  Governor. 

Sec.  14.  Temporary  appointments. — When  any  officer,  the  right  of  whose 
appointment  is  by  this  Constitution  vested  in  the  General  Assembly,  shall,  dur- 
ing the  recess,  die,  or  the  ["his"  in  Constitution  of  1796]  office,  by  the  expira- 
tion  of  the  term,  or  [the  words,  "by  the  expiration  of  the  term,  or,"  were  not 
in  the  Constitution  of  1796]  by  other  means,  become  vacant,  the  Governor  shall 
have  the  power  to  fill  such  vacancy  by  granting  a  temporary  commission,  which 
shall  expire  at  the  end  of  the  next  session  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  15.  Great  Seal. — There  shall  be  a  seal  of  this  State,  which  shall  be 
kept  by  the  Governor,  and  used  by  him  officially,  and  shall  be  called  the 
Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee. 

Sec.  16.  Grants  and  commissions. — All  grants  and  commissions  shall  be  in 
the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  be  sealed  with  the 
State  seal,  and  signed  by  the  Governor. 

Sec.  17.  Secretary  of  State. — A  Secretary  of  ["this"  inserted  in  Consti- 
tution of  1796]  State  shall  be  appointed  by  joint  vote  of  the  General  Assembly 
(the  last  seven  words  not  in  the  Constitution  of  1796],  and  commissioned  during 
the  term  of  four  years ;  he  shall  keep  a  fair  register  of  all  the  official  acts  and 
proceedings  of  the  Governor;  and  shall,  when  required,  lay  the  same,  and  all 
papers,  minutes,  and  vouchers  relative  thereto,  before  the  General  Assembly ; 
and  shall  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall  be  enjoined  by  law. 

Sec.  18.  Bills  to  be  approved  by  the  Governor;  Governor's  veto;  joint 
resolutions. — Every  bill  which  may  pass  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly 
shall,  before  it  becomes  a  law,  be  presented  to  the  Governor  for  his  signature. 
If  he  approve  it,  he  shall  sign  it,  and  the  same  shall  become  a  law ;  but  if  he 
refuse  to  sign  it,  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  objections  thereto  in  writing,  to 
the  house  in  which  it  originated ;  and  said  house  shall  cause  said  objections  to 
be  entered  at  large  upon  its  journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  the  bill.  If, 
after  such  reconsideration,  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  that  house 
shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill,  notwithstanding  the  objections  of  the  Executive, 
it  shall  be  sent,  with  said  objections,  to  the  other  house,  by  which  it  shall  be 
likewise  reconsidered.  If  approved  by  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  elected 
to  that  house,  it  shall  become  a  law.  The  votes  of  both  houses  shall  be  deter- 
mined by  yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  all  the  members  voting  for  or  against 
the  bill  shall  be  entered  upon  the  journals  of  their  respective  houses.  If  the 
Governor  shall  fail  to  return  any  bill,  with  his  objections,  within  five  days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the  same  shall 
become  a  law  without  his  signature,  unless  the  General  Assembly,  by  its  ad- 
journment, prevents  its  return,  in  which  case  it  shall  not  become  a  law.  Every 
joint  resolution  or  order  (except  on  questions  of  adjournment)  shall  likewise 
be  presented  to  the  Governor  for  his  signature,  and  before  it  shall  take  effect 
shall  receive  his  signature;  and  on  being  disapproved  by  him,  shall,  in  like 
manner,  be  returned,  with  his  objections;  and  the  same,  before  it  shall  take 
effect,  shall  be  repassed  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  both  houses, 
in  the  manner  and  according  to  the  rules  prescribed  in  case  of  a  bill. 

ARTICLE  IV 

Elections 

Section  1.    Right  of  suffrage;  poll  tax;  military  duty;  voting,  where.— 

Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  resident  of  this  State  for  twelve  months,  and  of  the  county  wherein 
he  may  offer  his  vote  for  six  months,  next  preceding  the  day  of  election,  shall 
be  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  and  other  civil  officers 
for  the  county  or  district  in  which  he  resides ;  and  there  shall  be  no  qualification 
attached  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  except  that  each  voter  shall  give  to  the  judges 
of  election,  where  he  offers  to  vote,  satisfactory  evidence  that  he  has  paid  the 
poll  taxes  assessed  against  him   for  such   preceding  period  as  the  Legislature 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  941 

shall  prescribe,  and  at  such  time  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law ;  without  which 
his  vote  cannot  be  received.  And  all  male  citizens  of  the  State  shall  be  subject 
to  the  payment  of  poll  taxes  and  to  the  performance  of  military  duty  within 
such  ages  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law.  The  General  Assembly  shall  have 
power  to  enact  laws  requiring  voters  to  vote  in  the  election  precincts  in  which 
they  may  reside,  and  laws  to  secure  the  freedom  of  election  and  the  purity  of 
the  ballot  box. 

Sec.  2.  Right  of  suffrage  may  be  restricted  for  crime. — Laws  may  be 
passed  excluding  from  the  right  of  suffrage  persons  Who  may  be  convicted  of 
infamous  crimes.     [This  provision  was  not  in  the  Constitution  of  1796.] 

See.  3.  Privileges  of  voters. — Electors  shall,  in  all  cases,  except  treason, 
felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged  from  arrest  or  summons  [the  words 
"or  summons"  not  in  Constitution  of  1796],  during  their  attendance  at  elec- 
tions, and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  them.  (Art.  III.,  sec.  2,  of  Constitu- 
tion of  1796.) 

Sec.  4.  Mode  of  voting. — In  all  elections  to  be  made  by  the  General  As- 
sembly, the  members  thereof  shall  vote  viva  voce,  and  their  votes  shall  be 
entered  on  the  journal.    All  other  elections  shall  be  by  ballot. 

ARTICLE  V 

Impeachments 

Section  1.  Impeachment. — The  House  of  Representatives  shall  have  the 
sole  power  of  impeachment. 

Sec.  2.  Tried  by  the  Senate. — All  impeachments  shall  be  tried  by  the 
Senate.  When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  the  Senators  shall  be  upon  oath  or 
affirmation,  and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court — or,  if  he  be  on  trial, 
the  senior  associate  judge — shall  preside  over  them.  No  person  shall  be  con- 
victed without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the  Senators  sworn  to  try  the 
officer  impeached. 

Sec.  3.  How  prosecuted. — The  House  of  Representatives  shall  elect  from 
their  own  body  three  members,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  prosecute  impeach- 
ments. No  impeachment  shall  be  tried  until  the  Legislature  shall  have  adjourned 
sine  die,  when  the  Senate  shall  proceed  to  try  such  impeachment. 

Sec.  4.  Who  may  be  impeached. — The  Governor,  judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  judges  of  the  inferior  courts,  chancellors,  attorneys  for  the  State,  Treas- 
urer, Comptroller,  and  Secretary  of  State,  shall  be  liable  to  impeachment  when- 
ever they  may,  in  the  opinion  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  commit  any 
crime  in  their  official  capacity  which  may  require  disqualification;  but  judg- 
ment shall  only  extend  to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualification  to  fill  any 
office  thereafter.  The  party  shall,  nevertheless,  be  liable  to  indictment,  trial, 
judgment,  and  punishment  according  to  law.  The  Legislature  now  has,  and 
shall  continue  to  have,  power  to  relieve  from  the  penalties  imposed  any  person 
disqualified  from  holding  office  by  the  judgment  of  a  court  of  impeachment. 

Sec.  5.  Officers  liable  to  indictment.— Justices  of  the  peace,  and  other 
civil  officers,  not  hereinbefore  mentioned,  for  crimes  or  misdemeanors  in  office, 
shall  be  liable  to  indictment  in  such  courts  as  the  Legislature  may  direct ;  and, 
upon  conviction,  shall  be  removed  from  office  by  said  court,  as  if  found  guilty 
on  impeachment;  and  shall  be  subject  to  such  other  punishment  as  may  be 
prescribed  by  law. 

ARTICLE  VI 

Judicial  Department 

Section  1.  Judicial  power.— The  judicial  power  of  this  State  shall  be 
vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  Circuit,  Chancery,  and  other  inferior 
courts  as  the  Legislature  shall,  from  time  to  time,  ordain  and  establish;  in  the 
judges  thereof,  and  in  justices  of  the  peace.     The  Legislature  may  also  vest 


942  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEEK  STATE 

such  jurisdiction  in  corporation  courts  as  may  be  deemed  necessary.  Courts  to 
be  holden  by  justices  of  the  peace  may  also  be  established. 

Sec.  2.  Supreme  Court. — The  Supreme  Court  shall  consist  of  five  judges, 
of  whom  not  more  than  two  shall  reside  in  any  one  of  the  grand  divisions  of  the 
State.  The  judges  shall  designate  one  of  their  own  number  who  shall  preside 
as  Chief  Justice.  The  concurrence  of  three  of  tbe  judges  shall,  in  every  case, 
be  necessary  to  a  decision.  The  jurisdiction  of  this  court  shall  be  appellate 
only,  under  such  restrictions  and  regulations  as  may,  from  time  to  time,  be 
prescribed  by  law;  but' it  may  possess  such  other  jurisdiction  as  is  now  con- 
ferred by  law  on  the  present  Supreme  Court,  Said  Court  shall  be  held  at 
Knoxville,  Nashville,  and  Jackson. 

Sec.  3.  Election  of  judges;  qualifications. — The  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  State.  The  Legislature 
shall  have  power  to  prescribe  such  rules  as  may  be  necessary  to  carry  out  the 
provisions  of  Section  2  of  this  article.  Every  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall 
be  thirty-five  years  of  age,  and  shall,  before  his  election,  have  been  a  resident 
of  the  State  for  five  years.     His  term  of  service  shall  be  eight  years. 

Sec.  4.  Judges  of  inferior  courts. — The  judges  of  the  Circuit  and  Chan- 
cery Courts,  and  of  other  inferior  courts,  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters 
of  the  district  or  circuits  to  which  they  are  to  be  assigned.  Every  judge  of  such 
courts  shall  be  thirty  years  of  age,  and  shall,  before  his  election,  have  been  a 
resident  of  the  State  for  five  years,  and  of  the  circuit  or  district  one  year.  His 
term  of  service  shall  be  eight  years. 

Sec.  5.  Attorney-general  and  Reporter. — An  Attorney-general  and  Re- 
porter for  the  State  shall  be  appointed  by  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
and  shall  hold  his  office  for  a  term  of  eight  years.  An  attorney  for  the  State 
for  any  circuit  or  district  for  which  a  judge  having  criminal  jurisdiction  shall 
be  provided  by  law,  shall  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  of  such  circuit  or 
district,  and  shall  hold  his  office  for  a  term  of  eight  years,  and  shall  have  been 
a  resident  of  the  State  five  years,  and  of  the  circuit  or  district  one  year.  In 
all  cases  where  the  attorney  for  any  district  fails  or  refuses  to  attend  and 
prosecute  according  to  law,  the  court  shall  have  power  to  appoint  an  attorney 
pro  tempore. 

Sec.  6.  Judges  and  attorneys,  how  removed. — Judges  and  attorneys  for 
the  State  may  be  removed  from  office  by  a  concurrent  vote  of  both  houses  of 
the  General  Assembly,  each  house  voting  separately ;  but  two-thirds  of  the  mem- 
bers to  which  each  house  may  be  entitled  ["two-thirds  of  all  the  members 
elected  to  each  house"  in  Constitution  of  1834]  must  concur  in  such  vote.  The 
vote  shall  be  determined  by  ayes  and  noes,  and  the  names  of  the  members  voting 
for  or  against  the  judge  or  attorney  for  the  State,  together  with  the  cause  or 
causes  of  removal,  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal  of  each  house,  respectively. 
The  judge  or  attorney  for  the  State,  against  whom  the  Legislature  may  be 
about  to  proceed,  shall  receive  notice  thereof,  accompanied  with  a  copy  of  the 
causes  alleged  for  his  removal,  at  least  ten  days  before  the  day  on  which  either 
house  of  the  General  Assembly  shall  act  thereupon. 

Sec.  7.  Compensation  of  judges. — The  judges  of  the  Supreme  or  inferior 
courts  shall,  at  stated  times,  receive  a  compensation  for  their  services,  to  be 
ascertained  by  law,  which  shall  not  be  increased  or  diminished  during  the  time 
for  which  they  are  elected.  They  shall  not  be  allowed  any  fees  or  perquisites 
of  office,  nor  hold  any  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  this  State  or  the  United 
States. 

Sec.  8.  Jurisdiction  of  inferior  courts. — The  jurisdiction  of  the  Circuit, 
Chancery,  and  other  inferior  courts  shall  be  as  now  established  by  law,  until 
changed  by  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  9.  Judges'  charge. — Judges  shall  not  charge  juries  with  respect  to 
matters  of  fact,  but  may  state  the  testimony  and  declare  the  law'. 

Sec.  10.  Certiorari. — The  judges  or  justices  of  inferior  courts  of  law  and 
equity  shall  have  power  in  all  civil  [cases]  to  issue  writs  of  certiorari,  to 
remove  any  cause  or  the  transcript  of  the  record  thereof,  from  any  inferior 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  943 

jurisdiction  into  such  court  of  law,  on  sufficient  cause,  supported  by  oath  or 
affirmation. 

Sec.  11.  Incompetency  of  judges;  special  judges. — No  judge  of  the  Su- 
preme or  inferior  courts  shall  preside  on  the  trial  of  any  cause  in  the  event  of 
which  he  may  be  interested,  or  where  either  of  the  parties  shall  be  connected 
with  him  by  affinity  or  consanguinity,  within  such  degrees  as  may  be  prescribed 
by  law,  or  in  which  he  may  have  been  of  counsel,  or  in  which  he  may  have 
presided  in  any  inferior  court,  except  by  consent  of  all  the  parties.  In  case  all 
or  any  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  thus  be  disqualified  from  pre- 
siding on  the  trial  of  any  cause  or  causes,  the  court,  or  the  judges  thereof,  shall 
certify  the  same  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  and  he  shall  forthwith  specially 
commission  the  requisite  number  of  men,  of  law  knowledge,  for  the  trial  and 
determination  thereof.  The  Legislature  may,  by  general  laws,  make  provision 
that  special  judges  may  be  appointed  to  hold  any  courts  the  judge  of  which 
shall  be  unable  or  fail  to  attend  or  sit,  or  to  hear  any  cause  in  which  the  judge 
may  be  incompetent. 

Sec.  12.  Process;  conclusion  of  indictments. — All  writs  and  other  process 
shall  run  in  the  name  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  and  bear  teste  and  be  signed 
by  the  respective  clerks.  Indictments  shall  conclude,  '"against  the  peace  and 
dignity  of  the  State." 

Sec.  13.  Clerks  of  court. — Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  shall  appoint 
their  clerks,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  six  years.  Chancellors  shall  appoint 
their  clerks  and  masters,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  six  years.  Clerks  of 
inferior  courts,  holden  in  the  respective  counties  or  districts,  shall  be  elected 
by  the  qualified  voters  thereof,  for  the  term  of  four  years.  Any  clerk  may  be 
removed  from  office  for  malfeasance,  incompetency,  or  neglect  of  duty,  in  such 
manner  as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 

Sec.  14.  Fines. — No  fine  shall  be  laid  on  any  citizen  of  this  State  that 
shall  exceed  fifty  dollars,  unless  it  shall  be  assessed  by  a  jury  of  his  peers,  who 
shall  assess  the  fine  at  the  time  they  find  the  fact,  if  they  think  the  fine  should 
[for  "should"  "ought  to"  is  used  in  the  Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  5,  sec.  II] 
be  more  than  fifty  dollars. 

Sec.  15.  Civil  districts. — The  different  counties  of  this  State  shall  be 
laid  off,  as  the  General  Assembly  may  direct,  into  districts  of  convenient  size, 
so  that  the  whole  number  in  each  county  shall  not  be  more  than  twenty-five,  or 
four  for  every  one  hundred  square  miles.  There  shall  be  two  justices  of  the 
peace  and  one  constable  elected  in  each  district,  by  the  qualified  voters  therein, 
except  districts  including  county  towns,  which  shall  elect  three  justices  and 
two  constables.  The  jurisdiction  of  said  officers  shall  be  coextensive  with  the 
county.  Justices  of  the  peace  shall  be  elected  for  the  term  of  six,  and  constables 
for  the  term  of  two,  years.  Upon  removal  of  either  of  said  officers  from  the 
district  in  which  he  was  elected,  his  office  shall  become  vacant  from  the  time 
of  such  removal.  Justices  of  the  peace  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  Governor. 
The  Legislature  shall  have  power  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  an  addi- 
tional number  of  justices  of  the  peace  in  incorporated  towns. 

ARTICLE  VII 

State  and  County  Officers 

Section  1.     Justices  and  constables,  number  of;  removal  of  county  officers. 

— There  shall  be  elected  in  each  county,  by  the  qualified  voters  therein,  one 
sheriff,  one  trustee  ["and"  inserted  in  Constitution  of  1834],  one  register;  the 
sheriff  and  trustee  for  two  years,  and  the  register  for  four  years.  But  [instead 
of  "but"  the  words  "provided  that"  are  used  in  Constitution  of  1834]  no 
person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  office  of  sheriff  more  than  six  years  in  any  term 
of  eight  years.  There  shall  be  elected  for  each  county,  by  the  justices  of  the 
peace,  one  coroner  and  one  ranger,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for  two  years; 
said  officers  shall  be  removed  for  malfeasance,  or  neglect  of  duty,  in  snch  man- 
ner as  may  be  prescribed  by  law. 


nil  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  2.  Vacancies,  how  filled. — Should  a  vacancy  occur,  subsequent  to 
an  election,  in  the  office  of  sheriff,  trustee,  or  register,  it  shall  be  filled  by  the 
justices;  if  in  that  of  the  clerks  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  it  shall  be  filled  by 
the  courts;  and  the  person  so  appointed  shall  continue  in  office  until  his  suc- 
cessor shall  be  elected  and  qualified ;  and  such  office  shall  be  filled  by  the  qualified 
voters  at  the  first  election  for  any  of  the  county  officers. 

Sec.  3.  Treasurer  and  Comptroller. — There  shall  be  a  Treasurer,  or  Treas- 
urers, and  a  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  appointed  for  the  State,  by  the  joint 
vote  of  both  houses  of  the  General  Assembly,  who  shall  hold  their  offices  for 
two  years. 

Sec.  4.  Other  elections  and  vacancies. — The  election  of  all  officers  and 
the  filling  of  all  vacancies  [the  words  "that  may  happen  by  death,  resignation, 
or  removal,"  were  inserted  here  in  the  Constitution  of  1834]  not  otherwise 
directed  or  provided  by  this  Constitution  shall  be  made  in  such  manner  as  the 
Legislature  shall  direct. 

Sec.  5.  Time  of  election  of  civil  officers;  terms;  temporary  appointments. 
— Elections  for  judicial  and  other  civil  officers  shall  be  held  on  the  first  Thurs- 
day in  August,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  forever  thereafter 
on  the  first  Thursday  in  August  next  preceding  the  expiration  of  their  resepctive 
terms  of  service. 

The  term  of  each  officer  so  elected  shall  be  computed  from  the  first  day  of 
September  next  succeeding  his  election.  The  term  of  office  of  the  Governor  and 
of  other  executive  officers  shall  be  computed  from  the  fifteenth  of  January  next 
after  election  of  the  Governor.  No  appointment  or  election  to  fill  a  vacancy 
shall  be  made  for  a  period  extending  beyond  the  unexpired  term.  Every  officer 
shall  hold  his  office  until  his  successor  is  elected  or  appointed  and  qualified. 
No  special  election  shall  be  held  to  fill  a  vacancy  in  the  office  of  judge  or  district 
attorney,  but  at  the  time  herein  fixed  for  the  biennial  election  of  civil  officers ; 
and  such  vacancy  shall  be  filled  at  the  next  biennial  election  occurring  more 
than  thirty  days  after  the  vacancy  occurs. 

ARTICLE  VIII 

Militia 

Section  1.  Militia  officers. — All  militia  officers  shall  be  elected  by  persons 
subject  to  military  duty,  within  the  bounds  of  their  several  companies,  battalions, 
regiments,  brigades,  and  divisions,  under  such  rules  and  regulations  as  the 
Legislature  may,  from  time  to  time,  direct  and  establish. 

Sec.  2.  Staff  officers. — The  Governor  shall  appoint  the  adjutant  general 
and  his  other  staff  officers;  the  major  generals,  brigadier  generals,  and  com- 
manding officers  of  regiments  shall,  respectively,  appoint  their  staff  officers. 

Sec.  3.  Exemptions. — The  Legislature  shall  pass  laws  exempting  citizens 
belonging  to  any  sect  or  denomination  of  religion,  the  tenets  of  which  are  known 
to  he  opposed  to  the  bearing  of  arms,  from  attending  private  and  general 
musters.     (Constitution  of  1796,  Art.  VII.,  sec.  7,  same  as  this.) 

ARTICLE  IX 

Disqualifications 

Section  1.  Ineligibility  of  ministers  and  priests. — Whereas  ministers  of 
the  gospel  are,  by  their  profession,  dedicated  to  God  and  the  care  of  souls,  and 
ought  not  to  be  diverted  from  the  great  duties  of  their  functions ;  therefore  no 
minister  of  the  gospel,  or  priest  of  any  denomination  whatever,  shall  be  eligible 
to  a  seat  in  either  house  of  the  Legislature. 

Sec.  2.  Of  Atheists. — No  person  who  denies  the  being  of  God  or  a  future 
state  of  rewards  and  punishments,  shall  hold  any  office  in  the  civil  department 
of  this  State. 

Sec.  3.     Of  duelists. — Any  person  who  shall,   after  the   adoption   of  this 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  945 


Constitution,  fight  a  duel,  or  knowingly  be  the  bearer  of  a  challenge  to  fight  a 
•duel,  or  send  or  accept  a  challenge  for  that  purpose,  or  be  an  aider  or  abettor 
in  fighting  a  duel,  shall  be  deprived  of  the  right  to  hold  any  office  of  honor  or 
profit  in  this  State,  and  shall  be  punished  otherwise,  in  such  manner  as  the 
Legislature  may  prescribe. 

ARTICLE  X 

Oaths,  Bribery  of  Electors,  New  Counties 

Section  1.  Oath  of  office. — Every  person  who  shall  be  chosen  or  appointed 
to  any  office  of  trust  or  profit  under  this  Constitution,  or  any  law  made  in  pur- 
suance thereof,  shall,  before  entering  upon  the  duties  thereof,  take  an  oath  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  of  the  United  States,  and  an  oath 
of  office. 

Sec.  2.  Of  members  of  the  General  Assembly. — Each  member  of  the  Sen- 
ate and  House  of  Representatives  shall,  before  they  proceed  to  business,  take 
an  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and  of  the 

United  States,  and  also  the  following  oath :    "I, ,  do  solemnly  swear 

[or  affirm]  that,  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly,  I  will,  in  all  appoint- 
ments, vote  without  favor,  affection,  partiality,  or  prejudice ;  and  that  I  will 
not  propose  or  assent  to  any  bill,  vote,  or  resolution,  which  shall  appear  to  me 
injurious  to  the  people,  or  consent  to  any  act  or  thing  whatever  that  shall  have 
a  tendency  to  lesson  or  abridge  their  rights  and  privileges,  as  declared  by  the 
Constitution  of  this  State." 

Sec.  3.  Punishment  of  electors  for  bribery. — Any  elector  who  shall  re- 
ceive any  gift  or  reward  for  his  vote,  in  meat,  drink,  money,  or  otherwise,  shall 
suffer  such  punishment  as  the  laws  shall  direct;  and  any  person  who  shall 
directly  or  indirectly  give,  promise,  or  bestow  any  such  reward  to  be  elected 
shall  thereby  be  rendered  incapable,  for  six  ["two"  in  Constitution  of  1796] 
years,  to  serve  in  the  office  for  which  he  was  elected,  and  be  subject  to  such 
further  punishment  as  the  Legislature  shall  direct. 

Sec.  4:  New  counties;  county  lines;  exceptions;  vote  necessary  to  estab- 
lish new  counties  or  remove  county  seat;  liability  for  existing  debt. — New 
counties  may  be  established  by  the  Legislature,  to  consist  of  not  less  than  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  square  miles,  and  which  shall  contain  a  population 
of  seven  hundred  qualified  voters.  No  line  of  such  county  shall  approach  the 
courthouse  of  any  old  county  from  which  it  may  be  taken  nearer  than  eleven 
miles,  nor  shall  such  old  county  be  reduced  to  less  than  five  hundred  square 
miles.  But  the  following  exceptions  are  made  to  the  foregoing  provisions,  viz. : 
New  counties  may  be  established  by  the  present  or  any  succeeding  Legislature 
out  of  the  following  territory — to  wit:  Out  of  that  portion  of  Obion  County 
which  lies  west  of  low-water  mark  of  Reelfoot  Lake ;  out  of  fractions  of  Sumner, 
Macon,  and  Smith  Counties;  but  no  line  of  such  new  county  shall  approach  the 
courthouse  of  Sumner  or  Smith  Counties  nearer  than  ten  miles,  nor  include 
any  part  of  Macon  County  lying  within  nine  and  a  half  miles  of  the  courthouse 
of  said  county ;  nor  shall  more  than  twenty  square  miles  of  Macon  County,  nor 
any  part  of  Sumner  County  lying  due  west  of  the  western  boundary  of  Macon 
County,  be  taken  in  the  formation  of  said  new  county;  out  of  fractions  of 
Grainger  and  Jefferson  Counties,  but  no  line  of  such  new  county  shall  include 
any  part  of  Grainger  County  north  of  the  Holston  River;  nor  shall  any  line 
thereof  approach  the  courthouse  of  Jefferson  County  nearer  than  eleven  miles. 
Such  new  county  may  include  any  other  territory  which  is  not  excluded  by  any 
general  provision  of  this  Constitution ;  out  of  fractions  of  Jackson  and  Overton 
Counties,  but  no  line  of  such  new  county  shall  approach  the  courthouse  of 
Jackson  or  Overton  Counties  nearer  than  ten  miles;  nor  shall  such  county  con- 
tain less  than  four  hundred  qualified  voters,  nor  shall  the  area  of  either  of  the 
old  counties  be  reduced  below  four  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles;  out  of  frac- 
tions of  Roane,  Monroe,  and  Blount  Counties,  around  the  town  of  Loudon,  but 
no  line  of  such  new  county  shall  ever  approach  the  towns  of  Maryville,   King 


946  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

ston,  or  Madisonville  nearer  than  eleven  miles,  except  that,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Tennessee  River,  said  lines  may  approach  as  near  as  ten  miles  to  the  court- 
house of  Roane  County. 

The  counties  of  Lewis,  Cheatham,  and  Sequatchie,  as  now  established  by 
legislative  enactments,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  constitutional  counties.  No 
part  of  Bledsoe  County  shall  be  taken  to  form  a  new  county,  or  a  part  thereof, 
or  be  attached  to  any  adjoining  county. 

That  portion  of  Marion  County  included  within  the  following  boundaries — 
beginning  on  the  Grundy  and  Marion  County  line,  at  the  Nick-a-Jack  Trace, 
and  running  about  six  hundred  yards  west  of  Ben.  Posey's,  to  where  the  Ten- 
nessee Coal  Railroad  crosses  the  line,  running  thence  southeast  through  the 
pocket,  near  William  Summar's,  crossing  the  Battle  Creek  Gulf  at  the  corner 
of  Thomas  Wooten's  field;  thence  running  across  the  Little  Gizzard  Gulf,  at 
Raven  Point ;  thence  in  a  direct  line  to  the  bridge  crossing  the  Big  Fiery 
Gizzard ;  thence  in  a  direct  line  to  the  mouth  of  Holy  Water  Creek ;  thence  up 
said  creek  to  the  Grundy  County  line,  and  thence  with  said  line  to  the  beginning 
— is  hereby  detached  from  Marion  County,  and  attached  to  the  county  of 
Grundy. 

No  part  of  a  county  shall  be  taken  off  to  form  a  new  county,  or  a  part 
thereof,  without  the  consent  of  two-thirds  of  the  qualified  voters  in  such  part 
taken  off;  and  where  an  old  county  is  reduced  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a 
new  one,  the  seat  of  justice  in  said  old  county  shall  not  be  removed  without  the 
concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  nor  shall  the 
seat  of  justice  of  any  county  be  removed  without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds 
of  the  qualified  voters  of  the  county.  But  the  foregoing  provision,  requiring  a 
two-thirds  majority  of  the  voters  of  a  county  to  remove  its  county  seat,  shall 
not  apply  to  the  counties  of  Obion  and  Cocke. 

The  fractions  taken  from  old  counties  to  form  new  counties,  or  taken  from 
one  county  and  added  to  another,  shall  continue  liable  for  their  pro  rata  of  all 
debts  contracted  by  their  respective  counties  prior  to  the  separation,  and  be 
entitled  to  their  proportion  of  any  stock  or  credits  belonging  to  such  old  counties. 

Sec.  5.  To  vote  with  old  county. — The  citizens  who  may  be  included  in 
any  new  county  shall  vote  with  the  county  or  counties  from  which  they  may 
have  been  stricken  off,  for  members  of  Congress,  for  Governor,  and  for  members 
of  the  General  Assembly,  until  the  next  apportionment  of  members  to  the 
General  Assembly  after  the  establishment  of  such  new  county. 

ARTICLE  XI 

.Miscellaneous  and  Provisions 

Section  1.  Existing  laws  not  affected  by  this  Constitution. — All  laws 
and  ordinances  now  in  force  and  use  in  this  State,  not  inconsistent  with  this 
Constitution,  shall  continue  in  force  and  use  until  they  shall  expire,  or  be 
altered  or  repealed  by  the  Legislature ;  but  ordinances  contained  in  any  former 
Constitution  or  schedule  thereto  are  hereby  abrogated. 

Sec.  2.  Nor  rights,  contracts,  actions,  etc. — Nothing  contained  in  this 
Constitution  shall  impair  the  validity  of  any  debts  or  contracts,  or  affect  any 
rights  of  property,  or  any  suits,  actions,  rights  of  action,  or  other  proceedings 
in  courts  of  justice. 

Sec.  3.  Amendments  of  the  Constitution,  etc.;  not  oftener  than  once  in 
six  years;  but  Legislature  may  at  any  time  submit  question  of  calling  con- 
vention.— Any  amendment  or  amendments  to  this  Constitution  may  be  pro- 
posed in  the  Senate  or  House  of  Representatives ;  and  if  the  same  shall  be 
agreed  to  by  a  majority  of  all  the  members  elected  to  each  of  the  two  houses, 
such  proposed  amendment  or  amendments  shall  be  entered  on  their  journals, 
with  the  yeas  and  nays  thereon,  and  referred  to  the  General  Assembly  then  next 
to  be  chosen,  and  shall  be  published  six  months  previous  to  the  time  of  making 
such  choice  and  if  in  the  General  Assembly  then  next  chosen,  as  aforesaid,  such 
proposed  amendment  or  amendments  to  the  people,  to  by  two-thirds  of  all  the 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  947 

members  elected  to  each  house,  then  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  General  Assembly 
to  submit  such  proposed  amendment  or  amendments  to  the  people,  in  such 
manner  and  at  such  time  as  the  General  Assembly  shall  prescribe;  and  if  the 
people  shall  approve  and  ratify  such  amendment  or  amendments  by  a  majority 
of  all  the  citizens  of  the  State  voting  for  Representatives,  voting  in  their  favor, 
such  amendment  or  amendments  shall  become  part  of  this  Constitution.  When 
any  amendment  or  amendments  to  the  Constitution  shall  be  proposed  in  pur- 
suance of  the  foregoing  provisions,  the  same  shall,  at  each  of  said  sessions,  be 
read  three  times  on  three  several  days  in  each  house.  The  Legislature  shall  not 
propose  amendments  to  the  Constitution  oftener  than  once  in  six  years.  [The 
remainder  of  this  section  originated  with  this  Constitution.]  The  Legislature 
shall  have  the  right,  at  any  time,  by  law  to  submit  to  the  people  the  question  of 
calling  a  convention  to  alter,  reform,  or  abolish  this  Constitution;  and  when, 
upon  such  submission,  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  east  shall  be  in  favor  of  said 
proposition,  then  delegates  shall  be  chosen,  and  the  convention  shall  assemble 
in  such  mode  and  manner  as  shall  be  prescribed. 

Sec.  4.  Divorces. — The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  grant  divorces, 
but  may  authorize  the  courts  of  justice  to  grant  them  for  such  causes  as  may 
be  specified  by  law ;  but  such  laws  shall  be  general  and  uniform  in  their  opera- 
tion throughout  the  State. 

Sec.  5.  Lotteries. — The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  authorize  lot- 
teries for  any  purpose,  and  shall  pass  laws  to  prohibit  the  sale  of  lottery  tickets 
in  this  State. 

Sec.  6.  Changing  name,  legitimation,  etc. — The  Legislature  shall  have  no 
power  to  change  the  names  of  persons,  or  to  pass  acts  adopting  or  legitimatizing 
[legitimating  or  legitimizing]  persons;  but  shall,  by  general  laws,  confer  this 
power  on  the  courts. 

Sec.  7.  Interest,  conventional  rate. — The  Legislature  shall  fix  the  rate  of 
interest,  and  the  rate  so  established  shall  be  equal  and  uniform  throughout  the 
State ;  but  the  Legislature  may  provide  for  a  conventional  rate  of  interest,  not 
to  exceed  ten  per  centum  per  annum. 

Sec.  8.  General  laws  only  to  be  passed ;  corporations  only  to  be  provided 
for  by  general  laws. — The  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  to  suspend  any 
general  law  for  the  benefit  of  any  particular  individual,  nor  to  pass  any  law 
for  the  benefit  of  individuals,  inconsistent  with  the  general  law  of  the  land ; 
nor  to  pass  any  law  granting  to  any  individual  or  individuals  rights,  privileges, 
immunitie  [immunities]  or  exemptions  other  than  such  as  may  be,  by  the  same 
law,  extended  to  any  member  of  the  community  who  may  be  able  to  bring  him- 
self within  the  provisions  of  such  law.  No  corporation  shall  be  created,  or  its 
powers  increased  or  diminished,  by  special  laws ;  but  the  General  Assembly  shall 
provide  by  general  laws,  for  the  organization  of  all  corporations  hereafter 
created,  which  laws  may,  at  any  time,  be  altered  or  repealed;  and  no  such 
alteration  or  repeal  shall  interfere  with  or  divest  rights  which  have  become 
vested. 

Sec.  9.  Power  over  private  and  local  affairs. — The  Legislature  shall  have 
the  right  to  vest  such  powers  in  the  courts  of  justice,  with  regard  to  private 
and  local  affairs,  as  may  be  expedient. 

Sec.  10.  Internal  improvements  to  be  encouraged. — A  well-regulated  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvement  is  calculated  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  State, 
and  promote  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  her  citizens ;  therefore  it  ought  to 
be  encouraged  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  11.  Homestead  exemption. — A  homestead,  in  the  possession  of  each 
head  of  a  family,  and  the  improvement  thereon,  to  the  value,  in  all,  of  one 
thousand  dollars,  shall  be  exempt  from  sale  under  legal  process  during  the  life 
of  such  head  of  a  family,  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  widow,  and  shall  be 
exempt  during  the  minority  of  their  children  occupying  the  same.  Nor  shall 
said  property  be  alienated  without  the  joint  consent  of  husband  and  wife,  when 
that  relation  exists.  The  exemption  shall  not  operate  against  public  taxes,  nor 
debts  contracted  for  the  purchase  money  of  such  homestead,  or  improvements 
thereon. 


948  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sec.  12.  Education  to  be  cherished,  common  school  fund;  poll  tax;  whites 
and  negroes;  colleges,  etc.,  rights  of. — Knowledge,  learning,  and  virtue,  being 
essential  to  tbe  preservation  of  republican  institutions,  and  the  diffusion  of  the 
opportunities  and  advantages  of  education  throughout  the  different  portions  of 
the  State,  being  highly  conducive  to  the  promotion  of  this  end,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  all  future  periods  of  this  government,  to 
cherish  literature  and  science.  And  the  fund  called  the  common  school  fund, 
and  all  the  lands  and  proceeds  thereof,  dividends,  stocks,  and  other  property 
of  every  description  whatever,  heretofore  by  law  appropriated,  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  this  State  for  the  use  of  common  schools,  and  all  such  as  shall  here- 
after be  appropriated,  shall  remain  a  perpetual  fund,  the  principal  of  which 
shall  never  be  diminished  by  legislative  appropriations ;  and  the  interest  thereof 
shall  be  inviolably  appropriated  to  the  support  and  encouragement  of  common 
schools  throughout  the  State,  and  for  the  equal  benefit  of  all  the  people  thereof ; 
and  no  law  shall  be  made  authorizing  said  fund  or  any  part  thereof  to  be 
diverted  to  any  other  use  than  the  support  and  encouragement  of  common 
schools.  The  State  taxes  derived  hereafter  from  polls  shall  be  appropriated  to 
educational  purposes,  in  such  manner  as  the  General  Assembly  shall,  from  time 
to  time,  direct  by  law.  No  school  established  or  aided  under  this  section  shall 
allow  white  and  negro  children  to  be  received  as  scholars  together  in  the  same 
school.  The  above  provisions  shall  not  prevent  the  Legislature  from  carrying 
into  effect  any  laws  that  have  been  passed  in  favor  of  the  colleges,  universities, 
or  academies,  or  from  authorizing  heirs  or  distributees  to  receive  and  enjoy 
escheated  property  under  such  laws  as  shall  be  passed  from  time  to  time. 

Sec.  13.  Game,  fish,  etc. — The  General  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  enact 
laws  for  the  protection  and  preservation  of  game  and  fish  within  the  State,  and 
such  laws  may  be  enacted  for  and  applied  and  enforced  in  particular  counties 
or  geographical  districts  designated  by  the  General  Assembly. 

Sec.  14.  Intermarriage  between  whites  and  negroes. — The  intermarriage 
of  white  persons  with  negroes,  mulattoes,  or  persons  of  mixed  blood,  descended 
from  a  negro  to  the  third  generation,  inclusive,  or  their  living  together  as  man 
and  wife,  in  this  State,  is  prohibited.  The  Legislature  shall  enforce  this  section 
by  appropriate  legislation. 

Sec.  15.  Religious  holidays. — No  person  shall,  in  time  of  peace,  be  re- 
quired to  perform  any  service  to  the  public  on  any  day  set  apart  by  his  religion 
as  a  day  of  rest. 

Sec.  16.  Bill  of  Rights  to  remain  inviolate. — The  declaration  of  rights, 
hereto  prefixed,  is  declared  to  be  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  this  State,  and 
shall  never  be  violated  on  any  pretense  whatever.  And  to  guard  against  trans- 
gression of  the  high  powers  we  have  delegated,  we  declare  that  everything  in 
the  Bill  of  Rights  contained  is  excepted  out  of  the  general  powers  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  shall  forever  remain  inviolate. 

Sec.  17.  County  offices. — No  county  office  created  by  the  Legislature  shall 
be  filled  otherwise  than  by  the  people  or  the  County  Court. 


SCHEDULE 

Section  1.  Public  officers  to  hold  from  what  time ;  appointments ;  officers 
to  vacate,  when;  exceptions. — That  no  inconvenience  may  arise  from  a  change 
of  the  Constitution,  it  is  declared  that  the  Governor  of  the  State,  the  members 
of  the  General  Assembly,  and  all  officers  elected  at  or  after  the  general  election 
of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  shall  hold  their  offices  for 
the  terms  prescribed  in  this  Constitution. 

Officers  appointed  by  the  courts  shall  be  filled  by  appointment,  to  be  made 
and  to  take  effect  during  the  first  term  of  the  court  held  by  judges  elected  under 
this  Constitution. 

All  other  officers  shall  vacate  their  places  thirty  days  after  the  day  fixed 
for  the  election  of  their  successors  under  this  Constitution. 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  949 

The  Secretary  of  State,  Comptroller,  and  Treasurer  shall  hold  their  offices 
until  the  first  session  of  the  present  General  Assembly  occurring  after  the 
ratification  of  this  Constitution,  and  until  their  successors  are  elected  and 
qualified. 

The  officers  then  elected  shall  hold  their  offices  until  the  fifteenth  day  of 
January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-three. 

Sec.  2.  Judges  of  Supreme  Court ;  vacancy  to  remain  unfilled ;  court  may 
sit  in  two  sections;  two  judges  must  concur;  Attorney-general  and  Reporter. — 
At  the  first  election  of  judges  under  this  Constitution,  there  shall  be  elected  six 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  two  from  each  grand  division  of  the  State,  who 
shall  hold  their  offices  for  the  term  herein  prescribed. 

In  the  event  any  vacancy  shall  occur  in  the  office  of  either  of  said  judges 
at  any  time  after  the  first  day  of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
seventy-three,  it  shall  remain  unfilled,  and  the  court  shall  from  time  to  time 
be  constituted  of  five  judges. 

While  the  court  may  consist  of  six  judges,  they  may  sit  in  two  sections, 
and  may  hear  and  determine  causes  in  each  at  the  same  time,  but  not  in  different 
grand  divisions  at  the  same  time. 

"When  so  sitting,  the  concurrence  of  two  judges  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
decision. 

The  Attorney-general  and  Reporter  for  the  State  shall  be  appointed  after 
the  election  and  qualification  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  herein  pro- 
vided for. 

Sec.  3.  Officers  to  take  oath  to  support  this  Constitution  or  vacate. — 
Every  judge  and  every  officer  of  the  executive  department  of  this  State,  and 
every  sheriff  holding  over  under  this  Constitution,  shall,  within  twenty  days 
after  the  ratification  of  this  Constitution  is  proclaimed,  take  an  oath  to  support 
the  same ;  and  the  failure  of  any  officer  to  take  such  oath  shall  vacate  his  office. 

Sec.  4.  Statutes  of  limitations. — The  time  which  has  elapsed  since  the 
sixth  day  of  May,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-one,  until  the  first  day 
of  January,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  sixty-seven,  shall  not  be  computed 
in  any  case  affected  by  the  statutes  of  limitation,  nor  shall  any  writ  of  error  be 
affected  by  such  lapse  of  time. 

Done  in  convention,  at  Nashville,  the  twenty-third  day  of  February,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  the  ninety-fourth.  In  testimony  whereof,  w«» 
have  hereunto  set  our  names. 

JOHN  C.  BROWN,  President 

J.  B.  Heiskell,  W.  V.  Deaderick. 

John  Allen,  G.  G.  Dibrell, 

Jesse  Arledge,  W.  F.  Doherty. 

Humphrey  Bate,  J.  E.  Dromgoole, 

Jno.  Baxter,  James  Fentress. 

A.  Blizard,  A.  T.  Fielder, 

Nathan  Brandon,  P.  G.  Fulkerson, 

James  Britton,  John  A.  Gardner. 

R.  P.  Brooks,  John  E.  Garner 

Neill  S.  Brown,  S.  P.  Gaut, 

James  S.  Brown,  Charles  N.  Gibbs. 

T.  M.  Burkett,  B.  Gordon, 

John  W.  Burton,  R.  Henderson, 

Wm.  Byrne,  H.  L.  W.  Hill, 

Alex.  W.  Campbell,  Sp'l  Hill, 

Wm.  Blount  Carter,  Sam'l  S.  House, 

Z.  R.  Chowning,  Jno.  F.  House, 

James  A.  Coffin,  T.  B.  Ivie, 

Warren  Cummings,  Thomas  M.  Jones, 

Robert  P.  Cypert,  David  N.  Kennedy, 

Thos.  D.  Davenport,  D.  M.  Key, 


950  TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 

Sam.  J.  Kirkpatrick,  Geo.  E.  Seay, 

A.  A.  Kyle,  Samuel  G.  Shepard, 

Jos.  A.  Mabry,  E.  H.  Shelton, 

A.  G.  McDougal,  Wm.  H.  Stephens, 

Malcolm  MeNabb,  John  M.  Taylor, 

Matt.  Martin,  J.  C.  Thompson, 

John  H.  Meeks,  W.  Vance  Thompson, 

Thos.  C.  Morris,  James  J.  Turner, 

J.  Netherland,  Geo.  W.  Walters, 

A.  0.  P.  Nicholson,  Richard  Warner,  Jr., 

Geo.  C.  Porter,  Wm.  H.  Williamson, 

Jas.  D.  Porter,  Jr.,  W.  M.  Wright. 

Attest : 
T.  E.  S.  Russwurm,  Secretary ; 
Thos.  W.  Jones,  Assistant  Secretary; 
W.  S.  Kyle,  Second  Assistant  Secretary. 


ORDINANCE 

Section  1.  Election  ordered. — Be  it  ordained  by  the  convention,  That  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several  officers  of  the  State,  authorized  by  law  to  hold 
elections  for  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and  other  officers  to  open  and 
hold  an  election  at  the  place  of  holding  said  elections  in  their  respective  coun- 
ties, on  the  fourth  Saturday  in  March,  1870,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the 
votes  of  such  qualified  voters  as  may  desire  to  vote  for  the  ratification  or 
rejection  of  the  Constitution  recommended  by  this  convention.  And  the 
qualification  of  votes  in  said  election  be  the  same  as  that  required  in  the  election 
of  delegates  to  this  convention. 

Sec.  2.  Duty  of  returning  officers;  manner  of  voting. — It  shall  be  the 
duty  of  said  returning  officers,  in  each  county,  in  this  State,  to  enroll  the  name 
of  each  voter  on  the  poll  books  prepared  for  said  election,  and  shall  deposit 
each  ballot  in  the  ballot  boxes  respectively.  Each  voter  who  wishes  to  ratify 
the  new  Constitution  shall  have  written  or  printed  on  his  ticket  the  words 
"New  Constitution,"  or  words  of  like  import;  and  each  voter  who  wishes  to 
vote  against  the  ratification  of  the  new  Constitution  shall  have  written  or  printed 
on  his  ticket  the  words  "Old  Constitution,"  or  words  of  like  import. 

Sec.  3.  Election,  how  held;  votes,  etc. — The  election  shall  be  held,  and 
the  judges  and  clerks  shall  be  appointed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  election  of  the 
members  of  the  General  Assembly ;  and  the  returning  officers,  in  presence  of 
the  judges  or  inspectors,  shall  count  the  votes  given  for  the  "New  Constitution," 
and  of  those  given  for  the  "Old  Constitution,"  of  which  they  shall  keep  a 
correct  estimate  in  said  poll  books.  They  shall  deposit  the  original  poll  books 
of  said  election  with  the  clerks  of  the  County  Courts  in  the  respective  counties, 
and  shall,  within  five  days  after  the  election,  make  out  accurate  statements  of 
the  number  of  votes,  in  their  respective  counties,  for  or  against  the  "New 
Constitution,"  and  immediately  forward  by  mail,  one  copy  of  said  certificates 
to  the  Governor,  and  one  to  the  Speaker  of  the  Senate.  So  soon  as  the  poll 
books  are  deposited  with  the  County  Court  clerks,  they  shall  certify  to  the 
president  of  the  convention  an  accurate  statement  of  the  number  of  votes  cast 
for  or  against  the  "New  Constitution,"  as  appears  on  said  poll  books;  and  if 
any  of  said  returning  officers  shall  fail  to  make  the  returns  herein  provided  for 
within  the  time  required,  the  Governor  shall  be  authorized  to  send  special 
messengers  for  the  result  of  the  vote  in  those  counties  whose  officers  have  so 
failed  to  make  returns. 

Sec.  4.  Returns,  who  to  compare;  certificate  of  result;  Governor's 
proclamation. — Upon  the  receipt  of  said  returns,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
Governor,  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  and  the  president  of  this  convention,  or  any 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE  951 

two  of  them,  to  compare  the  votes  cast  in  said  election ;  and  if  it  shall  appear 
that  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  east  for  and  against  the  "New  Constitution" 
were  for  "New  Constitution,"  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Governor,  Speaker 
of  the  Senate,  and  president  of  this  convention,  or  any  two  of  them,  to  append 
to  this  Constitution  a  certificate  of  the  result  of  the  votes,  from  which  time  the 
Constitution  shall  be  established  as  the  Constitution  of  Tennessee,  and  the 
Governor  shall  make  proclamation  of  the  result. 

Sec.  5.  When  proclamation  to  be  issued. — The  Governor  of  the  State  is 
required  to  issue  his  proclamation  as  to  the  election  on  the  fourth  Saturday  in 
March,  1870,  hereto  provided  for. 

JOHN  0.  BROWN,  President. 

Attest  • 
[L.  S.]  T.  E.  S.  RUSSWURM,  Secretary. 

CERTIFICATE 

State  of  Tennessee 

In  pursuance  of  the  fourth  ordinance  of  the  late  constitutional  convention 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  adopted  on  the  twenty-third  of  February,  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  seventy,  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  we,  D.  W.  C.  Senter, 
Governor  of  said  State;  Dorsey  B.  Thomas,  Speaker  of  the  Senate;  and  John 
C.  Brown,  president  of  said  convention,  do  hereby  certify  that  we  have  carefully 
compared  the  votes  cast  for  and  against  the  new  Constitution  in  the  election  on 
the  fourth  Saturday  of  March,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and 
we  certify  that  the  vote  cast  in  the  entire  State,  leaving  out  the  counties  of 
Knox,  Grainger,  Roane,  and  Overton  (from  which  there  are  no  official  returns), 
was  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand.  Of  these,  ninety-eight  thousand  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  votes  were  for  the  new  Constitution,  and  thirty-three 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two  votes  were  for  the  old  Constitution ; 
and  that  the  majority  for  the  new  Constitution  is  sixty-four  thousand  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-six;  and  we  certify  accordingly  the  ratification  of  the  new 
Constitution. 

Done  at  the  executive  department,  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  this  fifth  day  of 
May,  A.  D.  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  of  the  American 
independence  the  ninety-fourth. 

D.  W.  C.  SENTER,  Governor ; 

JOHN  C.  BROWN,  President,  etc. ; 

U.  B.  THOMAS,  Speaker  of  the  Semite. 


PROCLAMATION 


State  of  Tennessee,  Executive  Department, 

Nashville,  May  5,  1870. 

In  pursuance  of  the  fourth  ordinance  of  the  late  constitutional  convention, 
I  have  carefully  examined  the  official  returns  of  the  election  held  on  the  twenty- 
sixth  day  of  March  last,  for  the  ratification  or  rejection  of  the  proposed  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  of  Tennessee  (except  the  counties  of  Knox,  Grainger, 
Roane,  and  Overton,  which  returns  have  not  been  received),  and  find  the  num- 
ber of  votes  cast  for  the  "New  Constitution"  to  be  (98,128)  ninety-eight  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  and  for  the  "Old  Constitution"  (33,872) 
thirty-three  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-two,  being  a  majority  of 
(64,256)  sixty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  for  the  new  Constitution. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  D.  W.  C.  Senter,  Governor  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  by 
virtue  of  the  power  and  authority  in  me  vested,  do  hereby  declare  and  proclaim 


952 


TENNESSEE,  THE  VOLUNTEER  STATE 


that  the  new  Constitution,  as  submitted  to  the  people,  was  ratified  by  them  at 
the  ballot  box,  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  March  last,  by  said  majority  of 
(64,256)   sixty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  votes. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  official  signature,  and 
ordered  the  great  seal  of  the  State  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  department  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  this  fifth  day  of  May,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy,  and  of  the 
American  independence  the  ninety-fourth. 

D.  W.  C.  SENTER. 

By  the  Governor : 
[L.  S.]  A.  J.  FLETCHER, 

Secretary  of  State. 


INDEX 


Abernathy,  W.   K.,   speaker,   597 

Abingdon  Convention,  444 

Abingdon   Presbytery,   329 

Abolitionists,  activities  of,   440,  466,   467,   468 

Abortive   treaties,   258 

Abraham,   negro,   216,   217 

Abraham,  of  Chilhowee,  see  Old  Abraham 

Abraham's  Creek,    161 

Absconders,  see  Absenteeism 

Absenteeism,    610,   613,   618,   691 

Absent  voters  bill,    628,    629 

Academy   system    of   education,    780 

Ackia,    battle    of,    41 

Acorns,   in   Creek  War,    348 

Acropolis,    430 

Act  of  Cession,  of  N.  C,  144-147;  accepted 
by  U.    S.,    147-148 

Adair,    Gen.,    at    New   Orleans,    364 

Adair,   James,    55 

Adair,   John,    153,    155 

Adams    Bill,    the,    595,   note 

Adams,  Gen.  John,  killed  at  battle  of 
Franklin,  508,  513 

Adams,  pres.  John,  148,  280;  re  Blount's 
expulsion,  282,   288 

Adams,  pres.  John  Quincy,  defeated  by 
Jackson,  399;  re  Indians,  432;  re  Gentry, 
466 

Adams,    Mrs.    Marion,    572 

Age   of   consent  law,    615 

Agricultural  and  Industrial  Normal  School 
for    Negroes,    624,    790 

Agricultural  dept.,  of  State  University,  541 
and    note 

Agriculture,    bureau    of,    established,    554 

Aguinaldo,  589 

Aiken,    John    R.,    97 

Aisne-Marne,    offensive,    638 

Alabama   letter,    the,    422,    note 

Alamance,    the,    battle    of,    31,    32,    64.    73,    74 

Aldehoff,   H.    W.    von,    834 

Alden  ring,  the,   541,  542 

Alexander,  Adam  R.,  375,  406 

Alexander  and  Munsell  boundary  line,  380, 
381 

Alexander,  B.  F.,  speaker,  563 

Alexander,   Maj.   R.    B.,    437 

Allen,    Campbell,    399 

Allen,    Lieut.,    356 

Allen,    Lieut.    David    Van    H.,    590 

Allen.  Miss  Eliza,  wife  of  Sam  Houston, 
399 

Allen,  Isaac,  commissioner  of  N.   C,   384 

Allen,  John,  399 

Allen,    Joseph    W.,    460 

Allen,    Col.    Robert,    399,    405 

Allen,    Capt.   Wm.   B.,    438   and   note 

Allison,    Mr.,     297 

Allison,   David,   149 

Allison,    James,    149 

Allison,  Judge  John,  re  Mero  District.  137; 
re  Spanish  conspiracy,  141,  142;  re 
Sevier's  diary,  302,  note;  re  first  school, 
775,   note 

Ambrister,    Robert,    execution    of,    373 

Amendments,    of    1865,    525;    526    and    note; 
13th   TJ.    S.    (abolition    of   slavery)    rati- 
fied,   527;    14th    U.    S.    ratified,    530.    532; 
15th     IT.     S.,     never     ratified     by     Tenn.. 
532:   15th  U.   S.   rejected,   550;   18th  U.   S. 
ratified,    605;    re    U.    S.    Senators    to    be 
elected  by  people,  621;  proposed  to  per- 
mit  women   to   vote,    625;   18th    adopted. 
682  and  note,  683;   19th.  fight  for  ratifi- 
cation  of,    689-691;    19th   ratified,    690 
American  Antiquarian   Society,  60 
American   Historical   Magazine,   587 
American  party,  see  "Know-Nothing"  party, 

467 
American   system,  the,   417 
American  Temperance  Society,  602  and  note 


"American    Volunteers,"    95 

Amnesty,  proclaimed  by  Lincoln,  522 

Anderson,    Alex.,   U.    S.    Senator,   412 

Anderson,    Rev.   Alexander,    332 

Anderson   County,   erected,   296;   history  and 

statistics  of.   804-805 
Anderson,   Douglas,   re   Murrell,   391,   393;    re 

Tenn.   Centennial   Exposition,    583 
Anderson,   Hu.   C,   595,    note;   speaker,    622 
Anderson,   J.   C,   44 

Anderson,    Judge    J.    M.,    429;    re    speech    of 

at  Cooper  trial,  607,  608 
Anderson,  John,  120 

Anderson,  Judge  Joseph,  148,  155,  156  227, 
271,  272,  296;  elected  U.  S.  Senator,  284, 
293,  334;  first  comptroller  U.  S.  treasury, 
371 

Anderson,  Col.  Kellar,  re  miners'  strike, 
578,   579;   in  Spanish-American  War,  590 

Anderson,    Luke,     188,    244 

Anderson,  Gen.  Samuel  R.,  437;  in  Civil 
War,  473;  serves  in  Va„  512,  513;  re 
memorial    to    legislature,    539 

"Andrew  Jackson  and  Early  Tennessee  His- 
tory,"  56 

Angleman,    31 

Anglo-Saxon   Race,   the,   29 

Anglo-Saxons,  in  Tenn.,  iii-vi;  iv,"  note;  v, 
note;    64,    66 

Annals    of   Congress,    259 

Anti-pass   bill,    626,   631 

Antiquarian    Society,    371 

Anti-Saloon  League,   595,   612 

"Anti-Tippling    Bill,"    the,    626 

Appalachian  Fish  and  Game  Preserve,  No. 
1,     630 

Apparel,    321 

Appendix,    903-952 

Arbor.  Bird  and   Flower  Day,   687 

Arbuthnot,    Alexander,    execution    of,    373 

Archer,    Gen.    J.    J.,    serves    in    Va.,    512 

Archives  and  History,  see  History  and 
Archives 

Archives,  of  the  Indies,  138,  note;  of  Tenn., 
383,  note,  384,  386.  note,  387,  note,  407, 
note,  428,  433.  445,  note;  re  Brownlow 
papers,    545,    546,    547 

Argonne   Forest,    638 

Arledge,    Jesse,    559.    note 

Armistead,  George  H.,  Sr.,  campaign  man- 
ager for  Carmack,   606,   note 

Armistice,    the,    in    World    War,    637 

Armstrong,   Gen.   Frank   C,   513 

Armstrong,    Hugh    C,    405 

Armstrong,   J.   V.,    415,   note 

Armstrong,   John,   sec.   war,   338 

Armstrong,  John,  see  "John  Armstrong's 
Office" 

Armstrong,    Martin,    117 

Armstrong,  Gen.  Robert  408;  in  Second 
Seminole    War.    415,    416 

Armstrong.    Miss    Zelln,    817 

Armv    of    Kentucky,    485 

Armv  of  Tennessee.  473,  474,  482,  485;  in- 
vades  Ky„   485-487 

Armv    of   the    Cumberland,    499 

Arnell.  S.  M.,   sought  by  Ku  Klux  Klan,  538 

Arnold,   Will   T.,  asst.    surgeon,   590 

"Articles  of  Association,"  of  Settlement 
South  of  the  Holston  and  French  Broad, 
144 

Arvan,  31  and  note 

Asburv,    Bishop    Francis.    330 

Asher's   Station.    108.    170 

Ashery,   R.   A.,   re   Edgington   and   Estes,    627 

Atkins.  J.  D.  C,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

Atkinson,  Willinm  and  Matthew,  make 
great   seal,   298 

Atlanta    campaign,    500.    512 

Atlantic   and   Miss.   R.   R.   Co.,    444   and   note 


953 


954 


INDEX 


Atta-Kulla-Kulla  (Atta-Culla-Culla),  45, 
164,  251;  help  of  at  Fort  Loudon,  50; 
re  treaty  of  Lochaber,  68;  re  Hender- 
son purchase,  86;  and  Oconostata,  157- 
163;  appearance  and  character  of,  161, 
252 

Attitude  of  Tenn.  and  Ga.  toward  Cher- 
okees,  257 

Aust,    Chancellor    John,    700 

Avent,    Frank,    sec.    R.    R.    Commission,    588 

Avery's   treaty,   90,    253 

Avery  Trace,  see  North  Carolina  Road 

Avery,  Waightstill,   149 

Aztecs,    84 

Backwoodsmen,    321-325 
Bad    check   law,    625 
Bailey,   Sen.   James  E.,   473,   561 
Baker,    Col.,     392 
Baker,   Widow,   219 
Baker,    Abner,    707 

Bakerdon,   home  of  Gov.  Willie  Blount,   760 
Baker,    Elisha,    155 
Baker,    Miss    Elizabeth,    220 
Baker,    John,    103 
Baker,    William,     57 
Balch,   Rev.   Hezekiah,  329,   776 
Baleh,    Rev.    James,    329 
Ballard,    388 
Ball   play,   212,    237,   292 
Ball  Play  Creek,  44 

Bancroft,    George,    74;    re    results    of   battle 
of    King's    Mountain,    100;    re    nomina- 
tion  of  Polk,  422;   re  DeSoto's  crossing, 
762 
Bankhead,    Capt.,    481 
Banking    Department,    created,    620 
Bank   of  the   State  of  Tennessee,   see   "Ten- 
nessee   in    the    Banking    Business" 
Bank    of   the   U.    S.,    451,    452 
Baptist,   Col.   N.   W.,   railroad   commissioner, 

588 
Baptists,    early,    329 
Barbour,   James,    treaty   of,    258 
Barnard,    Edward    Emerson,    sketch    of,    722 
Barringer-,   D.   L.,   429 
Barrow,    Washington,    471 
Barry,    Hugh,    713 
Barton,   Rev.    Isaac,   329 
Barton,    Col.    Robert,    108 
Barton,    Col.   Samuel,    115,    134,   180 
Barton's    Creek,    209 
Bass,  John  M.,  415;  chairman  capitol  board, 

429;   receiver  of  Nashville,   542 
Bate,  Gov.  W.  B.,  481  and  note;  sent  against 
Murfreesboro,    508,    513;    declines    nomi- 
nation for  gov.   (1863),  521;  re  memorial 
to    legislature,     539;    elected    gov.,    545, 
563;    candidate   U.    S.    Senator,    557,    571; 
administrations      of,      563-568;      defeats 
Judge    Reid    for    gov.,    564;    calls    extra 
session,   567;   elected  U.  S.  Senator,   567; 
death   of,    567,   597 
Batey,    see    Camp    Batey 
Battle,   Gen.   Joel  A.,   supt.    prisons,    555 
Battles — 

Argonne  Forest,   636 

Battle   of  the   Bluffs,    116,   180,   181,   718 

Belleau  Wood,   638 

Bellicourt,    637 

Belmont,  475  and  note 

Bouresches,    638 

Boyd's  Creek,   118,    169 

Brice's  Cross  Roads,   505 

Camden,   91,   92 

Carriere,    637 

Chateau-Thierry,    638 

Chattanooga,   499 

Chickamauga,    494-498 

Chickasaw   Bayou,   511 

Collierville,   503 

Dandridge,   500 

Dibrell's  Hill,   500 

Drewry's   Bluff,    512 

Emuckfau,    352,    353 

Enotachopco,    352,    353 

Estenaula,   503 

Etowah,   151 

Etricourt,    637 

Ferme  de  Riqueval,   637 

Guillaine   Ferme,    637 

Hindenburg  line,   636 

Jack's  Creek,   503 

King's  Mountain,   96-101 

Lafayette,   503 

Long  Island   Flats,    89,   166 

Lookout   Mountain,    499 

Maynardsville.    500 


Mill  Springs,  or  Fishing  Creek,  or  Logan's 
Cross  Roads,  476 

Missionary   Ridge,    499 

Murfreesboro,   or  Stone's  River,   487-491 

Nauroy,   637 

New  Orleans,  364-367;  not  a  barren  vic- 
tory,  367 

Nickajack   and   Running  Water,  151 

Parker's   Cross   Roads,   492 

Perryville,    486 

Point  Pleasant,   67,   note,  85 

Richmond,    Ky.,    486 

Riqueval,    637 

St.    Mihiel,    636,    638 

Shiloh,   or  Pittsburg  Landing,   480-482 

Soissons,    638 

Talladega,    346,    347 

Tallushatchee,    346 

Thompson's   Station,    493,    740 

Tohopeka,    or   Horseshoe    Bend,    256,    353- 

358,  centennial     anniversary     of     cele- 
brated,  360 

Wahoo  Swamp,   416 

Battles   and   commanders,   513,   614 

Baudoin,   293 

Baxter,  Col.  Jere,  candidate  for  gov.,  574; 
activities  of,  593;  re  building  T.  C.  R. 
R.,    593 

Baxter,  Lewis   T.,  defeated  for  gov.,   575 

Baxter,    Judge    Nathaniel,    416 

Baxter,  Nat.  Jr.,   speaker,  611 

Bayard,   James  Asheton,  284 

Bayless,  Col.  Albert,  in  Spanish-American 
War,    589 

Bayless,   Col.   Samuel,   887,   note 

Bays,   J.,   197 

Bean,   Lieut.,    355 

Bean,  John,   deputy  to  Cherokee,   61,   68 

Bean,    Russell,    63,    note 

Bean's  Lick,   442 

Beard,   Maj.    Hugh,    216,   218 

Beard,   John,    152 

Beard,    Capt.   John,    222,   223,   233 

Beard's  Bluff,   249 

Beard,  W.  E.,  735;  re  Shy's  Hill,  760 

Beasley,    John    R.,    563 

Beattie,   "Tinker  Dave,"   853 

Beaujolais,   Count   de,   291-293 

Beauregard,  Gen.  G.  T.,  479,  480,  note,  481; 
re  Gov.  Harris,  482;  withdraws  to  Co- 
rinth,  482 

Beaver  Creek,  75 

Bedford  County,  erected,  309;  history  and 
statistics   of,    840-842 

Bee-Line  Highway,   754 

Been  (Bean),  William,  50;  re  Boone  tree,  56; 
settlement  of,  63,  67,  74;  re  Watauga 
Association,   70;    re   home   of,    708,    709 

Been,  Mrs.  William,  captured  by  Indians, 
167 

Beginning  of  Real  Tennessee  History,  38- 
50 

Beginning  of  the  Harassments  of  Spain,  134 

Belew,  Ben,  104 

Bell,  John,  re  Crenshaw,  394;  M.  C,  403; 
defeated  by  Polk,  408;  opposed  to  Jack- 
son, 417;  418,  423;  nominated  for  pres., 
469;  home  and  sketch  of,  719 

Bell   Tavern,    see    Old    Bell    Tavern 

Bell,  Gen.  Tyree  H.,  503,  re  capture  of 
Johnsonville.    507;    513 

Belleau    Wood.    638 

Belle  Meade,  723 

Bell   Witch,    870 

Belmont,    battle  of.    475   and   note 

Beloved  Woman,  164 

Bench,  The,  203,  224,  228;  exploits  of,  225- 
231 

"Benefit  of  clergy,"   394 

Benge,   Bob,    228 

Benge,   Bob   Jr.    (The  Bench),   228 

Benge,   John,    228 

Benjamin,    Judah   P.,    475,   531 

Bentley,    Mrs.    Blanche,   36,   note 

Benton  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
886 

Benton,  Jesse,  87;  re  duel  of  with  Carroll, 
337;  re  affray  with  Jackson,  337;  moves 
to  West  Tenn.,   375;   home  of,   728 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  re  affray  with  Jackson, 
337;  re  Natchez  expedition,  338;  467, 
note 

Berry,    Lt.    Com.    Albert   G.,    590 

Berry,   Dr.   Daniel,   724 

Berry,  James,   155 

Berry,  C.  R.,  speaker,  567 

Bienville,    Jean    Baptiste    le    Moyne    de,    41, 

359,  note,    375,    765 


INDEX 


955 


Big   Foot,    188 

Big  Harp  (Micajah  Harp),  see  Tennessee 
Desperadoes 

Big    Island,    169 

Big  Salt  Lick,   see  Great  French  Lick 

Billingsley,  Prof.  W.  N.,  591  and  note 

Bird,  Col.,   45,  50 

Black,   Gabriel,   208 

Black,    Joseph,    155 

Black,   William,   treasurer,   272 

Blackburn,   Rev.   Gideon,   329 

Blackburn,   G.   W.,    463 

Black   Fish,   The,    225,   226 

Black  Fox,  The,  203,  256 

Black's  block  house,  229 

Blaine,  Jas.  G.,  re  exception  of  Tenn.  from 
provisions  of  emancipation  proclama- 
tion, 520;  re  negro  suffrage,  535 

Blair  &   Reeves,   260 

Blair,    F.    P.,    348 

Blair,    John,    M.    C,    403 

Bledsoe,   Col.   Abraham,   103 

Bledsoe,  Col.  Anthony,  67,  75,  379;  land  com- 
missioner, 117;  trustee  Davidson  Acad- 
emy, 135;  re  Spanish  conspiracy,  139; 
re  survey  of,  163;  re  Indians,  191;  death 
of,    191;    239 

Bledsoe  County,  erected,  309;  history  and 
statistics    of,    805 

Bledsoe,  Col.  Isaac,  134,  136,  149,  191;  killed, 
216;    239 

Bledsoe.   Oscar  F.,   416 

Bledsoe's  Lick,   43,   103 

Bledsoe's   Station,   108,   191,   245,   258 

Bledsoe,    Thomas,    245 

Blevins,    William,    56 

Blind,    School    for,    415,    434,    755 

Block    house,    how    built,    325 

Bloodv  Fellow,  The  (Noonetoogah),  203, 
204,  205.  206,  211,  212,  214,  221;  re 
treaty,    233 

"Bloody   First,    The,"    438 

"Bloody   Ground,"   44,   88 

Blount  College,  154,  309,   318,  note,  334 

Blount  County,  erected,  154;  delegates  of 
to  constitutional  convention,  155;  mar- 
kers of,  709-713;  history  and  statistics 
of,    805-806 

Blount,    Mary   Grainger,    154,    note,    275 

Blount,   Richard  B.,   285 

Blount,    Thomas,    277,    282 

Blount,    Gov.    William,    re    Moses    Fisk,    59; 
appointed   gov.   of   Southwest   Territory, 
148    and    note,    204;    re    journal    of,    149, 
note;    conduct    and    popularitv    of,    149- 
152;   re   treaty  of  Holston,   150,   204,   205, 
253;     proclamation     of,     re     legislature. 
152;   re  statehood,   154;   proclamation    of 
for  constitutional  convention,  155;  dele- 
gate to  constitutional  convention  (1796). 
155;      attends      Chickasaw      Conference, 
210;    re   Chickamaugas.    211,    212,   240;   re 
Covatee     conference,     212;     received    by 
Indians.    214;    issues   orders   against   In- 
dians  (1793),   216;   seeks  peace  with  In- 
dians,  220,   221;   grants  Doublehead   per- 
mit    to     hunt    on     Cumberland,     232;     re 
expedition    against   Chickamaugas,    240- 
244;    re   conference   of   with   Watts,    244; 
re    Piomingo,    247;    notifies    government 
of   adoption    of   Tenn.    constitution,    271; 
elected    U.    S.    senator,    271,    272,    277;    re 
admission    of    Tenn.,    275,    276;    expelled 
from  U.  S.  senate,  280-2S4;  impeachment 
of,      284-285;      vindication      of,      285-287; 
opinions   concerning   innocence    or   guilt 
of,    287-291;    re    popularity    of,    284,    285; 
speaker   of  Tenn.   senate,   285;   death   of, 
285;    re   great    seal,    297;    re    repudiation 
of   Walker's   line,   380 
Blount,  Gov.  Willie,  sec.  to  Gov.  Wm.  Blount, 
149;    272;    vindicates    Wm.    Blount,    285- 
287;    290;   justice    of   peace,    303;    re  land 
grants,     317;     administrations     of,     334- 
367;  principal  events  in   administrations 
of.    334;   raises   $370,000   for   Creek   War, 
337;  calls  for  volunteers  for  Creek  War, 
340;   to  Jackson,   re  enlistments,   351;   re 
troops   for  New  Orleans  campaign,   360; 
399,   406,   760 
Bluffs,    The    (the   Bluff),    108,    135,    170,    172 
Blythe.    Col.    A.    K.,    481 
Board    of  Control,    624,    687 
Bogers,    John.    227 
"Roiling  pot"   106 
Bolshevism,  v,   note 
Bond,   Lewis,    speaker,    557 
Bond,    W.    W.,    speaker,    692 
Bonds,  see  state  debt 


Bond-secured    system,    453 

"Bone  Dry  Law,"   558,  note 

Bone-polisher,    237 

"Bonnie    Kate,"    re    romance   of,    89 

Boone,    Col.,    485 

Boone  Creek,   56,  74 

Boone,   Daniel,    56;    re   Henderson    &   Co.,    57, 

67,   85,    86,   88;   re   entry   into   Ky.,   86 
Boone   Falls,    56 
Boone    tree,    56 

Boundary  lines,  see  state  boundary  lines 
Bossu's   "Travels   in  Louisiana,"   49 
Bowers,    Duke    C,    re    death    penalty,    626; 

law    repealed,    684 
Bowles,    William    Augustus,    206,    214 
Bowling,   Prof.    F.   M.,    591   and   note 
Bowling,   Dr.   W.    K.,   720 
Bowyer,   Lewis,    69 
Boyd,  233 
Boyd,   John,   104 

Boyd's   Creek,    battle,  of,   118,   169 
Bradford,    Capt,   356 
"Bradford   Circular,  The,"   304 
Bradford,  Henrv,   454 
Bradford,   Hiram   S.,  473 
Bradford,   Gen.    J.    B.,    416 
Bradlev    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

806-808 
Bradly,  Capt.,  346 
Bradshaw,    Richard,    405 

Bragg,  Gen.  Braxton,  479;  occupies  Chat- 
tanooga, 482;  invades  Ky..  485-487;  re 
battle  of  Perrvville,  486  and  note;  at 
battle  of  Murfreesboro,  487-491,  487, 
note;  falls  back  to  Tullahoma,  491; 
forced  from  Middle  Tenn.,  492-493;  re- 
tires to  Chattanooga,  494;  fights  bat- 
tle of  Chickamauga,  495-497;  quarrels 
with  Forrest,  498-499;  defeated  at  Chat- 
tanooga, 499;  prefers  charges  against 
Gen.  Polk,  500;  superseded  by  Gen.  J.  E. 
Johnston,  500;  re  East  Tenn.  campaign, 
500,  note 
Brandon,  Gov.  Gerard  C,  387 
Branon,  Col.,  98 
Breath,    The,    198,    199,    211,    227,    228;    death 

of,   243 
Breazeale,   J.  W.  M.,  re  the  Harns,  391,  note 
Breckinridge.    Gen.    John    C,    467,    468,    469; 
at    Shiloh,     480;    at    Murfreesboro,    487- 
491;   charge  of,  488,  531,  759 
Brennan,   H.  W.,   highway  com.,   613 
Brentwood,   fight  at,   741 
Briceville,    strike,    577 
Bridge  burners,   the,   475 
Brinkley,   547 
Brister,   Prof.   J.   W.,    612 
Bristol    to   Memphis    Highway,    612 
British,  efforts  of  with  Indians,   89,  91;  suc- 
cessful campaigns,  91 
Britton,   Mr.,    293 

Brock,   Lee.   chairman   Fair   Price   Com.,   635 
Broken    Arrow,    214 
Brooks,  B.   F.,   greenbacker,   557,   560 
Brooks,   Stephen,   155 
Brown,    Col.,    168 

Brown,     Gov.    Aaron    V.,     418,     423;     elected 
gov.     424,    425;    administration     of,     434- 
438;   re   Mexican   "War,   437:    defeated   by 
Neili  S.  Brown,  439;   754-755 
Brown,  Anna  B.   A.,   re  prehistoric  race,  11 
Rrown,   Daniel    G..    197,    241 
Brown,  Duncan,   750 
Brown,   Elizabeth,    197,    200,    201 
Brown   family,   tragedy  of,   196-201 
Brown,   George,    198,    200,    201 
Brown,   Col.     George     Leroy,      in      Spanish- 
American    War,    590 
Brown,  Prof.    J.    B.,    state    supt.    public    in- 
struction,   814 
Brown,   Jacob,   re  lease   from   Cherokees.    61, 
73;    settled   on   Nollichucky,    67;   re  Wa- 
tauga Ass'n,    70,   77;   origin   of,    73;   pur- 
chase of,   88.   252 
Brown,   Jane,   197,    200 
Brown,  Jane  Gillespie,   196-201 
Brown,   James,   tragedy  of,   196-201 
Brown,  James,     re     Tenn. -Miss.      boundary, 

371,  386 
Brown,   Col.   James    (of  Ga.),   238 
Brown,   John,    197 
Brown,   John,  re  Va.  raid,  468 
Brown,   Gov.   John   C,   re   great   seal,   301;   at 
Fort  Ttonolson,  478;  wounded  at  Frank- 
lin, 508;   513;   re  Ku   Klux   Klan,   537;  re 
memorial      to      legislature,      539;      pres. 
const,    convention    of    1870,    552;    admin- 
istration   of,    554-556;    elected    gov.,    55  1; 
calls   extra    session,    555;    defeats    Free- 


956 


INDEX 


man  for  gov.,  555;  praised  by  Judge 
James  D.  Richardson,  556;  candidate 
for  U.  S.  senator,  557;  re  birthplace  of, 
749 

Brown,  Col.  Joseph,  re  Nickajack  expedi- 
tion, 151  and  note,  241-244,  197-201,  201, 
note,   208,   213,   215;   742,   743 

Brown,   Joseph    (of  S.   C).   200,   201 

Brown,   Joshua,   re   Sam    Davis,   753 

Brown,  Dr.   Morgan,    280,    note 

Brown,  Morgan    W.,    415 

Brown,  Gov.  Neill  S.,  re  Florida  War,  416; 
418,  423;  elected  gov.,  427;  administra- 
tion of,  438-439;  minister  to  Russia, 
440;  in  Civil  War,  473;  arrested  by 
Johnson,  516;  at  const,  convention  of 
1870.   552;  re  birthplace  of,  749 

Brown,   Polly,   197,   200 

Brown.   Col.    Richard,    355 

Brown's  blockhouse,   240 

Brown's  second    purchase,    253 

Brown   settlement,   68,  73 

Brown,  Thomas,   240 

Brown,   Tullv,   re  First  Tenn.   Regiment,   590 

Brown,  Judge  W.  L..  280.  note;  com.,  re 
Tenn.-Ky.  boundary,  371,  380-383;  jus- 
tice   supreme    court,    395;    424 

Brown,  William,   197 

Browning.  Wm.  A.,  sec.  of  Andrew  John- 
son,   523 

Brownlow,   Gen.   James   P.,    513.    740 

Brownlow    militia    law,    see    militia 

Brownlow  state   guard,   see   state   guard 

Brownlow.  Gov.  W.  G,  re  great  seal.  301; 
recommends  adoption  of  National  Bank- 
ins  System,  462;  re  convention  (1863). 
521;  re  Johnson  resolutions.  523;  at 
Baltimore  convention  (1864),  524; 
elected  gov.,  526;  how  he  viewed  Con- 
federate soldiers,  527;  message  of  to 
legislature,  528;  second  session  of 
regime  of,  531;  turbulence  of  regime  of, 
533.  534;  defeats  Etheridge,  533;  sec- 
ond administration  of,  533-550;  tri- 
umphs, 533;  asks  repeal  of  act  offering 
reward  for  arrest  of  Isham  G.  Harris. 
533;  elected  U.  S.  senator,  534;  conflicts 
with  Johnson.  535;  backed  by  state 
guard,  536,  538;  seeks  aid  of  Gen. 
Thomas,  538;  calls  extra  session  to  deal 
with  Ku  Klux  Kian,  538.  539;  sends  to 
legislature  ordinance  of  Judge  Lea,  re 
franchise.  539;  issues  proclamation 
against  Ku  Klux  Klan,  540;  last  proc- 
lamation of,  re  martial  law,  540;  re- 
signs as  gov.,  541;  reckless  extrava- 
gance of  regime  of,  542,  543  and  note; 
papers  of  in  state  archives,  545-547 

Brushy   Mountain    tract,    bought,    580 

Brvan,   Eugene  J.,   speaker,   699 

Bryan,  M.   T.,   618 

Bryan.  Peter,  156 

P.uchanan.   Mrs    A.   S.,    595.   note 

Buchanan.    Alexander,    181 

Buchanan,   Col.   John.    55.   116.   181,   574 

Buchanan,    Pres.    James,    440,    467 

Buchanan.  Gov.  John  P.,  nominated  for  gov., 
574;  defeats  Lewis  T.  Baxter  for  gov., 
575;  administration  of,  575,  579;  in- 
auguration of,  575;  orders  out  state 
guard,  re  miners'  insurrection.  577;  last 
message   of  to   legislature.    579 

Buchanan.   Mrs.    Sallie.    215.    730 

Buchanan's  Station,  attacked,  151,  213,  214, 
215.    220,    730 

Buck,  A.  E.,   reorganization  bill,   700 

Buckenhem,   Thomas,   156 

Buckner,  Gen.  Simon  Bolivar,  in  Civil  War, 
475;  surrenders  Fort  Donelson,  477-479; 
holds   East  Tennessee.    494 

Budget   and    budgetary   system.    631 

Buell.  Gen  Don  Carlos.  476;  re  Fort  Donel- 
son, 477;  at  Nashville.  479;  marches  to 
join  Grant,  479;  re  Shiloh.  480.  note, 
481,   482;  opposes  Bragg  in  Ky.,  486 

Buffalo   Creek.    S3 

Buford,   Gen.,   507 

Buford,   Lieut.   Edward,   in  World  War,    639 

Buford.  Mrs.   Edward,   688 

Bullock,   E.  L.,   railroad   com.,   588 

Bullock.  Leonard  H..   87 

"Bull  Moose"  party,  617 

Bulltown,   194 

Bunch,    Col.,    355 

Bunch,  Mr.,  292 

Bureau   of   Municipal    Research,    700 

Burk,  Rev.  William,   330 

Burn,  Harry  T.,  re  equal   suffrage,   690 


Burnett,  Mr.,  229 

Burney,  Simon,   174 

Burns,   D.    B.,   385,    626 

Burnside,  Gen.  A.  E.,  drives  Confederates 
out  of  East  Tenn.,  494;  attacked  by 
Forrest,    498;   relieved,   500 

Burnt   Station,    711 

Burr,  Aaron,  re  Tennesseans,  37;  280,  291; 
visits   Tenn.,    309,    730 

Burr's   Landing,   730 

Burton,    Robert   M.,   405 

Butler   (Untoola,  or  Gun  Rod  of  Citico),  121 

Butler,    Pierce,    282 

Butler,   Capt.   Robert,   723 

Butler,  Col.  Thomas,  254;  re  Tellico  Treaty, 
294 

Byers.  re  Wm.   Blount,   281,   283,   288 

Byers,  Capt.   S.  H.  M.,   499,   note 

Byrd,    Col.    William,    162 

Byrns,   Joseph   W.,    speaker,    591 

Bvron,    Ebenezer,    226 

"Cabin   rights,"   103 

Caesar   and   Anthony,   376,    note 

Caffrev,  John,  105 

Caffrey,  Peter,   207 

Caffrey.   Mrs.   Peter,   207.    20S 

Cage,   William.    120 

Cahal,   Terry  H.,   406,   416 

Caldwell  A.,   559 

Caldwell,   Mrs.    Alex.,    685 

Caldwell,  J.  W.,  re  Watauga  Ass'n,  77,  78; 
re  Cumberland  Compact,  78;  re  Judge 
David  Campbell.  309-310,  376,  note;  re 
const,  convention  of  1870,  552  and  note; 
on   Gov.  Marks,   560 

Caldwell,    S.   T.,   re   education,    784 

Calhoun,  John  C,  treaty  of,  257;  re  pen- 
sioners, 260;  re  instructions  to  Jack- 
son to  invade  Florida,  373;  re  commer- 
cial   convention,    434,    435 

Callaway,    Samuel,    57 

Callihan,   Edward,   230 

Camak,   re   Ga.-Tenn.   line,    386 

Camden,   battle  of,   91,   92 

Cameron,  Alexander,  re  Watauga  settlers, 
60.  61,  62,  68,  75.  78,  163;  re  union  of 
loyalists  and  Indians,  89;  162 

Camp,   John,   219 

Camp   Batey.    344 

Campbell,    Bledsoe's    servant,    191 

Campbell,    correspondent,    279 

Campbell,   Gen.   A.   W.,   481 

Campbell,  Col.  Arthur,  prepares  against 
Ferguson,  92,  97,  98:  re  Chickamaugas, 
169,    170;    162,    203,    279 

Campbell,    Capt.    Charles,    55 

Campbell  Countv,  historv  and  statistics  of, 
808-809 

Camn'ell.  Judge  David,  120.  122.  129.  148, 
277,  292;  impeachment  of,  309,  310;  re- 
fuses warrant  for  Sevier's  arrest,  310; 
judge    of   Miss.    Ter..    310 

Campbell,  George  W.,  334;  sec.  treasury. 
337,   368:   re  capitol   site.   428;    456 

Campbell,  Judge  Henry  T.,  defeated  for 
gov..    594   and   note 

Campbell,   James,   97,   292 

Campbell.  Ensign  Robert,  at  King's  Moun- 
tain.  97,   98 

Campbell's    Station,    223 

Campbell.    Thomas.    55.    note 

Campbell.    Lieut.    W.    P.    A.,    514 

Campbell,  Col.  William,  67,  note:  made 
colonel,  71;  91:  prepares  against  Fer- 
guson, 92,  97,  98;  commands  at  King's 
Mountain.  93,   94,   96 

Campbell,  Gov.  William  B.,  re  Florida  War. 
416;  418:  elected  gov.,  427;  in  Mexican 
War.  437.  438,  note;  administration  of, 
441-442;  513;  assists  Andrew  Johnson, 
519:    claimed    elected   gov.    (1863),    522 

Camp    Coetquidan,    637 

Camp    Coffee,    344 

Camp  meeting,  first.  294,  330;  cause  and 
effect   of,    330,    331 

Camp   Sevier,   637 

Canals,    442,    443 

Canal    Sector,    636 

Canbv.    Gen.    E.    R.    S.,    462;    re    paroles,    511 

Cane   Creek,   93 

Cane  Ridge,  294,   330,  331 

Cannon  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
842,   843 

Cannon.  Gov.  Newton,  re  Tenn. -Miss,  boun- 
dary line,  387.  399;  406;  administra- 
tions of.  407-411:  campaign  of  against 
Polk.  411-412:  defeated  by  Polk,  411; 
opposed  to  Andrew  Jackson,  417;  re 
canal,    442 


INDEX 


95/ 


Cantey,    Capt.    Edward    B.,    637 

Caperton,  Admiral  Wm.  B.,  in  Spanish- 
American    War,    590 

Capitol,  state,  re  erection  of,  415;  history 
and  description  of.  427-431;  old  capitol, 
428,    721;    first,    707 

Capitol   annex   building,    641 

Carels,  J.  S.,  treas.  Tenn.  Historical  Society, 
556 

Carey,   James,   280,   281,    282,   283,   288,    290 

Carey  letter,  280,  281,  282,  283,  288 

Carmack,  Sen.  E.  W.,  on  death  of  Sen.  Bate, 
567-568;  defeated  by  Bob  Taylor,  603; 
defeated  by  Patterson,  604;  leads  fight 
for  prohibition,  604;  campaign  of 
against  Patterson,  606;  death  of,  606, 
607 

Carmichael,  Daniel,   222 

Carnes,  Gen.  Samuel  T.,  re  miners'  strike, 
577,   578 

Carnes,    Lieut.    W.    W.,    513 

Carpet-baggers,    537 

Carr,    John,    330,    331 

Carrick,    Rev.    Samuel,    223,    329 

Carroll  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
886-887 

Carroll,    Gen.   W.   H„    473 

Carroll,  Gov.  William,  re  treaty  of  removal, 
258;  re  great  seal,  299,  301;  re  expedi- 
tion to  New  Orleans,  312;  nail  store 
of,  337;  appointed  general.  337;  re  duel 
of  with  Jesse  Benton,  337;  re  Natchez 
expedition,  338;  re  battle  of  Tallushat- 
chee,  346;  re  battle  of  Talladega,  347; 
re  enlistments,  352;  re  battle  of  Enota- 
chopeo,  353;  re  battle  of  Tohopeka,  355; 
re  New  Orleans  campaign.  364  and  note; 
brings  first  steamboat  to  Nashville,  371; 
re  Miss. -Tenn.  line,  387;  first  series  of 
administrations  of,  395-399;  sword  voted 
to,  396;  second  series  of  administrations 
of,  403-404;  recommendations  of  to  leg- 
islature, 403;  defeated  by  Cannon,  407; 
415;  re  internal  improvements,  443, 
note;  re  banking,  455;  re  temperance, 
602 

Carter   and  Lucas,   88 

Carter  County,  erected,  275;  history  and 
statistics    of,    809 

Carter,   Daniel  F.,  555 

Carter,  Elizabeth,  154,  note 

Carter,  John,  delegate  to  N.  C,  62;  67,  69, 
88;  demands  redress  from  Cherokees, 
72;   statement   re,    83;   252 

Carter,  Maj.  John,  re  Sevier's  land  trans- 
actions,   303.    304.    305 

Carter,  Gen.  John  C,  fatally  wounded  at 
battle   of  Franklin,   508,   513 

Carter,  Gen.  Landon,  72,  note;  119,  120, 
149,  156,  250;  treasurer.  272;  commis- 
sioned   general,    291;    died,    295 

Carter,    Mary,    570 

Carter,   Gen.   Samuel   P.,   513,    514 

Carter   Shoe   Co.,    strike   at,    689 

Carter's   Creek   Turnpike,    740 

Carter's  Valley  Settlement,  67,  68,  72,  75; 
under  Va„  73;  re  petition  of,  78;  in- 
vaded by  Cherokees,   89,   164,  166 

Carter.  William  B.,  405;  pres.  const,  con- 
vention of  1834,  406  and  note;  re  bridge 
burners,    475 

Cartwright,   Robert,  106,   179,   728 

Caruthers,  Ezekiel,  219 

Caruthers,  Gov.  Robert  L.,  468;  elected  gov.. 
521 

Cass,    Lewis,    422 

Castalian    Springs,   43,    103 

Casteel,    Elizabeth,    239 

Casteel    family,    murder   of,    239 

Castleman,    Abraham.    116.    188,    219,    243 

Castleman,  Hans,   219 

Castleman,    Jacob.    218.    219    and    note 

Castleman,   Joseph,    218,    219   and   note 

Caswell    County,    120 

Caswell,  Gov.  Richard,  129,  185;  re  state  of 
Franklin,    130 

Caswell.   Gen.   William   R.,   473 

Catawbas,    45,    46 

Categiskey,    chief,    204 

Cates,  Gen.  Chas.  T.,  Jr.,  re  speech  of  in 
Cooper  trial,  608;  re  Tenn.-N.  C.  boun- 
dary line,  626 

Cates,    Thos.,     548 

Catholic  church,  at  Bardstown,   Ky.,   293 

Catholics,    333 

Catron.    Judge    John,    418 

Cave    City,    485 

Cavett,    Alexander,    224 

Cavett.    Alexander,   Jr.,   224,   234 
Vol.  1—61 


Cavett's  Station,   destroyed,   151,   223,   224 

Cedar   Springs,   91 

Celts,    28,    31 

Census,  table  of,  re  states  surrounding 
Tenn.,  35;  taken  for  legislature,  152; 
taken  for  statehood,  154,  155;  of  1810, 
337;    of   1820,    371;   of   1830,   403 

"Centennial  Dream,  A,"   587 

Centennial   Park,    587 

Central   Basin,   the,    23 

Central   loan   system,    454 

"Century    of   Errors,    A,"    587 

Cession  act,  first.  119;  second,  144-147;  ac- 
cepted by  U.  S.,  147-148;  re  land 
troubles,    313 

Chabaud,   Prof.,   292 

Chalmers,   Gen.   J.   R.,    481 

Chalmette,    plain    of,    365 

Champlin,    Rev.    James,    415    and    note 

Chapman,    Thomas,    120 

Charles   I,   33 

Charles    II,    grant   of,    379 

Charleville,  M.,  re  store  at  French  Lick, 
42,    43,    55 

Charley,  Capt.,  208.   211,   222,  227 

Charleston,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  R.  R., 
446 

Charlton,  C.  W.,  Com.  Immigration,   555 

Chateau-Thierry    district,    638 

Chattahoochee.    167 

Chattanooga,  siege  of,  499-500;  history  of, 
814-817;  meaning  of,  814 

Chattooga,    220 

Cheairs,   Capt.   E.   M.,    481 

Cheairs,  Mai.,  N.  F.,  at  Fort  Donelson,  478; 
home  of,  747 

Cheatham,    Archer,    555 

Cheatham  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
843 

Cheatham,  Gen.  B.  F.,  438,  note;  in  Civil 
War,  473;  at  battle  of  Belmont,  475; 
481;  at  battle  of  Perryville,  486;  joins 
Gen.  J.  E.  Johnston,  511;  513;  re  me- 
morial to  legislature,  539;  candidate  for 
congressman  at  large,  555 

Cheatham,  Maj.  Frank,  in  Spanish-Ameri- 
can   War,    589 

Cheatham.  Lieut.  Joseph,  in  Spanish-Ameri- 
can  War,   590 

Cheatham,   Richard,  406 

Cheatham,  Richard  B.,  refuses  oath  of  al- 
legiance, 516 

Cheat    Mountain    campaign,   512 

Cherokee    Club,    132 

Cherokee  Ford,   91,   95,   96 

Cherokee    Invasion    of   Holston,    163-167 

Cherokee    Path,    44,    55,    710 

Cherokees,  habitat  of,  16,  157,  158;  re  Fort 
Loudon,  44,  47,  48;  Overhill  Cherokees, 
44,  46;  re  traders  to,  55;  complain  of  en- 
croachments, 58;  friendly  to  Watauga, 
61;  lease  of  to  Watauga,  61,  79;  lease  of 
to  Brown,  61;  re  N.  C.  line,  67;  re  Rob- 
ertson, 71;  treaty  of  with  Va.,  75;  treaty 
of  with  Donelson,  78;  sale  of  to  Wa- 
tauga, 79,  88;  re  Henderson  &  Co.,  85- 
88;  re  sale  to  Brown,  88;  invade  Wa- 
tauga, 89,  163-167;  re  Avery's  treaty, 
90;  trouble  Cumberland  settlement,  108, 
116,  171;  plan  attack  on  Watauga.  118; 
re  treaty  of  Nashborough,  133.  134;  re 
treaty  of  Holston,  150;  attack  Buch- 
anan's Station,  151,  214,  215;  destroy 
Cavett's  Station,  151,  223,  224;  appear- 
ance and  character  of,  158:  under  At- 
takullakulla  and  Oconostota,  157-163; 
attacked  by  Sevier,  169;  invade  Cum- 
berland, 175-182;  invasion  of  hunting 
grounds  of  forbidden,  204;  treaties  with, 
see  treaties;  removal  of,  258,  259,  431- 
433;  re  surrender  of  lands,  368;  ad- 
vancement  of,    432 

Cherokee    Spring,    133^    175 

Cherry,   O'Connor   &   Co.    lease   convicts,    576 

Cherry,    Mrs.    W.    H.,    481 

Chester  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
887 

Chester.    Col.    Robert   I.,   887   and   note 

Chestnut   Bill,   the,   600,   note 

Chestua,   165 

C  leueunsene,  see  Dragging  Canoe 

Cheulah,  161 

Cheves,    R.    S.,    592,    594 

Chew's  History  of  Nashville,  re  Hume-Fogg 
School,  720 

Chiachattalla,  sec  Kiachatalee 

Chickamauga,  165;  abandoned,  170,  180;  bat- 
tle of,  194-498,  494,  note;  monuments  at, 
497,    498 


958 


INDEX 


Chickamaugas,  45,  62,  196;  trouble  Cumber- 
land Settlement,  116,  150,  171,  172,  175- 
182;  attacked  by  Sevier,  118,  119;  at- 
tack Buchanan's  Station,  151;  rise  of, 
167-170;  attacked  by  Shelby,  168;  attack 
Holston,  175-180;  re  Brown  tragedy, 
197-201;  attacked  by  Martin.  202;  de- 
clare war,  212;  Nickajack  expedition 
against,    238-244 

Chickasaw   allies,    244-250 

Chickasaw  Bayou,  battle  of,  511 

Chickasaw   Bluffs,   41.   206,  375 

Chickasaw  Island,   256 

Chickasaw   Purchase,    371,   374 

Chickasaws.  habitat  of,  19;  re  treaty  with, 
38;  trouble  Cumberland  Settlement,  108, 
116,  170,  171;  friends  of  Cumberland, 
116;  re  treaty  of  Nashboro,  133;  re 
treaty  of  Hopewell,  134;  re  treaty  of 
Holston,  150;  invade  Cumberland,  170, 
175;  re  Coldwater  expedition,  185,  186, 
187;  conference  of,  210,  232;  allies 
against  Creeks,  244-250;  entertained  at 
Nashville,    248;    treaties   of,    see   treaties 

Chickasaw   Trace,   186,   723 

Childers,  Col.  Gracey,  in  Spanish-American 
War,    589 

Child   labor   law,   615 

Childress,  William   G.,   406 

Chilhowey    (Chilhowee),   44,   161,   195 

Chinnabe    (Chinnubbe),    chief,    254,    345,    756 

Chisca,    cacique,    375 

Chisca    Mound,    762 

Chischester,    Sir   Arthur,    re    Scotch    race,    36 

Chisholm,   Capt.   John,    211,    237,    281,   289 

Choctaws,  habitat  of,  19;  trouble  Cumber- 
land Settlement,  108,  116;  re  treaty  of 
Holston.   150 

Cholera,    556 

Choragic    monument    of    Lysicrates,    430 

Chota    Ford,    193,    194 

Chote  (Chota).  44,  45,  49,  50,  102,  161,  162, 
165,    169,    211 

Christian   Church,    333 

Christian,    Rev.    John,    329 

Christians    (Disciples),   333 

Christian,  Col.  William.  expedition  of 
against  Cherokees,  89,  162,  167,  168; 
re    death    of,    193 

Chunelah,  chief,   226 

Churches,    earliest,    329.    330 

Circuit    judges,    334,    337 

Cisco,    J.    G.,    136,    note 

Cist,    Gen.    H.    M.,    499 

Citico,    161,    203  „.  _,,    rlo 

Civic  Misdoing  and  the  Alden  Ring,   541-542 

Civil   Divisions   of   Tenn.,   27 

Civil,  Jack.   179,   731 

Civil    government   restored,    see    reconstruc- 

Civil   War,   see   War   between    the   States 

Clabo,   Sen.   E.   N.,   tried   for  bribery,   695 

Clack,  John,  156 

Clack,    Spencer,   156  . 

Claiborne  County,  erected,  296;  history  and 
statistics   of,    809,   810 

Claiborne.  Col.  J.  F.   H.,   302,   note 

Claiborne,  William  C.  C,  156;  superior 
judge,  272;  representative  in  Congress, 
293-  gov.  of  La.,  363;  Jackson's  letter 
to,    363,    364 

Clarion,    The,    293 

Clark,   Col.  Elijah,  goes  to  Watauga,   91 

Clark,   Lardner,   135  <fto 

Clark  George  Rogers,  67,  86,  103,  141,  168, 
171,    374 

Clarke,  Gen.,   in  Civil  War,   475,   481 

Clav  Countv,  history  and  statistics  of.  843- 
"844 

Clav.  Henry.  259;  at  "Great  Whig  Conven- 
tion." 412  and  note;  re  rivalry  with 
Jackson,  416,  417;  in  1844,  421;  against 
annexation  of  Texas.   422 

Cleaveland.   Col.    Benj.,   93,    96.    97,    98 

Cleburne,  Gen.  P.  R.,  485;  re  St.   Johns,  744 

Clemens,    John    M..    852.    853,    note 

Clemens,  Samuel  (Mark  Twain),  852,  853, 
note 

Clements,    225 

Clendenning,   Mrs.   James,   217 

Cleveland,  Pres.  Grover,  564;  at  Belle  Meade. 
723 

Clinch   River.   56,   57,    72 

Clive,   Gen.,   506 

Clothing,    of    pioneers,    321,    322 

Cloud's   Creek,    104 

Clover   Bottom,    108,    176,    310,    730 

Coal    Creek,    strike,    577,    596 


Cobb,    Howell,    531 

Cobb,    Robert   L.,    396,    406 

Cobb's    battery,    488 

Cobb,   William,    149 

Coburn,   Col.,   surrenders,   493 

Cocke  County,  erected,  293;  history  and 
statistics    of,    810 

Cocke,  Gen.  John,  337,  345  and  note,  347, 
348,    note,    353,    371 

Cocke,  William,  119,  121,  129,  149,  152,  155, 
193,  194,  293,  309,  334;  elected  U.  S. 
Senator,  272,  277,  294;  re  admission  of 
Tenn.,  276;  re  taxation,  278;  re  great 
seal,  297;  impeached,  337;  re  Tenn.-Ga. 
boundary  line,  386 

Cockrell,  Moses,  229,  230 

Cockrill,  Gen.,  wounded  at  battle  of  Frank- 
lin,   508 

Code,    Cooper's,    468 

Coffee  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
844-847 

Coffee,  Gen.  John,  re  duel  with  McNairy, 
.  309;  re  Natchez  expedition,  312,  338  and 
note;  re  Jackson-Benton  affray,  337;  in 
Creek  War,  344-359;  re  battle  of  Tal- 
lushatchee,  346;  re  battle  of  Talladega, 
346,  347,  351;  re  battle  of  Emuckfau, 
352;  re  battle  of  Enotachopco,  353;  re 
battle  of  Tohopeka,  354-358,  360;  letter 
of  to  wife,  356;  in  New  Orleans  cam- 
paign,   360-367 

Coffee.    Mrs.   John,    352 

Coffey,    107,    388 

Colbert,   Col.    George,    232,    292,    386 

Colbert,  Gen.  William,  244,  247,  248,  249. 
254 

"Colbert    gang,"    134,    note 

Colbert's   Ferry,    186,    344 

Colby,    Bainbridge,    691 

Cole,  Col.  E.  W.,  re  Murfreesboro,  491;  re 
Industrial    School,    571 

Coleman,   E.,   re  Sam   Davis,   753 

Coldwater    Creek,    186 

Coldwater  Expedition,  The,  136,   185-187 

Coldwater  Settlement,  182-187 

Collierville,   battle   of,   503 

Collinsworth,    Edward,    208 

Collinsworth,    James,    208 

Colonial   Dames,  Tenn.   Society  of,  44 

Colonists,    see    Settlers 

Columbian    Highway,    see   Natchez  Trace 

Colyar,  Col.  A.  S.,  for  Confederate  Congress 
52;  re  Alden  gang,  541-542,  559;  attv. 
for   H.    Clay    Evans.    581 

Commerce,   development  of,   326 

"Commissioners    Line,"    117 

Committee   of   Thirteen,    see   Watauga  Ass'n 

Compact    of    1806,    776,    779 

Compromise   bill,   the.    441 

Compromise   bonds,    see    State    debt 

Compulsory  primary  law.   626,  630 

Compulsory   school   law,    920   and   note 

Condition  of  Tennessee  Found  by  Early 
Explorers,    51-53 

Condon,    M.    J.,    564 

Confederacy,  provisional  const,  of,  adopted 
in    Tenn.,    472 

Confederate    Cemetery,    508 

Confederate    Congress,    521 

Confederate  pensions,  575,  614,  691 

Confederate  Soldiers,  attitude  of,  after  war, 
527     528 

Confederate   Soldiers    Home,    572,    614,    731 

Confederates,  disfranchised,  see  Elective 
franchise 

Confiscation  Act,    520 

Congress,  committee  of,  re  Indians,  239, 
240;    re   acts    of,    re   pensioners,    260 

Congressional  Districts,  275,  308,  337,  395, 
415,    473,    555 

Congressional  Line,  The,  315,  317,  373,  374, 
755-756 

Congressional  Reservation,  315,  318 

Connely,    387,    note 

Connolly,   M.   W.,   re   Cooper   trial,    607 

"Conquest  of  the  Old  Southwest,"  63 

Conrad's  salt  boat,  232 

Consolidation    of   schools,    920   and   note 

Conspiracy,   Spanish,   see   Spain 

Constitution,  of  the  U.  S.,  re  origin  of,  32; 
of  state  of  Franklin,  120,  121;  of  1796 
adopted,  156;  re  great  seal,  297,  note, 
298;  of  1834  adopted,  407;  of  Confed- 
eracy, 472;  of  1834  and  1870  compared, 
552;  new  provisions  of  Constitution  of 
1870,  553;  ratified  by  people,  557;  of 
1796,  906-914;  of  1834,  915-930;  of  1870, 
931-952 


INDEX 


959 


Constitutional  Convention,  of  Franklin,  121; 
of  1796,  155-156;  members  of  to  draft 
constitution,  156;  of  1834,  404-406;  mem- 
bers of  1834,  405-406;  of  pro-Union  men 
(1865),  525;  of  1870,  550,  551-553;  pro- 
posed,   687 

Constitutional  Union   Party,   469 

Contents,   table  of,  vii-ix 

Continental  Line,  re  pay  for  soldiers  of, 
756-757 

Convention,  great  commercial,  434-437;  of 
Nashville  (1850),  440-441;  re  secession 
voted  on,  469,  471;  Union  against  seces- 
sion, 472;  of  1863.  521;  called  by  Union 
State  Committee  (1864),  524;  for  con- 
stitutional amendment,  525  and  note, 
526 

Convicts,   leased,   see    penitentiary 

Conway,  Gen.  George,  elected  major  gen., 
275,   293;   death   of,    302,   303 

Coody,    Archy,    105,    106,    213 

Cooper,  Col.  Duncan  B.,  re  Carmack,  60 1- 
609 

Cooper,   Edmund,   555 

Cooper,    Henry,    elected   U.    S.   Senator,    555 

Cooper,   Capt.    James,   229 

Cooper,  Gen.  Joseph  A..  513;  candidate  U. 
S  Senator,  534;  commands  state  guard, 
540 

Cooper,   Noah,   697 

Cooper,    Robin,    re   Carmack,    60/ -609 

Cooper,   W.   F.,    16 

Cooper,    William    F„    re   code,    468 

Cooper,   Wm.   P.,   speaker,   622 

Coosa,   169 

Coosawater,  200 

Coosawdas,  219.   220 

Cornell,    Alexander.    249 

Cornwallis,   Lord   Charles,   success   of,    91 

Corn   Tassel,    see   John   "Watts 

Corruption,    of   Brownlow    regime.   543 

Cosby    (Cozby),    Dr.   James,    131 

Coteatoy,    197.    198,    199,   212 

Cotton  gin,  re  purchase  of  patent  right  to, 
309 

Cotton,  John,   106 

Counterfeiting,    punished,    451.    45^ 

Counties   of   Tennessee,    804-902 

County   courts,    337 

County   guards,   538 

County  officers,  on  salary,  629,   630  and  note 

Courtney,   W.   W.,   740 

Courts,   established,   117,   134 

Coussan,  Rev.   John,  329 

Cowan.  Dr.  J.  B.,  statement  of,  re  Forrest  s 
quarrel    with    Bragg,    498,    499    and    note 

Cowan,   Ned,    103 

Cowpens,    93,    95 

Cox,   56 

Cox,  Gov.  John  I.,  speaker,  59c  gov.  597; 
administration  of,  597-598;  defeated  for 
nomination    for    gov.,    599 

Cox   labor   law,    600 

Cox  (Coxe),  Zachariah,  re  settlement  at 
Muscle  Shoals,   151,    196,   293 

Coytmore,    Capt.,    48 

Coytov  (Coyatee),  treaty  of,  130,  193,  211, 
253,    277;    194,    203,    208,    211,    212,    233 

Crabtree,  Col.  W.  R.,  speaker,  628;  de- 
feated   bv    Roberts,     689 

Cragfonte,   369 

Craig,    David,    155 

Craig's    Station,    203,    711 

Craighead,  Rev.  Thomas  B.,  135,  329  and 
note,   331;    340 

Crawford,   Rev.   Edward,   329 

Crawford,    Capt.    John,    155,    229 

Crawford,  G.  W.  S.,  State  Supt.  Public  In- 
struction,    562 

Creeks,  habitat  of,  19;  trouble  Cumberland 
settlements,  116,  150,  171,  175,  182-187, 
207;  hostility  of,  150,  187;  capture  Zeig- 
ler's  station,  151;  attack  Buchanan's  sta- 
tion, 150,  214,  215;  destroy  Cavett's 
station,  151;  continue  the  war,  215-220; 
war  of  against  Chiekasaws  and  Cum- 
berland, 244-250;  treaty  of  capitulation 
of,  256;  re  war  with,  337-360;  end  of 
Creek   War,   358-360 

Creek    War,    339-360 

Crenshaw,   Daniel,   393   and   note,    394 

Creswell,  Edward  E.,  re  Edgington  and 
lOstes,    627 

Creswell,   William,    166 

('reveling,  J.  G.,  Jr.,  449,   note,  702 

Crittenden,   Gen.   George   B.,    475,    476 

Crittenden,    John    J.,    380 

Crittenden,    Gen.    T.    T.,    485,   488 


Crockett  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
888 

Crockett,  David,  64;  re  Cherokees,  259;  re 
Jackson,  306;  settles  on  Obion  River, 
375;  M.  C,  403;  opposed   to  Jackson,   417 

Crooked  Creek,    229 

Cross,    Maclin,    406 

Crow,    170 

Crowe,    J.    T.,    re    Ku    Klux    Klan,     537 

Crozier,    John,    452 

Crutcher,    Anthony,    246 

Cruzat,   M.    Frangois,   136 

Cuba's    wrongs,    589 

Cumberland    College,    135,    309,    334 

Cumberland  Compact,  78,  107-113;  state- 
ment of  Putnam  re,  109;  in  full,  109- 
113;  re  authorship  of,  113-114;  govern- 
ment under  the,   114-115 

Cumberland  County,  history  and  statistics 
of,    810-811 

Cumberland     District,     Congressional,     27> 

I'umberland,    Duke    of,    55    and    note 

Cumberland  Gap,  discovered,  55,  57,  104; 
captured,   487 

Cumberland   Mountains,   discovered,    55 

Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  organ- 
ized,   333 

Cumberland   Presbytery,   332 

Cumberland   River,   discovered,   55,   57,   107 

Cumberland  settlement,  iii,  69,  102-116; 
migration  to  from  East  Tenn.,  104-108; 
sufferings  in,  115-116;  harassed  by 
Spain.  134-143,  187-191;  development  of, 
134-135;  convention  of,  re  separation 
from  N.  C,  142;  invaded  by  Indians,  170- 
175,  206;  re  committee  of  on  treaty 
(1783).  174;  harassed  by  Indians,  151, 
175-182,    206,    216-220 

Cumberland    Road,    312 

Cumberland   Table  Land,   23 

Cumberland  Turnpike  Co.,  442 

Cumming,  Sir  Alexander,  re  name  "Tennes- 
see,"  51,    158;    visits  Cherokees,    158,    251 

Cummings,   Rev.    Charles,   78,    166,   329 

Cummings,   Col.    D.    N,    476,    481 

Cummins,   Hiram   F.,  road  com.,   555 

Cunningham,   Lieut.   James,   227 

Cunningham,   John  T.,  Jr.,   speaker,   600 

Currey,  Chas.  E.,  sec.  Tenn.  Centennial  Ex- 
position,    584 

Currin,  D.  M.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

Curtis,  John,  232,  233 

Customs,    early,    318-325 

"Cymbling    seal,"    297   and    note 

Dale,    Gen.    Sam,    237.    238 

Dallas,    Alexander   B.,   282,    284 

Dallas,  George  M.,  422 

Damocles,  33 

Damon  and  Pythias,   376.   note 

Dandridge,    battle    of,    500 

Dardis,   George,   re   capitol,    429,    430 

"Dark    and    Bloody    Ground,"    88 

DaTk    Days,    The,    115-116 

Dartmouth,    Earl   of,    58,    68 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  re 
Boone  tree,  57;  dedicate  memorial  to 
state  of  Franklin,  132;  re  block-lions.^ 
at   Knoxville,    153,   587 

David   and  Jonathan,  376,   note 

Davidson    Academy,    135,    309,    721,    722 

Davidson  County,  erected,  117,  133;  courts 
of  pleas  and  quarter  sessions  of  estab- 
lished, 117;  takes  no  part  in  state  of 
P'ranklin  movement,  119;  organized, 
149;  delegates  of  to  constitutional  con- 
vention (1796),  155;  aids  Tenn.  Centen- 
nial Exposition,  584  ;  re  spirituous  liquors 
in,  602;  aids  state  memorial  building 
686;  markers  of,  714-738;  history  and 
statistics   of,    847-848 

Davidson,    Gen.    H.    B.,    513 

Davidson,  Hugh,  re  Gen.  W.  L.  Davidson 
847 

Davidson,  Gen.  William  L.,  117,  847 

Davis,    Commodore,   482 

Davis  ford,   747 

Davis,  Jefferson,  465;  to  Gen.  A.  S.  John- 
ston, 480;  re  charges  against  Gen.  Polk 
500;  re  Tenn.  campaign,  500  note;  re 
letters  of  Forrest,  re  attacking  Sher- 
mans connections,  506,  531;  home  of 
in    Memphis,    769,    770 

Davis,   Ensign  John,   218,   219     note 

Davis,  Sam,  statue  of.  431,  751;  executed 
500;    sketch    of,    750-754  tea' 

Davy,    William,    288 

Dayton.    William    L..    467 


960 


INDEX 


Deaderick,    George   M.,    451 

Deaf    and    dumb,    school    tor,    434,    1 55 

Dearborn.    Henry,   to    Robertson,   254;    treaty 

of,     255:     report     of,     re     admittance     of 

Tenn.,    276 
Death   penalty,   626 
Debt,    state,    see    state    debt. 
Decatur    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

888-88  J  QO 

Declaration    of    Independence,    31,    6i 
Deems,  Dr.  Chas.  F.,  556,  note 
Defeated    Creek,    190  , 

Defeat   of   the   Indians   and   Avery  s   treaty, 

89 
DeKalb    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

Delaware  Indians.  108;  trouble  Cumberland 
settlement,    116,   171,   175 

Demere,    Capt.    Paul,    46,    49,    50 

Democracy    in    America,    i"  . 

Democrats,  convention  of  (1844),  423,  dis- 
turbed by  Brownlow's  violent  language, 
539;  meeting  and  memorial  of,  539;  split 
in  1880  545;  convention  of  (1874),  557, 
convention  of  (1876),  558;  convention  of 
(1878)  559.  560;  convention  of  (1880), 
561;  convention  of  (1882),  563;  conven- 
tion of  (1890),  574:  convention  of  (1892), 
579-  convention  of  (1914),  621;  conven- 
tion of   (1920),   689 

Demonbreun,  Timothy.  43,  234 

Dennis,   Gen.  E.  S..   parole  com.,   511 

Denton,  Jonathan,  186 

De   Pevster,   Capt.    Abraham,    99 

Deratte,    214 

Desha,    Joseph,   218 

Desha,   Robert,    403 

Dea   Johnnes.   Baron,    47 

De  Soto.   Hernando.    38-41;   157.   375,   762 

Desperadoes,  see  Tennessee  desPe,ra<l°es 

Development  of  Temperance  and  Prohibi- 
tion   in    Tenn.,    601-605 

Development    of    the    Cumberland    Country, 

DeWitt"  John  H.,  address  of,  re  Fort  Lou- 
don 44-50;  re  authorship  of  Cumber- 
land Compact,  114;  re  Sevier's  diary, 
302  note;  wins  prize  in  historical  con- 
test,   587 

DeWitt's    Corner,    90,    167 

Dibrell,  Gen.  George  G.,  in  Atlanta  cam- 
paign^ 512,  513;  re  memorial  to  legis- 
lature,    539  .  rl„ 

Dibrell's   brigade,   in   Atlanta  campaign,   51.2 

giick!n1;onHiCha5r0l°es,    re    duel    with    Jackson, 

309,   310-312;   re  grave  of,   723 
Dickinson.  Judge  J.   M.,   723 
Dickson    County,    erected,    308;    history    and 

statistics    of,    851-852  rmiMra 

Dinsmoor    (Dinsmore),    Silas     com     Chicka- 
saw and  Creek  treaty,  254,  281,  283,  756 
"Direct    Tax    bill,"    685  . 

Disfranchisement,    see   elective   franchise 
Dismukes,    W.    C,    speaker,    575,    580 
Disposition   of   the   General  Government  to- 
Distinguished"  Service  Cross,  list  of  those  to 

whom    given,    641-646 
Distinguished  Service  Medal,  to  Gen.  Tyson, 

District   of   Salisbury,   839,   note 

Ditto's    Landing,    345 

Divisions   of   Tenn.,   natural,   20;    civil,   27 

Dix    Dorothea  Lynde,   404,   note 

Dixon,    Maj.    Tilman,    293       .  ,,,__-,      on? 

Doak,    Col.    H.    M.,    re    Sevier's    diary,    302, 

T)oak°Dr  Samuel,    re   Martin   Academy.   90; 
at    Sycamore    Shoals,    92;    first    minister 

DoaknDrnw.  Instate  supt.  public   instruc- 
tion.  562   and   note 
Dobbs.   Gov.    Arthur.   45     47.    252 
"Dr    Gunn's    Domestic   Medicine,      830 
Dod'jre     Gen.    G     M.,    493;    headquarters    of. 

750;    interviews    Sam    Davis,    753-754 
Doe   River.    92 
Eoherty!    Col.    George,    152.    155.    202,    355 

Bonelsnn',  "It    Alexander     352    and   note 
Donelson.    Maj.    Andrew    Jac kson,    310,    440. 
candidate   for  vice-president,   467,   home 

Donelson31Gen.  Daniel  S     in  Civil  War .473; 

in    service    m   Va.   and   S.    C.,    512,    o\6 
Donelson.    Col.    John.    68;    treaty    of.    78,    87, 

133    174-  re  Cumberland  settlement.  102 


voyage      of      to      Cumberland,      104-108; 
diary     of,     104-108;     elected     lieut.     col., 
114;   leaves  for  Ky.,   116,   180;  attack   on 
at    Clover    Bottom,     175,    176,    179;    310, 
379;   re  Clover   Bottom   farm,   731 
Donelson,   Capt.   John   Jr.,    179 
Donelson,    Severn,    244 
Donelson.   Stockly,   149,   153 
Donelson's   Station,   108,    170,    176     _       ^ 
Dorris,   Mrs.   Mary   C,  **£.   note    J>    <#-? 
Doulilehead,    Chief,    221,    222,    223,    221;    with 
The   Bench,    229;    operations   of,    232-238; 
re  Cavett's  Station,   234;   re  treaty,    236, 
237;   death   of,   237,    238;    246 
Douglas,   Dr.,   403 
Douglas,  Capt.   Bruce,   637 
Douglas,   Chas.   D\,   591 
Douglas,   Col.   Edward,   136,   156,   293 
Douglas,    Stephen   A.,   468,    469 
Douglas,   W.,   156 
Douglass,   Burchett,   405 
Doyle,   Lt.    Com.   Robert  M.,    590 
Dragging     Canoe     (Cheucunsene).     re     Hen- 
derson   purchase,   87.  88.   170,   202;  re  at- 
tack   on    Heaton's    Station,    89,    164-166; 
at   Chickamauga,   89,   90,   169:   at   Nicka- 
jack    Cave,    170;    re    death    of.    203;    208, 
211 
Drake,   Benjamin.   186 
Drake,   Joseph,    103 
Drake,   Miss   Susan.    718 
Drake's   Lick    Creek,    135,    151 
Draner    manuscripts     380 
Dromgoole,  Miss  Will  Allen,  re  Melungeons, 

791 
Dudley.   Mrs.   Guilford,   689 

Duel,   proposed  between  Jackson  and  Sevier, 
305    and    note,    306;    between    Coffee    and 
McNairy,     309;     between     Jackson     and 
Dickinson,     309.    310-312;    between    Car- 
roll    and     Benton,     337:     between    Hous- 
ton  and   White.    39S.    399;    between   Mar- 
ling  and   Zollicoffer,    442 
Dueling,   law   against,   296,   305,   note 
Dulaney.   Ben   F.,   595,  note 
Dumouriez,   Gen.,   292 

Dumplin    Settlement,   The,    192-196;    re   State 
of    Franklin,     194;     treaty    of,     253,     278. 
315 
Duncan.    56 
Dunham.    Col..    492 
Dunham.    Capt..   59 
Dunham.   Joseph,  723 
Dunham.    Mrs.    Joseph,    ISO 
Dunlap.    Hugh,    388 
Dunlap,    Porter,    698 
Dunlap.  Gen.   R.  G.,   415.   444 
Dunmore,    Earl    of    (John    Murray),    58;    re 

Watauga  Ass'n,   68;   252 
Dunmore's    War,    85,    86,    163,    note 
Dunnington,    Lieut.    Jno.    W.,   513 
Dupeister.     Capt.,     see     De     Peyster,     Capt. 

Abraham 
Durant,    Benjamin,    200 
Durant.    Sophia,    200 
Durrett  Collection,   138,   note 
Dussart,   Capt.,   97  ,.,.,..-,        i 

Duty's    Stern    Demand,   re  battle   of   Frank- 
lin,  748 
Dvas,   Robert.    347,   note 

Dyer,   Lieut.-Col..   347  oo„ 

Dyer   County,    history  and   statistics   of,   889 
Dyer,   Dr.   Gus    W.,   nominated   and   rejected 
ns    state    supt.    public    instruction,    612; 
697 
Dyer,    Joel,   292 
Dyer,-   Robert    H,    443 
D'Yrugo,    Chevalier,    288 

Earle.  R.  E.  W.,  re  Spencer's  Sycamore, 
235 

Earliest  Established  Churches  and  Min- 
isters.   The,    329-330 

Earliest  People  of  Tenn.,  27;  religions  of, 
326 

Early,    Sergt.    Bernard.    646 

Early   customs,   318-325 

Early    Efforts   of   the   White   Man    in   Tenn., 

38-50  . 

Earlv   Hunters   and   Their  Hunting  Ground. 

51-62  ,  , 

Earlv   settlers.   63;   character  and  origin   or, 

64-67:   customs  of,   318-325;   clothing  of, 

321-322 
"Earlv    Times    in   Middle   Tenn.,      330 
Bast    E    H,   sec.  state.   516;  performs  duties 

of    gov.,    526;    declines    nomination    for 


INDEX 


961 


gov.,      560;      prohibition      candidate      for 
gov.,    580 
Easten,  John,   246 
Eastin,   Wm.,   451 
Eastman,  E.  G.(  411 

East  Tennessee,  valley  of,  20;  counties  of, 
27,  804,  804-840;  early  settlement  of,  60- 
62;  growing  settlements  of,  118;  re 
treasurer  of,  337;  troops  of  in  Creek 
War,  345,  346,  347;  against  secession, 
472;  in  Federal  army,  474;  held  by  Con- 
federates, 487,  494;  operations  in  (1863- 
1864),  500-503;  destitution  in  acct.  war, 
501,  503;  movement  to  make  independ- 
ent state  of,  523 
East  Tenn.  &  Ga.  R.  R.  Co.,  445 
"East  Tennessee  and  the  Civil  War,"  500, 
note 

East  Tennessee  College,  309 

East   Tenn.    State   Normal    School,    789 

East  Tenn.,   Va.   &  Ga.   R.   R.,   445 

Eaton,  John  H.,  re  Natchez  expedition,  338, 
and  note,  339;  re  Jackson's  handling  of 
meeting,  848,  note;  re  Tohopeka,  354; 
re  Jackson  at  New  Orleans,  364;  home 
of,    740 

Eaton,  John  H.  Jr..  State  Supt.  Public  In- 
struction,   783 

Eaton's    Station,    108,    170,    172,    180 

Eaton's  Station  (Heaton's  in  East  Tenn.), 
see   Heaton's    Station 

Eccles,   Joel,    208 

Edgington,  Judge  Jesse,  impeachment  of, 
627 

Education.  154;  beginning-  of  public,  403, 
779,  780;  re  school  fund,  452;  in  Brown- 
low  regime,  532;  in  1870,  553;  advanced 
by  Gov.  Porter,  559;  in  R.  B.  Taylor's 
administration,  571;  re  secondary 
schools,  576;  Chestnut  Bill,  600,  and 
note;  the  general  education  bill,  609, 
610,  620,  624;  re  compulsory  school  law, 
620;  re  consolidation  of  schools,  620; 
legislation,  re  in  Roberts'  administra- 
tion. 684,  685;  in  Tenn.,-  775-790;  re 
lands,  776,  779,  780;  re  academy  system, 
780;  influence  on  of  constitution  of  1834, 
780-782;  re  Bank  of  Tennessee,  781;  re 
first  taxation  for,  782;  aspects  of  imme- 
diately after  war.  782,  783;  re  school 
law  of  1873,  784,  787;  developments  of 
after  1873.  787,  788;  important  institu- 
tions  of,    788-789 

Edwards,  Col.  R.  M.,  nominated  for  gov., 
560,    561 

Eighteenth  Amendment,  U.  S.  (prohibition) 
ratified,  605 

Election    acts,    controversy    over,    610 

Elective  franchise,  act  of,  529,  and  note; 
act  of  causes  irritation,  531;  re  dis- 
franchisement, 532,  539;  re  negroes  vot- 
ing. 533,  535,  536,  539;  "ordinance"  of 
Judge  Lea,  re,  539,  540;  positions  of 
Gov.  Senter  and  Col.  Stokes,  re,  549; 
act  of  1S69,  re,  551;  predominant  ques- 
tion before  constitutional  convention 
of  1870,   552,   553 

Elk    Hollow,    93 

Elkins,  Lewis  Emerson,  re  Edgington  and 
Estes,    627 

Ellet.   Mrs.    Elizabeth   F..    201,   note 

Ellet.  Cadet  Chas.  R..  re  raising  Union  flag 
at  Memphis,  773 

Elliott,    Gen.,    500 

Elliott,   Andrew,   re   DeSoto,   762 

Elliott,   Dr.    C.   D.,   438.    724 

Elliston,   Joseph   T.,   429 

Ellsworth,    re   treaty,    258 

Emancipation   Proclamation,    147,    520-521 

Emigration,   see  Immigration 

Emmerson,  Thomas,  452 

Emmuckfau.   battle   of.    352,    353 

Encyclopaedia    Americana.    386 

England,  re  scheme  of  Wm.  Blount.  280, 
281;  re  employment  of  Indians  in  war, 
339,   340 

Engleman.    The,    31,    32,   33,    34,   36 

English  Race,  The,  28,  29,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35, 
36,  37 

Enloe,  Col.  B.  A.,  sec.  State  com.  St.  Louis 
Exposition,   596;   612 

Enotacbopco,  battle   of,   352,   353 

Episcopalians,  333 

Equal  Suffrage,  struggle  for,  625,  626;  689, 
690,   691 

Erectheum,  430 

Ervin,   Andrew,   115 

Erwin,    James,    415 


Erwin,   Capt.   Joseph,   311   and   note 

Eskaqua  (Clear  Sky),  Gen.,  see  Bloody  Fel- 
low 

Eskridge,   John,    186 

Eskridge,    Moses,    186 

Espey,   George,    236 

Establishment  of  Religious  Denominations 
in  Tennessee,   326-333 

Estanaula,  194,  202,  204,  206;  council  at,  212; 
224 

Estatoe,   48 

Estenaula,   battle    of,    503 

Estes,   Joel,   375 

Estes,    Z.   Newton,    impeachment   of,    627 

Etchoe,   48 

Etheridge,  Emerson,  418;  and  other  Union- 
ists try  to  hold  election.  521,  522;  can- 
didate for  gov.  against  Brownlow,  533; 
re  speeches  of,  546;  nominated  for  gov,, 
560 

Etowah,   battle  of,   151 

Eufaula.    354 

Evans,  Col.  H.  Clay,  contests  election  of 
Turney,    581-582 

Evans,  Mai.  Nathaniel,  188,  224,  225,  246 

Evans.   Robert,   189 

Eve,    Dr.    Paul    F.,    473 

Everett.  Edward,  re  Cherokees,  259;  nom- 
inated  for  vice-pres.,   469 

Everglades,    The,    416 

Ewing,    Andrew.    149.    465    and    note 

Ewing,   Edwin   H,    430,   787,    note 

Ewing,   Finis.    332.   333 

Ewing.   Henry,   408,    458 

Ewing,    Judge    Robert,    465,    note 

Ewing,    Z.    W.,    speaker,    570 

Explorers    and    Hunters,    55,    56 

Fagot,    142 

Fain,  Gen.  R.  G.,  in  Civil  War,  473 

Fair,    first   in    state,    293 

Fair  Price    Committee,    635 

Fairview,   home  of  Isaac  Franklin.   758 

"Falling   exercise,"    in    revivals.    331 

Fall. of    Franklin,    The,    130-131 

Fanning,    Edmund,    73 

Farley,    John    W.,    re   Bolshevism,    v 

Farmers'   Alliance,   The,   574 

Farmers   and    Laborers'    Union,    574 

Farmers    and    Mechanics    Bank,    455 

Farquharson,    Maj.,    437 

Farragut,  Admiral  David  Glasgow,  500, 
note;   504 

Farragut,    George,    149 

Farris,    Elisha,    228 

Farris,    Nancv,    228 

Faulen.   William,   165 

Fayette  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
890 

Fayetteville    Bank,    455 

Federal    aid    to    Tenn.    highways.    448-449 

Federal    Fuel    Administration,    635 

Federalists.  276,  416;  oppose  admission  of 
Tenn.,  280 

Federal    laws   effective   in    Tenn.,    279 

Federal  Reserve  System.   464 

Federation   of   Labor,    686 

Feild,   Col.   Hume   R.,   re   Ku   Klux   Klan,   537 

Fellow-Servants    bill,    626 

Fentress  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
852-863 

Fentress,  Col.  James,  at  battle  of  New  Or- 
leans,   366,    note 

Ferguson,   Kenneth,   42 

Ferguson,  Col.  Patrick,  91;  warns  Holston 
men,  92;  movements  of  before  battle 
of  King's  Mountain,   94.   95;   death  of,  97 

"Fiddle    and    the    Bow,    The,"    573 

Fields,    George,     214 

Fifty-Fifth  Field  Artillery  Brigade,  The, 
activities   of,    637 

Fifty-Ninth  Depot  Brigade,  637 

Filibustering,    in    Tenn.    politics,    620 

Filipino   flag,   captured,    590 

Fillmore,    Millard,    467 

Fincastle  County,   71   and  note,  78 

Findleston.    Richard,    211.    224,   241,   243 

Findley,    John,    57 

Finley,    Jesse,    416 

First   capitol,  707 

First  courthouse,  of  Giles  County,  754;  of 
Maury   County.   741 

First  Presbyterian  Church,  Knoxville,  285, 
329,-  note;   707,   708 

First    settlers,    63,    71 

First    Tenn.    Field    Artillery    Regiment,    637 

First  Tenn.   Infantry,    637 

First  Tenn.  Regiment,  in  Spanish-Ameri- 
can War,   589.   590;    return   of,   590 


06: 


INDEX 


Wishing    Creek,    battle    of.    set'    Mill    Springs 

Fish-ponds,  364 

Fisk,  Most  s,  historical  sketch  of  Term.,  of. 
59;  biographical  sketch  of.  59,  60;  his 
"Summary  Notice  of  the  First  Settle- 
ments Made  by  White  People  Within 
the  Limits  Which  Hound  the  State  of 
Tennessee,"  «><> ;  re  laws  of  Watauga, 
76.  7*:  161;  Coin.  Survey  of  Tenn.-Va. 
line,   301,   302 

Fisk   Female  Academy,   60 

Fisk    University,    738 

Fitzgerald,    William,    375 

Fitzhugh,  G.  T.,  612;  candidate  for  U.  S. 
Senator,    697,    698 

Fitzpatrick,  Morgan  C,  582;  State  Supt. 
Public   Instruction,   591 

Five    Civilized    Tribes,    The,    259 

Five   Lower   Towns,    182 

Flag,   see   State   flag 

Flat    Creek    Settlement,    228 

Flats.    The,    166 

Fleming',  Col.  John  M.,  re  nomination  for 
gov.,  559;  State  Supt.  Public  Instruc- 
tion,  784 

Fletcher,  A.  J..  463;  sec.  State,  546;  opinion 
of   changed    re   franchise   act.   547 

Flint,   re   Indians,    19 

Flint    Hill,    93 

Flint's    Geography,    330 

Flood.    John,    197 

Florida,  ceded   to  U.   S.,   373,   note 

Florida    War,    sec   Seminole   War 

Floyd,   Gen.,   in   Creek   War,    352 

Floyd.  Gen.  John  1!.,  475;  at  Fort  Donelson, 
477-479 

Fogg.   Francis  B..   406,   424,   720 

Folk.    Reau    E.,    613 

Fool   Charley,   222 

Fool  Warrior,  The,   see   Abraham   Castleman 

Foote,    Commodore   A.    H.,    477,    479 

Foote.  Henry  S.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

"Force    bills,"    618 

Ford.    Henry,   re   Muscle   Shoals,   698 

Ford.    Col.    James,    136,    152,    156,    185,    240 

Foreword,    iii 

Forked-Horn    Buck,   The,    225,    226 

Forrest,  Gen.  Nathan  Bedford,  at  Fort 
Donelson.  478;  at  Nashville,  479;  at 
Shiloh,  481;  captures  Murfreesboro.  485; 
before  Nashviile,  487;  in  West  Tenn.. 
491-492:  captures  Humboldt.  Trenton. 
Union  City,  Dresden.  492;  joins  Bragg, 
492;  re  attack  on  Dover,  493:  captures 
Brentwood  and  Harpeth  Stockade,  493; 
pursues  and  captures  Streight's  raiders, 
493-494;  at  Chickamauga.  497;  quarrels 
with  Bragg,  498-499;  defeats  Federals 
in  East  Tenn.,  498;  transferred  to  West, 
499;  operations  of  in  Tenn.  in  1864,  503- 
507;  in  Miss,  and  West  Tenn.,  503,  504. 
505;  captures  Fort  Pillow,  504;  enters 
Memphis,  505,  770;  raids  of  into  West 
Tenn.  (1864),  505;  raids  of  into  North 
Ala.  and  Middle  Tenn.,  505-506;  captures 
Johnsonville,  507;  succeeds  to  command 
of  rear  guard  in  retreat  from  Nashville, 
511;  513;  re  memorial  to  legislature. 
539:  re  Johnson's  candidacy  for  U.  S 
Senator,  557;  birthday  of  made  a  holi- 
day, 692,  693;  encounter  of  with  Lieut. 
Gould,  745,  746:  residence  of,  769;  house 
in    which    he    died,    773;    death    of,    773 

Forrest,  Col.  Jesse  A.,  773 

"Forrest's   navy,"   507 

Fort,   Stockade,   how   built,   325 

Fort,    William,    153,     156 

Forts — 

Fort   Adams,   375.   766 

Fort  Anderson,  578 

Fort    Armstrong,    352 

Fort  Assumpsion,  41 

Fort   Assumption,    375,   565 

Fort   Barrancas,   at   Pensacola,    373 

Fort    Bledsoe,    758 

Fort    Blount,    292,    761 

Fort    Casino,    737 

Fort    Chissel,    46 

Fort  Craig,  711 

Fori    Deposit,    344.   348.   351 

Fort  Dobbs,   46,    251 

Fort     Donelson.     462,     475;     captured,     476- 

479,    479,    note 
Fort   Duquesne,   44,   45,   47 
Fort   Erie,   367 

Fort  Ferdinand   de   Barrancas,   375,   765 
Fort    Gadsden,    373 


Foil    Gamble.    710 

Fort    Gillem,   738 

Fort   Gillespie,    711 

Fort     Hampton,    344 

Fori    lleaton,    89 

Fort    Henry,    47f>;    captured,    476,    477    and 

note.    479,    493 
Fort     Heitnan,    507 
Fort    Houston,    712,    737 
Fort    Hunter,    712 
Fort    Ish,    712 

Fort    Jackson,    359.    360,   372 
Fort  Jefferson,  116,    171,  174,  374 
Fort  Lilly.   750 
Fort   Long   Island,   45 

Fort    Loudon,    43-50;    erection    of,    46,    162; 
massacre   of   garrison   of,   49;   re   "Ball 
Play,"    292 
Fort    McGaughey,    709 
Fort   McTeer,   710 
Fort    Malete,    590 
Fort   Massac,   247,    249 
Fort  Minis,   massacre  of,  340 
Fort   Moore,    46 
Fort    Morton,    737 
Fort    Negley,    736 
Fort    on    the   Bluff.    108 
Fort    Patrick    Henry,    90,    104 
Fort   Pickering,    375,    379.    3S6.    387,    765 
Fort     Pillow,     abandoned,     482;     captured, 

504 
Fort    Prince    George,    46;    re    killing    hos- 
tages  at,   48;    49,    50 
Fort  Prudhomme,   41-42,  375  and   note,  765 
Fort   Ridley,   325 
Fort    St.    Jean,     292 
Fort    St.    Stephens,    344 
Fort    Sanders,    500,    note 
Fort   San   Fernando    de    Barancos,    42 
Fort   Scott,   372 

Fort  Stanwix,   re  treaty  of,   59,   67,   85,   252 
Fort    Strother,    346,    347,    348,    352,    353 
Fort    Sumter,    470 
Fort   Tennessee,   177 
Fort  Toulouse,   359 
Fort   Union,    108 
Fort    Vincennes,    168 

Fort   Watauga,   re   attack    on,    89,    165,    166 
Fort   White,    153.    202 
Fort   Williams,    353,    354,    358 
Foster,    Mrs.,    228 
Foster,   A.   P.,    re   St.   Louis    Exposition,   596, 

832 
Foster,    Ephraim    H.,    resigns   as   U.    S.    Sen- 
ator,   411;    412,    418,    423;    candidate    for 
gov.,  424 
Foster.    Gen.   John    G.,    succeeds   Gen.    Burn- 
side,    500 
Foster,    Robert    C,    368,    394 
Foster.    Gen.   Robert   C.    (Ill),    in   Civil   War, 

473 
Foster,  Rev.  Stephen,  707,  708 
Foster,    Turner    S.,    elected    judge    and    ar- 
rested,   519 
Foster,    Maj.   Wilbur   F.,   635 
Four-mile    law,    558    and    note,    571,    600,    603 

note;    passed,    604 
Fourth   Tenn.    Regiment,    in    Spanish-Ameri- 
can  War,    590 
Fowler,    James    A.,    defeated    for    gov.,    590, 

591 
Fowler,  Joseph  S.,  comptroller,  516;  re  U.  S. 

Senator,    555 
Fowlks.    Henry    P.,    speaker,    560 
Fowltown,     372 

Fox,  Col.  J.  L.,  re  miners'   strike,   578 
Franchise  act,   see   elective  franchise   act 
Frankland.    122,    128 

Franklin,  State  of.  69;  118-132;  constitution 
of,  120;  legislature  of,  120;  counties  of, 
120;  currency  of,  120;  memorial  of  to 
Congress,  121;  second  constitution  of, 
121,  122-128;  re  struggle  with  N.  C.  for 
jurisdiction,  129,  130;  fall  of,  130-131, 
144;  was  its  secession  justifiable?  132; 
re  Dumplin  settlement.  193,  278,  279, 
315;  treaties  of,  253,  315;  re  seal  for, 
297  and  note 
Franklin,  battle  of.  508,  740,  748 
Franklin,  Benjamin.  83,   128;  appealed  to  by 

Sevier  and   Cocke,   129 
Franklin    County,    erected,    309:    history   and 

statistics    of,    853-854 
Franklin,    Isaac,    758 
Franklin,   Jesse,    256 
Franklin    turnpike    and     the    Franklin    and 

Springhill  turnpike,  739-740 
Franklin   Turnpike  Co.,  443 


INDEX 


963 


Frazer,   Gen.   John   W.,   613 

Frazier,  Senator  James  B.,  defeats  Judge 
Campbell  for  gov.,  594;  administration 
of,  594-597;  re  state  mining  law,  596, 
597;  stops  miners'  strike,  596;  reelected, 
resigns,  elected  U.  S.  Senator,  597;  de- 
feats Littleton,  597;  tribute  of  to  Bate, 
597,    note;    612 

Frazier,  Samuel,   155 

Frazier,  Judge  Thomas  N.,  impeached,  532, 
594 

Free   Banking   System,    457,   459 

Freeland,    Capt.    George,   115 

Freeland's  Station,  108,  172;  attack  on,  116, 
173,    727 

Freeman,  A.   A.,   defeated   for   gov.,   553 

Freeman,   Capt.   J.    B.,   481 

Fremont,  John  C,  467  and  note 

French,  influence  of  on  Indians.  158,  163; 
relations  of  with  U.  S.  strained,  280,  289 

French  and  Indian  War,  45,  57 

French  Lick,   see  Great   French  Lick 

French   Lick   and    Fort,    724 

French    traders.    103.    187 

Frierson,    Samuel,    748 

Frierson.    William.    748 

Froissart,   423 

From   Patterson    to   Rye.    600-622 

Frontiers,    protection    of,    275 

Fruits,   in    early  Tennessee,    52 

Fry,   Gen.,    476 

Fry   and    Jefferson,    382 

Frv,    John    W.,    595,    note 

Fuller,    Capt.,    201 

Fullerton.    Gen.    J.    S.,     194.    note,    499,   note 

F'ulton,   James,   405 

Fulton.  Col.  John  S.,  succeeds  Gen.  Bush- 
rod   Johnson,   512 

Fusionists.  in  Hooper's  administrations, 
612,    618 

Fussell.    J.    H.,   candidate    for   gov.,    563 

Fyffe.  Col.  J.  P.,  re  miners'  insurrection, 
577;  in  Spanish-American  War,  590;  in 
World   War,   637 

Gaines,    Lieut.,    356 

Gaines,    Capt.    Ambrose,    637 

Gaines,  Gen.  Edmund  P..  at  Fort  Erie.  367: 
re  Seminole  War,  372;  state  votes  sword 
to,    395 

Gaines,  James  S.,   371 

Gaines.  John  Wesley,  re  First  Tenn.  Regi- 
ment,  590 

Gains,    re   Ga.-Tenn.    line,    386 

Galbreath,    John,    155 

Gallaher,   James,   226 

Gallatin,    Albert,    277 

Galvez,    Gov.,    383 

Gamble's  Fort,   710.    711 

Game    in    early    Tennessee.    52 

Gammon,   Richard,   153,    156 

Gardner,   John  A.,   412,   note,   559 

Gardoqui,  Don  Dieero  de,  re  Spanish  con- 
spiracy,   138,   139 

Garfield    and   Arthur,    561 

Garrett  and  Goodpasture.  251,  315;  re  or- 
ganization of  Cumberland  Presbvterian 
Church,  333;  re  Gov.  Turney's  first  ad- 
ministration,   580-581 

Garrett,   Gray,   405 

Garrett,   Dr.   W.   R.,   379 

Garrison,  A.  L.,  re  Gov.  A.  A.  Taylor,  695- 
696 

Gaspar  Creek   (River),  330,  331 

Gasper's    Station,    see    Mansker's    Station 

Gates,    Gen.    Horatio,    92.    96 

Gayarre   Transcripts,   138,  note 

Gayoso,  Gov.  Don  Manuel,  de  Lemos,  375, 
765 

"General  Arbitrators,"  see  Government  of 
the  Notables 

General  Assembly,  first  election  of,  271; 
first  session  of,  275.  276;  first  extra  ses- 
sion of,  277;  fourth.  296;  re  land  acts, 
314-318;  acts  of  seventh  assembly,  334; 
acts  of  (1813),  337;  act  of  re  Creeks. 
341,  343;  acts  of  (1815).  368;  acts  of 
(1817),  371;  acts  of  (1819),  371;  re  N.  C. 
line,  384;  acts  of  (1821-1827),  395-399; 
acts  of  (1827),  399;  acts  of  (1829-1833) 
403-404;  acts  of  (1835-1837),  407,  408; 
acts  of  (1839).  411-412;  acts  of  (1841), 
411;  acts  of  (1843),  415;  acts  of  (1845), 
434;  acts  of  (1847),  439;  acts  of  (1849), 
439,  440;  acts  of  (1851),  441-442;  acts 
of  (1853-1855),  466,  467;  acts  of  (1857), 
467;  acts  of  (1859),  468;  acts  of  (1861), 
470,  471,  473,  474;  act  of  secession  of. 
471;   act   re  Army  of  Tenn..   473;   acts   of 


(1865),  529;  acts  of  second  session 
(1865-1866),  531;  members  of  arrested, 
532;  acts  of  (1866-1867),  532-533;  acts 
of  (1867-1868),  533-534;  acts  of  (1868- 
1869),  541;  corruption  of  in  Brownlow 
regime,  543  and  note;  democratic  for 
first  time  since  1861,  549;  acts  of  (1869- 
1870),  549,  550.  551;  acts  of  (1870),  553; 
acts  of  (1870-1871),  554;  acts  of  (1871), 
554;  acts  of  (1872  and  1873),  555;  acts 
of  (1875),  557,  558:  acts  of  (1877),  558, 
559;  acts  of  (1879),  560;  acts  of  (1881- 
1882),  562;  acts  of  (1883),  563,  564; 
acts  of  (1885),  567;  acts  of  (1887-1889), 
570,  571;  acts  of  (1891),  575;  acts  of 
(1893),  580;  acts  of  (1895),  581;  acts 
of  (1897),  582;  acts  of  (1899).  591;  acts 
of  (1901),  592,  593;  acts  of  (1903),  594; 
acts  of  (1905),  597;  acts  of  (1907),  600- 
601;  acts  of  (1909),  609;  acts  of  (1911 
and  1913).  611-615;  acts  of  (1915  and 
1917),  622-631;  acts  of  (1919),  682-688; 
acts  of  (1921),  692-696;  acts  of  (1923), 
699-700. 

Genesis    of   the    Spanish    conspiracy,    138-143 

Gentry,    John,    197 

Gentry,  Meredith  P.,  opposed  to  Jackson, 
417;  418,  423,  439;  re  Gov.  Campbell, 
441;    defeated    bv    Andrew    Johnson,    466 

Gentry,    William,    197 

George  Peabody  College  for  Teachers.  135, 
139,  note;  beginning  of,  559:  aid  to, 
575.    581,    687,    609,    722,    785,    787,    790 

George   III,    see    King   George    III 

Georgia,  attitude  of  toward  Cherokees,  257, 
258 

Georgia-Tenn.   boundary  line.  385 

Germans,   U-boat   warfare   of,    635 

Gibbs,    Gen.,   at   battle    of   New   Orleans.    365. 

Gibson,    184,    190 

Gibson,    Gen..    488 

Gibson,    Capt.,    202 

Gibson  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
890-891 

Gift,   Lieut.   Geo.    W.,    514 

Gilbert   Town,    93,    96,    98 

Gilbreath,  S.  G.,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruc- 
tion, 581 

Giles,   Gov.  Wm.   B.,   754.   854   and  note 

Giles  County,  erected,  334;  first  courthouse 
of,  754;  history  and  statistics  of,  854- 
855 

Gill,    Peter,    181 

Gillem,  Gen.  A.  C.  513,  738 

Gillum,   James,   222 

Gillum,    Thomas,    222 

Gillespie,    Col.,    201 

Gillespie's  Fort,  200,  capture  of,  204,  226; 
711 

Gilmore,   James    R.,    169 

Gist,  Gen.,   killed   at   battle  of  Franklin.   508 

Gist,   Christopher,   58 

Gist,    Joshua,    120 

Glasgow,  James,  re  Sevier's  land  transac- 
tions,  304.   305 

Glass,   The,    151,    196,   204.    212,    214,    227 

Glass,    P.    T.,   re   Henry   Rutherford,    774 

Glass,    Samuel,    155 

Gleason,   Col.   James   A.,    in    World   War,   637 

Gleaves,  Admiral  Albert,  in  Spanish-Amer- 
ican War,  590,  635,  638;  sword  presented 
to,    688 

Glenn,  Gov.  James.   45,  161,  251 

Glenn,   Oscar,   donates   flag,   590 

Gold    Star    list,    651-681 

Goodlett,  Mrs.  Caroline  Meriwether,  founder 
of  the  U.    D.   G,   792,   794 

Goodloe.  Hallum  W.,  re  great  seal,  301;  re 
Key    Corner,    774 

Goodman,  Frank,  auditor  Tenn.  Centennial 
Exposition,   584 

Goodpasture,  Albert  V.,  re  fruits  and  ber- 
ries, 52;  re  Fisk's  Historical  Sketch  of 
Tennessee,  59;  article  of  on  "The  Wa- 
tauga Association,"  70-80;  re  "Indian 
Wars  and  Warriors  of  the  Old  South- 
west," 157;  re  .Jackson-Sevier  feud,  304, 
note;    re    Fort   Blount.    761 

Goodspeed's  History  of  Tenn.,  310 

Goose   Creek,   184 

Gordon,   Mr..   304 

Gordon,   Capt.,    257 

Gordon.  Poling,  temporary  chairman  of 
constitutional   convention   of   1870,   552 

Cordon,   Gen.    Geo.    W.,    513,    564 

Cordon,  ("apt.   John,    of   the   spies,   348,   355 

Could.  Lieut,  A.  \\\,  193,  note;  re  Forrest, 
715-746 


964 


INDEX 


Government  of  the  Notables,  108,  110,  111, 
112,    114,   115;   end  of,   134 

Governor's    mansion,    bought,    605 

Gowan,  Geo.  A.,  pres.  Bristol  to  Memphis 
highway,   613 

Gowen,    David,    180  , 

Gower,   Capt.   Abel.    176,    179,   731 

Gower,    Capt.    Abel,    Jr.,    179 

Gower,   Nancy,  176 

Grady,  Henry  W.,  vi;  re  return  of  Confed- 
erate   Soldier,    527 

Graham,   George,   256  , 

Graham,  John  _D.,  387  and   note 

Grainger  County,  erected,  275;  history  and 
statistics   of,    811-812 

Grainger,    Mary,    275 

Granbury,  Gen.,  killed  at  battle  of  Frank- 
lin,  508 

Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  587 

Grand  Council  of  the  Mystic  Clan,   393 

Grand  Division  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance, 
603 

Grand  Wizard  of  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  548- 
549 

Granny  White    tavern,   729 

Grant,    Col.    James,    251 

Grant,  Gen.  U.  S..  at  battle  of  Belmont, 
475;  captures  Forts  Henry  and  D'onel- 
son,  477-479;  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  479; 
at  battle  of  Shiloh.  480-482,  480,  note; 
re  being  drunk  at  Shiloh,  481,  note;  in 
West  Tenn.,  482;  re  Forrest,  491,  492; 
takes  charge  of  military  division  of 
the  Miss.,  499;  at  Chattanooga,  499  and 
note;  re  East  Tenn.,  500;  re  appeal  of 
Stokes,  649 

Grassy  Creek,   93 

Gray,   Jas.,    406 

Gray,   Jno.   M.,    Jr.,    605 

Great   Chickasaw   Cession,    256 

Great  Commercial  Convention  at  Memphis, 
434-437 

Great  French  Lick,  102,  104,  107,  108,  135, 
724 

Great    Grant,    see    Henderson's    Purchase 

Great    Island,    161 

Great  Path,   see  Cherokee   Path 

Great  Seal  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  296- 
301;  description  and  requirements  of, 
297     298 

Great  Warrior.  The,   222 

"Great    Whig    Convention,"    412 

Greelev,  Horace,  on  bond  of  Jefferson  Davis, 
769,    770 

Greenaway,   James,    155 

Greenbackers,    560 

Greene,  Capt.,  quarrels  with  Johnson,  519, 
520 

Greene  County,  erected,  117:  organized,  149; 
delegates  of  to  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion (1796),  155;  history  and  statistics 
of,    812 

Greene,   James   I.,    405 

Greene,  (Jen.  Nathanael,  117;  tract  of  in 
Maury   County,   742 

Greeneville  and  Tusculum  College,   776 

Greeneville    College,    154 

Greenfield    Station,    191,    216 

Gregg.    Gen.,    at    Raymond,    Miss.,    512 

Grenville,   Lord,    289 

Griffin,    John,    197 

Griner  (Grinder),  Robert,  re  Meriwether 
Lewis,   312,   859 

Grundv  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
855-856 

Grundy,  Felix,  com.  re  Tenn.-Ky.  boundary 
line,  371,  381-383;  U.  S.  Senator,  403; 
a   war  republican,   416;   424.   717 

Guadaloupe   Hidalgo,   treaty    of,    437 

Guild,  Judge  Jos.  C,  re  Jackson-Dickinson 
duel.  310;  re  life  of  early  settlers.  322, 
325,  326;  re  Coffee  in  battle  of  Talla- 
dega, 347,  note;  re  Little  Harp.  392, 
note;  re  Lafayette,  396,  note,  721;  re 
Florida  War,  416;  re  Polk-Jones  de- 
bate, 421;  arrested  by  Johnson,  516; 
re    Hume-Fogg    school,    720 

Gunboat    Nashville,    590 

Guyon.    Capt.    Isaac,    42 

Gwin,    James,    210 

Gwin,    Capt.    John,    248 

Gwin,    Sen.    W.    M.,    210 

Gwinn,  Sen.  L.  E..  candidate  for  nomina- 
tion   for    gov.,    697 

Habeas  corpus,  553   and   note 
Hackett,    comptroller.    543,    note 
Hager,    Frederick,    847 
Haggard,   Elder,    234 


Haig,   Sir   Douglas,    re   Hindenburg   line,   640 

Hale,   W.   D.,    385,    626 

Hale,   W.   J.,   charges   against,    698 

Hale,   Will   T..    596 

Half   Way  House,   754 

Halfway   Town,   44 

Hall,   Allen   A.,    429,    468 

Hall,   Frank   S.,   speaker,    699 

Hall,    James,    183,    189 

Hall,    John,    190,    191 

Hall,   .lohn,   delegate   to  N.  C,   88 

Hall   of  Fame,   635 

Hall,    Prudence,    190,    191 

Hall,   Richard,   190 

Hall,   Maj.    William,    136,    183,    189,    191 

Hall,  Gov.  William,  183.  190,  216,  217,  218, 
234;  succeeds  Houston  as  gov.,  403; 
recommendations   of   to   legislature,   403 

Halleck,    Gen.    W.   N.,   at   Corinth,    482 

Hamblen  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
812-813 

Hamilton,    Col.,    288 

Hamilton,   Alexander,   416 

Hamilton  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
813-817 

Hamilton  District,  established,  154;  re  In- 
dians, 216 

Hamilton,    George,    191 

Hamilton,  Gen.  Henry,  re  arousing  Indians, 
91,    168.    171 

Hamilton,    John,   136 

Hamilton,   Joseph,    149 

Hammond,  Eli,   219 

Hammonds,   Capt.,    in   Creek   War,   355 

Hancock  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
818 

Handley.    David,    56 

Handly  (Handley),  Capt.  Samuel,  151,  156, 
212;   defeat   and   capture   of,    213,   214 

Hanging   Maw,    see    Scollacutta 

Hannah,  Gen.  Harvey  H.,  487,  488;  in  Span- 
ish-American War,  590;  candidate  for 
nomination   for  gov.,   697 

Hannum,   Frank  H.,   385 

Hanover    Presbytery,    329 

Hanson,    Gen.,    487.    488 

Happy    Valley,    569 

Hapwood,    Josephus,    prohibitionist,    582 

Hardeman  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
891-892 

Hardee,  Gen.  W.  .1.,  at  Shiloh,  480;  at  Mur- 
freesboro,    488 

Hardeman,   Thomas,   155 

Hardin  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
892-893 

Hardin,    John,   136 

Hardin,   Joseph,   152 

Hardin,   Capt.    Joseph,    Jr.,    202 

Harding,   John,    723 

Harding,   Wm.   G.,   473,   723 

Hardwick.   Gov.   T.   W.,   386 

Hardwicke,  Jno.  P.,  412,  note 

Harned.  Commissioner  P.   L.,   694 

Harp,   Micajah,    38S-391 

Harp,    Wiley,    388-391 

Harps,    The,    388-391 

Harris,  Isham  G.,  418;  re  banking,  460,  461, 
462,  463;  defeats  Hatton,  467;  defeats 
Netherland,  468;  a  secessionist,  469-472; 
reply  of  to  Lincoln's  call,  470;  calls  ex- 
tra sessions,  470,  471;  at  Shiloh,  481, 
482;  issues  election  proclamation  (1863), 
521;  government  of  since  1861  declared 
void,  525;  reward  for  arrest  of  with- 
drawn, 533.  534;  elected  U.  S.  Senator, 
558;  re  Andrew  Jackson,  Jr.,  572;  death 
of,   588  and   note 

Harris,    Jeremiah    George,    411 

biarrison,    190 

Harrison,   U.    S.   Atty.,    288 

Harrison    and    Tyler,    412 

"Harrison    Guards,"    437 

Harrison,   Reuben,    105 

Harrison,   Gen.    Wm.    H.,    359 

Harrod.    Capt.    James,    86 

Hart,   David,   87 

Hart,    Nathaniel,    86,    87 

Hart,  Thomas,  86,   87 

Haskell,   Joshua,    375 

Haskell,  Col.   William  T.,   418,   423,  438,   note 

Hatton,  Gen.  Robert,  418,  467;  serves  in  Va., 
512;   513 

Hawkins,    treaty   of,    see   Hopewell    treaty 

Hawkins,  Gov.  Alvin,  elected,  545,  561;  ad- 
ministration of,  561-562;  re  settlement 
of  state  debt,   562 

Hawkins,  Col.  Benjamin,  147,  148,  253,  281, 
282,   283;   re   Creek  treaty,   359 


INDEX 


965 


Hawkins  County,  erected,  130;  organized, 
149;  delegates  of  to  constitutional  con- 
vention (1796),  155;  history  and  statis- 
tics   of,     818-821 

Hawkins,  Sam  \V.,  re  Judge  H.  T.  Camp- 
bell,   594,    note 

Hay,   Capt.   David,   185 

Hay,    Joseph,    175 

Jiayes,    Pres.    Rutherford   B.,   561 
vne,   Robert  Y.,   446 

Haynes,    Emma,    570 

Haynes,  Hal  B.,  612 

Haynes,  Landon  C,  418;  apostrophe  of  to 
Watauga,    569 

Haynes.   Milton   A.,   201,   note 

Havs,   Capt.  James,  217,   218 

Havs,   Robert,   135,    136,   137,   138,   149,    185 

Hays,    Thomas,    337 

Hays'   Station.    218 

"Hayslope,"    813 

Haywood   and   Cobb's   Revisal,  396 

Haywood  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
893 

Haywood.  Judge  John,  re  Fort  Loudon.  49; 
re  Adair,  55;  re  compilation  of  Tenn. 
laws,  59;  re  government  of  Watauga, 
76;  re  Robertson,  80.  141;  re  Haywood 
and  Cobb's  revisal,  396,  468;  home  and 
sketch    of,    729 

Hazard,    Samuel,    58 

Head.  J.  M.,  re  Tenn.  Centennial  Exposition, 
584 

Health.  State  board  of,  see  State  Board  of 
Health 

Heaton's   Station,    89,    165 

Hedge,   Levi,   60 

Heiman.    Col.,    477 

Heiskell.    Chancellor,    re   Riechman,    627 

Heiskell,  J.  B.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

Heiskell,  S.  G.,  re  Boone  tree,  56.  57;  re 
Wm.   Been,   709;    re   Rawlings,   769 

Hellabee,    354 

Henderson  &  Co.,  57;  receive  land  on  Clinch 
River,  72,  note:  re  Transylvania  pur- 
chase, 86-88,  170,  252;  no  title  of  to 
Cumberland,  115 

"Henderson  and  Company's  Purchase  With- 
in   the   Limits    of   Tenn.,"    58 

Henderson.  Dr.  Archibald,  re  civilization, 
63;  re  Watauga  Ass'n,  68;  re  Henderson 
Purchase,  86,  87-88;  re  Richard  Hender- 
son's connection  with  Cumberland  set- 
tlement, 102,  103;  re  authorship  of 
Cumberland  Compact,  113-114;  re  Span- 
ish  conspiracy,   138,   note,    140,   141 

Henderson  Countv,  history  and  statistics 
of.    893-894 

Henderson,    Col.    James,    338 

Henderson,  Richard,  re  excellence  of  Tenn., 
52;  re  survey  of,  58,  379,  382;  re  Tran- 
sylvania purchase,  85-88,  102,  103;  re 
appearance  of,  87;  re  Cumberland  set- 
tlements, 102,  103;  meets  Donelson 
party.  108;  re  land  entries  on  Cumber- 
land, 110;  re  authorship  of  Cumberland 
Compact.    113-114 

Henderson,    Rev.    Robert,    329 

Henderson's    Line,     379 

Henderson's  Purchase  and  Events  Leading 
up  to  the  Battle  of  King's  Mountain, 
85-95 

Henderson,   Thomas,    155 

Henderson,  Col.  W.  A.,  re  forts,  46;  re 
Sevier's  diary,  302,  note;  re  Tenn.  Cen- 
tennial   Exposition,    584 

Henning,    Dr.,    293 

Henning's   Statutes,    379   and    note 

Henry,    U.    S.    senator,    282 

Henry,  Mr.,   105 

Henry  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
894-895 

Henry,  Custavus  A.,  418;  the  "Eagle  Ora- 
tor," 423,  439,  465;  defeated  for  gov., 
465;   re   secession,    471 

Henry,    Maj.    John    F.,    481 

Henry,    John    R.,    463 

Henry,    Gov.    Patrick,    128 

Henry's   Station,    221,    233 

Herbert   Domain,   bought,    599;    600 

Hermitage,  The,   history  of,   732 

Hermitage  Association,  see  Ladies'  Hermit- 
age  Association 

Hermitage   Church,   732 

Herndon,   440 

Hess,    Nelson    I.,    406 

Hewitt's  "History  of  South  Carolina,"  49, 
50 


Heydt,  Capt.,  sergt.   at  arms,   532 

Hibbett,  Surgeon  Charles   T.,  590 

Hickerson,    190 

Hickman  County,  erected,  309;  history  and 
statistics    of,    856-857 

Hickman,    Maj.    Edwin,    149 

Hickman,    Gen.    Jno.    P.,    794 

Hickman,    Mrs.    Jno.    P.,    794 

Hickory   Ground,    354,    356 

Higgins,    Gen.,    292 

Highway  Department,  see  State  Highway 
Department,  447 

Highways  and  Public  Buildings,  Depart- 
ment of,   449,  note 

Highland  Rim,  The,   23 

Hilham,   60 

Hill,    93 

Hill,    A.    E.,    speaker,    622 

Hill,   Gen.    Benjamin,    481,    513 

Hill,   Gen.  Daniel,   494;   re   Chickamauga.   497 

Hill.    William    K.,    406 

Hilliard.   Henry  W..    470,   471 

Hillsboro    turnpike.    738-739 

TTindenburg  .Line,    The.    636 

Hinds,    Joseph,    195 

"Historic    Blue   Grass   Line,"    393 

"Historic    Sullivan,"    836,    note 

"Historic    Sumner    County,"     136 

Historic  Spots  and  Places,  704-774;  of  East 
Tenn.,  704-713;  of  Middle  Tenn.,  713-761; 
of  West  Tenn.,   762-774 

History  and  Archives,  Department  of,  abol- 
ished,   687    and   note 

"History    of   Methodism,"    330 

History  of  Tennessee,  see  Tennessee  his- 
tory 

Hiwassee    Canal   Co.,   396 

Hiwassee  District,    257,    25S 

Hiwassee    Railroad    Co.,    445 

Hobbs,    Judge    J.    C.    695 

Hobbs,   Lieut.    Vincent,    231 

Hodges.    Calloway.    405 

Hoffman.    N.    Y.    Atty.    Gen.,    288 

Hogan,    Edward,    187 

Hogan,    Richard,    103 

Hogg,    James,    87 

Hntrsratt,     Capt.     James,    139 

Holidavs,   see   legal    holidays 

Hollidav,    John,    235 

Holliday,   Joseph,   103 

Holman,  Mrs.  Silena  Moore,  re  W.  C.  T.  U., 
800 

Holmes.    Oliver    Wendell,    322 

Holston  and  French  Broad,  settlement  south 
of,  see  Settlement  South  of  the  Hol- 
ston and  French  Broad 

Holston  District,  Congressional,  275 

Holston    settlements    invaded.    163-167 

Holston,   treaty  of,   150,   253,   278 

Honeycut,    63,    74 

Hood,  Gen.  John  B.,  campaign  of  in  Middle 
Tenn..  507-511;  fights  battle  of  Frank- 
lin, 508:  fights  battle  of  Nashville.  508, 
511:  relieved,  511;  plan  of  against  Scho- 
fleld,    747 

Hood,    David,    116,    172,    173 

Hooper,  Gov.  Ben.  W.,  nominee  of  republi- 
cans and  independents.  611;  elected  gov., 
611  and  note;  administrations  of,  611- 
617;  strife  and  bitterness  in  administra- 
tion of.  613;  important  laws  of  admin- 
istration of,  614-615.  617-621:  vetoes  of, 
615.  618.  619  and  note;  campaign  of 
1912.  617:  defeats  MoMillin,  617;  re 
Shelby  delegation.  618;  calls  extra  ses- 
sion. 619;  important  acts  in  adminis- 
tration of  in  1913.  620-621;  nominated 
for  third  time.  621:  defeated  by  Rye, 
622:  last  messag'es  of,  622;  re  enforce- 
ment of  prohibition  laws.  622  and  note; 
declines  part  in  inauguration  of  Rye, 
622.    note 

Hopewell,  or  Hawkins,  treaty,  131.  175.  193, 
194,   204.   227.   253 

"Hopkinsianism,"  329 

i  Corse   racing,   309 

Horton,    394 

Horton.    Joshua,    57 

Hosmer's  Short  History  of  the  Miss.  Valley, 
7    and     note,    8 

Hoss,  Bishop  E'.  I':.,  on  results  of  battle  of 
King's    Mountain,    100 

Houck,   Sen.    John   <"..   re   Capt.   Peck,   694 

Houston  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
857 

Houston.    Col.   James,    412 

Houston,    James,    155 

Houston.    Russell,    416,    737 


!)66 


INDEX 


Houston.   Gov.   Sam.   64;   at    battle   of   Toho- 

peka.  357,  35S;  madi  gc  ii..  3S5;  re  duel 
with  White.  399;  administration  of,  399- 
403;  resigns  as  gov.,  399;  Idler  of  I" 
father-in-law,  399-400;  cause  of  separa- 
tion with  wife,  400-403;  visils  Tenn., 
424;    469 

Houston.    Rev.    Samuel,    120,    121,    122,    329 

Houston's  Station,  712 

Howard.    Geo.    A.,    514 

Howes,   secessionist  gov.   of   Kv.,    tst; 
Hubbard   (or  Hubbart),  Col.  James.   121,   194, 

195,     196 
Hughes,   A.   M.,   564 
Hughes.    E.    \Y..    re    Boone    tree.    56 
Hughes.    Col.    John    M.,    serves    in    Ya..    -".12 
Hughes,    Thomas,    831 
Huguenots,    307 

Huling.    Frederick    W.,    571.    note 
Hull,    J     S..    carpet-bagger,    543 
Hume,    Alfred,    720 
Hume-Fogg    High    School,    720 
Humes,    Rev.    Thomas    W..    782 
Humes,   Gen.   W.   Y.   C,   513 
Humphreys     County,     erected,     334;     history 

and    statistics    of,    857-858 
Humphreys,     Judge     P.     W.,     334;     boundary 

line    commissioner,    368 
Humphreys.    West   H.,    406 

Hunger   and   Mutiny   in    Creek    War.    348-351 
Hunt,   Gen.,    488 
Hunter.    R.    M.    T.,    531 
Hunters,      early,     see     Early      Hunters      and 

Their   Hunting   Ground 
Hunter's    Fort,    712 
Hunter's    Hill.    732 
Huntsman,    Adam,     375,    406,     454 
Hurlburt,    Gen.    Stephen    A.,    tries    to    cope 

with    Forrest,    503;    re    Forrest's    attack 

on    Memphis,    505 
Hurst,    T.   M.,    481 
Hutchings,   Capt.  Thomas.   105 
Hyder.   N.   E.,    re   Watauga   Old   Fields,    83 

Immigration.  275-374;  bureau  of  estab- 
lished,  554 

Immigration    Rist,    29.    30 

"Immortal   Thirteen,  The."  412  and  note.   413 

Impartial  Review  and  Cumberland  Reposi- 
tory.   311,    note 

Impeachment,  of  Judge  David  Campbell. 
309-310;  of  Judge  William  Cocke.  337; 
of  Judge  Thomas  N.  Frazier.  532;  of 
Edcington  and  Estes,  627 

Incas,    84 

"Independent   movement.    The"    604.    610-611 

Independents.    604,    610-611,    621 

Indian    Creek,    171 

Indians.  The,  16-20;  warriors  of.  19;  Mc- 
Murry  on,  19;  Flint  on,  19;  reasons  for 
the  animosity  of,  157;  magna  charta 
of,  163;  feelings  of  in  Revolutionary 
War,    192;    confederacy    of.    339.    340 

Indian  Wars  and  Warriors  of  Tenn.,  157- 
250 

Indian  Wars  and  Warriors  of  the  Old  South- 
west,   52,    157 

Indian    War   Trail,    see   Cherokee   Path 

Inferior  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Ses- 
sions,  see  Pleas  and   Quarter  Sessions 

Ingersoll,   Jared,    282,    284 

Ingersoll,   Col.    Robert,    492 

Inheritance   Tax   Law,    687 

Innkeepers,    re   law    for,    602 

Insane,    asylum    for,    414,    note 

Insurrections,    of    miners,     576-579,    596,    597 

Intrigues    of    the   Spanish,    134,    187-191 

Introduction,    7-27 

Internal  improvements,  board  of  appointed. 
403;  442-449,  442,  note;  river  navigation. 
442-443;  plan  of  1829,  443-444;  follow- 
ing adoption  of  constitution  of  1834. 
444  and  note;  Pennsylvania  plan,  444- 
445;  Gov.  Polk,  re,  445;  state  aid  for 
prohibited,  447;  state  highway  depart- 
ment, 447-449;  laws  aiding  repealed. 
550:  aid  for  prohibited  bv  constitution 
of  1870,   553   and   note 

Invalid    pensioners,    260 

"Invisible    Empire,"    see    Ku    Klux    Klan 

Iredell.   Justice   James,   149 

Irish    Race.    28.    36 

Tron    Ranks,    171 

Iron   works,   334 

Iroquois,    habitat   of,    19:    land    claims    of,    S5 

Irvine,    Mrs.    W.    J.,    re    Ku    Klux    Klan 

Irving  Rlock  Federal  Prison.  770 

Isaacs,   Capt..    219.    220 


Isaacs.   Jacob   C,    403 
[sbell,  Zachariah.  69.  83 

Ish.  John,  227 
lsh's  Station,  223,  712 
Isiov,  La  Fayette,  56 
Jack,  Capt.  Patrick,  49,  252 
Jack.  Col.  Samuel.  167 
Jack's  Creek,  battle  of,  503 
Jackson,  Gen.  Alfred  10.,  513 
Jackson,  Andrew,  influence  of.  v;  made 
atty.-gen.  for  Mero  District,  137.  149; 
appointed  to  practice,  149;  first  mili- 
tary appointment  of,  149;  delegate  to 
constitutional  convention  (1796).  155; 
said  to  have  suggested  name  of  Ten- 
nessee, 156,  247:  on  Indian  campaign, 
189;  re  Creek  treaty  of  capitulation, 
256;  re  treaties  with  Cherokees,  256, 
258;  re  Chickasaw  Cession  treaty,  256; 
re  removal  of  Cherokees,  259;  elected 
first  representative  to  Congress  (1796), 
277.  291;  elected  U.  S.  Senator,  293;  re- 
signs  as  senator,  294  and  note;  superior 
judge.  294,  302;  re  Jackson-Sevier  im- 
broglio, 302-308;  elected  major-gen., 
303;  handles  Roane's  campaign.  304, 
305;  charges  Sevier  with  land  frauds, 
304;  personal  encounters  of  with  Sevier, 
305-307;  differences  between  Jackson 
and  Sevier,  307,  308;  re  duel  with  Dick- 
inson. 309,  310-312:  re  friendship  with 
Judge  David  Campbell,  309;  major-gen. 
in  regular  army,  337,  359;  re  affray 
with  Rontons,  337,  343;  commands 
Natchez  expedition.  338-339;  to  Soldiers 
of  Creek  War,  343.  344.  345.  358,  360: 
report  of  baffle  of  Tallushatchee.  346; 
report  of  battle  of  Talladega.  347:  re 
hunger  and  mutiny  in  Creek  War.  348- 
351  ;  to  Gov.  Rlount  re  enlistments.  351, 
352:  re  report  of  battle  of  Tohopeka, 
354-356,  354.  note:  re  New  Orleans  cam- 
paign. 360-367;  at  Mobile  and  Pensa- 
cola,  360;  arrives  at  New  Orleans,  363: 
letter  of  to  Gov.  Claiborne.  363:  re  bad 
conditions  at  New  Orleans.  361:  pre- 
pares for  battle.  365;  fights  battle  of 
New  Orleans.  366;  com.  to  Cherokees 
and  Chiekasaws.  371  :  conducts  Sem- 
inole War,  371-372-373;  makes  treaty 
with  Chiekasaws.  371:  a  national  figure. 
372:  invades  Florida.  373;  gov.  of 
Florida.  373..  note.  395:  re  founding  of 
Memphis,  376;  friendship  with  Judge 
John  Overton.  376.  note;  state  votes 
sword  to.  395;  IT.  S.  Senator  over  Wil- 
liams, 396;  legislature  indorses  for  pres- 
ident,  396:  elected  pres.  of  IJ.  S..  399; 
Jackson-White  contention,  407;  rivalry 
with  Clay.  416;  re  whig  party.  417: 
hacks  Van  Ruren.  422:  deserts  Van 
Buren,  422:  Mill's  Statue  of,  431;  re 
Indians.  432,  433:  re  Cherokees.  432. 
433:  re  central  loan  plan,  454:  re  Rank 
of  IT.  S...  456;  law  office  of.  714-715:  re 
racing  of.   730:   re   Burr's   boats,   731 

Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew,  re  slander  of.  305. 
310:   re  Dickinson   duel,   311 

Jackson,    Andrew,    Jr.,    572 

Jackson,  Col.  Andrew,  III,  at  Port  Hudson. 
512    and    note 

Jackson  College,   750 

Jackson  Countv.  erected.  296;  history  and 
statistics    of,    858-859 

Jackson,  Howell  E.,  elected  U.  S.  Senator. 
561 

Jackson.   Mrs.   Sarah   Yorke.   572 

Jackson-Sevier    imbroglio.    302-30S 

Jackson's  Purchase,  374 

Jackson,    W.,    451 

Jackson.  Gen.  W.  H.,  surrenders.  511;  parole 
com.,    511:    513 

Jacobins,    292 

Jarnagin,    Spencer.    418 

Jarvis,    John.    216,    217,    218 

Jay.   John.    138,    276,    288 

Jealousy,    of   East   Tenn.   leaders,   91 

Jefferson  County,  erected.  153;  delegates  of 
to  constitutional  convention  (1796), 
155;    history    and    statistics    of,    821-822 

Jefferson,  Pres  Thomas,  71.  171.  280.  291, 
297;  on  results  of  battle  of  King's 
Mountain,  100;  416;  re  removal  of 
Cherokees,   432 

Jefferys,    Geo.,    re    seal    press,    301 

Jennings.   Jonathan.    106.   171 

"Jerks.."    in    revivals,    331 

.losup,    Gen..    416 

"John   Armstrong's  Office,"   117.   197,   279,   376 


INDEX 


967 


"Johnnie   Bill,"    588 

Johnson,    236 

Johnson,  Pres.  Andrew,  re  "Immortal  Thir- 
teen," 412  and  note;  418.  423;  admin- 
istrations of  as  gov..  465-467;  defeats 
Henry  for  gov.,  465;  defeats  Gentry, 
466;  brig. -gen.,  513.  51">;  military  gov., 
515-526;  proclamation  of,  515,  516;  ar- 
rests Secessionists,  516,  517;  restores 
civil  law,  519;  alarmed  at  situation  of 
Nashville.  519;  conflicts  with  Union 
officers,  519,  520;  determines  to  punish 
secession  leaders,  522;  oath  prescribed 
to  voters  by,  522-523,  524;  has  meeting 
held  in  East  Tenn.,  523;  makes  prog- 
ress in  restoration,  524;  issues  procla- 
mations. 524;  effects  reorganization, 
525-526;  proclaims  state  government  re- 
stored, 526;  resigns  as  military  gov. 
and  takes  oath  as  vice-pres.  of  U.  S., 
526;  conflict  of  with  Congress,  535; 
change  of  toward  secessionists,  535; 
protection  of  asked,  540;  candidate  for 
congressman  at  large,  555;  defeated  for 
Congress  (1870),  555;  elected  U.  S.  Sen- 
ator, 557:  death  of.  557;  re  purchase 
of  his  tailor  shop,   693 

Johnson,  Gen.  Bushrod,  at  Fort  Donelson, 
477;  481;  in  Southwest  and  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  512;  in  Va.,  512;  513;  re  memo- 
rial   to   legislature,    539 

Johnson.  Cave,  M.  C,  403,  418;  re  Polk's 
nomination.  422,  note:  423;  letter  of  to 
James    Buchanan.    440;    458,    459 

Johnson  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
822-823 

Johnson,   J.   C,   prohibitionist,   571 

Johnson,    Peter.    Com.    Tenn.-Va.    line,    301 

Johnson,   Gen.    R.    W.,    485 

Johnson,    Richard   M.,   418 

Johnson,    Thomas,    368       * 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  57,  162;  re  Fort  Stan- 
wix  treaty,   59 

Johnsonville.   captured   by   Forrest,    507 

Johnston,    388 

Johnston,    Gen.,    in    Creek    War.    355 

Johnston,  Gen.  Albert  Sidney,  462;  in  Civil 
War,  474;  re  Forts  Henry  and  Donel- 
son, 479;  at  Corinth.  479;  death  of,  480 
and    note,    481 

Johnston,  Gen.  Joseph  E..  462;  re  battle  of 
Murfreesboro.  48.X;  supersedes  Bragg, 
500;  re  Forrest's  new  assignment,  503; 
505;    surrenders.   511;    512 

Johnston,    Gov.    Samuel.    131.    147,    148 

Johnston.    Thomas,    156 

Jones,    Mrs.,    172 

Jones.  Judee  Clem  J.,  in  Spanish-American 
War,    589 

Jones,  Ira  P.,  428.  note:  re  corruption  of 
Brownlow  regime,  543,  note 

Jones,  Gov.  James  C  campaign  of  against 
Polk,  412,  421;  418:  Temple's  opinion 
of,  421:  becomes  democrat.  427;  re  cap- 
itol,  428.  note;  re  Memphis  and  Charles- 
ton   R.    R.,    446 

Jones,    Dr.    Joseph,   11,    15 

Jones,    Mollie,    209 

Jones.  R.  L.,  State  Supt.  Public  Instruction, 
910 

Jones,    Robert,    235 

Jones,    Sam,    re    battle   of   Franklin,    748 

Jones,    Prof.    Wharton    S.,    591    and    note 

Jordan   and    Pryor.   re   Forrest,   485,    note 

Jordan,    Warren,    546 

Journals,  of  Territorial  Council,  etc.,  277, 
note 

Judge    Friend,    see    Outacite 

Judges,   see  Government   of   the   Notables 

Judges,    re    independent     movement,    610 

Judicial    Circuits,    334.    371.    408 

"Jug  Bill,  The,"  604,   620  and  note 

Junior    Order    of    American     Mechanics,    132 

Justi,  Herman,  editor  History  of  Tenn. 
Centennial    Exposition,   587 

Justice,    Richard,   196,    211,    227 

"Kansas    Jayhawkers."    750,    753 

Kansas-Nebraska  bill,   466 

Kantakee,   88,   note 

Keane,  Gen.,   at  battle   of  New   Orleans,   365, 

366 
Keating,   Jno.    M,    re    old    Bell   Tavern,    766; 

re    raising    Union     flag    on     capture    of 

Memphis,    773 
Keeble,     E.     A.,     for     Confederate     Congress, 

521 
Keefe,    Thomas,    208 
Kiel.    Rev.    James,    329 


Keilan,    James,    475 

Kelley,  Col.  D.  C.  repulses  Federals  at 
Eastport,   506 

Kelly,   Col.   Alexander.    152,   224 

Kellv,    David    C.    prohibitionist,    575 

Kelly,    John,    405 

Kelly,   Rev.   Joshua,    329 

Kelly,    Col.    R.    M.,    476 

Kelso,   Lieut.   F.   M..   512 

Kendall,    Amos,    348,    note 

Kendall,    Peter,    406 

Kennedy,    George,    181 

Kentucky,  meaning  of,  88,  note;  neutrality 
of,    474 

Kentucky  Synod,   333 

Kentucky-Tenn.    boundary    line,    380-383 

Keowee,    45,    48 

Kerley,    Lieut,    352 

Key,   Lieut.   Albert   L.,    590 

Key   Corner.   774,   889 

Key,  Judge  D.  M.  313;  in  Civil  War,  473; 
U.    S.    judge.    561 

Kiachatalee  (Chiachattalla),  198,  199,  215, 
730 

Kialigee,    207 

Kiel    Canal,    638 

Killebrew,  Col.  J.  B.,  Asst.  Supt.  Public  In- 
struction.  555:   882,  note 

Kimbrough,    Bradley,    ^05 

Kincaid,    Jos.,    405 

Kincannon,   A.    A.,    405 

King,    Mrs.    Ann,    247 

King  Fisher,   151:  death  of,   225 

King  George  II.  51 

King  George  III,  58;  proclamation  of  <17tL"). 
75,    163.    206 

King,    James,    246 

King,   Col.   James,   281,   note 

King,   Maj.    Robert,    222,   227 

King.  Rufus,  against  admission  of  Tenn., 
276 

King,   Rev.   Samuel,   332.    333 

King,    Col.    Thomas.    149 

King's    Iron    Works,    281 

King's  Mountain,  battle  of,  31;  events  lead- 
ing up  to,  88-95;  march  to,  92-95;  com- 
mander at,  93,  94;  council  of  generals 
before,  95;  battle  of.  96-101;  official  re- 
port of,  96-97;  account  of  battle  of  by 
a  participant,  97-99;  results  of,  99-100; 
losses  at,  97,  99;   court-martial  after.   99 

Kingston,    capital    of   state,    236,    237,   309 

Kinney,   Col.    Thomas    J.,   surrenders,    4  92 

Kirk,  John,  re  massacre  of  family  of,  131, 
195,    196;    713 

Kirkman,  V.  L.,  vice-pres.  Tennessee  Cen- 
tennial Exposition,  584 

Kittageska,    chief,    211 

Kittigeskee,    chief.    222 

Kniffin,    Col.    G.    C.     487,    note,    494,   note,   759 

Knights   of   Columbus,   The,   635 

"Know-Nothing"    party,    466,    467 

Knox  County,  erected,  153;  delegates  of  to 
constitutional  convention  (1796),  155; 
history    and    statistics    of,    823-824 

Knox,   Ensign    Dudley   W.,    590 

Knox,   Gen.  Henry,   153,   253 

Knox's    treaty,    first,    254;    second,    254 

Knoxville,  capital  of  Territory,  153;  pre- 
pares for  Indian  attack.  223;  siege  of, 
500;    street   car   strike   at,    689 

Knoxville   Gazette',    279    and    note 

Ku  Klux  Klan,  434-540;  organized,  537; 
growth  of,  538;  re  proclamation  of, 
Brownlow  against,  510;  disbands,  548; 
554,    749 

Kuonosuke,  see  John  Watts 

Kuykendale,    Joseph,    136 

Labor    Day.    established,    575 

Labor   laws,    600,    626.   627.   629,   686 

Labor   unrest,   69  1    and   note,   696 

Lacey,    93 

Lacock    report,    373,    note 

Lacy,    Hopkins,    153 

Ladies'     Hermitage     Association,     origin     of, 

572;    and    Soldiers'    Home,    572   and    note; 

587 
Lafayette.     Marquis     de,     visit     of,     396     and 

note,    721 
Lafayette,  battle  of,  503 
Lafttte,  Jean,  re  New  Orleans  campaigi 
Lake  County,    history   and  statistics  of    895 
Lake,     Rev.    Joseph.    3L".i 
Lambert.   Rev.  Jeremiah.  329 
Land  Commissioners,   117 
Land  grants,   133,    134;   re  difficulties  caused 

by     restrictions    of    Act     of    Cession.     145, 

146,    l!7;    re    controversies    between    U. 


968 


INDEX 


S..  Term,  and  N.  C,  279,  294,  313-318, 
776,  779;  re  Congressional  Reservation, 
374 

Land   hunger,   133,   134 

Land  ofiice,  in  Holston  settlements,  90,  194; 
in  Cumberland  settlement,  117;  opened 
in  Tenn.  by  N.  C,  279;  in  Knoxville  and 
Nashville,    374 

Land    tax,    reduced.    702 

Lane,   Rev.   Tidence,  329 

Langford,   391 

Langford,   Judge  Frank,    690 

Lanier   Female   Academy.   724 

Lansden,  Judge   D.   L.,   691 

La    Salle,    Robert    Cavalier    de,    41,    375,    765 

Latimer,    210 

Latin   Race,   The,   28,   32 

Latinac,   Louis,    47 

Latitude   Hill.   756-757 

Lauderdale  County,  history  and  statistics 
of,   859 

Laughlin,   Samuel   H..    412    and   note 

"Lavergne    races,"    487 

Law  and   Order  League,   689 

Law   enforcement,   612,    619,   689,    691 

Lawrence,  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson,  at  St. 
Louis  Exposition,   596 

Lawrence  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
859 

Laws  of  U.  S.,  effective  in  Tenn.,  279 

Laws   of  Va.,   85 

Lea,  Benj.,  speaker,  571 

Lea,   John,   400 

Lea,  Judge  John  M.,  376;  prepares  fran- 
chise "ordinance."  539,  540;  vice-pres. 
Tennessee   Historical  Society,   556 

Lea,    Luke,    149 

Lea,  Col.  Luke,  elected  U.  S.  Senator,  612; 
defeated  by  McKellar,  628;  in  World 
War,   637 

Lea,  Margaret,  second  wife  of  Sam  Hous- 
ton,  400 

Lea,   Prvor.   M.   C,   403 

Lea,    Col.    Sumpter,    400 

Leach,    A.    M.,    speaker,    611 

Leaders,  of  Watauga.   80-83;   jealousy  of,   91 

League   of   women   voters,   625,   691 

Lealand,   729 

Lease   svstem,   of   convicts,   see   penitentiary 

Ledhetter,    Col.    D.,    475 

Ledbetter,   William.   405 

Ledgerwood.   Col.  W.   L,   speaker,   563 

Lee,   Gen.    "Light   Horse   Harry."   94 

Lee,  Gen.  Robert  E.,  462,  512;  surrender 
of,    527;    531 

Lee,  Gen.  Stephen  D.,  commands  rear  guard 
from  Nashville,  511;  joins  Gen.  J.  E. 
Johnston,  511 

Leiper,   Capt.   James,   181,   718 

Leiper,   Thomas,   391 

Legal   Advisory  Board,    635 

Legal  holidays,   630  and  note 

Legislation,  of  first  session,  275,  276;  of 
first  extra  session,  277,  278;  re  people 
south  of  the  Holston,  278;  in  1708,  293; 
in  1799.  294:  in  1804.  1806,  1807,  309; 
re  lands,  314-318;  of  Carroll's  first 
series  of  administrations,  395-399;  of 
Cannon's  administrations,  407-408;  of 
Polk's  administration,  411-412;  of  Jones' 
administrations,  411,  412;  of  Aaron  V. 
Brown's  administration,  434;  of  Neill  S. 
Brown's  administration,  439;  of  Trous- 
dale's administration,  439-440;  of  Camp- 
bell's administration,  441-442;  of  Har- 
ris' administrations,  467,  468,  470,  471; 
secession,  470.  471,  472,  473;  re  Army 
of  Tenn.,  473;  of  Brownlow  regime, 
529,  531,  532,  533,  534,  535,  536,  537, 
538,  539,  540;  of  Senter's  administra- 
tion, 541,  549.  550:  of  J.  C.  Brown's 
administrations,  554-556;  of  Porter's 
administrations,  557-559;  of  Mark's  ad- 
ministration. 560;  of  Hawkins'  adminis- 
tration. 561-562:  of  Bate's  administra- 
tions, 563-568;  of  R.  L.  Taylor's  admin- 
istrations. 570-573:  of  Buchanan's  ad- 
ministration, 575-579;  of  Turney's  ad- 
ministrations, 580-582:  of  McMillin's 
administrations,  591-593;  of  Frazier's 
administration,  594-597;  of  Patterson's 
administration,  600-611;  of  Hooper's  ad- 
ministrations, 611-615;  of  Rye's  admin- 
istrations, 622-631;  of  Robert's  admin- 
istration, 684-688;  of  A.  A.  Taylor's 
administration.  692-696,  of  Peay's  ad- 
ministration, 699-700;  cost  of  reduced, 
702,   703 


Legislative    contests,    611 

Legislature,   see  General  Assembly 

Lellyett,  John,"  opposes  Andrew  Johnson, 
520;    re    Convention     (1863),    521 

Lemos,   Gov.   Don    Manuel   Gayoso    de,    42 

Leonard,  Miss  Myrtle,   re   Boone   tree,  56,   57 

Leslie's  Magazine,   310 

Lesley,   Creek  Indian,   226 

Lester,  Capt.  John  C,  re  Ku  Klux  Klan,  537 

Lewis,    Gen.    Andrew,    46,    67    and    note 

Lewis,  Maj.  E.  E.,  director-gen.,  Tenn.  Cen- 
tennial Exposition,  584;  com.  St.  Louis 
Exposition,  595,  note;  highway  com., 
613 

Lewis.  Maj. -gen.  E.  M.,  in  World  War,  636, 
640 

Lewis,   Joel,   155;   re  John   Sevier,   302 

Lewis,  Meriwether,   312,    859   and   note 

Lewis,  Maj.  William  B..  re  Chickasaw  Pur- 
chase. 257;  re  Natchez  expedition,  338 
and    note;    re    Lafayette,    396,    note 

Lewis  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
859-860 

Gewisburg  Turnpike,   741 

Lexington   monument,    32 

Liberty   loans,    635 

Lincoln,  Pres.  Abraham,  32;  re  emancipa- 
tion proclamation  of,  147,  520-521; 
elected  pres.  TJ.  S.,  469:  calls  for  troops, 
470;  re  bridge  burners,  475;  appoints 
Johnson  military  gov.,  515;  does  not 
satisfv  peace  democrats,  525;  assassi- 
nated,   527 

Lincoln  County,  erected,  334;  history  and 
statistics   of,    860 

Lincoln   Dav.    687 

Lincoyer,     307,    358 

Lindsav,  Judge  H.  B..  defeated  for  gov.,  682 

Lindsay,    "William,    808 

Lindsley,  Dr.  J.  B._  librarian  Tenn.  Histori- 
cal Society,   556;   787,   note 

Lindslev,  Dt.  Philip,  pres.  University  of 
Nashville,    722 

Line   of  the  Cumberland,   474,   479 

Linsey    (Lindsay),    Isaac,    115,    134,    136 

Liquor   legislation,    see    Prohibition 

Liston,   Robert,   288,    289 

Little   Carpenter,    see   Atta-Kulla-Kulla 

Little    Fellow,    165 

Little   Harp,    see   Wilev   Harp 

Little    Nephew,    The,    228 

Little   Owl,    183.    206,    208,    209 

Little  Tallase,  200 

Little  Turkey,   200,   220 

Little    Turtle,    206 

Littleton,    Gov.,    48 

Littleton,    Col.,    251 

Littleton,    Jesse   M..   defeated   for   gov.,    597 

Livingston,    Mrs.,    228 

Livingston,    Elizabeth.    230,    231 

Livingston,    Henry,    230 

Livingston,    Paul,    230 

Livingston,   Peter,    230 

Livingston,    Robert    R.,    290 

Livingston,    Susanna,    230 

Livingston,    William    Todd,    230 

Lochaber,    treaty   of.    67.    68,    71,    75,    203,    252 

Logan,    Indian   chief,   359 

Logan,   Col.    Benjamin,    174 

Logan's  Cross  Roads,  battle  of,  see  Mill 
Springs 

Log  Town,   248:   fight  at,   249 

Long   Fellow    (Tuskegetchee),    165 

Long    hunters,    56 

Long  Island,    67,   75,   88,   168,   192 

Long   Island   Flats,   battle    of,    89,    166 

Long    Island   Fort,    see    Fort   Long   Island 

Long  Island   town,    170,   242 

Longstreet,  Gen.  James,  joins  Bragg,  297, 
note,  at  Chickamauga,  497;  in  East 
Tenn.,  500  and  note,  501;  attacks  Fort 
Sanders,   500,   note 

Lookout  Mountain,  170;  re  expedition  to, 
202;   re   battle   of,   499 

Looney,   Col.,    481 

Looney,    Absalom.    383 

Lopez,    Lieut,    Robert   F.,    590 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  re  results  of  battle  or 
King's    Mountain,    100 

Lost    tribes   of    Israel,    84 
Lotspeich,    J.    N.,    622 

Lottery,    442 

Loudon,   John,   Earl   of,   43,   46 

Loudon  County,  history  and  statistics  of. 
824-826 

Loudon   Fort,  see  Fort  Loudon 
Louis    XIV,    45,    291,    375 
Louis    XVI,    292 

Louis    Philippe,    291 


INDEX 


969 


Louisa  Company,  The,  86,  87 
Louisiana  Purchase,  291,  326 
Louisiana     Purchase     Exposition,      595-596; 

Commission   of,    595,   note 
Louisville,    Cincinnati    &    Charleston    R.    R., 

408 
Louthan,  A.   V.,    694 
Love,    Josiah,    149 
Love,    R.,    384 
Love,    Col.    Robert,    568 
Loving,    William    H.,    406 
Low    Tax   democrats,    560,    561 
Lowe,   547 
Lowe,  Lieut.,  639 
Loyal    Land    Company,    58 
Loyal   League,   534,    536 
Loyalists,   of  N.  C,   95 
Lucas,    Andrew,    236 
Lucas,    Isaac,    181 

Lucas,     Robert,    re    Watauga    Ass'n,    70;    re 
Carter's  Settlement,  72,  252;  death  of,  173 
Lutherans,    333 
Luttrell,    Col.    John,    86 
Lynn,   Maj.   James,    184 

McAdoo,   Hugh   M.,   speaker,    558 

McAdow,    Rev.    Samuel,    333 

McBury,    Col.    Leonard,    89 

McCall.    John    E.,    defeated    for    gov.,    592 

McCallen,    Seth,    611 

McCarty,   vs.    Carolina   Lumber   Co.,   385 

McClaine,    Ephraim,    135 

McClellan,  Abraham,  405 

McClellan,    Col.    G.    R.,    438 

McClellan,   Gen.   Geo.   B.,    475,    476;   ticket  of 

in   Tenn,   525 
McClellan,    William,    707 
McClernand,    Gen.,    478 
McClung,    Charles,    149,    155 
McComb,   Gen.   William,    serves    in    Va.,    512; 

513 
McCook,   Gen.,    486,    488 
McCord,    Laps    D.,    re    Ku    Klux    Klan,    537; 

re  Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition,  584 
McCory,   Thomas,   452 
McCown,    Gen.    J.    P.,    488.    573 
McCullom,  James,  for  Confederate  Congress, 

521 
McCullough,   John,    226 
McDonald,   James    P..    472 
McDonald,    John,    168 

McDowell,    Gen.    Charles,    91,    92,    96,    131 
McDowell,   Joseph.    131 
McDowell,  Mrs.   William,   228 
McElwee,   Capt.    W.    E.,    re    prehistoric    race. 

8:    re   old    road,    761;    re    Roane    County, 

833 
McEwen,    218 
McEwen,   Mrs.   R.   H.,   713 
McEwen.   Col.   Robert  H.,   State  Supt.   Public 

Instruction,  781 
McFerrin,   Rev.   J.   B.,    330 
McGaughev.    John,    405 
McGaughey's    Fort,    709 
McGavock,  Col.  John,  re  battle  of  Franklin. 

508 
McGee,    Rev.    John,    331 
McGee.    Rev.    William,    331 
McGillivrav     (Mr Gill verav),    Alexander,    137, 

138.    200.    201,    202.    220;    re   Spanish   Con- 
spiracy.   139;    re    treaty,    1 50.   190.    206 
McGradv    (McOreadv).    Rev.   James,   295,    330 
McGran.    William    H,    590 
Mcintosh,    Lachlan,    253;    re    Tellico    treaty, 

294 
McTntosh's   Tavern,   237 
McKee,   John,    220,    221,    227,   228 
McKellar.    Sen.    K.   D.,    612;    elected   senator. 

628.    698 
McKendree  Church,  440 
McKenzie,    J.    N..    Railroad    Com.,    588 
McKjnlev.   Pres.   William,   re  Spanish-Amer- 
ican War,   589 
McKinney,    John    A.,    405 
McKinnev,    Robert,    405 
McKinstry,  Col.   A.,  753 
McLean,    Lieut.    Ridley.    590 
McLean's    fish    dam.    231 
MeLemore,    Bob.    221 
MeMahon,    Col.    J.    H..    416 
McMillin.  Gov.   Benton,   153;   Com.   re  Madrid 

Bend.  558;  re  First  Tenn.  Regiment,  590; 

administrations      of,      590-594;      defeats 

Fowler,  591:  benefits  state  finances,  592; 

defeats   McCall,    592;    612;   candidate   for 

nomination   for  gov.,   697 
McMillin,   Capt.   D.   N.,    637 
McMinn,    Gov.    Joseph,    re    Moses    Fisk.     60; 

149.  152,  155;   re  treaty  with  Cherokees, 


256,    432;    Blount's    messenger,    271;    ad- 
ministrations   of,    368-394;    recommends 
penitentiary,  371;  re  Ky.  boundary  line, 
380;  re  canal,  442;  re  finance,  454 
McMinn    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

827-828 
McMurry,    Capt.,    355 
McMurry,    Donald    L.,    re    Indians   of    Tenn., 

19 
McNairy,    Judge    John,    148    and    note;    155; 

superior  judge,   272 
McNairy,   N.   A.,   309 
McNairy   County,   History   and   statistics   of, 

897-898 
McNutt,    Gov.    A.     G.,     re    Miss. -Tenn.    line, 

387      388 
McNutt',    Jno.    E.,    595,    note 
McRorv,   John,    215 
McTeer,    Robert,    710 
McTeer,    Will    A.,    710 
McTeer's    Fort,    710 
Macadam,    John    Loudon,    443 
Mackall,   Gen.   W.   W.,    surrenders,   479 
Maclin,    Sackfield,    412,    note 
Maclin,    William,    156,    272,    298 
Maclin,    Zachariah,    219 

Macon  County,  history  and   statistics  of,  861 
Madell,    James,    211 

"Madison,   Grundy   and   the  Devil,"   416 
Madison,   Pres.    James,    83,   277,   339,    452,    456 
Madison    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

896-897 
Madrid  Bend,  re  buying  from  Ky.,   558 
Magevney   school   house,   369 
Magna  Charta,   163 
Maney,  Gen.   George,    481;    513;   re  memorial 

to   legislature,    539;    candidate   for   gov., 

558 
Manigault.     Gen.,     wounded     at     battle     of 

Franklin,   508 
Mansfield,   Lord,   re  Henderson   purchase,   85 
Mansker,  Col.  Kasper,  103,  149,  248;  at  Log- 
town,    249 
Mansker's   Lick,    57,    727 

Mansker's   Station,   108,   170,   179,   180,   727 
Manson,    J.    A.,    speaker,    567 
Manson,    Gen.   M.    D.,    486 
Manual    Labor    Academy,    750 
Manufacturers  Record,  re  Tenn.  Cent.  R.  R., 

593.    594 
"Many,"    correspondent.    279 
March  to  King's  Mountain,  92-95 
Marine   Corps   in   World   War,    638 
Marion    County,    history    and    statistics    of, 

828 
Markers — 

Blount   Countv:    709-713 

Burnt   Station,   711 

Craig's    Fort,    711 

(Gamble's    Fort,    710 

Houston's   Fort,    712 

Hunter's    Fort,    712 

Ish's    Fort,    712 

McOaughev's  Fort.   709 

McTeer's    Fort.    710 

Site  of  home  of   Kirk   family,    713 
Davidson    County:    714-738 

Battle   of  the   Bluffs,   718 

Belle   Meade.    723 

Buchanan's    Station,   730 

Burr's  Landing,   730 

Clover    Bottom    Race    Track,    730 

Confederate    Soldiers'    Home,    731 

Davidson  Academy,   721 

Dickinson's    (Charles')    Grave,    723 

Donelson's     (John)    Farm,    731 

Freeland    Station,    727 

French   Lick    and    Fort,    724 

Granny    White    Tavern,    729 

Headquarters    of   Gen.    Thomas,    717 

Hermitage,     732 

Hermitage    Church.    732 

Home  of  Edward   Emerson  Barnard,  722 

Home   of   John    Bell,    719 

Home    of    Jesse    Benton,    728 

Home  of  Judge  John  Haywood,  729 

Home  and  Fort  of  James  Robertson,  727 

Home   of  William   Walker,   719 

Hume-Fogg    High    School,    720 

Jackson's    (Andrew)   Law  Office,  714-715 

Lealand.    729 

Mansker's    Station,    727 

Nashville    Female    Academy,    724 

Nashville    Inn,    715 

Nashville    Battlefield,    hist,    of,    732-738 

N.tlrhez   Trace    Road,    722 

Old     Capitol     Building,    721 

Polk    Place,    717 

South    Field.    721 


970 


INDEX 


Spring  Hill   Meeting    House.   728 

Station    on    t  lie     I  ilul'f,    7  1  S 

Tulip    Grove,    731 
Giles    County:    749-758 

Birthplace    of    Govs.    J.    C.     Brown     and 

Neill    S.    Brown,    749 
Brown,   Gov.    Aaron   V.,    754 

Congressional    Line,   755 
Davis,    Sam.    750-751.    753-754 
First    Courthouse,    754 
Fort    Lilly,    750 

Half  Way  House,   754 

Headquarters   of   Gen.   G.   M.   Dodge,    750 

Ku  Klux  Klan,  749 

Latitude   Hill,    756 

Old    Indian    Reservation    Line,    756 

Paine,    Bishop    Robert.    757 

Pisgah    Camp    Ground,    757 
Maury    County:    741-748 

St.    John's    Episcopal     Church,    743 

Brown,    Col.    Joseph,    742 

Cheairs.  Maj.   N.    F.,   Residence,   747 

Davis    Ford,    747 

First   Log-    Courthouse,    741 

Gen.    Greene    Tract,    742 

Polk's    Boyhood    Home,    744 

Site    of    Death    of    Gen.    Earl    VanDorn, 
747 

Site     of     Personal     Encounter     between 
Gen.    Forrest   and    Lieut.    Gould,    745 

Zion   Presbyterian   Church,   748 

Zollicoffer,    Gen.    Felix.    746 
Memnhis   and   Vicinity:    762-774 

Chisca    Mound.     762 

Fort    Adams,    766 

Fort    Assumption    and    Fort    Pickering, 
765 

Fort    Ferdinand    <le    Barancas,    765 

Fort  Prudbomme,   7 «', r> 

Home    of    Pres.    Jefferson    Davis.    769 

House  in   Which   Gen.    Forrest   Died,   773 

Irving    Block     Federal     Prison,     770 

Old    Bell    Tavern.    766 

Point    of    Crossing,    762 

Raising     Union      Flag      on     Capture     of 
Memphis,   773 

Rawlings'    Indian     Trading    Post,     766 

Residence   of  Gen.   N.    B.    Forrest,    769 

Residence   of   Gen    C.    C.   Washburn,   770 
Williamson   County:    738-741 

Carter's   Creek    Turnpike,   740 

Franklin  and  Spring  Hill  Turnpike,  739. 
740 
1      Franklin  Turnpike.   739 

Hillsboro   Turnpike,    73s 

Lewisburg   Turnpike,    741 

Nolensville    Pike.    741 

Wilson    Pike.    7  11 
Miscellaneous: 

Bledsoe    Monument,    216 

Boone    Tree,    57 

Chickamauga    Monuments.     497.     498 

First    Capitol    of    Tenn..    707 

First  Presbvterian  Churchyard  in  Knox- 
ville,   707 

Fort  Loudon.   44 

Hindenburg   Line.    639,    640 

Home    of        William     Been    and    Been's 
Station,    70S 

Key    Corner.    774 

Knoxville   Block-house,    153 

State    of    Franklin,    132 

Treaty    of    Holston.    153 
Marauette,  Father  James,   42 
Marks.  Gov.   A.   S     .  ]e -ted   gov,  560;   admin- 
istration  of,   560-561 
Marks,    Arthur    Handlv     second    nomination 

of   Peter   Turnev.    579-580 
Marling    (Marlin),    John    L.,    442,    446 
Marr.    George    W.    L„    406 
Marr.   W.   B.,    625 

Marriage    of    the.    Atlantic    and    Miss.,    446 
Married   Woman's   Emancipation  Law,  685 
.Marshal'    County,    history    and    statistics   of, 

861-862 
Marshall,    Chief   Justice   John,    31 
•  Marshall.    Park,    re    Natchez    Trace,    312;    re 

Murrell,     3H3     and     note;     re     Crenshaw, 

394;   re  History  of  Franklin,  882,  note 
Martin.    Col.,    481 
Martin    Academy,    90.    120 
Martin,  Gov.  Alexander,    121,   134 
Martin,    Barclay,    412,    note 
Martin,    Francois    Xavier,    41 
Martin,   G.   W.,    559,    note 
Martin,   Gen.  .  Joseph,    118.    131,    133,    163,    165. 

169,  193,  204,  222;  re  Spanish  conspiracy, 

139,  142;  re  treaty  of  Nashborough,  174; 


al  tacks    Indians,    202,    205;    re    treaty   of 
I  lopew  ell,    253;    (  'om     Tenn     \  ;i     line,    301 

Martin,    Gov.    Josiah,    85 

Mason,    Prof.    ('has..    591    and    note 

Mason,    James    M.,    531 

Mason,    John,    391 

Mason,    Tom,    391-392 

Mason,    Tom,    Jr.,    391 

"Massachusetts    Historical    Collections,"    59 

Massachusetts    Historical    Society,    60 

Matthews,    James,    283 

Matthews,    Thos.    J.,    412,    note 

Maulding,    Jas.,    115 

Maukling's  Station,   175 

Maury,    Maj.    Abram,    741 

Maury,    Matthew    Fontaine,    513 

Maury  County,  erected,  309;  first  courthouse 
of,  741;  history  and  statistics  of,  862- 
864 

Maxey.   Powhatan  W.,  428 

Maxwell,    Capt.    Jesse,    293 

May,    392 

Maynard,  Horace,  418;  atty.  gen.,  516;  re 
convention,  521;  candidate  U.  S.  Sena- 
tor, 534;  wins  in  contest  for  congress- 
man at  large,  555:  defeated  for  gov, 
557;    P.   M.   general,   561 

Maynard,  Com.  Washburn,  fires  first  shot 
in    Spanish-American    War,    590 

Mazeppa,    The,   captured,   507 

Mebane,    James,    384 

Mecklenburg  Declaration,   31 

Meek,    Adam,    153 

Meigs  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
828,    829 

Meigs,  Return  J.,  232;  com.  of  treaty,  237 
254,   255,   256;    in   Creek    War,    345;    468 

Melrose,  home  of  Gov.  Aaron  V.  Brown 
738 

Melungeons,    The,   790-791 

Membre,    Father    Zenobe   de,    42 

Memorial  Building,  see  Tenn.  Memorial 
Building 

Memphis,  founding  of,  375-379;  387;  Advo- 
cate, 396;  great  commercial  convention 
at,  434-437,  446;  entered  by  Forrest, 
505,  770;  riot  in,  531,  545;  capture  of, 
773 

Memphis   and    Charleston    R.    R.,    446 

Memphis    Railroad   Co.,    444 

Menees,  Thos.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

Menifee,   James,   181 

Meriwether.    Gen.    David.    256,    432 

Mero  District,  133-143;  created.  137;  149; 
harassed  by  Creeks,  216-220,  244-250; 
re  Indians,    239;    divided,   309 

Methodists,    early,    329 

Metropolitan    police    act,    531 

Meuse-Argonne   campaign,    637 

Mexican    War,   The,   437-438 

Mialaquo,    161,    164 

Michaux,  A.  F..  re  Rock  Castle.  151.  note; 
re   Fort   Blount,   761 

Middle   Striker,   213 

Middle  Tennessee,  counties  of,  27,  804.  840- 
885 

Middle   Tennessee   State   Normal   School,    789 

Middleton's   Station,   234 

Migration  from  East  Tenn.  to  the  Bend  of 
the   Cumberland,   The,   104-108 

Migratory   birds,    629 

Miles,   Capt.   William,   240 

Military,    see    militia 

Militia,  requirements  for,  90;  in  Cumber- 
land settlement,  112;  re  organization  of, 
294,  295;  for  Natchez  expedition,  337- 
339;  for  Creek  War,  339-360;  in  Sem- 
inole War,  372;  Brownlow  law  for,  533; 
re  military  bill,  540;  provisions  in  Con- 
stitution of  1870,  re,  553;  re  independ- 
ent,  567 

Mill    Creek,    108 

Mill    Springs,    battle    of,    476 

Miller,    Austin,    387,    note 

Miller,    John,    412,    note 

Miller,   Mrs.   Nora   E.,    360 

Miller,   Pleasant  M.,   454 

Miller,  Phineas,   309 

Milliken,    John,    175 

Mills,    Clark,    431 

Millsaps,    Marsha,    853 

Milton,    Mrs.    George    Fort,    691 

Mims,    A.    L,,    populist,    581.    582 

Mingo    Homaw,    174 

Mining    insurrections,    576-579,   596.   597 

Mining   law.    see    State    mining    law 
Ministers,    earliest,    329 


INDEX 


971 


Miro,     Gov.     Don     Estevan,     133;     policy     of, 

138;    re    Spanish   conspiracy,    139-143 
Missionary    Ridge,    battle    of,    499 
Mississippi    Bottoms,    The,    24 
Mississippi-Tenn.,    boundary    line,    386-388 
Mississippi     Vallev     Historical     Association, 

113 
Mitchell,    Mr.,    292 
Mitchell,  Richard,   149,   155 
Mitchell,   W.   L.,    re   Gov.   J.    C.    Brown,    556 
Mizell,    William,    42 
Molloy,   Thomas,    115 
Monahoe,    Creek    prophet,    356 
Monette,  re  explorers,  55;  re  encroachments, 

58;  re  camp  meetings,  332,  note;   re  Fort 

Mims,    340 
Mongol,    The,    28 
Moniac,   Jessie,    248 
Monroe    County,    history    and    statistics    of. 

829-S30 
Monroe,    Pres.    James,    290;    visits   Nashville, 

371;  re  instructions  to  Jackson  to  in- 
vade Florida,  373;  re  treaty  with  Spain, 

421;    re   Cherokees,   432 
Montgomery,    Col.    Archibald     (Earl    Eglin- 

ton),    48 
Montgomery,    Hugh,    357,    note 
Montgomery,    Col.    John..    134,    note,    168;    re 

Nickajack    expedition,     240-244,    247;    re 

death    of,    246,    247 
Montgomery,    John,     member    constitutional 

convention    of    1834,    406 
Montgomery.    Maj.    L.    P.,    355,    356.    357    and 

note,    808 
Montgomery   Bell   Academy,    779,    note 
Montgomery    County,    erected,    275;    history 

and    statistics    of,    864-865 
Montpensier,    Count    de,    291-293 
Moonshaw,   Joseph,   181 
Moore,    Judge    John,    400 
Moore,     John     Trotwood,      re     Stone     Grave 

Race,   12;  re  Immigration  List,  29,  note; 

re  anniversary  battle  of  Tohopeka.  360; 

re    Jackson's    arrival    at    New    Orleans, 

363    and    note;     re     separation     of    Sam 

Houston     and     his     first     wife,     399-403; 

re    capture   of   Fort    Donelson,    477,    478; 

re    Shiloh,    480,   note;   re    Emma   Sanson, 

493,  note;     rp     battle    of    Chickamauga, 

494,  note,  497,  499,  note;  re  capture  of 
Federal  gunboats  at  Johnsonville,  507, 
note;  chairman  Tenn.  Historical  Com., 
639,  640;  688;  re  St.  John's  Church, 
743-744 

Moore.    Col.    Patrick,    91 

Moore,  Samuel,  167 

Moore  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
865-866 

Mordecai,    Abram,    208 

Morgan,    Charles,    190 

Morgan,    Geo.    H.,    speaker,    561 

Morgan,  Gen.  John  H,  raids  of  in  Tenn. 
and  Kv.,  482-483,  485;  captures  Galla- 
tin.   485 

Morgan.    Gen.    John    T.,    re    Forrest,    773 

Morgan,  Judge  R  p.,  re  Tenn.  Centennial 
Exposition,   584 

Morgan,  Samuel  D.  415;  pres.  capitol 
board,    429,'  note 

Morgan  County,  history  and  statistics  of. 
830-831 

Morgan's   Station.    183 

Morris,   Gouverneur,   292  , 

Morris,    K.    J.,    mayor    of    Nashville,    542 

Morris,    Judge    Robert    L.,    450 

Morris'    Tennessee    Gazetteer,    376 

Morrow,  Dr.  William,  State  Supt.  Public 
Inst..    555 

Morrow.    William   T.   I.,    406 

Morse,   J..    60 

Morton,  Capt.  John  W.,  503;  re  capture  of 
Johnsonville.    507    and    note 

Moss,   George,   229 

Mossy  Creek,  battle  of,  500 

Mothers'    Club    of    Greenville,    132 

"Mother's    Day,"    625 

Moulton,    Lieut.,    356 

Mount    Moriah    Church,    758 

Mount    Pisgah    speech,    424 

Mountain    Leader,    The,    see   Piomingo 

Mountaineers,    The,    91-95 

Mountfiorence,   James   Cole,    149 

Moytoy,    51,    158 

Muckishapoy,    Capt.,    247 

Mulenberg  (Muhlenberg),  Frederick  Augus- 
tus,   148 

Mullens.  H.   J.,   592 

Munfordville,    captured,    486 


Murfreesboro,  capital  of  Tenn.,  371;  battle 
of,    487-491 

Murphy,    Rev.    William,    329 

Murray,  J.  P.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 
521 

Murray,   W.   W.,   564 

Murrell,    John    A.,    392-394,    466 

Murrell,    Rev.    Thomas,    329 

Muscle  Shoals,  104,  106;  re  settlement  at, 
151,    182-187.   196;    re   Henry   Ford,   698 

Musgrove's   Mill,    92 

Mustin,    Henry   C,    590 

Mutiny,    in   Creek   War,    348,   351,    353 

Myer,  Dr.  W.  E„  11;  Federal  Fuel  Admin- 
istrator,  635 

Myers,    Thos.    R.,    speaker,    575 

Mynders,  Capt.  Seymour  A.,  State  Supt.  Pub- 
lic  Instruction,    595,    598,   note 

Nash,    Gen.    Francis,    108.    note.    135,    847 
Nashborough,    108,     note:    treaty    of    (1783), 

133,    174,   175,   182,    253 
Nashoba   Venture,    The,    900 

Nashville,  chartered,  134;  conference  of, 
249;  first  paper  in,  293;  report  of  mas- 
sacre of  Fort  Mims  reaches,  340;  per- 
manent capital,  415;  buys  site  for  capi- 
tol, 428;  battle  of,  508,  511;  city  council 
of  refuses  oath  of  allegiance,  516;  con- 
trolled by  Alden  ring,  541-542;  in 
hands  of  receiver,  542;  aids  Tennessee 
Centennial  Exposition,  584;  aids  State 
Memorial  Building,  686;  battlefield,  list 
of    markers    on,    732-738 

Nashville   American,   The,   440,    note. 

Nashville   and    Columbia    Turnpike    Co.,    396 

Nashville  and  Davidson  County  Temper- 
ance   Society,    602 

Nashville  Automobile  Club,  714 

Nashville   Bank,    The,    309 

"Nashville   Blues,"   437 

Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Ry., 
chartered,  437;  first  operated,  446  and 
note 

Nashville  Convention  of  1850,  440-441  441, 
note 

Nashville  Female  Academy,   438,  724 

Nashville    Insurance    Co..    396 

Nashville,  Murfreesboro  and  Shelbvville 
Turnpike    Co.,    445 

Nashville  Union,  The,  411,  440  and  note; 
re   radical   state   convention,    548 

Nashville   Whig,    The,    440,   note 

Natchez    expedition,    312 

Natchez  Trace  (Columbian  Highway);  re 
Doublehead  and  Commissioners  of  U. 
S.,  236;  construction  of,  312;  338-  re 
robberies   on,    391.    392;    722,    723 

National    Banking    System,    462,    464 

National  campaign  of  1844,  421;  Guild  re 
422;  Polk,  re,  422,  note;  of  1848  439: 
of  1852,  442;  of  1856.  466-467:  of  I860' 
influence    of    on    Tenn.,    468,    469 

National    Council    of    Defense,    635 

National  Education  Ass'n,  hold  meeting  at 
Nashville,    571 

National    Intelligencer,    569 

Natural    Divisions   of   Tenn.,    20 

Navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  re  Spain's 
opposition  to,  133-143;  re  Blount's  ex- 
pulsion,   280,    287 

Neal,   John.    405 

Neal,    John    R.,    speaker,    560 

Neal,   Thos.    W.,   595,    note 

Neely,    William,    179,   217 

Neely's   Lick,    179 

Negley,    Gen.    J.    S.,    487,   736 

Negroes,  troops  of  at  Fort  Pillow,  505'  vot- 
ing, 533,  535,  536;  outrages  upon,  537' 
misdeeds  of,  537  and  nod-  suffrage  of 
552:    pensions    for,    694 

Nelson,    Mr..    228 

Nelson,  Anson,  396;  reo.  sec.  Tenn.  Hist 
Soc,   556:   re   Hume-Fogg  School,   720 

Nelson,   James,   228 

Nelson,    Richard,    405 

Nelson,    Thomas,    228 

Nelson,    Hev.   Thomas,   707 

Nelson.  Thomas  A.   R„  418;  aids  Gov.  Camp- 

'TlL',s44rioissues     cal1     for     convention 
(  1  8  b  4  ) ,     5  23 

Nelson,   Lieut.   Com.  Valentine   S.,   590 

Nelson,     Gen.     William,     485.     486;     quarrels 

with   Johnson,    519 

Neqiiassce,     51,     158,     251 

Netherland,  John,   418;    defeated   by    Harris 

1 1; s  :    4  72 
Neutrality    of    Ky.,    4  74 
New    constitution,    efforts    for,    629 


972 


INDEX 


Now    KnglanO    System    of   banking,    453 

"New    Jssue,"    461 

New  Orleans,  326;  battle  of,  364-367;  not 
a    barren    victory,    367 

New  Orleans  and  Ohio  Telegraph  Co..  439 
and   note 

New  Orleans  campaign,   360-367 

New  Orleans   exposition,    567 

"New   side"    Presbyterians,    326 

Newsom,   Col.   John    F.,    503 

Newyouka,    354 

Nichol,    William,    40S,    415,    458 

Nicholls,    Col.    Edward,    372 

Nicholson,  Judge  A.  O.  P.,  U.  S.  senator, 
412,  465;  418,  423,  468;  calls  to  order 
constitutional  convention  of  1870,  552 
and    note;    chief    justice,    554 

Nicholson,    Gov.    Sir   Francis,.  158,    251 

Niekajack,    197,   198,    200,    242 

Nicka.iack    Cave,    170 

Nickaiack    Creek,    242 

Nieka'iack    expedition,    151,    238-244 

"Night    riders,"    600,    601,    624 

Ninety-Six,    92 

Noel,    O.    F.,    15 

Nolensville    Pike,    741 

Nollichucky  Settlement,  67.  73,  75,  164 

Noonday,   chief,    203;   death   of,   226 

Norman,  Gen.  Henry  H.,  re  miners'  strike, 
577 

Norman  blood,  32 

Norse  blood.   32 

North  Carolina,  the  Mother  State,  34;  in- 
different to  needs  of  western  country, 
118;  cedes  to  U.  S.  western  lands,  119; 
repeals  first  cession  act,  120;  tactful 
conduct  of  re  State  of  Franklin.  128; 
re  struggle  with  Franklin  for  jurisdic- 
tion, 129,  130;  re  act  of  oblivion,  129; 
re  remission  of  taxes,  130;  resumes  full 
jurisdiction  over  western  lands,  131; 
feeling  of  unrest  against  by  Cumber- 
land, 138;  re  separation  of  Cumberland 
from,  142;  re  second  cession,  143,  144- 
148,  313;  re  spirituous  liquors  in  David- 
son   County,    602 

North   Carolina-Cherokee   line,   67 

North    Carolina   Road,    312 

North  Carolina-Tenn.  boundary  line,  383- 
385,    567 

North  Holston  Settlement,  71:  under  Va.,  73 

Northwest    Territory,    147,    148.    313 

Notables,  government  of,  see  Government 
of    the    Notables 

Notables,  list  of,   115 

Nuisance    Bill,    The,    604.    605,    620    and    note 

Oakchoya,    354 

Oakfusgee    (Oakiuskee),    227,    354 

Oath,  prescribed  by  Johnson,  522,  523,  524; 
ironclad,    526 

Obion  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
898-899 

Obongpohego,   Creek   Indian,   227 

Oconalufte,    167 

Oconostota,  45.  164:  re  Fort  Loudon,  47; 
re  Fort  Prince  George.  48,  50;  157-163; 
appearance  and   character   of,   161 

Oconostota    and    Atta    Kulla    Kulla,    157-163 

Ogden,    Rev.    Benjamin.    329 

Oglethorpe.    Gov.    James,    251 

Ohio   Company,    The,    58 

Oise-Aisne    offensive,     638 

O'Kelly,    Rev.    James,    329,    330 

Okoye    (Tisshumastubbel.    254.    756 

Okove's    Reservation,    257 

Old  Abraham,  re  attack  of  on  Fort  Wa- 
tauga, 89.  164,  166;  re  Kirk  family  mas- 
sacre,  196 

Old    Rell    Tavern,    766 

Old    eanitol.    428,    note.    721 

Old    Oitv    Cemeterv,    717 

Old    Hiokorv.    339 

Old  Hickory  Division,  see  The  Thirtieth 
Division 

Old    Indian    Reservation   Line.    756 

"Old    Limber,"    699 

Old    Pontotoc,    257 

Old    Raven,    see   Raven,    The 

"Old  Side"  Presbyterians,  326 

Old    Tassel,    see   Tassel,    The 

"Old  Times  in  Tennessee,"  see  Judge  J.  C. 
Guild 

"Old   Times   in   West   Tennessee,"    38 

Old    Town.    257 

Old    Washington    (Washington),    832 

Oliver,   W.   J.,    highway   com.,    613 

Oliver   Springs,    miners'    strike   at,    578 

"Omnibus    Bill,    The,"    532,    543    and    note 


O'Neal,   Gov.,    226 

O'Neal,   Gov.    Emmet,   360 

One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth  Field  Artillery 
637 

One  Hundred  and  Fifth  Trench  Mortar  Bat- 
tery,  637 

One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Field  Artil- 
lery,   637 

One  Hundred  and  Fourteenth  Machine  Gun 
Battalion,    637 

One  Hundred  and  Seventeenth  Infantry, 
activities    of,    636 

Ooskuah,    see    Old    Abraham 

Opiomingo,   see   Piomingo 

Ordinance   of   secession,   repealed,   525 

Ore,  Maj.  James  151,  236;  commands  Nieka- 
jack   Expedition.    241-244 

Oregon   boundary    question,   421,    424 

Organization   of   State    Militia,    294-295 

Organization  of  the  Southwest  Territory. 
148-149 

Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Whig  Party, 
The,   416-427 

Orleans   House,   293 

Orleans,    Three   Sons   of,    291,   292    293 

Orr,    Col..    292 

Orr,   James,   222 

O'Ryan,   Gen.    O.   F.,   640 

Osceola,    Seminole   chief,    416 

Otey,   Bishop    Jas.    H.,    743 

Otis,    Sam    A.,    148 

Otter    Lifter,    221 

Ouster    law.    The,    605,    623-624 

Outacite     (Judge    Friend),    161,    203 

Outlaw,    Col.    Alexander,    155,    156,    193,    194 

Overall,  Col.  John  W.,  defeated  for  gov., 
628 

Overall,    Capt.    William,    229,    233 

Overhill   Cherokees,   see  Cherokees 

Overhill    Indians,    see    Cherokees 

Overton,    Dr.   James,    446 

Overton,  Judge  John,  149;  treaty  of,  257; 
land  agent  to  make  agreement  with 
N.  C,  314,  755;  re  Rhea  letter,  373,  note; 
re  establishment  of  Memphis,  375-379; 
sketch    of,    376,    note 

Overton,  John,  Jr.,  re  Tenn.  Centennial  Ex- 
position,   584 

Overton,  Gen.   Thomas,   311,   note 

Overton  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
866-867 

Paine,    Bishop    Robert,    757 

Paine,  Thos.  H.,  speaker,  557;  State  Supt. 
Public    Instruction,    563;    591,    note 

Paint    Rock,   384 

Pakenham.   Sir  Edward,   363,  365,   366 

Palmer.   Gen.    Joseph   B.,    513 

Palmyra.    280   and   note 

Panic,   of   1837,   457;   of   1857,   461 

Paris    Landing,    507 

Parish.    Capt.,    356 

Park,   Rev.   James,   329,    note 

Park,    Joseph,    451 

Parker.    Jane    Marsh.    293 

Parker.    Nathaniel.    216 

Parker,    Mrs.    Nathaniel,    217,    235 

Parker.  William,  67;  partner  of  John  Car- 
ter,   72 

Parker's    Gross    Roads,    battle    of,    492 

Parkins.    Mr.,    292 

Parks,     Reuben.     189 

Parliament  pf  Great  Britain,  33 

Parole,  at  end  of  Civil  War,  511;  non-com- 
batant,   520 

Parrish,    Joel,    defalcation    of,    403 

Parson  Brownlow,  see  Gov.  W.  G.  Brown- 
low 

Parsons.    Enoch,    368 

Parsons.    Sergt.   Harry   M.,    646 

Parthenon,    585,    586 

Parton.    James,    310 

Pate,    John,    711 

"Path    Deed,"    88.    252 

Patterson.  Sen.  David  T.,  son-in-law  of  An- 
drew   Johnson,     534 

Patterson,  Col.  Josiah,  candidate  for  gov. 
574 

Patterson,  Gov.  Malcolm  R.,  candidate  for 
gov.,  599;  defeats  Cox  for  nomination 
for  gov.,  599;  defeats  Evans  for  gov., 
599;  administrations  of,  600-611;  vetoes 
"four-mile"  law,  604:  other  events  of 
administration  of.  605;  Patterson-Car- 
mack  campaign,  606;  defeats  Carmack, 
606;  defeats  Tillman,  606;  re  independ- 
ent movement.  610;  re  highways,  613; 
re  Tenn.  reformatory,  614;  tuberculosis 
hospital,  614;  candidate  for  U.  S.  sen- 
ator,  628,    697 


INDEX 


973 


Patterson-Carmack    campaign,    606 

Patton,   Col.   James,    55 

Paul,   James,   229 

Payne,   Dr.    Bruce  R.,    609 

Payne,    John   Howard,    433,   note 

Paz,   Prince  de   la,   143 

Peabody  College,  see  George  Peabody  Col- 
lege  for   Teachers 

Peace  democrats,  disturbed  by  Johnson's 
policy,   524,   525 

Peay,  Gov.  Austin,  re  Ga.-Tenn.  line,  386; 
449,  note;  606,  note;  candidate  for  nom- 
ination for  gov.,  682,  697,  nominated, 
697;  re  race  against  Taylor,  698,  699; 
administration  of,  699-703;  re  inaugura- 
tion of,  699;  tells  what  his  administra- 
tion   has   accomplished,    701-703 

Peck,  Capt.  T.  F.,  charges  against,  694 

Pendleton,    Benjamin,    228 

Pendleton,    Mrs.    Benjamin,    228 

Pendleton,    Edmund,    78 

Pendleton,    Frances,    228 

Pendleton,  Sen.  I.  L.,  603 

Pendleton,   Reuben,   228 

Pendleton   District,   re   petition   of,   78 

Pendleton  law,  603 

Penitentiary,  first,  recommended,  371;  built, 
403;  lease  system  of,  572,  576  and  note; 
new  provided  for,  580;  lease  system  of 
discontinued,  581;  new  completed,  588; 
lease    of    convicts    of    abolished,    629 

"Pennsylvania    Plan,"    The,    408,    444-445 

Penny,   William,    235 

Pensacola,    capture   of,   363,    373 

Pensacola  meeting  of  Spanish  governors, 
138 

Pension    examiners,    board    of    created,    576 

Pensions,  575,  600,  note;  for  colored  men, 
694 

People  South  of  Holston  and  French  Broad, 
see  Settlement  South  of  the  Holston  and 
French   Broad 

Period   of  Pioneer  Life,   63-95 

Periods   of  Tenn.   history,    38,   404,    405,    407 

Permanent    school    fund,    see    School    fund 

Perry,    Simeon,    re    N.    C.    line,    384 

Perry  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
867-868 

Perryville,    battle    of,    486 

Pershing,  Gen.  John  J.,  re  Anglo-Saxons, 
v,   note 

Persons,   Capt.   G.   G.,    481 

Peter  the  Hermit,    353 

Peters,   Dr.,   kills  Gen.   Van   Dorn,   747 

Petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Washington 
District  to  the  Provincial  Council  of 
North   America,   76,    78 

Petition  of  Watauga  Association  to  N.  C. 
903-905 

Petrie,   M.,    387,    note 

Pettibone.  Maj.  A.  H,  defeated  by  Bob  Tay- 
lor,  661,   note 

Peyton,    391 

Peyton,    Bailie,    418,    424 

Peyton,    Mrs.    Ephraim,    105,    106 

Phelan,  James,  re  Watauga  Ass'n,  77;  re 
Jackson  and  Sevier  encounter,  305;  re 
Judge  David  Campbell,  310;  re  first 
camp  meeting,  330;  re  Murrell,  392,  note, 
393;  re  whig  convention,  423;  re  in- 
ternal improvements,  443,  note;  re  John 
Bell,   720;    re   Rawlings,   769 

Philippe  Egalite,  292 

Philippe   of   Orleans,    291,    292 

Pickens,   Gen.    Andrew,    201,   253 

Pickering.   Timothy,   271,  275,   288 

Pickett  County,  history  and  statistics  of. 
868 

Pickett's    charge,    512 

Pike,   Albert,    415,. 423 

Pike,    Capt.    Zebulon    M.,    375,    765 

Pillow,   Ernest,    speaker,   581 

Pillow,  Gen.  Gideon  J.,  re  nomination  of 
Polk,  422,  note;  in  Mexican  War,  438 
and  note;  in  Civil  War,  473,  474;  at 
Fort  Donelson,  477-479;  513;  re  me- 
morial  to  legislature,   539 

Pillow.   William,    188 

Pilot    Mountain,    93 

Pinckney,   Gen.   Thomas,   143,   359 

Piomingo  (Mountain  Leader),  makes  alli- 
ance with  Robertson,  116,  174,  185,  202, 
206;  visits  Philadelphia,  247;  to  Rob- 
ertson,  249 

Pioneer,    The    Jackson,    396 

Pioneer  life,  period  of,  63-95;  customs  of. 
318-325 

Pisg-ah    Crimp   Ground,    757 

Pitt,   William,   45 


Pittsburgh    Landing,   battle   of,    see    Shiloh 

Planters'    Bank,    437,    455,    458,    461 

Plateau,   or  Slope  of  West  Tenn.,   The,   24 

Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,  Inferior  Courts 
of,    117,    134,    149 

Pleasant    Forest    Cemetery    308 

Plowboy,    311 

"Pocahontas  of  the  West,"   89,   165 

Poindexter,    G.    G.,    468 

Point  of  Crossing,  re  DeSoto,  762 

Point    Pleasant,    battle    of,    67,    note,    85 

Political   Divisions   of  Tenn.,   27 

Polk.    Ezekiel,    149,    375,    744 

Polk.  Pres.  James  K.,  re  school  lands,  318; 
N.  C,  403;  defeats  Bell,  408;  campaign 
of  against  Cannon,  411-412;  defeats 
Cannon,  411;  campaign  of  against  Jones, 
412.  421;  elected  pres.  of  U.  S.,  415;  418; 
re  Van  Buren  in  1844,  422,  note;  nom- 
inated for  pres.,  422  and  note;  friend  of 
Aaron  V.  Brown.  424;  tomb  of,  431;  re 
Mexican  War,  437,  438;  boyhood  home 
of,  744-745 

Polk,   Mrs.   James   K.,   re  state  bonds,   545 

Polk,  Gen.  Leonidas,  in  Civil  War,  473,  474; 
at  Shiloh,  480,  481:  at  Perryville,  486 
and  note;  at  Murfreesboro,  488;  at 
Chickamaugra,  494,  notes  497;  charges 
against  preferred  bv  Bragg,  500;  re 
St.   John's  Church,   743 

Polk.   Gen.   Lucius  E.,   513 

Polk,   Capt.   Marsh   T„    481 

Polk,    Capt.    W.    M.,    494,    note 

Polk,    William,    135 

Polk  County,  history  and  statistics  of,  831- 
832 

Polk-Jones    debate,    421 

Polk  letters,  422,  note 

Polk    Place,    717 

Polk    tomb,    431 

Poor-valley-shoal,    104 

Pope,   Gen.   John,   479 

Porter,    Alex.,    Sr.,    451 

Porter,    David,    375 

Porter.  Mrs.  Felicia  Grundy,  re  U.  D.  C, 
792 

Porter,  Gov.  James  D„  in  Civil  War,  473 
and  note;  re  death  of  Zollicoffer,  476; 
re  Shiloh.  480.  note;  re  Bragg  in  Ky., 
486,  note;  re  Chickamauga  monuments, 
498;  administrations  of.  557-559;  defeats 
Maynard  for  gov.,  557;  calls  extra  ses- 
sion acct.  State  debt.  559;  friend  of 
education,    559:    on   State   debt,    659 

Porter,    Lieut.    Thomas,    513 

Porter,  Thos.  C,   405 

"Portfolio,  The,"   97 

Powder   plant,    639 

Powell.   Robert   W„    412,    note 

Powell's   Valley,    55.    56,    88 

Poymace   Tankaw,    174 

Poyzer,   George,    451 

Pratt.    Joseph    Hyde,    385,   626 

Prehistoric   race,   7,    27 

Prentiss.    Gen.   B.    M.,    481 

Prentiss,  Seargent  S.,  re  Anglo-Saxon  in- 
stitutions, v,  note;  re  whig  convention, 
415,    423 

Presbyterians.  326.  328;  differences  of  326, 
328;  council  of,  333;  svnod  of,  333;'gen- 
eral    assembly    of,    333 

Preston,    Gen.,    488 

Preston,  T.  R.,  candidate  for  nomination  for 
gov.,    621 

Preston,  Col.   William,   86,   87 

Prlber,   trader,   47 

Price,   Thomas,   86 

Primary   law,   see   compulsory    primary   law 

Prince,    216,    218 

Prince,   Francis,   134 

Prince,    Robert,    156 

Prince,  William,  156 

Prison   commission,  created,   680 

Prohibition,  the  "four-mile  law,"  558  and 
note;  re  amendment  to  state  constitu- 
tion, 571  and  note:  in  Frazior's  admin- 
istration. 595;  development  of  temper- 
ance and  nrohibition  in  Tenn.,  601-605- 
first  law  of,  602:  state-wide  laws,  603; 
amendment  (lsth>  ratified,  682  and  note 

"Prophet,   The,"   339,   340 

Provincial  Council,  re  petition  to,  78    79 

Provine,   Dr.   W.   A.,   114 

Provisional  Army  of  Tenn.,  see  Army  of 
Tenn. 

Pryor,  Asst.  Surgeon  Jas.  C,  590 

Public  school  system,  see  Education 

Public  Utilities  act.  repeal  of  demanded,  689 

"Purchase,   The,"   374 


974 


INDKX 


Purdy,   John,   406 

"Pure   Food   and    Drugs"   act,    605,    615 

Putnam,  A.  W.,  re  finding  Cumberland  Com- 
pact, 109;  re  Government  of  Notables, 
and  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Ses- 
sions, 134;  re  Burr's  visit,  730;  re  origin 
of  name  Nickajack,  731;  re  Jackson  in 
Nickajack  expedition,  743 

Putnam,  Prof.  P.  W.,  11,  15;  re  Robertson 
and  Spanish  conspiracy,   141 

I 'ut  nam  Count v,  history  and  statistics  of, 
868-869 

(.maker  Meadows,   93,   95 

Quarles,   R.    T.,   354,   384,    note;    supt.    history 

bldg.    at    Tenn.   Cent.   Exposition,    587 
Quarles,  Gen.  William  A.,  wounded  at  battle 

ut'    Franklin.    508;    513;    re    memorial    to 

legislature,    539 
Quigley,   Patrick,    180 

Race  Life  of  Tennessee,  The,  28-37 
Radical    republicans,    see    Republicans,    rad- 

Ragan,    Anthony,    239 

Raine,    C.   D„   595,    note 

Railroad    Commission,     see    State    Railroad 

Commission 
Railroads,   re   building   of,   437.   439,   440,    442 
and   note,   444,   445.   446,   447,  466,   468;    re 
state    debt,    542,    543,    554:    re    regulation 
of,  564:  re  anti-pass  bill,  626 

Rains,  Gen.  James  E.,   513 

Rains.  Capt.  John,  103,  116,  149,  185,  188, 
189,    247 

Rains,    John,    Jr.,    189 

Raleigh   letter,   The,   422,   note 

Ramsey,   H.   B.,   speaker,   561 

Ramsey,  Dr.  J.  G.  M.,  42;  re  Fort  Loudon. 
49;  re  Sir  Alexander  Cumming,  51;  re 
early  condition  of  Tenn.,  51,  52;  re 
Adair,  55;  re  explorers,  55;  re  Watauga 
Ass'n,  68,  76,  79;  re  Oconostota,  87,  note: 
re  constitution  of  Franklin,  121;  re 
Robertson  and  Spanish  conspiracy,  141: 
re  expulsion  of  Blount,  283,  284;  re 
conduct  of  Wm.  Blount,  285:  re  back- 
woodsmen, 321;  re  clothing  of  first  set- 
tlers, 321;  re  religion  in  early  days  of 
Tenn,  330;  re  camp-meetings,  332;  pres. 
Tenn.  Hist.  Soc,  556;  re  stations,  704. 
705;  re  First  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Knoxville,  707;  re  Wm.  Been,  707,  708; 
re  McTeer's  Station,  710;  re  Houston's 
Station,  712;  re  Robertson,  727 

Ramsey,   Col.   Francis  Alexander,   120,   149 

Ramsey   grant,   376 

Randolph,     established,     375 

Randolph,  Edmund,  451 

Rankin,    Quentin,    murdered,    601 

Rankin,    William,    155 

Ratliff,   Harper,   228 

Raven,    The    (Savanuke),    162.    164,    166,    193 

Rawlings,  Isaac,  Indian  trading  post  of, 
766 

Ray,   John   M.,   socialist,   599 

Read,    U.    S.    Senator,    282 

Reagan,   Sen.  John  H.,  445,   note 

"Rear  Guard   of  the  Revolution,"  89 

Reason,   Thomas,    246 

Reasons  for  the  Deadly  Animosity  of  the 
Indians,    157 

Rebel,    The,    521 

Reconstruction,  begun  by  Johnson,  519;  re 
convention  (1863),  521;  progress  of  re- 
organization, 522-525;  reorganization 
effected,  525-526;  Tinder  Brownlow,  527- 
547 

Red  Cross,  The,  635 

Red   River,    108 

Red   River  meeting,   295 

Reedy   Creek,   104 

Reelfoot   Lake,   see   "night   riders" 

Rees,  James,   149 

Reeves,   George,    74 

Reeves,    Leroy,    designs    state    flag,    598,    599 

Reeves,  Mary,  74 

Regulars,   in   Hooper's  administration,   612 

Regulators,    The,    63,    64,    73,    74 

Reid,  Judge  Frank  T.,  candidate  for  gov., 
564 

Reid.  Maj.  John,  re  treaty  of  Nashborough. 
174 

Reid,   Maj.   John,   338,    348,   note,   351 

Reid,    Gen.    Lee,    416 

Reid,   William,    211 

Religion,   revival  of,   295 

Religious  denominations  established  in 
Tenn.,    326-333 


Removal    of   Cherokees.    431-433 

Removal  of  Creeks,   treaty  of,  253;   258 

Renfroe,  Isaac,  171 

Renfroe,    Joseph,    172 

Renfroe,   Josiah,   187 

Renfroe,  Moses,   108 

Renfroe's  Station,  170;  massacre  of,  171,  172 

Reorganization   Bill,   the,   700,   701 

Reorganization,  progress  of,  522-525;  ef- 
fected,  525-526 

Republican    Banner,   The,   400,  note 

Republican   (democratic)  party  in  Tenn.,  280 

Republican   party,  origin  of,  466 

Republican   party    (in  Tenn.)   split,   531 

Republicans,    conservative,    548 

Republicans,  radical,  convention  of  (1869), 
548 

Republicans,  state  convention  of,  557;  con- 
vention of  (1878),  560;  convention  of 
(1882),    563 

Requasse,    see    Nequasse 

"Resting   Place,"    92 

Restoration   of  Tenn.   to  Union,   530 

Results  of  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain, 
99-100 

Revenue    law    (1815),    452 

Revivals,   early,   331;    manifestations   in,   331 

Revolutionary  and  Military  Pensioners,  list 
for  Tenn.,   259-270 

Revolutionary  War,  Indian  conditions  in, 
192 

Reynolds,  Gen.  A.  W.,  in  Vicksburg  cam- 
paign, 512 

Reynolds,    Gen.    J.   F.,    498,    note 

Rhea,  John,  149,  156;  re  revolutionary 
pensioners,  259;  re  instructions  to  An- 
drew Jackson  to  invade  Florida,  373 
and   note 

Rhea  Countv,  erected,  309;  history  and 
statistics    of,    832-833 

Rice,   Rev.    David,    332 

Rice,  DeLong,  sec.  Railroad  Com.,  587;  612, 
613;  re   Bob   Taylor,   616 

Rice,    E.,   speaker,   597 

Rice,    Elisha,    376 

Rice,  John,  232,  233,  376;  death  of,  376,  note 

Rice,   Sarah,   388 

Rice  grant,   375,   376 

Richardson,    Mr.,    228 

Richardson,  Judge  James  D.,  chairman 
democratic   convention,    55$ 

Richardson,   John   W.,    461 

Richardson,    Newton,    populist.    591 

Richardson,   Col.   R.   V.,   503 

Richmond,    Ky.,   battle   of,   486 

Ridge.  Maj.  John,  238,  259;  re  death  of,  259, 
433 

Ridlev,   Lieut.,    356 

Ridley,    Beverly,    189 

Ridlev,    Henry,    405 

Ridley's   Fort,   325 

Riechman,   J.    A.,    627 

Riley,    John,    207,    237 

Riot,   in  Memphis,   531,   545 

Ripley,  Gen    E.   W„  59 

Rise    of    Chickamaugas,    167-170 

Rise   of   John   Watts,    201-205 

Ritter,    463 

River  Navigation,   442-443 

Roadman,   William    C,   405 

Roads,  early — 
Avery  Trace,  312 
Cumberland   Road.   213.  761 
First.   90.   312,   442 

From    Washington    District    to   Mero   Dis- 
trict,  312 
Kentucky  Road,  213 
Knoxville  to  New  Orleans,  255 
Legislation   for,   309 
Natchez   Trace,   236.    312 
North   Carolina    Road.   512 
Walton   Road,   213,   312,   442 

Roane.  Gov.  Archibald,  149,  155;  superior 
judge,  272;  votes  for  Andrew  Jackson 
for  maj.  gen..  294.  303;  administration 
of,  296-308;  defeated  by  Sevier,  305; 
monument  to,   308;   re  N.   C.   line,   384 

Roane  Countv,  erected.  296;  history  and 
statistics  of.   833-834 

Roaring  Run,    93 

Roberts,    woman    with    Big   Harp,    388 

Roberts,  Gov.  A.  H.,  administration  of,  682- 
688;  candidate  for  nomination  for  gov., 
682;  defeats  Lindsay,  682;  re  tax  bur- 
den, 683,  684;  re  Tenn.  Memorial  Bldg., 
685,  686;  re  strikes  and  law  and  order. 
6S9:  calls  extra  session,  689;  race  of 
"'ith  A.  A.  Tavlor,  691-692:  defeated  by 
Taylor.    692 


INDEX 


975 


Roberts,    Miss    Betsy,    246 

Roberts,  Dr.  Deering  J.,  saves  wounded  at 
Murfreesboro,    491 

Roberts,  Gen.  Isaac,  re  conduct  of  in  Creek 
War,   352 

Robertson,  Charles,  69;  statement,  re,  83; 
re  Watauga  purchase,  88,  253;  delegate 
to  N.  C,  88;   149  and   note 

Robertson,   Charlotte,   73 

Kobertson,    Elijah,    85 

Robertson,  Dr.  Felix,  116;  re  birth  of.  173; 
180,  note;  re  quinine,   404  and  note 

Robertson,  Gen.  James,  60,  87,  195;  deputy 
to  Cherokees,  61,  68;  captain.  62,  79; 
agent  to  Cherokees.  62,  90,  102.  168; 
journey  of  to  Cherokees,  70;  origin  of. 
73;  goes  to  Tenn..  74;  statements  re, 
80.  83;  re  Cumberland  Settlement,  102, 
106;  re  Henderson's  Purchase,  103;  re- 
cruits party  for  Cumberland.  103; 
reaches  Cumberland,  103;  elected  col., 
114;  a  Notable,  115;  alliance  of  with 
Piomingo,  116;  trustee  Davidson  Acad- 
emy, 135;  commands  Coldwater  expedi- 
tion, 136;  representative  from  David- 
son County,  137:  memorial  of  to  legis- 
lature, re  Spain.  138;  re  Spanish  con- 
spiracy, 139,  142:  letters  of  to  Miro. 
142;  re  treaty  of  Holston,  150;  censured, 
re  Nickajack  expedition,  151;  delegate 
to  constitutional  convention  (1796), 
155;  re  Freeland  Station,  173;  re  treaty 
of  Nashborough.  174,  175;  fights  with 
Indians,  175,  181.  184-187,  189,  191;  re 
Chickamaugas.  212,  239;  re  Nickajack 
expedition,  239-244;  to  Col.  Watts,  244; 
re  Chickasaw  and  Creek  treaty,  254;  re 
Cherokee  treaty.  256:  resigns  as  gen.. 
275;  re  Tellico  treaty,  294;  letter  to 
from  Sevier,  re  Jackson.  302:  death  of, 
337;   home  and   fort    of,   727 

Robertson,  Mrs.  James,  at  battle  of  the 
Bluffs,    181 

Robertson,    James    Randolph.    179,    239 

Robertson,   Julius,   C.   N.,   406 

Robertson,   Mark,    185 

Robertson  County,  erected.  275;  history  and 
statistics    of,    869-870 

Robertson   District.   309 

Robertson's    Station.    77.    133 

Robinson,  Capt.  Charles,  re  miner's  insur- 
rection,   577 

Rock    Castle.    151    and    note,    239.    S75 

Roddye,   Gen.,   493 

Roddye,   James,   155 

Rodgers.    Gen..    214.    note 

Rodgers.    John,    238 

Rogan,   Col.   Charles  B.,   637 

Rogan.   Hugh,    187.    190.    191 

Rogers.  Mrs.  Alice  Breene.  re  organization 
of  Ku   Klux    Klan.   537 

Rogers,   Lieut.   Com.   Charles   C,   590 

Rogers.    John,    281.    282,    28S 

Romayne,   Dr.   Nicolas,   288.   289 

Romine,  W.  B.,  re  Pisgah  Camp  Ground. 
757;   re   Mount    Moriah   Church,    758 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  iii,  note:  re  origin  of 
early  settlers,  64;  re  Watauga  Ass'n, 
69,  79;  re  Robertson,  SO:  acct.  of  meet- 
ing and  march  to  attack  Ferguson,  92- 
95;  on  results  of  battle  of  King's  Moun- 
tain, 100;  re  William  Blount.  148,  note; 
re  backwoodsmen,  321;  re  Andrew  Jack- 
son.  372:   at   Belle  Meade.   723 

Rosebury.    William.    222 

Rosecrans,  Gen.  W.  S.,  at  battle  of  Mur- 
freesboro, 487-491;  sends  out  Streight's 
raiders.  493;  at  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
497;  superseded  by  Thomas,  499;  con- 
flicts with   Johnson.   520 

Ross,  U.   S.   senator.   282 

Ross,    Andrew.    259 

Ross.  Chief  John,  re  removal  of  Cherokees, 
258,    259,    433    and    note.    814,    815 

Ross'   landing,   433.    814 

Rossiter,    historian,    35,   note 

Roulstone,  George,  153;  establishes  Knox- 
ville  Gazette,   279 

Rounsevall,    David,    115,    171 

Rounsifer,    M.,    104 

Rousseau,   Gen.,    at   Murfreesboro,    508 

Rowland.   Mrs.   Dunbar.   :'.ll,    note 

Rucker,   408 

"Ruckerize,    to,"    40S 

Rugby  Colony,  The.   831 

Ruhm.  Lieut.  Thomas  F.,  built  Oregon  and 
Olympia,     590 

'Rules    of   Decorum,"    153 


Running  Water,  151,  170.  1<i7.  200,  208,  211, 
221;    expedition    against,    238-244 

Ruskin   Cave  College,   S.">L' 

Ruskin    Colony,    The,    852 

Russell,    Andrew,    149 

Russell,    Capt.,    355 

Russell,     David,     153 

Russell,    Gen.,    481 

Russell,  George,  delegate  to  N.  C,  61;  re 
Watauga  Ass'n,   70 

Russell,    John,    230 

Russell,    Col.    R.    M.,    481,    503 

Rutherford  County,  history  and  statistics 
of,    870-871 

Rutherford    District,    309 

Rutherford,    George,    152 

Rutherford,  Gen.  Griffith,  89,  153,  774;  at- 
tacks  Cherokees,    167 

Rutherford,  Henry,   375;   re  Key  Corner,   774 

Rutledge,   Capt.,   481 

Rutledge,  Gen.  George,  156;  elected  gen., 
275,    295;    com.    Tenn.-Va.    line,    301,    380 

Rutter,    re    school    fund,    543,    note 

Rye,  Gov.  Thos.  C,  re  great  seal,  301;  an- 
nounces candidacy  for  nomination  for 
gov.,  621;  nominated  for  gov.,  621;  de- 
feats Hooper,  622;  administrations  of. 
622-631;  re  enforcement  of  laws,  622, 
623,  624;  conscientiousness  of,  623; 
recommends  "ouster  bill,"  623;  calls  ex- 
tra session  acct.  Edgington  and  Estes. 
627;  defeats  Overall,  628;  defeated  for 
U.  S.  senator,  682;  last  message  of, 
683 

Safety   Fund   System,   457 

Safford,    J.    M.,    state    geologist,    555 

St.   Clair's  defeat,   202,   206 

St.  Louis  Exposition,  see  Louisiana  Pur- 
chase   Exposition 

St.    Marks,    seized    by    Jackson.    373 

St.    Mihiel,    636,    637,    638 

Salt     321 

Salvation   Army,   The,    635 

Sand    Mountain,   fight   at,    493    and   note 

Sanders,    Julius,    247 

Sanders.    Newell,    612;    U.    S.    senator,    617 

Sanford,    E.   J.,   re  Fort   Sanders.    500,   note 

San   Lorenzo   et   Real,   treaty  of.   143 

Sanson.    Emma,    493    and    note,    494 

Saunders,    Alex.,    238 

Savage.  Col.  John  H..  416.  438.  note,  559 
and    note;    Railroad    Com.,    564 

Savanukeh,    see    The    Raven 

Sawyer,   Green,    555 

Saxon,   29,   31 

Scaggs,    Richard,    56 

Scalawags,    507   and    note 

Scantee,    see    Capt.    Charley 

Schermerhorn,    John    F.,    258 

Schley,    Admiral    W.    S.,    153 

Schofield,  Gen.  John  M..  succeeds  Gen.  Fos- 
ter,  500;    opposes   Hood.    508.    509 

School  fund,  452,  458,  463;  loss  to,  543,  note, 
781,    784 

School  lands,  315-31S  and  note,  452,  776. 
779,    780 

Schoolmaster    Black's    house,    238  ' 

Schools,    see   Education 

Schouler.    Jas.,    re   Pres.    Polk,    745 

Schull,    Miss,    228 

Scoby,    210 

Scoggins,    Henry,    57 

Scollacutta  (Hanging  Maw),  130,  193,  194. 
204.  212,  221.  222,  223.  225,  226,  227. 
233.  240.  248;  re  conference  with 
Blount,    244 

Scotch,  The,  28,  29,  31,  36 

Scotch-Irish.  The,   28,   29,  31,  36,   64,   66 

Scott  County,  history  and  statistics  of,  834- 
835 

Scott,    Edward,    310 

Scott,  Gen.,  wounded  at  battle  of  Franklin, 
508 

Scott,    James,   406 

Scott,   Lieut..    372 

Scott,   Lon   A.,   re   Edgington    and   Estes,    627 

Scott.  Gen.  Winfield,  re  removal  of  Cher- 
okees,   259.    433 

Seagrove,  Supt.,  201,  208 

Seal  of  Tenn.,  see  Great  Sea]  of  the  State 
of  Tenn. 

Searcy,   Maj.,    352 

Searcy,    Valentine,    87 

Seay,   Ed.  T.,  speaker,  594 

Sebastian,   141 

Secession,  beginning  of,  169;  convention,  re, 
469,  171:  of  Tenn.,  171.  472;  ordinance 
of  repealed,   525 


976 


INDEX 


Second  Corps  Artillery  Park,  in  World  War, 
638 

Second  Session  of  the  So-Called  Thirty- 
Fourth  General  Assembly  of  the  Brown- 
low  Regime,  532 

Second   Tenn.    Infantry,    in    World   War,    637 

Second  Tenn.  Regiment,  in  Spanish-Ameri- 
can War,    590 

Secondary  school  law,  576 

Sedgu  ick,    U.   S.    Senator,    282 

Sehoy,   220 

Selective   draft,    632 

Seminole  War,  first,  371-373;  second,  408, 
415-416 

Senate,    see    State    Senate 

Senate,  U.  S.,   re  Wm.  Blount,   280-284 

Senter,  Gov.  D.  W.  C,  re  great  seal,  301; 
re  Bank  of  Tenn.,  463;  succeeds  Brown- 
low,  541;  administration  of,  547;  liberal 
policy  of,  548;  candidate  for  gov. 
against  Stokes,  548-549;  elected  gov., 
549;   re   elective   franchise,   549 

Senter,   William   T.,   405,   418 

Sequatchie  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
835 

Settaco,  44 

Settlement  south  of  the  Holston  and  French 
Broad,  144,  146,  192;  re  situation  of, 
272-275;  re  legislation  for,  278;  re  treaty 
for,  294,  315;  re  payment  for  lands  of, 
316,  317 

Settlers,  first,  63;  on  Cumberland,  115,  133; 
increasing  in  East  Tenn.,  118;  irritated 
against  N.  C,  118,  119,  120;  meet  at 
Jonesboro,  119;  November  convention, 
120;  December  convention,  120;  feelings 
of  re  Spain,  134-143,  138;  customs  of, 
318-325 

Seven    Mile    Ferry,    233 

Seven  Mile  Ford.   166 

"Seven   Years   War,"    45 

Sevier,  Mrs.  Catherine  Sherrill,  romance  of, 
89,    166 

Sevier,   George  W.,   302,   note 

Sevier,    James,    141 

Sevier,  John,  re  Moses  Fisk,  59;  lieut.,  62, 
67,  89,  91.  166;  69,  166,  194;  statement, 
re,  83;  delegate  to  N.  C,  88;  prepares 
against  Ferguson,  92,  98;  raises  money 
for  campaign,  92;  96;  campaign  of 
against  Cherokees  (1780),  118,  162,  169; 
president  Jonesboro  meeting,  119;  made 
brig,  gen.,  120;  gov.  of  Franklin.  120; 
at  constitutional  convention  of  Frank- 
lin, 121;  letter  of  to  Gov.  Patrick  Henry, 
128;  struggle  of  for  independence,  129; 
130;  arrest  of,  131,  141;  "Sevier's 
escape,"  131;  succeeding  honors  of,  131, 
132;  re  Spanish  conspiracy,  139-141:  let- 
ter of  to  Gardoqui,  139-141;  defeats 
Indians  in  campaign  ending  with  battle 
of  Etowah.  151;  153;  defeats  Chicka- 
maugas,  180:  defeats  Indians  (1788), 
195-196;  Indians'  fear  of,  215:  ordered 
by  Sec.  Smith  to  attack  Indians.  151, 
224;  first  series  of  administrations  of. 
271-295;  elected  gov..  271;  address  of 
to  legislature,  271,  272,  275;  re  settle- 
ment south  of  Holston,  278;  principal 
events  of  first  three  administrations  of, 
291-295;  re  Orleans  princes,  292;  re 
great  seal  of  Tenn.,  297;  Com.  Tenn.- 
Va.  line,  301,  302,  380;  re  Jackson- 
Sevier  imbroglio,  302-308;  appoints 
Jackson  superior  judge,  302;  re  diary 
of,  302  and  note;  defeated  for  maj.  gen., 
303;  against  Roane  for  gov.,  303; 
charged  with  land  frauds,  304,  305;  de- 
feats Roane,  305;  personal  encounters 
with  Jackson,  305-307;  differences  be- 
tween Sevier  and  Jackson,  307,  308; 
leading  events  in  second  series  of  ad- 
ministrations of,  308-312;  defeated  for 
U.  S.  Senator,  308,  334;  further  honors 
of,  308;  re  Judge  David  Campbell,  309, 
310 
Sevier,  John,  Jr.,  156 
Sevier,  Joseph,  246 
Sevier,  Michael,  208 
Sevier,  Rebecca,  246 
Sevier,  Robert,  232,  233,  246 
Sevier.    Col.    Valentine,    67,    note,    232,    233, 

246 
Sevier,  Valentine,  Jr.,  85,   232,  233,   246 
Sevier,  William,   232,   233,   246 
Sevier   County,    120;   erected,    154;    delegates 
of  to  Constitutional   Convention    (1796), 
156;   history  and  statistics  of,   835-836 
Sevier's   diary.    602,    761 


Sevier's   Station,    232;   attacked,   246 

Seward,   Sec.   W.  H.,   475 

Shackleford,  Judge,  re  repeal  franchise  law, 

639;   re   Alden   ring,   541 
Shafter,    Gen.    W.    R.,    493,    note 
Shankland,   John,   229 
Shannon,  Capt.  John,  188 
Sharkey,  Judge  W.  L.,   440 
Sharp,    Maj.    Anthony,    210 
Sharp,    Henry,    406 
Sharpe,    Benjamin.    230 
Sharpe,  Robert,   229 
Shauvanon,   43 
Shaw,   Bob,   234 

Shaw,  Capt.  H.  B.,  re  Sam  Davis,  753 
Shaw,   Leonard,   211 
Shawnee  salad,   108 

Shawnees,  habitat  of.  19;  at  Great  French 
Lick,  43;  land  claims  of,  85,  86;  trouble 
Cumberland  Settlement,  116;  attack 
Buchanan's  Station,  151;  capture  Capt. 
Handly.   150;   re  ambassadors  of,   221 

Shawnees  Warrior,   The,   205-211,   215 

Shea,  John  Gilmary,  42 

Shelby  County,  375;  delegation  of,  re  Gov. 
Hooper,  618;  history  and  statistics  of, 
899-901 

Shelby,   David,   136,   156 

Shelby,  Gen.  Evan,  attacks  Chickamaugas, 
62,  note,  91,  168,  180,  247;  67.  note; 
origin  of,  71;  re  State  of  Franklin, 
130;  351 

Shelbv,   Maj.   Evan,   Jr.,    246 

Shelby,  Gov.  Isaac,  67;  origin  of,  71;  87; 
captures  Col.  Moore,  91;  efforts  of 
against  British,  91,  92,  98;  receives 
Ferguson's  warning,  92;  raises  money 
for  campaign,  92;  land  com.,  117;  re 
treaty  of  Nashborough,  174;  Com. 
Great  Chickasaw  Cession  treaty,  257, 
371,    373,    374 

Shelby,    John,    Jr.,    156 

Shelby,    Capt.    Moses,    187 

Shelton,   Elder,   234 

Shepherd,  Judge  Lewis,  re  Melungeons,  790, 
791 

Sheppard,  Lewis,  559,  note 

Sherman,  Gen.  W.  T.,  re  East  Tenn.,  500; 
re  Forrest.  504,  505.  506;  begins  march 
to  sea,  508;  defeated  at  Chickasaw 
Bayou,    511;   re    Confederates,    511 

Sherrill,  Kate,  see  Catherine  Sherrill  Sevier 

Shields,  Sen.  John  K..  elected  U.  S.  Senator, 
618,    682 

Shiflet,   R.   A.,   re   state   mining  law,    596 

Shiloh.  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  battle  of,  480- 
482 

Shinplasters,    455 

Shoat.    Christopher,    153 

Shodder,  H.,   211 

Shoffner,  J.  M.,   595,  note 

Shook's   Gap,    500 

Shropshire,  Clyde,  re  Edgington  and  Estes, 
627;  speaker,  628:  candidate  for  nomi- 
nation  for  gov.   682 

Shv's   Hill,   fight   at,    760 

"Silver   Grays,"    309 

Sims,    R.    N.,    464 

Sims,    Thetus    W.,    697 

Sinking   fund   established,   592 

Sioussat,   St.   George  L.,   434,   note,   435 

Sitgreaves,    282,   288 

Sitgreaves,    Joseph,    149 

Situation  Confronting  the  Colonists,  The, 
138 

Situation  of  the  People  South  of  the  Hol- 
ston  and   French   Broad,   272-275 

Six  Nations,   59,   67,  252 

"Skv  Blues,"   563   and   note,   564 

Slav,   The,    28 

Slavery,  institution  of  threatened,  440;  af- 
fected by  election  of  1856,  466-467; 
emancipation  proclamation,  re,  520; 
abolished    by    Tenn.,    625-526 

Slaves,  re  provision  of  cession  act,  146,  147; 
re  malicious  killing  of,  294;  re  emanci- 
pation of,  296;  re  trial  of,  396;  404; 
emancipated,  520;  freed,  525,  526;  vot- 
ing, 536;  insurrection  of,  873 

Slidell,  John,  531 

Slim    Tom,    195 

Smartt,  Mrs.   J.   P.,   395,   note 

Smartt,   "William  C.  405 

Smith,    Capt.,    257 

Smith,    Capt.,    in    Creek    War,    346 

Smith.   A.     com.    N.    C.    survey,    384 

Smith.  Chancellor  Charles,  re  Alden  gang, 
541 

Smith,    Gen.    Charles   F.,    478    and    note 


INDEX 


977 


Smith,  Gen.  Daniel,  135,  136,  151,  233,  379; 
re  Spanish  conspiracy,  141,  142;  sec. 
Southwest  Territory,  148;  authorizes 
Sevier  to  attack  Indians  in  1793,  151; 
com,  of  treaty,  237,  254,  255;  239;  sup- 
ports Robertson  and  Chickasaws,  248; 
final  report  as  sec.  Southwest  Terri- 
tory, 271;  re  seal  for  Southwest  Ter- 
ritory, 297;  re  journal  of,  380  and  note; 
re  Walker  line,  380,  382,  383;  re  Lati- 
tude Hill,  757 
Smith,  Capt.  David,  156,  248,  249 
Smith,    Gen.    E.    Kirby,    in    East    Tenn.,    485; 

wins  battle   of   Richmond,   Ky.,   486 
Smith,    Frank    M.,    State   Supt.    Public    Inst., 

571,    581 
Smith,    Henry,    103 
Smith,   Col.    James,   57 

Smith,  James,  re  Committee   of  Thirteen,   70 
Smith,   James   W.,    405 
Smith,   John   H,   451 
Smith,  Gen.  Preston,  481,  513 
Smith,    Maj.     Rutledge,     chairman     National 

Council   of  Defense,   635 
Smith,   Mrs.  Sallie,   219,   note 
Smith,   Gen.   Thomas   Benton,   513 
Smith,  Capt.  W.  C,  re  Tenn.  Centennial  Ex- 
position,   584 
Smith,    Gen."  W.    F.,    499 
Smith,  Gen.  W.   S..   re   Forrest,   504 
Smith,    William    Bailey,    re    boundary    line, 

87,    379,   382 
Smith,     Col.     Wm.     Crawford,     in     Spanish- 
American   War,  589 
Smith,   Gen.   Wm.   J.,    513 
Smith     County,     erected,     294;     history     and 

statistics    of,    871-872 
Sneed,   Gen.    John   L.   T.,    473 
Snoddy,    Ensign    William,    210 
Snow,    Marshall     S.,     re    Brownlow    regime, 

534,  535 
Snyder,    Betsy,    246 
Snyder,   Charles,    246 
Snyder,   John,   246 

So-called     "Spanish     Conspiracy"     and     the 
Mpro   District,    133-143;   genesis   of,   138- 
143 
Soldiers'    Home,    see    Confederate    Soldiers' 

Home 
Somerset,    179 
Somerville,    Lieut.,    356 
Somerville.    battle   of,    503 
Somme   Offensive,    636 
Sons    of    the    American    Revolution,    132;    re 

Holston    treaty    marker,    153 
Soule,   Prof.   A.   M„   595,   note 
South    Field,    721 
South   Holston   Settlements,   73 
South    of    the    Holston    and    French    Broad, 
see    Settlements    South    of    the    Holston 
and    French    Broad 
Southern    Boundary    Line    of    Tenn.,    385-386 
Southern    Ry.,    445 
Southwest   Point,   236,   237,   255,   292,  306  and 

note 
Southwest    Territory,    see    Territory    of    the 

U.    S.    South    of   the   River   Ohio 
Spain,    re   harassments    of   Cumberland    set- 
tlement.   134-143,    225:    re    intrigues    of, 
134.    187-191;    govs,    of    meet    at    Pensa- 
cola,  138;   genesis  of  conspiracy  of,  138; 
re  treaty  with,  143:  re  Blount  impeach- 
ment.   284;    cedes   Florida   to   U.    S.,    373, 
note 
Spalding,    Gen.    George,    513 
Spanish-American    War,    589-590 
Spanish    conspiracy,    133-143 
Sparks,  Capt.  Richard.  279 
Spears,    Gen.    James    G.,    513 
Spence,  Gen.  Cary  F..   cited.   636;  re   marker 

on    Hindenburg    line,    639,    640 
Spence's    History    of    Hickman    County,    856, 

note 
Spencer,    Judge   Samuel,    310 
Spencer,   Thomas    Sharp,   103,    116;   death    of, 

234,    235,    236,    239 
Spencer    County,    120 
Spencer's   Hill,    234 
Sprague,    Chas.,    16 

Spring   Hill,    lost    opportunity   at,    508 
Spring    Hill    Meeting    House,    728 
Stahlman,    Maj.    E.    B.,    atty.     for    H.    Clav 

Evans,    581 
Stalnaker's,    162 
Standifer,    James,    M.    C,    403 
Stanford,    R.   L.,    463 
Stanton,    Sec.    Edwin    M.,    notifies    Johnson 

of   appointment   as   military   gov.,    515 
Stanton,   W.   M.,   speaker,    617 


Star    of    the   West,    469 

State   Agricultural    Bureau,   established,   466 

State    Auditor,    office    of    created,    920 

State    bank    system,    453 

State     banks,     see     Tenn.     in     the    Banking 

Business 
State    Board   of   Control,    624,    687 
State  Board  of  Education,   787,  note;   estab- 
lished,  559;   re  W.   J.   Hale,    698 
State   Board  of  Health,  established,   558   and 

note 
State  boundary  lines,  308,  379-388,  393,  note 
"State    Credit"    democrats,    560,    561 
State   debt,    542-545,    how    created,    542,    543; 
report    of    com.     of    legislature     (1879), 
543,    544;    funding    act,    re,    544;    agree- 
ment  of  1877,    544;   act   of   1881,   re,    545; 
arranged,    545,    563,    564;    555;    reduced, 
556;    fight   over,    557,    558,    559    and    note, 
560,    562;    in    McMillin's    administration, 
592;    bonds    held    by    U.     S.,    593,    note; 
reduced     in     Cox's    administration,     598, 
note;   Gov.    Rye,   re,    683 
State    Department    of    game    and    fish,    cre- 
ated,   625 
State   Fire  Prevention   Commission,   created, 

625 
State   flag,    598,    599 

State    Food    and    Drugs    Department,    605 
State    geologist,    office    of    established,     554 
State  guard,   in  Brownlow   regime,   536,  538; 
organized,   537;  called   out,   540;  re  min- 
ers'  insurrection,   577-579;   dismissed   by 
Gov.    Turney,    580 
State    Highway    Commission,    447,    448,    600, 

609,    613,    686,    702 
State    Highway    Department,    447-449,    625 
State    librarian,    office    of   established,    466 
State   mines,   581 
>    ate   mining  law,   596,   597 
State      Railroad      Commission,      established, 
564;    abolished,    567;    reestablished,    588; 
689,    694 
State    Real    Estate   Commission,    694 
State   senate   absentees,    610 
State    Tax    Commission,    689,    693,    702 
State   Text-book   law,    591   and   note,    688 
State  University,  see  University  of  Tennes- 
see 
State-wide    prohibition    laws,    see    Prohibi- 
tion 
statehood,    preparations  for,   154 
states   rights,   456 
Station    on    the    Bluff,    The,    718 
Steamboat,    first    at    Nashville,    371 
Stearns,    Dr.    Eben    S.,    pres.    Peabody    Col- 
lege,   787 
Steele,    Andrew.    211 
Steely.    Wm.,    383,    395 
Steep  Rock.  75 
Stegall,    391 

Stephen,    Lieut.    Col.,    162 
Stephens,    Col.,    481 
Stephens,    Alexander    H,    423 
Stephenson,    Rev.    James,    748 
Stephenson,    Matthew,    405 
Stevens.     Thaddeus,     readmission     of     Tenn. 

after   war,    530 
Stevenson,    Gen.    Vernon    K.,    446,    473 
Stewart,    Gen.    A.    P.,    481;    re    Chickamauga 
monuments,  498  and   note;  joins  Gen.  J. 
E.    Johnston,    511;    513 
Stewart,     Gen.     Hoyte,     609;     re     Edgington 

and   Estes,    627 
Stewart,    Vergil    A.,    re   Murrell,    393 
Stewart    County,    erected.    308;    history    and 

statistics   of.    872-874 
Stimson,    Prof.    J.    G.,    591,    note 
Stockade   fort,   how   built,   325 
Stockell,    Chas.    H.,    592 
Stockton,    U.    S.    senator,    282 
Stokes,    re    treaty,    258 
Stokes,   M.,   384 

Stokes.   Col.  W.   B.,   candidate  U.   S.  senator, 
534;   candidate   for  gov.   against   Senter, 
548,    549;   has  joint   debate   with   Senter, 
•r>4  9;     appeals    to    Pres.    Grant    alleging 
frauds,  549 
Stone,    Rev.    Barton    W.,    331 
Stone,    Uriah,    57,    103 
Stone    Grave    Race,    7-27 
Stone's    Gap,    231 
Stone's   River,   discovered,   57;   battle  of,   see 

Murfreesboro 
Stone's    River    Station,    108 
"Stonewall    of   the   Sea,"    688 
Stoney    Creek,    231 

Strahl,   Gen.   O.    F„    481;    killed   at   battle   of 
Franklin,    508 


&78 


INDEX 


Strei.uhl.  Cnl.  Abel  1).,  pursuit  anil  capture 
'i.     193-494 

Strickland,    P.    W.,    430 

Strickland,  Win.,  architect  of  state  capito-1, 
429    and    note,    430    and    note,    717 

Strikes,    576-579.    596,    .".'.'7,    689 

St  rot  her.    Col.,    292 

Stuart.  James,  40,  id,  50,  150,  271;  re  Tel- 
lico    treaty,    294 

Stuart.  Capt.  John.  67,  68,  162,  163;  re  union 
of  loyalists  and  Indians,  89,  164;  167; 
supt.    Indian    affairs,   163 

smart.    Judge    Thomas,    334 

Stull,     Frederick,     219 

Sub-commission    of   text-books    in    1899,    591 

Suck,    The,    see   Whirl 

Suffering    of    the    Cumberland    settlers,    115 

Suffolk    system    of    redemption,    453 

Suffrage  conferred  on  negro,  see  Elective 
Franchise 

Sugar   Town,   48 

Sullivan,    Gen.    J.    C,    492 

Sullivan  County,  erected,  91;  organized. 
149;  delegates  of  to  const,  convention 
(1796).  156;  history  and  statistics  of, 
S36-838 

"Summary  Notice  of  the  First  Settlements 
made  by  White  People  Within  the 
Limits  Which  Bound  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee,  A,"   60 

Sumner,   Charles,   re   secession,   524 

Sumner,   Gen.   .Tethro,   136 

Sumner  County,  elected.  130,  135-136;  or- 
ganized, 149:  delegates  of  to  const,  con- 
vention (1796K  156;  history  and  statis- 
tics   of,    S74-878 

Sumter,  Col..   47 

Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity,  149; 
salaries  of  judges  of,  309;  abolished, 
334 

Supreme  Court  of  Errors  and  Appeals,  es- 
tablished,   334,    337 

Supreme  Court  organized  in  accordance 
with  requirements  of  Constitution  of 
1870,    554   and  note 

Surveys 

Alexander   and    Munsell,    380,    381 

Bledsoe    (Anthony),    67,   75 

Donelson   (John).  68,  379 

Fry   and   Jefferson,    382 

Georgia    and    Tenn.,    386 

Miss,    and    Tenn..    386.    387 

N.  C.  and  Tenn.,   384  and  note 

Steele   and    Loonev,    383,   395 

Tenn.-Va.   line,  301,   302,   380 

Thompson    and    Graham,    387 

Walker  and  Henderson,  58,  67,  71,  103,  379, 

380.   382 
Winchester    (Gen.  James).   386 

Swann,   W.   G.,   521 

Swanson,    Edward,    181 

Sycamore  Shoals,  62,  S3,  87;  meeting  at  to 
attack  Ferguson,  92 

Sycamore  Shoals  Treaty,  see  Henderson's 
Purchase 

Tail,    The,    228,    229,    231 

Tait.  Wm.,  451 

Talbot,  Rev.   Matthew,   329 

Talbot.    Thomas.    120 

Taliaferro.    E.   F.,   speaker,    558 

Taliqua,    49 

Talladega,    battle    of.    346,    347 

Tallapoosa.   352 

Tallasee,    44,    161 

Tallushatchee,    battle   of.    346 

Talotiske.    of    the    Broken    Arrow,    213,    214, 

215,    221,    237 
Tammany    Society,    150 
Tanner,   W.    P.,   treas.   Tenn.   Centennial    Ex., 

584 
Tarleton.    Col.    Banastre,    91 
Tassel,   The,   130,    163,   167,   193,    194;   re   Kirk 

massacre,    196,    200;     201,    203,     204,    205, 

222.  228 
Tate,    Edward,    149 

Tatham,  William,  69.   70;  re  petition  of  Wa- 
tauga   Ass'n,    903 
Tatum,   Absalom,   117 
Tatum,     Howell,     149;     superior    judge,     272; 

resigns,   302 
Taxation,       without       representation,       278; 

burden   of,   683,    684;   legislation,   re,   684, 

694 
Taylor,   Col.    A.    R.,   re    miners'    insurrection, 

577,    578,   579 
lay  lor,    Gov.    Alfred    Alexander,    republican 

candidate   for   gov.   against   his   brother, 

Bob  Taylor,   568;   tells  how  and  why  he 


and  Bob  differed  in  politics,  568,  569; 
tells  new  story  of  Hob  Taylor  and  "The 
Fiddle  and  the  Bow,"  573;  580,  note; 
re  death  of  Bob  Taylor,  616-617;  nomi- 
nated for  gov.,  689;  race  of  with  Rob- 
erts. 691,  692;  defeats  Roberts,  692;  ad- 
ministration of,  692-696;  inaugurated, 
692,  693;  re  taxation,  693;  outstanding 
feature   of   administration   of,   695,    696 

Taylor,    Andrew.   570 

Taylor,  Creed,  com.  Tenn.-Va.  line,  301 

Taylor,   G.    T.,    state    treas.,    612 

Taylor,    Gen.    James    P.,    570 

Taylor,    Leroy,    152,    156 

Taylor,    Col.    Nathaniel.    570 

Taylor,    Nathaniel    Green,    M.    C,    570 

Taylor,    Oliver,     836,    note 

Taylor,    Parmenas,    153 

Taylor,  Gen.  Richard,  462;  re  Forrest's  raid 
against  Sherman's  connections,  506, 
succeeds  Gen.  Hood,  511;  surrender  of, 
511:  re  woes  of  Southerners  after  war, 
528 

Taylor,  Col.  R.  Z.,  re  "night  riders,"  601; 
re    Key    Corner,    774 

Taylor,  Senator  Robert  Love;  re  U.  S.  Sen- 
ate, 561.  note:  defeats  Pettibone,  561, 
note.  569;  administrations  of,  568-573; 
re  "war  of  the  roses,"  568;  birth  and 
family  of,  569-570;  origin  of  his  gifts 
of  oratory,  570;  inaugural  address  of, 
570:  defeats  S.  W.  Hawkins  for  gov., 
571:  calls  extra  session,  572;  goes  on 
lecture  platform,  573;  re  new  storv  of 
"The  Fiddle  and  the  Bow,"  573;  takes 
stump  for  Buchanan.  575;  third  admin- 
istration of.  582-589;  defeats  Tillman 
for  gov.,  582:  re  Tenn.  Centennial.  583; 
other  important  events  in  third  admin- 
istration of,  588;  calls  extra  session, 
588,  589;  defeated  by  Hooper,  611;  death 
and  obsequies  of,   615-617 

Taylor,    Pres.    Zachary,    439 

Taylor's    Trace,    241 

Taylor-Trotwood  Magazine,  494,  note;  499, 
note;    507,   note 

Tazewell.   Senator,    283 

Teachers'  Institutes,  beginning  of,  562;  564; 
576,    note 

Tecumseh,   339.   340.   359 

Tedford,   Lieut.,    226 

Tellico,  51,  203.  237;  conference  at,  249,  250; 
280,    283,    288.    292 

Tellico.  treaty  of,  237;  first,  254,  294;  sec- 
ond,   254;    third,    255;    fourth,    255 

Telliquo,   51 

Temperance,  see  Prohibition 

Temple,  Judge  O.  P.,  re  Gov.  Jones,  421; 
472.  500.  note:  re  East  Tenn.  meeting 
(1864),  523;  re  pro-Union  convention 
(1865),  525,  note;  re  Brownlow  admin- 
istration,   528;    re   Johnson's    pledge,    557 

Ten   Islands,   345,   346 

Tennessee,  character  of  people  of,  iii-vi; 
influence  of,  v;  town  of,  44;  name  of, 
51;  condition  of  found  by  early  ex- 
plorers. 51,  52:  as  independent  state, 
156;  name  of  suggested  by  Jackson, 
156,  247;  attitude  of  toward  Cherokees, 
257,  258:  re  admission  of  as  state,  271, 
276,  277;  first  election  of.  271;  act  ad- 
mitting, 276:  laws  of  U.  S.  effective  in, 
279;  electoral  vote  of  (1796),  291;  boun- 
dary lines  of,  see  state  boundary  lines; 
re  land  laws  of,  314-318;  in  Creek  War, 
337-360;  in  the  banking  business,  371, 
450-464;  in  Seminole  War,  372;  presi- 
dential vote  (1832),  404;  in  Mexican 
War,  437-438;  banks  of,  464;  influence 
on  of  election  of  I860,  468-469;  secedes, 
471,  472;  in  War  between  the  States, 
473-515;  re  army  of,  473.  474:  battle 
ground  of  the  West.  476-515;  why  ex- 
cepted from  emancipation  proclamation, 
520;  delegates  of  to  Baltimore  Nat'l 
Convention  (1864),  524;  electoral  vote 
of  rejected  (1864),  525;  disposition  of 
general  government  toward.  530;  re- 
stored to  Union,  530:  physical  condition 
of  improving,  534;  apex  of  disorder  in, 
534-541.  546.  547;  at  the  La.  Purchase 
Exposition,  595-596:  strife  and  bitter- 
ness in  during  Hooper's  administration. 
613;  in  AVorld  War,  632-681;  in  the 
navy,    638;    in   aviation   service,    638,    639 

Tennessee   Antiquarian    Society,   371 

Tennessee  Archives,  see  Archives 

Tennessee  Centennial  Exposition,  582  and 
note;  583-588;  re  history  of,  587 


IXDEX 


979 


Tennessee   Central   Railroad,    593-594 

Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  <>i  K.  R.  Co.,  leases 
convicts.    576  and    note 

Tennessee    Company,    The,    150 

Tennessee  County,  erection  of,  136;  organ- 
ized, 149;  delegates  of  to  const,  con- 
vention (1796),  156;  247;  divided,  275, 
291 

Tennessee   Desperadoes,    388-394 

Tennessee  enlistments  in  the  Civil  War,  513 

Tennessee  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs, 
685 

Tennessee   Gazette,   293 

Tennessee-Ga.    boundary   line,    385-386 

Tennessee  Historical  Commission,  56,  588, 
589,    639,    685,    688,    693 

Tennessee  Historical  Magazine,  114,  302, 
note;    587 

Tennessee  Historical  Society,  56,  97,  109, 
113,    121;    reorganized,   556;   587 

Tennessee  history,  different  from  that  of 
seaboard  states,  iii;  periods  of.  59:  re- 
hearsal   of,    583;    factors    promoting,    587 

Tennessee  Industrial  School,  beginning  of, 
571 

Tennessee  in  the  banking  business.  371, 
404,  408,  409,  441,  445,  450-464;  Bank 
of  Tennessee  liquidated,  463 

Tennessee  in  the  Spanish-American  War, 
589-590 

Tennessee  in  the  World  War,  632-681;  re 
voluntary  enlistment,  632;  re  transpor- 
tation of  troops,  635 

Tennessee   Lancet,    The,    599 

Tennessee-Ky.    boundary   line,    380-383 

Tennessee    Memorial    Building,    641,    685-686 

Tennessee-Miss,    boundary    line,    386-388 

Tennessee-N.   C.    boundary   line,    383-385,    626 

Tennessee  Polytechnic  Institute,  estab- 
lished,   624,    790 

Tennessee  Reformatory,   614 

Tennessee  State  Building  at  St.  Louis  Ex- 
position, 596 

Tennessee,  The  Volunteer  State,  101,  437, 
512.    513 

Tennessee  troops  in  World  War,  distribu- 
tion of,   635,   636 

Tennesseans  who  made  the  supreme  sacri- 
fice,  651-681 

Terril,   Obediah,   103 

Territorial  Legislature,  152;  members  of, 
152;   extra  session  of,   154 

Territory  of  the  U.  S.  South  of  the  River 
Ohio,  35;  144-156;  re  government  of, 
147;  re  organization  of,  148-149;  strug- 
gles of  with  Indians,  151;  legislature 
of.  152:  Knoxville,  capitol  of,  153;  prog- 
ress of,  153.  154;  preparations  of  for 
statehood,  154;  memorial  of  legislature 
of,  re  Indians.  225;  end  of  government 
of,   271;  re  seal  for,  297 

Testerman,   W.    T.,   448 

Texas,  re  annexation  of,  414.  421;  admitted 
into  Union,    440 

Text-book  commission,  in  1899,  591  and 
note 

Thicketty  Fort,  91 

Thirtieth  Division,  The,  history  of,  636- 
638;   breaks  Hindenburg  line.   636.   637 

Thomas,  Gen.,  at  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
364 

Thomas,   Dorsey  B.,   candidate   for  gov.,   558 

Thomas.  Gen.  Geo.  H..  wins  battle  of  Mill 
Springs,  476;  at  Murfreesboro,  488:  the 
"rock  of  Chickamauga,"  497;  succeeds 
Rosecrans,  499;  wins  battle  of  Nash- 
ville, 508-511;  refuses  aid  to  Brown- 
low.  538:  Nashville  headquarters  of.  717 

Thomas.  Isaac,  re  Fort  Loudon,  49;  warns 
Watauga,    165 

Thomas.  Maj.  John  W..  pres.  Tenn.  Centen- 
nial   Ex..    584 

Thompson,   Miss   Alice,   206.    207.    208 

Thompson,  Gen.  Frank  M,  573;  Railroad 
Com.,  588;  re  boundary  line.  626;  re 
equal   suffrage,    691 

Thompson,  ("apt.  James.   165,   207 

Thompson.   Col.   John,   speaker,    582 

Thompson    Station,    battle    of,    493,    740 

Thornton,  Col.,  at  battle  of  New  Orleans, 
365 

"Three   Sons   of   Orleans."    291-293 

Thruston,  Gen.  G.  P.,  11;  re  Stone  Crave 
Race,  12-16:  commands  Rosecrans'  train. 
491;  at  Chickamauga,  494,  note;  cor- 
responding sec.  Tenn.  Historical  Society, 
556;  chairman  history  com.,   587 

Tiel,   Edward.   388 

Tilghman.   Gen.   Lloyd.    476,    477 


Tillman,  Abram,   847 
Tillman,    Lieut.    Edwin    H,    590 
Tillman,  George  N.,  defeated  by  Bob  Taylor, 
582;     files    and     abandons     contest,     582; 
defeated   by    Patterson,    606,    847 
Tillman,   Lewis   B.,   Sr.,   declines    nomination 

for  gov.,  560 
Tilson,    William   E.,    385 
Timberlake,  Lieut.   Henry,   161  and   note 
Tinnon,    Col.    Hugh,    247 
Tipton,    Jacob,    375 

Tipton,  Col.  John,  119,  307;  at  const. •con- 
vention of  Franklin,  121,  122;  sides 
with  N.  C,  128;  N.  C.  sheriff,  131:  seizes 
Sevier's  negroes,  131;  arrests  Sevier, 
131;  member  Territorial  legislature, 
152;  156;  heads  investigation  of  Sevier's 
land  deals,  305 
Tipton     County,     history    and     statistics     of, 

901 
Tisshumastubbe,    see    Okoye 
Tittsworth,     Miss,     245 
Tittsworth,    Col.    Isaac,    245,    246,    248 
Tittsworth,   John,   245 
Titus,   Ebenezer,   115 
Todd,   Andrew   L.,   speaker,    682,    692 
Tohopeka    (Tehopiska),   or   Horseshoe   Bend, 
battle   of,   256..   253-258;   centennial   anni- 
versary of  celebrated,   360 
Tokona,    292 

Tollett,    E.    G.,   speaker,    600 
Tollett    Highway    Commission,    600,    note 
Toltecs,    84 

Tomatley   (Tomotley),   44,   161 
Tomochichi,    chief.    251 
Toocaucaugee,    227 
Toombs.    Robert,    470,    531 

Topography   and   Natural   Divisions   of  Ten- 
nessee,   20 
Topp,    John,    187 
Topp,    William.    241 
Toquo    (Tocquo).    161,    195,    226 
Torbatt.    Granville    C,    458 
"Torbett   Issue,"   461 
Tories.   90;   of  Watauga,    92 
Toskegee,    4  4 
Totten.    A.    O.    W.,    471 
Toul   Sector,    637 
Towaka,    228 
Tracy,    Col.,    98 

Tracv    City,    miners'    strike    at.    578,    597 
Traders.   The,    55:   French,   103 
Tragedy    of    the    Brown    family,    196-201 
Transylvania.    69,   170 
Transylvania    Company,    see    Henderson    & 

Co. 
Transylvania  Presbytery,  329,  332 
Transylvania  purchase,  see  Henderson  &  Co. 
Transylvania   trail,    88 
Travis.    W.    E.,    559,    note 
Treasury    department    established,    275 
Treaties 

Abortive,  258 
Augusta,  251 
Averv's.     or    Treaty    of    Long    Island.     62, 

90,     253 
Barbour's,    258 
Calhoun's,   257 

Capitulation    of   the    Creeks,    256,    359,    360 
Chickasaw  and  Creek,  254 
coytoy    (Coyatee),    130,    193,    253,    278.    315 
Dearborn's,    255 
Donelson's,    78,    87 
Dumplin,    192-196.    253,    278,    315 
Early   Indian,   251 
Fort    Stanwix,    59,    67,    85,    252 
Ghent,    367 

Great    Chickasaw    Cession,    256,    271 
Guadaloupe    Hidalgo,    437   and    note,   440 
Hard    Labor,    251 

Henderson's.  Henderson  Purchase,  or 
Sycamore  Shoals,  or  Transylvania  Pur- 
chase, treatv,  87,  88,  103,  170,  252 
Holston.  or  Blount's,  150,  153,  162,  168 
and  note,  192,  204,  205,  225,  233,  253, 
278 
Hopewell,    or   Hawkins,    134.    175.    193.    191. 

204.    228,    253 
Jackson     and     McMinn's,     256 
Knox's   First,   254 
Knox's   Second,   254 
Leases    by    Watauga    Ass'n    and    by    Jacob 

Brown,    251 
Lochaber,    67,   68.    71,   75.   203,   252 
McGillivray's,  150,   191,   206 
Nashborough     (1783),     133,     174,     175,     182, 

253 
New   York,   150 
Overton's,    257 


980 


INDEX 


Paris,    11G.    118,    134,    163,    182,    280 

Removal,    258 

Robertson    and    Meigs,    256 

San   Lorenzo   et    Heal.    143,   250,    280 

State   of   Franklin,    253 

Sundry    treaties    with    the   Cherokees,    256 

Tellico,    First,    or   Walton's,    237,    254,    294 

Tellico,   Second.   254 

Tellico,  Third,   255 

Tellico,   Fourth,  255 

Va.  with  Cherokees,   in  1772,   75 

"Watauga   Purchase,   252 

Treaties.    Indian,    251-259 

Treaty    Ground,     257 

Triers,   see   Government   of   the   Notables 

Trimble,   Judge   James,    310,    334 

Trimble,    Robert,    380 

Troop   D,   Tennessee   Cavalry,    637 

Troost,  Dr.   Gerard,   11,   15 

Trotwood's  Monthly,  363,  note,  478,  480,  note, 
743 

Truesdail,   Col.,   conflicts   with   Johnson,   520 

Trousdale,  J.  A.,   speaker,    580 

Trousdale.  Leon,  State  Supt.  Public  In- 
struction, 559;  re  teachers'  institutes, 
562 

Trousdale,  Gov.  William,  re  Florida  War, 
416;  418;  elected  gov.,  427;  in  Mexican 
War.  438  and  note;  administration  of, 
439-440 

Trousdale  County,  history  and  statistics  of, 
878 

Truxton.    311 

Tryon.  Gov.  William,  re  Regulators,  63,  64, 
67,    74 

Tuberculosis   hospital,    614 

Tuckaleechee,    town,   710 

Tuckasegee,   167 

Tuckasee,    163 

Tuckasijah,    118 

Tueralso,   89,   142.   167 

Tulip  Grove.  731 

Tunbridgo.   Tom.    198,    199,   200 

Turkey    Town,    347 

Turley,   J.   A.,   Railroad   Com.,   564 

Turlev.  Thomas  B.,  succeeds  Sen.  Harris, 
588 

Turner,  Judge,  J.  J..  581 

Turner,    Gov.    James,    384 

Turney,  Gov.  Peter,  re  canal,  443;  admin- 
istrations of.  579-582;  defeats  Winstead, 
580  and  note;  message  of,  580;  election 
of  contested  by  Evans,  581-582;  calls 
extra  session,   582 

Turney,   Samuel,   speaker,   412 

Turnip  Mountain,   233 

Turnley,    W.    D.,    prohibitionist,    591 

Turnpikes.    443:    re   state   debt,   542,    543,    554 

Turpin,   Nathan.   171 

Tuskegee,   161,  167,  197 

Tuskon   Patano.   174 

Tyler,   Gen.    Robert   C,    513 

Tyson.  Gen.  L.  D.,  speaker,  594;  commands 
Fifty-ninth  Brigade,  636;  receives  Dis- 
tinguished Service  Medal,  636:  places 
marker  on  Hindenburg  line,  639,  640; 
re  candidacy  for  gov.  (1920),  688;  (in 
1922),    697 

Tyson,    Lieut.    McGhee,    639 

TJ-boat    warfare,    635 

TJnacata    (White-Man    Killer),    215 

TJnakas,    The,    20 

Underdown's   Ferry,    45 

Underwood.    Capt.    Jonas,    247 

Undine,   The,    507 

Unicoi     County,    history    and    statistics     of, 

838 
Uniform    text-book    law.    591    and    note,    688 
Union    Bank,    437.    455,    458,    461 
Union     County,     history     and     statistics     of, 

838-839 
Union    flag    raised    on    capture   of    Memphis, 

773 
Union   League   of   America,   536,    546 
Union    Presbytery,    329 
Union     State     Committee,     call     convention 

(1864),    524 
Union    Station,    170 
United    Confederate    Veterans,     587 
United   Daughters   of   the    Confederacy,    587, 

792-797 
United    States,    laws    of    effective    in    Tenn., 

279;   relations   of   with   France   strained, 

280 
University   of  Chattanooga,   817 
University   of  Dixie,   624,   note 


University   of   Nashville,    135,   318,    note,    779 

and    note 
University     of     North     Carolina,      re      land 

claims    of,    318    and    note 
University     of     Tennessee,     309,     318,     note; 

re   agricultural    dept.    of,    541   and    note; 

560,    776    and    note,    789 
Upper  Cherokees,    226,    227 
Upper    Towns,    225 
Urquhart,    Col.    David,    486,    note,    487    note; 

re  battle  of  Murfreesboro,  488,  759 
Ury,    Ennis,    406 

Valley    of    East    Tennessee,    20 

Van     Buren,     Pres.     Martin,     re     pensioners, 

260;    408,    417,    422;    against    annexation 

of    Texas,    422;    432 
Van    Buren    County,    history    and    statistics 

of,   878-879 
Vanderbilt     University,     founded,     556i     and 

note 
Van    Dorn,    Gen.    Earl,    492;    at    Thompson's 

Station,    493;    re    death    of,    747 
Vann,    John,    chief,    197,    198,    224,    234 
Vashon,   George,    258 
Vaughan,    packman,    55 
Vaughan,    Gen.    A.    J.,    Jr.,    481,    513 
Vaughn,     Gen.     John     C,     wins     battle     of 

Chickasaw    Bayou,    511,    512;    in    Vicks- 

burg    campaign,    512;    513 
Veiz,   Monsieur,    183 
Venable,  Gen.  C.   D.,  481 
Venus.    The,    507 
A'   terans'    Bureau,    698 
"Victory    Dav."    630    and    note,    687 
Vincennes,    Fort,    168,    171 

Virginia-Tenn.    state   line,   see   state   bound- 
ary lines 
Voting,    requirements    for,    under    Johnson, 

524;    under   Brownlow,   529   and   note;    of 

negroes,   533,   535,   536,   552;   proposed  by 

women,   625,   687 
Voyage   of   the   Donelson   party,    104-108 

Waddell,  Col.  Hugh,  251 

Waddell,  Seid,  speaker,  591 

Wade,   Capt.   John,   279 

Wagon    road,    first,    90 

Wales,   William,    201,    note 

Walker,   A.    H.,    re    disorders    in    Tenn.,    546 

Walker,   James,    236 

Walker,  James,   719 

Walker,    Gen.    H.    H.,    serves    in   Va.,    512 

Walker,   John,    214,    221 

Walker,    L.   P.,    469 

Walker,    Gen.    Lucius   M.,   513 

"Walker,   Seth  M.,   speaker,    682 

Walker,  Dr.  Thomas,  re  first  exploration 
trip  of,  55;  re  second  trip,  56;  re  sur- 
vey  of.    58,    67,    71,   379,    380,    382 

Walker,  Gen.  William,  468;  home  and 
sketch    of,    719 

Walker    line,    The,    379 

Wallace,    D     F.,    Jr.,    asst.    sec,    596 

Wallace,    David,   454 

Wallace,  Gen.  Lew,  re  capture  of  Fort  Don- 
elson,   477,    note;    481 

Wallen  (or  Walden),  Elijah,  exploring 
party  of,   56,   57 

Wallen's  Creek,  229 

Wallen's  (or  Walden's)  Ridge,  discovered, 
56 

Walton,    George,   254;   re  Tellico    treaty,   294 

Wralton,    Isaac,    156,    405 

Walton    Road,    213,    312 

Walton's    treaty,    see    Knox's    treaty 

War  between  the  states  (Civil  War),  473- 
515;  re  Provisional  Army,  473,  474; 
early  military  operations  of,  474,  475; 
activities  of  in  East  Tenn.,  475;  re 
bridge  burners,  475;  re  battle  of  Mill 
Springs  or  Fishing  Creek,  476-;  capture 
of  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  476-479; 
effects  of  surrender  of  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  479-480;  re  battle  of  Shiloh, 
480-482;  Halleck  and  Beauregard  at 
Corinth,  482;  operations  of  Bragg  and 
Kirby  Smith,  482;  raids  of  Morgan  and 
of  Forrest,  482-485;  invasion  of  Ky., 
485-487;  Forrest  before  Nashville,  487; 
battle  of  Murfreesboro,  or  Stone's 
River,  487-491;  Forrest  in  West  Tenn., 
491-492;  how  Bragg  was  forced  from 
Middle  Tenn.,  492-493;  pursuit  and  cap- 
ture of  Streight's  raiders,  493-494; 
Bragg  retires  to  Chattanooga,  494;  For- 
rest's   quarrel    with    Bragg    and    trans- 


INDEX 


981 


fer  to  Miss.,  498-499;  siege  of  Chat- 
tanooga, 499-500;  operations  in  East 
Tenn.,  500-503;  Forrest's  operations  in 
Tenn.  in  1864,  503-507;  Forrest's  fur- 
ther operations  in  Tenn.  and  Miss.,  504; 
the  tragedy  of  Fort  Pillow,  504,  505; 
Forrest's  raid  into  West  Tenn.,  in  Aug., 
1864,  505;  Forrest's  raid  into  Northern 
Ala.  and  Middle  Tenn.,  505;  Forrest's 
Johnsonville  expedition,  507;  Hood's 
campaign  in  Middle  Tenn.,  507-511; 
Tennesseans  in  other  states,  511-512; 
Tenn.  enlistments  in  the  war,  512-513; 
battles    and    commanders,    513-514 

"War  Ford,   118 

War  of  Austrian   Succession,  45 

Ward,   Col.    Edward,    395,    454,    580 

Ward,  Nancy,  re  attack  of  Indians  on  Wa- 
tauga,   89,   164,   165,    166;    222 

Ward   &    Briggs,    lease   convicts,    576 

Warioto,    43 

Warren  County,  erected,  309;  history  and 
statistics    of;    879 

Creek   War,   337-360 

Dunmore's,   85,   86 

French    and    Indian,    45,    57 

Mexican,    437-438  i 

Revolutionary,    90-101 

Seminole,   first,    371-373;    second,    415-416 

Spanish-American,    589-59,0 

War     between     the     States     (Civil     War), 

473-515 
War    of    1812,    337-367 
War   with    Cherokees,    89,    90 
World   War,    632-681 
Wartrace    Fork,    135 

Washburn,  Gen.  C.  C,  nearly  captured  by 
Forrest,  505;  home  of  in  Memphis,  770 
Washington,  George,  re  Fort  Duquesne. 
45;  elected  commander-in-chief,  78; 
148;  re  Indian  treaty,  191;  re  admis- 
sion of  Tenn.,  275,  276,  277;  290;  re 
princes  of  Orleans,  292;  re  Bank  of  U. 
R.,    451 

Washington    College,    154 

Washington  County,  erected,  62,  88;  organ- 
ized, 149:  delegates  of  to  const,  con- 
vention (1796).  156;  history  and  statis- 
tics   of,    839-840 

Washington  District,  62,  72,  79,  88;  peti- 
tion  of.    76,   78;   149 

Watauga,  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  90- 
101. 

Watauga  Association,  iii  and  note;  68-70; 
70-80;  court  of,  69;  Committee  of  Thir- 
teen of,  70;  functions  of  Committee  of 
Thirteen  and  Court  of  Five,  70-80;  re 
constitution  of,  76;  lease  of,  79;  pur- 
chase of,  79.  88.  164,  252;  petition  of 
to    N.    C,    903-905 

Watauga   Old    Fields,   83-84 

Watauga  River,  described  by  Haynes,  569- 
570 

AVatauga  Settlement,  iii;  67-68,  70,  73,  85, 
163;  leaders  of,  80-83;  convention  of, 
69.  75;  petition  of,  76,  78;  invaded  by 
Indians,  163-167;  lease  and  purchase  of, 
164 

Waterhouse,   Richard,    412,   note 

Waterloo,    363 

Waters,   Dr.    R.   J.,   240 

Watkins,    E.,   595,    note 

Watkins,  Samuel,  431;  trustee  Bank  of 
Tenn.,    463 

Watson,    Matthew,    458 

Watson,   S.,   787,    note 

Watts.  John  (Kuonosuke),  151,  200,  206, 
281;  rise  of.  201-205:  re  Holston  treaty, 
205:  made  colonel,  211-215;  last  cam- 
paign of,  220-225;  re  Robertson,  244; 
re   Orleans   princes,    292 

Wayland.    J.   A.,    re   Ruskin   Colony,    852 

Wayne,    Gen.    Anthony,    226,    236,    241 

Wayne   County    (State   of  Franklin),    120 

Wayne  County  (Middle  Tenn.),  history  and 
statistics  of,  880 

Weakley,  Robert.   368,   406 

Weakley  County,  history  and  statistics  of. 
901-902 

Wear.   Samuel,    152,    156 

Weatherford,    Charles,    220 

Weatherford,  William  (Red  Eagle),  re  mas- 
sacre of  Fort  Mims.  340;  re  surrender 
of,    358    and    note,    359 

Weatherhall,    W.    A.,    606 

Webb,  W.  R.,  elected  U.   S.   Senator,   618 


Webster,    Daniel,    re    currency    of    State    of 
Franklin.     120;    re     Cherokees,     259;     re 
currency,   456 
Webster,   Jonathan,   405 
Weir,    Dr.    D.    C,    757 
Wellington,   Duke   of,   363 
Wells,   Heydon,    115 
Welsh,    The,    28 

West,    private    W.    C,    exploit    of,    507,    note 
Westbrook,    E.    E.,    Com.,    re    Madrid    Bend, 

558 
Western  and  Southwestern  Convention,  434- 

437 
Western  District,  379 
Western   Purchase,   The,   374 
Western    Valley    of    the    Tennessee,    24 
West    Tennessee,    counties   of,    27,    804,    886- 
902;    re    treasurer    of,    337;    opening    of, 
374-375:    intensely   Confederate,   482 
West  Tennessee  State  Normal  School,  789 
Wharton,   Gen.,   491 
Wharton,  Prof.  A.   D.,  514,  591 
Wharton,    Jesse,    368 
Wharton,    Thomas    J.,    469 
Wheeler,    Gen.    Joseph,    488;    raids    of,    491; 
re    attack    on    Dover,    493;    ordered    to 
receive    Forrest's    troops,    498;    at    Win- 
stead   Hills,   740 
Wheless,   Lieut.    John   F.,    514 
Whig,   The  Nashville,   395 

Whigs,    convention    of    (1840),    412;    conven- 
tion of   (1844),  415,  423;  The  Origin  and 
Progress    of    the    Whig    Party,    416-427; 
gradual  decadence  of,  424-425;  re  bank- 
ing,  460;   re   "Know-Nothing"   party,   467 
Whirl    (Suck),   The,   106 
Whitaker,   A.   P.,   re  schools,   780,   note 
White,  Andrew,   305,   note 
White,    David,    385 
White,   Edward  Douglas,   139,   note 
White,   Hugh   Lawson,   re   currency   of  State 
of    Franklin,     120;     Sec.     of    Gov.     Wm. 
Blount,     149;     kills     King     Fisher,     151, 
225;    re   Andrew   Jackson,    306;    supreme 
judge,    334;    pres.    state    bank,    337;    re 
Jackson    and    Creek    War,    353;    elected 
U.    S.    Senator,    396,    403;    re    contention 
of  with    Jackson,    407;    resigns   as   U.   S. 
Senator,  411;  death  of,  412;  417,  418,  424 
White,   Gen.   James,    139,   note;    149;   founder 
of  Knoxville.   153;  155,  208,  209;  defends 
Knoxville,     223;     re    Wm.     Blount,    285; 
re    Tellico    treaty,    294,    345,    347;    grave 
of,    708 
White,    Dr.    James,    re    Spanish    conspiracy, 
139-142;    139,    note;    member    Territorial 
legislature,    152;    re   statehood,    154;    272, 
277 
White.   James,   road  com.,   555;   in  Congress, 

555 
White,    John    J.,    405 
White.     Newton     H,     Railroad     Com.,     588; 

speaker,  593,  617 
White,    Dr.    R.    L.    C,    re    great    seal,    298; 
author    of    "A    Centennial    Dream,"    587 
White,    Gen.   William,   399 
White,   Zachariah,   181 
White     County,     history    and     statistics    of, 

881-882 
White,  Lieutenant.  219 
White  Owl's   Son.   202,   208,   215 
White    Top    Mountain,    75 
White's   Fort.    153,    202,   205,    253 
Whitesides,    Jenkin.    310,    334 
Whitley,    Col.    William,    240,    241;    re    Nicka- 

jack    expedition,    241-244 
Whitney,   Eli,  309 

Whitney's  Land  Laws  of  Tenn.,  313 
Whitson,    John,    405 
Whitthorne,  Col.   W.   C,   473 
Whitthorne,   Ma.j.   W.   C,   in   Spanish-Ameri- 
can   War,    589 
Whitwell,  strike  at,  597 
Whyte,   Robert,   310 

Wight,  Dr.  E.  M.,  defeated  by  Marks,  560 
Wilcox,   Gen.    Cadmus   M.,    513 
Wilcox,   Mrs.    Mary    Emily    Donelson,   310 
Wilderness,    The,    237 
Wiles,    L.    D.,     628 

Wilkerson,    Judge   William   W.,   400 
Wilkinson,    Gen.    James,    re    Spanish    con- 
spiracy. 141,  312;  re  Natchez  expedition 
338;    375 
Willett,  Col.  Marinus,  191 
Williams,   391 
Williams,   Mrs.,    207 
Williams,   Gov.,    392 
Williams.   Miss  Charl,   690 


98L> 


INDEX 


Williams,    James,    427 

Williams,    Col.    James,    93,    96,    9S;    death    of, 

99 
Williams,    John,    re    boundary    line,    86,    310, 

379     38^ 
Williams,  Col.  John,   353;  at  battle  of  Toho- 

peka,    355,    356;    360.    368;    defeated    by 

Jackson  for  U.  S.  Senator,  396;  417,  707, 

708 
Williams,   Col.   Joseph,   89 

Williams,  Joseph  S.,   38;   re  virgin  land,   322 
Williams,    Judge   Nathaniel,   334 
Williams,    Pleasant,   arrested,    532 
Williams,   Sampson,   re   Moses  Fisk,   60;   189, 

240 
Williams,    Judge    S.    C,    re   Henderson    Pur- 
chase,   58;    re   N.    C.    line.    385   and   note; 

re    William    Tatham,    903 
Williams,    Thomas   L.,   Railroad   Com.,   588 
Williams,    Gen.    William,    473 
Williamson,    Gen.    Andrew,    89 
Williamson,    Hugh,    136 
Williamson,  Miss  Jennie,  re  Jackson  at  New 

Orleans,    366,   note 
Williamson    County,    erected,    294;    markers 

of,    738-741;     history    and    statistics    of, 

QO<>_QQq 

Williamson  District,  309 

Willinawaugh  (Willinawaw),  45,  161,  162, 
164 

Willioe,   227 

Willis,    H.    Parker,    453,    464 

Wilson,   Col.   A.    N.,   603 

Wilson,   Archie,   209 

Wilson,    Maj.    David,    136,    152 

Wilson,    E.    Bright,    speaker,    692 

Wilson,    Capt.    Elsworth.    637 

Wilson,    Joseph,    208 

Wilson,   Mrs.   Joseph,   209 

Wilson,  Judge  S.   F.,  candidate   for  gov.,   580 

Wilson,   Sarah,    209 

Wilson,    William,    217 

Wilson,    Woodrow,    454,   617 

Wilson,  Zacheus,  209 

Wilson  County,  erected.  294;  history  and 
statistics    of,    883-885 

Wilson    Family,    killed,    234 

Wilson    Pike,    741 

Wilson's    Spring   Branch,    180 

Willstown,    213,    220,    229 

Winchester,   Maj.   George,    136,    149,    218,   239 

Winchester,  Gen.  James,  149,  151,  note,  153, 
271;  elected  gen.,  275;  commissioned 
gen.,  291;  charged  with  voting  illegally. 
303;  candidate  m'aj.-gen.,  303;  captured 
at  River  Raisin,  367;  369;  re  Tenn.- 
Miss.  line,  371:  re  founding  of  Mem- 
phis,  376;   surveys   Tenn.-Miss.   line,   386 

Winstead,    G.    W..    nominated    for    gov.,    580 

Winstead  Hills,   740 

Winston,  Capt.,  346 

Winston,  Col.   Joseph,   89 

Wisdom,  Col.   D.  M.,   503 

Wise,  Henry  A.,   259,  424 

Wisener.  William  H.,  defeated  for  gov., 
554 

Wococee,   227 


Woevre,    The,    637 

Wolf,  Indian  chief,  49 

Wolf  Hills,   70,  165,  329 

Wolf    River,    375 

Wolseley,    Gen.,    re    Forrest,    478    and    note, 

485  and  note,  493,  773 
Womack,  Jacob,  re  Watauga  Ass'n,  70 
Woman's  Christian   Temperance  Union,   595, 

797-803 
Woman's   Suffrage   Bill,    631 
Wood,    Dr.    (colored),   546 
Wood,    Col.    James,    55 
Woods,  James,   429 
Woods,  John,   353 
Woods,  Lieut.   Jos.   A.,   651 
Woodward,  A.    B.,   591 
Woodward,   Wm.,   59 
Wooldridge,  James  R.,   612 
Woolford,  Col.  Cator,   re   miners'   strike,   378 
Workmen's  compensation   law,  620,   621,   627. 

World  War,  The,   35 

Worley,  Mrs.  Anna  Lee,   639 

Wright,  Fanny,   re  Nashoba  venture,  900 

Wright,   John  V.,  for  Confederate  Congress, 

521;    559;   candidate   for   gov.,    561 
Wright,    Gen.     Luke     E.,     re     speech     of     in 

Cooper  trial,  608 
Wright,  Gen.  Marcus  J.,  re  William   Blount, 

287,   288,   289,   290;   513 
Wright,   William,    451 
Wright's   battery,   488 
Wyandots    trouble    Cumberland    Settlement, 

116 
Wyeth,   Dr.    John   A.,    re   surrender   of    Fort 

Donelson,    479,   note;    re    Emma    Sanson, 

493,  494;  re  battle  of  Chickamauga,  494, 

note;   re  quarrel   of  Forrest  and   Bragg, 

498,    499   and   note;   re   Fort   Pillow,   505; 

re  encounter  of  Forrest  and  Gould,  746; 

re    Forrest's   life    in   Memphis,    769,   773; 

re  death   of  Forrest,   773 

Yardley,  W.  F.  (colored),  candidate  for  gov., 
558 

Yellow  fever,  556,  558,  note 

Yellow   Mountain,   93,    98 

York,  Capt.,  481 

York.  Sergt.  Alvin.  achievement  of,  646- 
651 

Yorktown,   31 

Young,  Judge  J.  P.,  re  De  Soto.  41.  765;  re 
Fort  Prudhomme,  41,  42;  re  Old  Bell 
Tavern,  766;  re  Isaac  Rawlings'  trad- 
ing post,  766;  re  raising  Union  flag  on 
capture    of   Memphis,    773 

Young  Men's   Christian   Association,   635 

Ypres-Lys    Offensive,    636,    637 

Zeigler,    Jacob,    208 

Zeigler,   Mrs.  Jacob,   209 

Zeigler's    Station,    captured    by   Creeks,    151, 

208,    209,    238 
Zion    Presbyterian  Church,   748 
Zollicoffer,    Gen.     Felix    K.,     416;    duel    with 

Marling,    442;    in    Civil    War,    473,    475; 

killed.    476;    513;    sketch    of,    746 


►•V. 


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